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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1974-02-21, Page 1Cost Strike halts production at: OIL Clause main :issue Both sides say them' next move tu to Production workers at Dash- wood Industries Ltd. went on strike Thursday afternoon, having voted overwhelmingly to turn down a company offer calling for a 22.7 percent wage boost. The company has offered Members of Local 3054 United Carpenters and Joiners of America a basic wage offer of 70 cents per hour over a two-year period. Present basic wage for the employees at the Centralia and Mt Brydges plants is $3.08 per hour, The union is asking for an 80 cent an hour increase, down from the demand of $1.00 per hour (for one year) which had been their original position at the outset of contract negotiations last fall, However, the major stumbling block toe new contract appears to be centred around a cost-of- living clause. company was having some dif- ficulty in ascertaining exactly what the demand was from the union in regard to wage soles. He noted that one set of figures published in The 'London :Free Press on 'Saturday was different than those suggested from other sources- sources- He said with different figures being bandied about, it is difficult for the company to know what the major medical, ate. He said the program costs the' company slightly over .$33 per month for married employees, and $17 per month for single employees. These figures .are up about to percent over the previous contract. He went on to say that vacation allowances have been -improved, there have been increases in shift premiums, an expanded He said a total of six production classifications have been upgraded. "Coverage has also been exi, panded" in the company's fringe; benefit program, which Mr, Finnen claims is already one of the most comprehensive available. The company pays 100 percent Of many of the programs such as CHIP, long-term disability, The union is asking for a one- cent per boor increase in pay for each .6 rise in the cost-of-living index, Their original demand had been one cent for each ,3 rise. The company has refused to include any cost-of-living clause in the contract at all, • "The employees feel it (clause) is necessary, the way inflation has been going," claims Adam Salvona, business representative for the local union, Otherwise, he says, the union and the company are "not too far apart" and he suggested the employees would probably have accepted the latest company offer for wage rates had a cost-of- living clause been included, Dashwood Industries president Jim Finnen points out the company considered the cost of living when the new wage rates were presented, "That's why the offer is as high bereavement list has been drawn and job poating .benefits have. increased, The Dashwood Industries president again reiterated his contention that he was coneerned, that the employees had not been Accurately' informed of the company's offer. Mr. Salvona suggested that the wage scale was not the major cause of the strike. "We feel the employees might consider accepting the rest of the agreement if a cost-of-living Please turn to page 3 demand is at the present time, In a statement, Monday, Mr. Finnen explained that the company had substantially in- -creased fringe benefits NI' its employees, end had also upgraded several job classifications that would result in further rate boosts of from five to fifteen cents per hour for a "significant number of people" over the basic wage offer. Should have asked for aid Area Legions join to sponsor cadets The Army Cadet program, which was dropped from the program of the local high school several years ago, may be reinstituted. However, it will not be associated with the school, The Legion branches at Exeter and Lucan have agreed to join forces to sponsor a Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps, It will ,be' open to young men and women between the ages of 13 and 19 and the centre of ac- tivity will be the recreation as it is now," he said, in reference to the 22.7 percent wage increase offer. He said he felt the offer was "fair, reasonable and realistic" in light of today's inflation and noted that it contained provision for increases in the cost of living because it was well over the normal consumer price index increases for the past two years. "The company is concerned that our employees have not been accurately informed and that. the built-in protection against in- creases in the cost-of-living has not been thoroughly explained — and in turn — understood," he stated. He also commented that early in negotiations the company indicated to the bargaining committee and the union that if the cost-of-living went com- pletely "out of orbit" that it would be prepared to review its wage rate's with them at any time during the contract. "Even though the company offer has increased significantly since that statement was made and therefore the likelihood of a review has reduced ac- cordingly," he stated, "the company is still firm in its open position of review if the cost-of- living increases dramatically over the past few years' ex- perience." Mr, Finnen also noted the Dashwood Industries employees on picket duty at plant entrance. One Hundred and First Year EXETER, ONTARIO, pEBRUkRY 21, 1974 Price Per Copy 25 Cents Newspaper wins awards Who does the work? centre at Huron Park, i Cpl. Jesse Reid, a corporal with the RCR in London, has agreed to head the instruction team if enough youths express an in- terest in joining. Cpl. Reid resides in Centralia. Doug Sweet, a member of the Exeter Legion, said several other men have indicated an interest in assisting, "There may be an open meeting to explain the program to parents and interested young peciple if enough interest is shown," Sweet advised, Details may be obtained from Cpl. Reid at 228-6853 or by con- tacting members of either the Lucan or Exeter Legion bran- ches. The program offered by the Cadets covers such areas as: adventure training, band in- struction, driver edncation, military history, outward bound, precision drill, search and rescue, physical training, parachuting, shooting, orien- teering, trail blazing, pioneering, canoeing and camping. Agree on separating waste Pleads guilty to bank theft A local handicapped man, whose property taxes have fallen three years in arrears, could have received some assistance from the municipality in reducing the tax burden if he had applied. He didn't and council advised him that his property would be put up for tax sale. The situation was brought to light this week and prompted a lengthy discussion by Exeter council Members, all of whom expressed sympathy for the ratepayer in question but didn't know what could be done at this time. He had written a letter to council, pointing out he had accepted a job above taking welfare and felt council had penalized him by adding penalties to his tax debts. It was at this point that Clerk Eric Carscadden explained that had the ratepayer applied, council could have written off his entire tax account, or a portion of it, each year. However, Carscadden noted that application had to ,be made by the end of February in the year following non-payment. "It's sad," lamented deputy- reeve Helen Jermyn. "He probably didn't know that." She added that the onus was not on council to investigate ,such situations and said the problem 14lay have been avoided if the person had come to the clerk's office to explain his situation and the difficulty he was having in paying taxes, "This would have given us a chance to advise him of the solution" she concluded. Others agreed it eras un- fortunate and -Councillor Tom MacMillan explained further that no special tax penalties were being assessed in the case, but only those authorized to be placed on all overdue tax accounts. Debate on the matter con- cluded when reeve Derry Boyle said he would check with county social services officials to see what action could be taken to offer relief to the delinquent tax account. Several other property owners were recently advised their properties would be offered at tax Sales in view of fact their bills were three years in arrears. All but three of the property owners have taken action to rectify the situation and final proceedings will be taken against those who have not. considerable to rip down the mill for parking. Deputy-Reeve Helen Jermyn said the property behind the town hall would be available when the old works department shed and the water tower are removed. No further action was taken on either the garbage or parking matters, but it was indicated the Board of Trade and council members should meet again to consider them. Mayor Jack Delbridge doubted people would walk from it to downtown stores, although he noted they seemed willing to walk considerably farther when they went shopping in the city. "I doubt if it would be quarter filled," he .said. in ,referonce to making the mill yard a parking place. "We'd be buying the dear end of the property," suggested Ted Wright, who noted it would cost The suggestion has been made that Exeter ratepayers separate their garbage so newsprint and bottles can be recycled. However, . who would irn- plemerit• such a plan or in- vestigate the fnechanics still hasn't been decided,e4..e.aereh The Exeter Board of Trade executive, through Councillor Ben Hoogenboom, suggested the sanitation committee of council undertake the investigation. However., Deputy-Reeve Helen Jermyn said groups such as the Board of Trade shouldn't always expect council members to do the work. "Let the Board of Trade do some of the work," • she suggested. Councillor Tom MacMillan agreed, noting that the Board was "making the cannon balls" and expecting council to fire them. Hoogenboom had little com- ment in reply. In his opening rentarks, he had also urged council to pressure the senior governments into banning non-returnable bottles. The discussion led to the point that no money was to be made in reclaiming garbage, but Mac- Millan said the future had to be considered as well as the costs. He added there may be some cost saving in that a reduced amount of garbage would be picked up and that less space would be used at the dump, Hoogenboom then changed the subject to parking, explaining that the Board had set up a committee in this regard (he's chairman) and one of the properties they were thinking about was the former Cann's 'Mill, which is now being sold by its present owners, Exeter District Co-op. Rowever, no one on council felt it would be a wise acquisition for parking space. The Exeter Times-Advocate has received four awards in the Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association better newspaper competition. In the "premier awards" classification open to all weeklies in Ontario the T-A was judged top for the best special edition in the past year, The issue entered was the centennial publication, The newspaper placed third in its class for general excellency, placing behind the Aurora Banner and the Wallaceburg News in the circulation class of 4,501 to 6,500. In that class, the T-A was judged best in local display ad- vertising and for women's page. The awards were presented at the annual convention in Toronto over the weekend, The event was 'attended by Bill and Kaaren Batten, Snowmobiler, house Huron gets '78 Match crashes involved in The Ontario Plowmen's Association has announced that Huron County will host the 1978 International Plowing Match, The announcement was made Tuesday at the 64th annual convention of the OPA in Toronto. A record 600 people attended the event, The international was last held in Huron in 1966. The event, held on the Scott farms at Seaforth, was plagued by rain which turned the site into a sea of mud for most of the week, Although no Huron site has been chosen as yet for the 1978 events, reports indicate that the Majority of those forming the Huron delegation were from the north end of the county. PREPARING FIRE WOOD — Members of the Senior Outers club at South Huron District High School spent Satuklay and Sunday on a camping trip in the Hay swamp. Shown above getting fire wood are Perry Preszcator, George Van Esbroeck and Steve Corbett. T-A photo Norton Walter Irwin, 32, who pleaded guilty to a charge • of robbing a Dashwood bank while he was armed with a gun, will be sentenced in Exeter court on March 1. He appeared in Goderich court, Monday, and after pleading guilty,. was remanded for a pre- sentence report. Crown Attorney W.G. Cochrane told the court the London man arrived at the Dashwood sub- branch of the Bank of Montreal a few minutes before the 3:00 p.m. closing on January 21. He asked the two employees, Mrs. Helen Edwards and Miss Diane Holt, for a blank cheque and then left. He returned in a moment and after a brief con- versation, produced a gun and ordered the ladies into the back room and • to hand over the money. The money— more than $10,000 — was put in a bag apd Irwin ushered the two women into a washroom. The two escaped through a window and contacted pOlice. The court learned Irwin then, drove to the Hensall Hotel where he was arrested about 5:30 p.m, by Conitables Bill Glassford and Dale Lamont of the Exeter OPP. Okay copy machine, consider new, pickup Exeter council agreed this week to equip the clerk's office with a copying machine. Clerk Eric Carscadden was given authority to purchase the unit of his choice — with or without calling tenders. Thieves take cash and car Suggests cadet parade °as Grand Bend attraction A car and $250 in cash were taken in two thefts reported in the district this week. The money was stolen from the A&K Service Centre at the in- tersection of Highway 4 and the Crediton Road. The loss was reported Sunday. Entry had been gained by smashing a window, The car was also reported stolen early Sunday morning. It was taken from the Flay Town- ship farm of Clayton Merner. The vehicle was recovered Monday morning on concession T- in Usborne Township, near High- way 83, Councillor Tom Webster presented a suggestion to Grand Bend• council Monday night Which he said would provide the community withanunique tourist attraction, Webster proposed the village should sponsor a Cadet Day with the army cadets at Camp Ipperwash and other locations invited to stage a parade. He suggested the parade be held late in August just before the cadets leave Ipperwash and said, "this is a golden opportunity with all the talent right here on our doorstep." "I visualize We could have as Many as 10,000 troops in here. They would bring along their own band and we could add other marching musical groups," continued the GB councillor.. "This project could be ac- complished with very little effort on our part except for small donations from our merchants to provide a soft drink and hot dog for the visiting youngsters. "A senior Army officer could be on the reviewing stand to take the salute and We could provide Mason set damage at $630. Cars driven by Reid Hackwell, Exeter and Larry Glavin, RR 2, Lucan, collided in Huron Park at 2:05 a.m. Saturday, resulting in damage of $750. The accident involving the house occurred at 12:25 a.m, Sunday. A car driven by John Jeffrey, RR 2, Zurich, went out of control on the main street and collided with a parked car owned by Clarence Diebel , Dashwood. It in turn hit the home of Herb Turkhefm. Constable Bill Lewis set damage to the two cars at $1,400 and $75 to the house, The final crash of the week occurred at 5:05 p.m., Tuesday when vehicles operated by Elva E. Becker, RR 1, Dashwood, and Gerald Flynn, Hensall collided on the main street in Zurich. Constable Mason listed total damage at $250. During the week the local detachment officers charged 18 people under the Highway Traffic Act and issued warnings to another 14. There were four charges under the Criminal Code and five under the Liquor Control Act, a A snowmobiler sustained a broken leg and one house was damaged in accidents in- vestigated by the Exeter OPP detachment officers this week. Injured in the snowmobile crash was Robert Vanstone, Hensall. His machine went out of control in Hensall and collided with a tree. Damage to the machine was listed at $150 by Constable Dale. Lamont. On Wednesday at 8:45 a.m., cars driven by Lila Hume, RR 1, Kirkton and Bernard Koert, RR 1, Sebringville, collided on High- way 83 east of Exeter. Total damage was set at $2,000 by Constable Al Quinn. There was one accident, Thursday, it occurring at 7:00 p.m. when a car owned by Bob Wright parked at Bell Aerospace at Grand Bend was hit by an. unknown vehicle. Damage was estimated at $50 by Constable Bob Whiteford. On Friday at 12:05 a.m., a car driven by Paul Adair, RR 4, Parkhill, went out of control on County Road 21 and hit a fence owned by Ontario Development Corporation, Constable Don Skeoch Office Supplies of Goderich have had a machine on trial in the office for the past couple of weeks and Carscadden indicated Monday night he was finding it satisfactory. Cost of the unit is about $1,075. He advised council that the cost of producing one copy was three cents. , In approving purchase of the machine, council urged 'him to the take the advice of Councillor Tom MacMillan and order plenty of supplies. MacMillan .said supplies for machines were in short supply, due primarily to people hoarding supplies because they feared a shortage. Later in the meeting, council considered the purchase of a new pickup truck for the works department. "You keep saying next year, and I wonder if this is the year," works superintendent Glenn Kells explained in having the Subject aired, "If the public works com- mittees have the money, then okay," Reeve Derry Boyle stated in opening the debate. Roads chairman Ted Wright said he wasn't certain there was money in the budget for a new truck, but suggested specifications be drawn up for the vehicle and prices obtained from local dealers, However, Mayor Jack Delbridge indicated that a shortage -of supply could be a factor in the Matter toe, He said one local dealer had advised the PDC he wouldn't submit a price on a new truck because vehicles just weren't available from the manufac- turer. Grand Bend trophy for the best marching unit," Webster con- cluded. In order to stimulate further summer activities, Reeve Bob Sharen suggested the• town of Petrolia be asked to put on a parade in Grand Bend publicizing their upcoming Centennial, With this idea he also included Friedsburg Days in Dashwood and Zurich's Bean Festival, Propose park tor snoWmobilers As the result of a suggestion a few Weeks ago by councillor John Teevins, council will be sending a resolution to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources asking that the Pinery Provincial Park be made available for snoWmobiling in the winter months, In backing his original suggestion Teevins said, "we want snowmobilers here but there is ne place for than to enjoy their sport, The Pinery Park area away from the travelled portion would be an ideal spot," Teevins also asks that a $5 entrance fee be allowed snowmobilers for the couple of winter months. In backing his argument, Teevins said, "We pay $52 for insurance and $10 for a licence and we're, not allowed on the roads. We need some place to go, The costs for my snowmobile for only a couple of months is about two-thirds of what I pay for a truck and we can't use the high- ways." Earlier in the meeting Reeve Sharer) presented a riews release from the Select Committee on Motorized Snow Vehicles which showed 29 pascals had been killed in snowmobile accidents this winter up to January 21. Of these 29 fatalities, 20 oc- curred on municipal roads and 21 took place between hours of dusk and dawn, ' Taxei coming in In a financial report, clerk Mrs, 'Louise Clipperton revealed $52,599.65 had been received in the first installment Of 1974 taxes which was due Vriday, This is about e5 percent of the total roll. Please turn to page.,3 AN UNWILLING PAIIENT -- The guest speaker at Thursday's Meeting of the Exeter lions club, Warren Michaels of CJBK, London brought along some souvenirs Irom a recent trip to Chino. Above, Michaels it about to dernonstrate On acupuncture needle on Lion president Peter Raymond while vice-president Glenn Kent looks on, Bendix recalls 74 workers Production lines at the Bendix Home System Limited plants in Hensall are back to normal. In a news release Wednesday morning general manager Andy Intense said, "I3endix Horne Systems Limited are pleased to announce that 74 employees who were temporarily laid off have been called back," "Plent renovations to meet recreational vehicle and mobile housing sales caused the tem- porary layoff. As realignment of facilities has been completed construction of both types of units may now be accommodated." "Plexibility with the Remelt operation has how been achieved so production may remain continuous and Meet increasing market demands for travel trailers, motor homes and mobile housing," linenseltdded. T.A photo