A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 4, 2002 Rupert pulp union urged to reconsider its position SKEENA LIBERAL MLA Roger Harris is urging Skeena Cellulose’s Prince Rupert pulp workers to rethink their position on a new contract wanted by their employer. He says there’s value in considering a trade off of a portion of wages for profit sharing and an increased tole in how the company is run. “The history of the company is that when pulp prices are high, everybody makes money, But when. the prices are low, everybody. goes home. and makes no money,” Harris said last week, “The history of the company is that this way has failed.” The MLA’s comments follow last week's submission by the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada Local 4 of a proposal which would see its Prince Rupert mem-' bers take a 20 per cent wage rollback for the first two- years of a five-year deal. Years three to five would see increases of two per cent in each year in addition to wage increases as called for in pulp wage contracts elsewhere, The union also wants a $3,000 signing bonus for each member and a 30 per cent equity in Skeena Cellulose. The proposal is markedly different from Skeena Cel- lulose’s “Fresh Start” offer which features cuts to base rates in return for profit sharing with no pravision for in- creases later on and a trimming of vacations to a max- imum four weeks. SC] CEO Dan Veniez has retreated from wanting cuts to benefit plans and is willing to increase rates for some skilled trades from his first proposal but won’t retreat from overall wage cuts in return for profit sharing. He says he needs lower wages to reduce operating News In Brief Prostitution charge laid TERRACE RCMP have arrested a Terrace woman for prostitution after receiving several complaints over the last eight months. “Since last Christmas we’ve had numerous re- ports of a prostitute working the area of Kalum St. and Lazelle Ave. and Lakelse Ave.,” said Terrace RCMP Set. Jas Basi. . He said a woman was observed walking the streets af the downtown business district and stand- ing in front of businesses soliciting clients. “On the 28th of (August) we did a minor police operation which resulted in the arrest of a young Terrace woman,” Basi said. Elizabeth Stewart has been charged with com- munication for the purpose of prostitution, Legal work stopped A LOCAL person found to be doing unauthorized legal work has agreed not to do it any longer. Linda Marshall was preparing incorporation do- ‘|. cuments;and.annual reports: for companies foria : fee, the Law Society of B.C. said in a:press release * last week, Marshall’s business is Statements Fi- nancial Services. Law society official Brad Daisley would not dis- close how it found out about Marshall and did not know how long she had been doing unauthorized : legal work. But he did say she quickly signed an agreement to stop what she was doing. “We get 40 or so a year of these,” said Marshall of the law society which has the authority under provincial legistation to stop people from doing un- authorized legal work. Death probe continues TERRACE RCMP are continuing their investiga- tion into the Aug. 27 death of 14-month old Rowan Von Niederhausern. His death is labelled suspi- cious after the boy’s autopsy report came back Aug. 27. “The results are tentatively in and we are going to treat i¢ as suspicious al this time and we have to further investigate the matter,” said Terrace RCMP Set. Jas Basi. Basi would not release the cause of death and said no charges are being con- sidered yet. He would give little details about the ongoing investigation. Terrace RCMP and the B.C. Ambulance Service responded to a call of a child in distress at the Timberland Trailer Park on Queensway Dr. Aug. 16. The tittle boy was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Family members and friends gathered at Ter- tace’s Zion Baptist Church Tuesday, Aug. 27 for the baby’s funeral. profits Receive 5% =. Cash Back | when you book your winter sun vacation or cruise with Elan Travel PLUS - RECEIVE AN EARLY BOOKING BONUS OF UP TO °7Q0 PER COUPLE. Thee olan ope when bling cass auise od hokday ampnaie nn. Cain richer opp Call or visit your Elan Travel office... Terrace 552 Lokelso Ayes 635-1281 PONS: cuts in Order to secure financing to open up Skeena’s Prince Rupert pulp mill and its sawmill in Terrace, Veniez has rejected the pulp union proposal and says - - he is moth balling the mill for the winter. . Harris said world competition has now combined with the high costs of running mills’an the north coast to make traditional wage packages unviable. “T think the [pulp union] leadership in Prince Rupert has failed to grasp that the world has changed,” he said. _ “T hear the talk of wage cuts, but you have to look at it as a new way of doing business.” -Although critical of Prince Rupert pulp workers, Har- ris also acknowledged that Veniez’s “take it or leave it” style of negotiating isn’t the best approach. - Harris suggests that instead of profit sharing, a bocst. to the basic wage rate could come about by tying it to increases in pulp or timber prices. “At the end of the day, this is about johs and it is aboul providing continuity,” the MLA continued. “We have to be competilive and the best way is to be ‘ profitable and making money. We need to find ways to maintain employment while riding through the peaks and valleys in the markets.” -A public meeting in Prince Rupert Aug. 29 resulted in an airing of frustrations, but little else. The 400 people who turned out to the Prince Rupert civic centre did have the chance to sign two petitions. One, by the Uni- ted Fishermen and Allied Workers, asked Veniez to re- turn to negotiate or face the city putting a lien on his mill site because of unpaid taxes. A second asked for union members ta look at the SCI offer again and to have another vole, this time conducted by third party. From front Mayor, MLA work to get a SCI deal IWA actually want to meet. The two parties have not had a formal meeting since late spring. The IWA rejec- ted SCI’s “Fresh Start” deal in a May 23 vote. It was the same deal originally presented to — and also rejected by — Prince Rupert pulp workers. The com- pany re-tooled its offer by upping some wage categories and restoring benefits without touching the wage cuts for profit sharing component. It was presented to pulp work- ers Aug. 19 and rejected by 64 per cent of the 250 union . members who voted. That rejection was nearly 30 per- centage points less than the rejection of the original “Fresh Start” proposal. The revised offer has yet to be presented to the IWA by SCI. Various attempts by SCI and the IWA to talk by phone to set up face to face talks haven't been going ~ well. But now the two sides are scheduled to meet in Terrace on Sept. 10 at 2 p.m. “What he wants is a response to the old Fresh Start | , agreement,” said ]WA business agent Surinder Malhotra ' late in the day of Aug. 30. . : That.may.be because while SCI knows [WA members: The Terrace Standard is now * Program. 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Since talking in May, Malhotra said the IWA position has softened and it may be that the com- pany has softened as well. , The approximately 175 Skeena Cellulose IWA saw- mill workers begin to run out of their employment start- ing in mid-September, Malhotra noted. GREENWOOD.’ CHIROPRACTIC SERVICES » © Emergency Care & X-Ray * Auto & Work Injury * Sports Injury ¢ Footmaxx Orthotics NO REFERRAL NECESSARY » Dr. R.D. Greenwood 4635 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C, 638-8165 OPEN MONDAY TO SATURDAY Sf . ‘ *. Sophia’s Dance “5. Studio , Offering nd j) Jazz Dance Classe es Register now for 2002-2003 Only $45 per month plus GST * Ages 5-18 years Limited spaces available! Quality dance instruction at the lowest price in town. 9pm Big Band: Thursdays 7:30pm to 9:30pm All rehearsals in the Caledonia Band Room. 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