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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-04-15, Page 1133 YEAR -15 :SIGNAL -STA -, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 1981 50 CENTS PER COPY Mine workers go out on strike Workers of the Domtar Sifto Salt Mine set up picket lines here Monday after contract'negotiations• with the company fell through. . The miners, tradesmen and surface. workers were in a legal strike position at midnight Sunday after six days of mediation inStratford failed to produce a new agreement. The 217 members of Local 16 of the Energy and Chemical Workers Union (ECWU) completed a three-year contract with the company March 31 and talks between the sides and Bert Stevens of the mediation .branch. of the Ministry of Labor broke off Sunday. Guy Robinson, president of Local 16, said the anion's 'main. •demands centre, .on language clarification,. hours, premium pay, overtime and health and safety conditions. He claims some of the contract language dates to 1914 and,is antiquated. The mine is a seven-day operation and the union wants the hours 'specifically spelled..out in the con- tract as well as overtime concessions. Mali owner objects to land zoning Western Auto Parts Limited, owner and developer of a •mall in Goderich Township, has registered an objection to the proposed mini mall on Bayfield road. - - -In-a--letter-to eouncil- Siegal --and-Fogler-,-solicitors- for Western Auto Parts, issued'an objection to bylaw 24. of 1981,. re;oning a parcel of land on Bayfield Rpad to accommodate the mall. The land was rezoned to highway commercial to pertpit the construction of a 10,652 square foot mall. The proposed mall would contain a convenience store, a health spa and a`donut-coffee shop. Inthe letter to council, the solicitors suggest there is sufficient vacant commercial space in the town to accommodate •all of the uses proposed in the mall., The letter adds that additional commercial. floor. space in the form of a mall could prove,, damaging to the entire . commercial -infrastructure of the municipality. , The solicitors asked that all background planning reports on the subject be forwarded. Clerk Larry McCabe said the mall is obviously outside the 400 foot circulation limit and that -the 21 - .Any uulecuon pertoa naa passes. The letter was received and filed. Want -land to build church The Goderich Christian Reformed Church has expressed interest in a piece of landoff the Suncoast • Drive extension for the construction of a new church. In a letter to council, Mona Bruiiis-ma of the church' building committee said the Christian Reformed Church is looking for property to construct a new building. She asked if land was available on the north side of the proposed Suncoast extension, to the west of the Graham electric building. Councillor Stan Profit questioned whether the land could be, rezoned to accommodate a church since council had designated the kind for industrial development Council referred the matter to ' the Economic Development Committee asking for a recom- mendation. Watch for phony bills . BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Fraud and firecrackers are under investigation by Goderich police this week. On Monday, a phony invoice showed up in Goderich and was turned in to police. Chief Pat King says the invoice lookslike a bill and tries to trick the receiver into.sending money. At the bottom of the invoice, in small letters, is the statement, "This is not an in- voice...send cheque payable to..." Chief King says this constitutes fraud and he is asking those people who receive invoices to check them over carefully and if suspicious, turn them in to police for further investigation. Several complaints about firecrackers have also beet received by police this week. It is reported that some have been thrown at cats and some at groups of children. One was also put in a boy's pocket while he was held down. Most of the complaints have stemmed from the Robertson school areabut other parts of town have also been mentioned. A by-law in Goderich makes it illegal to set off firecrackers with the exception of family displays on July 1. Certain types of firecrackers which are considered dangerous are riot to be set off at any time of the year. Chief King suspects that some students bought firecrackers in the United States while returning home from trips to Florida after the March break and he warns that it is illegal to 'bring these firecrackers into Ca nada. It is also illegal to sell these firecrackers to other students. The Chief is asking those parents who know their children have firecrackers, to get rid of them before someone gets hurt. He warns that those children caught with firecrackers will be charged and fined. 41. "We have no control over the hours working on a seven-day operation," he said. We don't want 4o stop the seven-day operation but are seeking premium pay for •Saturday and an overtime ad- justment for Sundays." . The union is seeking premium pay for Saturday work and double time for any hours worked in excess of the 40 hour work week. Under the old three-year agreement the average hourly wage rose to $9.47 and Robinson says'that rate has fallen behind related pay in the Goderich area. The employees are looking for' a 20 per cent increase in a one-year contract, Robinson said, to bring the sktlieu t a tes on a par with otner industry. 1► auesmen 'nowearn $10.06'anhourwhile-atop-rated miner earns $9.32. Union members are paid an underground premium of 15 cents per hour but have asked the company for a five per cent increase for underground workers. But Robinson says the key issue in the strike is safety. ' "Safety has been an ongoing fight with the, com- pany and is .the key issue here," .he said. "Proper procedures of safety have to be laid out but- the - company says we're working in a safe place." The union would like a one-year agreement` Claiming the last three-year deal offered no protection against inflation.. ' "We got severely beaten by inflation on the last .agreement." .Robinson said. "We are digging in for what is necessary and we'll hang on for our demands which we think are modest." Dorion Billing of Domtar's Labour Relations Department in Toronto says that half of'the 83 issues were unresolved when talks broke off Sunday. He said the company offered $1.22 an hour increase in the first year of a two-year agreement and $1.11 in the second year: Mr. Billing said,that in relation.to the union's safety demands, the company is in compliance with government regulations. . •. "We are in compliance with Bill 70 and abiding by the law," he said. "It's all governed by. legislation. Ninety-eight per cent of the union membership. voted in favor of strike action Sunday and Billing said there is no indication talks between the company and union will resume in the near future. Three nabbed for ` conspiracy Three persons have been charged by the Ontario Provincial Police with conspiracy to rob the Auburn branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce on September 19,1980. The robbery attempt was aborted and a subsequent roadblock and investigation by the OPP failed to turn up any clues. One of the .suspel ts. was arrested April _10 Elliot Lake Provincial Police and is in jail in Walkerton. On Sunday, two Kincardine residents were arrested by Goderich and Kincardine OPP and charged with conspiracy. Both were released and will appear in court April 24. The investigating officers are Constable Lorne Carter, Goderich and Jim Renwick, Kincardine. Members oU ocal 16 of -the Energy and.Chemical Workers Union set up pickets outside the Domtar Sifto Salt Mine Monday after contract negotiations broke off: The 217 tradesmen, nilners and surface workers are seeking a new one-year contract after their three-year agreement expired March 31. The milon- dentands centre _on pay;; houril of work, overtime, contract language and health and safety measures. ( Photo by Cath .Wooden Envirosound to relocate in Guelph BY JOANNE BUCHANAN There was some good news and some bad news for members of .the Goderich Economic Development Committee (GEDC) when they met last Thursday.' First the good news: Huromic Metal Industries Limited, located in the town's Industrial Park,. wants to buy more'land for expansion of its business. Now the bad news: Envirosound Incorporated, also located in the Industrial Park; is moving its business to Guelph. Sandy Mathieson of the Queen Elizabeth wing at Victoria Public School had a chance to become acquainted with the Easter Bunny last Thursday when he paid an early visit to Goderich to give out treats. Here, they engage in a bit of versetia>n before he movers on to the class. ( Photo by Joanne Buchanan) personal con- kindergarten GEDC member• s, whose main purpose is trying to attract industry to town, were disappointed to hear the'news about Envirosound and company president, Terry Wilton, was disappointed to have to give -it. "It is with great reluctance that we are leaving. We have been very happy here. The people' and town' council have treated us well and have been very helpful. It is purely a matter of economics. We are just too far removed from. our direct market area in Goderich,=' he said in a recent telephone interview with Signal -Star. Envirosound, a company which has been around in one form or another for the past eight years, produces electrostatic water treaters. Wilton and his father, Louis, started the company after reengineering and refining the treaters. They moved to a small building located at 197 Huckins Street in the Industrial Park about' a year ago. • "Up until a few months ago, our business was almost totally in the export trade .(to the U S.) but now the Ontario market has started to open up The Toronto -Kitchener -Guelph industrial base is opening up (oras and we can work more fully in that area," explained Wilton. Envirosound's machinery runs Under 50 per cent of the time to make its water treaters, he said, and by moving to the city, more contracts can be obtained for making other products to keep the machinery moving all the time, thus making more profit. Five of Envirosound's nine employees will be relocating in Guelph with the company and ap- prentices can train at nearby Conestoga College. A building is being leased in the city and the one in the Industrial Park here will be sold. "It was one of the hardest decisions we have ever Turn to page I t3 Council tables decision on arena auditorium. rental Goderich town council was caught in the middle Monday when Frank Little asked councillors to reverse a decision of the recreation board and allow him use of the arena auditorium for a fund-raising project. Little approached the recreation board at its April 2 meeting and asked for free use of the auditorium to hold a fund-raising seminar Friday May 1. The profits would be used to purchase a new tractor for the raceway. Recreation board members listened to the appeal and referred the matter to new business later in the agenda in order to set up a payment scale for use of the auditorium in relation to the funds raised by Little. Mr. Little said he left the meeting at that point believing the recreation board would establish a payment scale on the, rental fee in relation to the success of the event. Later the board refused Little's request for free rental and no scale was established. In his appearance before council Mondafy, Little asked councillors to overule the recreation board decision. "I have proposed a fund-raising seminar to pur- chase a tractor for the race track and although I asked the recreation board for free use of the auditorium, I left the meeting with the understanding that payment would be on a floating scale, depending on the success of the seminar," he said. "I was prepared to put up $125 to clean the hall to the manager's satisfaction or forfeit that money but I understood I had the hall under those terms."' Mr. Little added that tickets for the event have already been printed and sold in many racing com- munities and he asked that his own community help with the project. Councillor Elsa Haydon said Mr. Little presented his case CO the recreation, board as an. individual since he is not affiliated with the Goderich Trotting Association. "We suggested a sliding scale to pay part of the rent but there was no commitment on the board's part and he didn't hake to leave the meeting," she said. "Recreation board members have a tendency to support children's programs and not grownup organizations who are short of money." Haydon added that the recreation board would not Tar n t o page Il • INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR Artist at library Goderich Township artist, Leda McAlister has emerged from her solar -heated Gallery on the Bluff north of Bayfield and is showing an exhibition called litho Plus at the Gode rich Public Library until April 21: See Joanne Buchanan's story and picture on page IA. ' How melodramatic The Grade 8s of Robertson School presented the melodrama. Justice and Triumph Virtue Again, a play that has revealed hidden talents in Goderich children See pictures throughout thepaper Full house at Blyth On page IA. Joanne Buchanan revle.s • Maggie and Pierre', which played to sold -out audiences at Rlyth•last week. Linda Griffith gave a sensitive. sympathetic and sometime% hilarious portrayal of the dashing prime minister and his bride. Rogular Features Tid Bits Pg. 2 Real Estate .. Pg. It 17 ()hits Pg. 5 R. Board . . . Ps 1 Columns Pg. 4 Church . 1'a ' 1 .j Editorials Pg. 4 Farm • Pg 10 11 1 Sportfi. Pg. 11 C. Comet 1'g. 12 % ('lagisified.... Pg. 12-15 1.. Rack 1'g. ,41 1