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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-05-24, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, May 24, 1995 1 __iN TFIEniEL1l�_ Regional wrap up Blyth peace- keeper home BLYTH - After six months in Croatia with the Canadian Armcd Forces' peacekeeping Kevin McDougall is Blyth. a corporal in the �olian Dragoons ieut at CFB Petaw- le efforts of the pea - eel... ; .. give them a sense of accomplishment. "Being a peacekeeper gave me a different outlook on life," re- ported the North Huron Citizen. mission. hack h,.• All - candidate meeting in Huron HOLMESVILLE - A meeting to discuss agricultural issucs will be held at the Goderich Township Hall, at Holmesville on Tuesday, May 30, at 8p.m. The meeting, sponsored by the Huron Federation of Agricul- ture, will focus on farming but candidates will respond to ques- tions from the general public on any issue. Seaforth police force told to return boots SEAFORTH - After the Sea - forth municipal police force is officially disbanded this fall, all police boots are to be returned. This request came out of the May 10 meeting of the board, re- ported the Huron Expositor. The issue was discussed as a re- sult of four new pairs which were purchased after the deci- sion was made to disband the force. CN offers land to St. Marys ST. MARYS - CN has offered to sell the old 'Sarnia line' prop- erty to the Town of St. Marys which could be made into a sec- ond walkway. According to the St. Marys Journal Argus, the original Thames River Walkway has proven to be a tremendous success. The crown corporation has of- fered the land for sale at a price of $40,000. The town was hop- ing for a smaller price tag, per- haps similar to the arrangement made in the late 1980's for the ViA station which was pur- chased for S I . Area woman seeks help for parents of murdered child GODERICH - A Goderich woman has hoping to gain finan- cial support to help a Chatham couple attend the trial related to the brutal slaying of their seven year-old son. Anne Marie Lentz is working to help Dale and Deb Miller at- tend the trial of Jeffrey Wayne Manley, 19, who is charged with second degree murder in the slaying of Danny Miller. The Ooderich Signal -Star re- ported the preheating is sched- uled for June 18 and .the trial is rfhgin September 6 in Oode- c ale System to be updated dr Continued from front page beiner will be instructed to prepare a draft policy for requests for con- struction and encroachment on township road allowances. A delegation from the South- western Ontario Organization of Parachutists attended the May 16 meeting to ask council's support in their proposed relocation from the Grand Bend Airport to Huron Park Airport. The delegation included Liz Mann, Mary Watson and Steve Chapdclaino. ' Council voiced no objection to an application from Michael and James Veri for a minor exemption from the county tree cutting bylaw on their property at Lot 21. Con- cession 4. Council will request that a windbreak be planted along the north boundary of the property rather than the south side which is to consist of one metre high wind- break trees planted no greater than one rod apart. A request from the police village of Dashwood to allocate $10,000 of the township's infrastructure grant to the proposed Dashwood storm drains was deferred, subject to further information and justifica- tion from the trustees. inspections to follow complaints .r Continued from front page ommendation from deputy reeve Harry Wraith, the village of Lucan will nominate Frank Goring as a possible recipient of a Senior of the Year award. These awards going to seniors in all parts of the province will be presented by Lieutenant Governor Henry N.R. Jackman. Clerk Ron Reymer has been in- structed to advertise for ratepayers to volunteer to sit on a Citizen's ' Committee to look at sewage treat- ment plant operations and rates. Parks b an'etter dusk? In order fo prevent • valdalism, "Brad Laird of 131 NRdline'Avenue has suggested that council pass a bylaw banning any person in vil- lage parks between dusk and dawn. Laird felt this move would hopeful- ly prevent some vandalism. The consensus of council to en- acting this type of bylaw was it would prevent other law abiding citizens from enjoying the parks at night as well as during the day. Ask for toll booths to boost Lucan promotion LUCAN - Council has been asked by the Lucan Heritage Com- mittee for assistance in promotion of the village during a number of events this summer. In a letter from Mike Anderson and Bev Bumstcad, the committee says, " We would like to give you an opportunity to promote the vil- lage and at the same time raise awareness and possibly a few funds towards establishing a permanent museum in Lucan. On June 9 and 10, the committee would like p set up two toll booths on Main street in advertising their August 12 Heritage Festival as well as the growing Heritage Museum idea. The committcc says the toll booths in addition to publicity would give the public an opportuni- ty to make a donation towards their building fund. The letter continues, "In our con- tinuing efforts to involve young and old alike in our Heritage move- ment, the toll booths would be op - crated by Heritage committee mem- bers along . with minor baseball coaches and players. We feel this is a golden opportu- nity to promote the village of Lu - can as a caring community, full of pride and rich heritage." Council agreed in principle with the toll booth idea. Works superin- tendent Doug Johnston said it shouldn't be a big problem for traf- fic and clerk Ron Reymer added, "It would be a good idea to get OPP approval and check the insu- rance situation." Do you think that the strike has affected Hensall? it's not good. A lot of peo- ple will be out of work if they close the plant. Derek Robinson - Hensal! I didn't know we had one (a strike). Jamie Bedard - Hensel! So far, I think they have just been quiet. I think it will affect the town a little. Steve Towle - Hensall The majority of the affects ate on the strikers them- selves. Angela Volland - Hensall General Coach strike affects whole community or Continued from front page (ener)?' s'aid Zaranik. Pavolik shook his head in response. This could be due to the quiet nature of the strike and the employees. There has only been one incident on the line when an independent truck- er tried to cross the picket line two weeks ago. "They have been acting really decent," said Hoffman. "The strikers haven't caused any problems." Some of the local businesses are actually enjoying an increase in busi- ness since the strike began. "More people have been coming in because of the strike," said Tony Korianitis, a server at Three Boys Restaurant in Hensall. "They (strikers) will come in the afternoon for a beer or a coffee. Seriously, they didn't used to come in here." Korianitis hears the men as they talk over coffee. "They're pretty hap- py. They think they are getting their jobs back." The real issue for the community revolves around the plant shutting down permanently in Hensall, and moving production to one of the com- pany's many locations in the United States. Production has stopped in Hensall since the strike began, and seasonal orders for recreational vehicles must be filled. If the plant is pressured to leave, it could mean drastic losses to the local economy. The losses would not be entirely in wages as many of the employees are from out of town, but instead in terms of taxes and local supplies. While the weekly payroll at General Coach in Hensall is over $80,000. $50,000 a year is paid to the community in taxes, says a company spokesperson. Purchases made in the immediate area exceed $1,500,000 a year. Zaranik says he is not worried about the plant moving to the U.S. and Pavolik agrees. "The threat is always out there," said Zaranik. "Another guy who has been here for 21 years said they told him 20 years ago that they were jnoving to the States," said Pavolik. With a different labour market today, the possibility of relocation is stronger than ever. The company refuses to comment on any plans to move the plant, and the community continues to watch and wait as the tension rises. Both sides at General Coach feel that they have very fair "final" offers on the table. Negotiations have not 'resumed since the workers went out on strike. When the supervised vote to be held by the Ministry of Labour on May 10 was cancelled, the company took it upon themselves to reach the in- dividual employees. A letter was sent by courier to each home, detailing the company's offer and providing an explanation for cancelling the vote. The letter summed up how the company, the union and the Ministry had met to plan the vote. The original offer put forward by management was then changed, and the union refused to allow the supervised vote on this new offer. "...your Union refused to allow the package to change and insisted that the vote be conducted on the original outdated package," states the letter from management. "On May 10, 1995, we approached your Union and requested them to take this improved offer to the membership for a vote by secret ballot. Unfortunately, the Union refused..." Union leaders were furious at this move by management, and this only added to the growing mistrust. The union is primarily concerned with the company's proposal to hire cheaper employees at $4.00 less an hour. They feel that their jobs will be threatened by a seasonal influx of employees who will work for le... Management have increased the starting rate for new emplt'\.. their last offer, to bring the difference to $3.00 an hour. As for wage increases, there may have been some misundeni ..lin, after an article in the T -A last week. The offer from management i. a raise of 15 cents an hour effective upon ratification of the contract, and additional 15 cent increases at six month intervals, totalling 75 cents. The union is concerned with the company's position on retroactive pay. Union officials say that the increase should be retroactive from the expiry date of the last contract September 30, 1994. The company dis- agrees. The employees are also looking to start a pension plan for the first time at the Hensall plant. Both the issue of cheaper employees and the pension plan are pre- dictable sticking points as the majority of the union members are long term employees. One employee who was involved with the union for 12 years, estimates that 90 of the 140 workers have been with General Coach for over 10 years. "We're scared to death of this $4.00 an hour cheaper workers. Why are they fighting so hard for it if they don't want to use it?" said Zaranik. General Manufactured Housing Inc. (G.M.H.) in Hensall produce mo- bile homes. G.M.H. employees are members of the same union as Gen- eral Coach workers, and have accepted a lower offer than the one being offered at General Coach. According to a General Coach company spokesperson, the strikers stand to earn more per hour than other area manufacturers pay,'referring to G.M.H. and Glendale in Strathroy. When the union officials were asked why they should expect more money and different terms for the same type of labour, they state that it comes down to ownership and volume. "They are single ownership at the other plant (G.M.H.)," said Zaranik. "We can understand them taking that offer over there. General Coach is a multinational corporation. Also because of the volume of business we are doing here." As for the citizens in Hensall, they are starting to take notice of the dispute. What if the plant shuts down? What about the office staff caught in the middle? What about the families who have parents that work at the plant? The company has already sent production for its shuttle bus line to Michigan in a move that is not necessarily strike -related. it is not ex- pected this work will ever return to the Hensall plant. With the summer quickly approaching, the 140 strikers realize that customers will be ex- pecting their R.V.s. The pressure is rising, and there are mixed feelings on predicting an end to this dispute. Both sides remain strong. "If they decide to close the plant, they'll close it," says Zaranik. "There is life after General Coach." Osborne twp. to EXETER - At a recent meeting. Usbome township council agreed to resurface treat two stretches of road in the municipality. Getting the new surfaces will be Concession 2 and Concession 4, both from Huron street (sidcroad 16) to Huron county road 6. This decision came after road su- perintendent Ken Parker reported Ministry of Transportation approv- al was not given for a new grader and Parker reviewed prices for var- ious used road graders as well as prices for various forms of road surface treatments. Parker also reported that gravell- ing of township roads has begun and the scales at Cook's Mills are being used to check load weights. He has been in touch with B.M. Ross & Associates concerning en- gineering of the Usborne-Biddulph boundary road curve and the town- ship grader will be used briefly in Stephen township at the Faith Tab- ernacle Church property. Reeve Pat Down indicated she has been approached by the owner of property at part of Lot 14 , Con- cession 3 regarding paving of the road in this area. Councillor Ken Oke advised council that the Community Orient- ed Policing Officer has expressed concern regarding alcohol use by students. in regard to council's instruction to sell used equipment from the Willis farm, estimated values of the used pump, pipe and wiring are be- ing reviewed. • The decison to name one person to the Huron Municipal Addressing r NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS TO .� DESTROY WEEDS J4OTICg is hereby given to all persons in possession of land in accordance with the Weed Control Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter W5, Section 3, 16 and 23, that unless noxious weeds growing on their lands within the Municipality of Township of McGillivray are destroyed by date of June 3, 1995, and throughout the season, the Municipalities may enter upon the said lands and have the weeks destroyed, charging the costs against the land in taxes, as set out in the Act. The cooperation of all citizens is earnestly solicited. • John Trott, Shirley Scott, Weed Inspector Township of McGillivray, Clerk resurface roads Committee has been deferred until August when the crew will be work- ing in Usbome. In her report clerk -treasurer San- dra Strang provided a summary of Canadian -Automatic Data Process- ing Ltd payroll services and council concurred that the payroll functions continue to be administered by staff. in discussion of the 1995 budget, council agreed that the grant to the South Huron Rec Centre be set at $15,825 which is the same as the 1994 grant. A final draft of the bud- get will reflect other input concern- ing transfers to and from reserves. Amasxuncetnent Ross Long, President of Exeter Insurance Brokers Ltd. is pleased to announce Brian Clarke has joined our Exeter office. Brian as a licensed general Insurance broker is able to discuss your auto, home and business Insurance needs. Feel free to call 235-2211. or 1-800-434-8242 Exeter Insurance are general insurance brokers with offices in Exeter, London, Simmcoe, Woodstock and Blyth. EXETER sRottns tic. I11T5URANCE J