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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-10-21, Page 1Goy 1 erich 139 YEAR — 42 GODERICH ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1987 60 CENTS PER COPY Urban rebates may Following a test run during the regular October session of Huron County Council, the hot issue of proposed cutbacks in the level of urban rebates has been handed back to the county roads committee for further study. Urban rebates are considered to be the county's contribution toward road work in its towns and villages. Although the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act sets the minimum rebate at 25 per cent of the amount levied on the urban municipality for county road purposes, Huron County has set the urban rebate level at 45 per cent. The maximum under the act is 50 per cent. The roads committee recommended the level of urban rebates be decreased to the statutory minimum 25 per cent. The corn- mittee's rationale for the move is that it would provide approximately $170,000 in 1988 which the county could use to increase the work on its road system. Reductions in provincial funding for be cut by county municipal roadwork over the past decade have resulted in a substantial backlog in roads requiring improvement, County Engineer Dennis Merrall pointed out in a report which accompanied the committee's recommendation. Throughout that report, however, Mr. Merrall avoided making any clear cut recommendation for the county to reduce the urban rebates. Several times in his report he makes it clear that the urban rebate level is not an engineering issue, but Moses the cat took advantage of Animal Health Week (Oct. 19 to 25) to stop in at the Goderich Veterinary Clinic, Tuesday, for a check from Dr. Nancy Ridder. The clinic is planning two open house dates Saturday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Nov. 7 in order to give the public the opportunityto tour their animal treatment, surgery and boar- ding facilities. Moses, by the way, was givens t clean bill of health. (photo by Patrick Raftis) Marine engineers strike A marine engineers strike now entering its fourth week could be over with by Thursday afternoon, Joe Cummings, vice- president of Canadian Marine Officers Union, said Tuesday morning in a telephone interview from his St. Catherines office. Cummings said a tentative agreement was reached over the weekend during a meeting in Montreal with the Canadian Lake Carriers Association. Details of the agreement could not be released since a blackout on the information has been in- stilled until after voting has occurred. Union members are to meet in St: Catherines Thursday morning to discuss and vote on the agreement. "•If the members accept the agreement, the engineers will be back on the job within 24 hours. If it is not accepted, we will still be on strike," Cummings said. Locally, the strike affects "five or six men in Goderich," Cummings said. Paul Mellor, a Clinton resident and third engineer based in Goderich, is one of the men affected by the strike. He noted he was "fairly optimistic" that the strike would end Thursday. Mellor explained as a marine engineer, his job consists of maintaining all propul- sion equipment on a ship. "Because of our obligations to the safety of the ships, when we strike we have to take the ship to the nearest harbour or to its next port and make sure it is at safe anchorage before we walk. off." Since the strike began, the marine engineers in Goderich have maintained pickets on a shift pattern. However, Mellor said, "the pickets were withdrawn Friday in a show of good faith." According to Ivan McConnell, opera - a political one. Mr. Merral's report suggests any addi- tional funding for the county road program would help reduce the backlog faced by his department, however, "whether county council increases the road budget through a general increase in the county levy, or through a reduction in urban rebates should not be a concern to the county engineer.' Colborne Township Reeve J. R. Ker- nighan, roads committee chairma,p, called Turn to page 12 • SED project studies county unemployment In July of this year a program, called the Severely Employment Disadvantaged pro- ject, or the SED project, was set up to study unemployment in Huron County. . The purpose of the project was to find out how many unemployed there are in Huron County, how severe their situation is, and what can be done about it. The practical goal of the, four member team who did the research for the project was to submit a report to a steering committee. The report was to outline the team's findings and give their recommendations about what should be done for the unemployed in our area. Recently the researchers submitted the first draft of their report to the committee, and although it is not yet open to the public, it is- 98 per cent cornplet, and they did. release some of their findings concerning what is going on with unemployment in Huron County. The co-ordinator of the project, Mark Seasons, says Huron County is the victim of certain global and national trends. Changes in the agriculture and manufacturing in- dustries have a direct affect on the number and types of jobs that are available to socie- ty on a local level. Because of international trends, the pro- ject members say they believe there are _roups that w})1.kle.,at,.n high „risk. of,) unemployed or under -employed in the next 10 years. These groups include displaced factory workers, displaced farm workers, and people who. are currently 'under- employed or are working at a job that is less than the skill level they are trained for. The project members also concluded there are specific segments of society that , are in trouble when it comes to finding employment, those being single people under 24, people over the age of 55, and the developmentally handicapped. The project pinned down Huron County's unemployment figure at 7.1 per cent. This is lower than the provincial .and national unemployment figures, so unemployment doesn't seem like a big problem in Huron County \at the present time. But the concern Turn to page 2 • Two charged could end Thursday tions manager at Goderich Elevator Limited," the strike has not affected local shipping business. . "The strike has not affected our business because the line which we use, P and H Shipping, was not affected by the strike and with the other shipping company, M.M. Paterson and Sons Limited, we haven't experienced any problems," Mc- Connell said. No-one was available for comment at Domtar Sifto Salt Mine. The Canadian Marine Officers' Union, which consists of "approximately 300 marine engineers, five or six of whom are in Goderich", has been on strike against the Canadian Lake Carriers Association since September 28. In a telephone interview from his office last Thursday morning, Cummings ex- plained why the union was on strike. Basically, the union went on strike in response to a new contract which, although it gave a wage increase, took` away concessions which the union wanted to keep. "What they (the Canadian Lake Car- riers Assocation) are saying is, that they offered. us a 2.7 per cent Wage increase in the first year when we were asking for only 2.5 per cent. 'But, what they aren't saying is they want to take away all the things in our contract such as working on Sundays," Cummings said, adding, "There would really be no raise, in fact we would be making less." At that point he noted the union intended to stay on strike until the situation could be resolved. "Things could change on a daily basis," he noted. Normal mail flow resumes as postal strike ends Normal mail flow resumed across the country Monday, as 23,000 striking members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers returned to their jobs, including eight inside workers at the Goderich Post Office. Workers returned to their jobs under threat of federal back -to -work legislation, which became law Friday, pro- mising heavy penalties for non- compliance: Union members were protesting a Canada Post plan to sell postal franchises to the private sector, a prospect which could elin'iinate nearly 5,000 union wicket jobs (paying $13.43 per hour) over the next five years. Canada Post has promised to guarantee employment for , displaced workers, but for many, it would mean a switch from straight days to nights. Donald Wright, a spokesman for the striking Goderich CUPW members, said "there's a chance," such a move by Canada Post could affect employment at the Goderich office among the five full- time inside workers and eight part-timers. Local workers currently work only when the office is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. "If a person lost a job here, jobs'would be offered in London, Stratford and Sarnia and it wouldn't be a day job," explained Wright. Workers began picketing in shifts out- side the local post office on Oct. 13. They Striking Canada Post inside workers picketed in front of the Goderich Post Office, on East Street, last week, as part of a nation-wide protest by Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) members against a plan by Canada Post to contract out some postal services. Workers were legislated hack to work and returned 'to thier jobs, Monday. (photo by Patrick Raftis) carried signs and, while they did not at- tempt to prevent people from entering the office, discouraged customers from mak- ing purchases inside. Wright said last Wednesday that public reaction to the pickets was "good". .. n lot of people are showing support. support. I haven't seen anynegative reaction," he said. Wright noted that some people turned back when they saw the pickets and "I know for a fact that some unions (other local unionized workers) are holding back their mail". Local mail was kept moving during the strike by use of replacement inside workers and regular letter carriers, whose union (Letter Carriers Union of Canada) has anWgreement with CUPW allowing each to cross the other's picket lines. Wright said CUPW wants the public to realize that during the strike the post of- fice was "manned by scabs". "In our opinion, there's no chance of these scabs getting any kind of a job with Canada Post ( after the strike)," he said. Local Postmaster Ken Dobney said all Goderich CUPW members were back at work Monday and all replacement workers were let go. He said there were no plans to hire any re6lacement workers on permanently. Dobney also said the local office has not experienced a large backlog of work because of the strike, as has been the case in some larger centres. The back -to -work legislation provides for a three-month period of mediation, to he followed by binding arbitration if an agreement can not be reached. in break-ins Goderich Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police have charged two Auburn men for a rash of break-ins and vehicle thefts which occurred Thanksgiv- ing weekend. Six vehicles were stolen and five buildings were broken into. The Break- ins occurred at the Lucknow liquor store, The Clinton Gas Bar, a Clinton residence and two storage trailers owned by Hurori County Highways. Thefts occurred in each of these places. All but one of cars were damaged. Damage estimated at $35,000. One of the accused is 18 -years old and the other 19. One has been released on bail, while the other remains in custod"y PC Patrick Carter and PC John Phillips were the Investigating Officers. Country Fair displays crafts The annual Colborne 'Township Christmas Country Fair, a display and sale of local arts and crafts, began today at the Saltford Valley Hall. Billed as The Original Western Ontario Craft Show tp Promote Craftsmen and a Community," the show features the work of both local and regional arts and crafts specialists. The event will run on three dates: Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a:in. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 24, from noon to 5 Among the featured crafts this year will be tole ant, wooden toys, macrame, creative mirrors, silk flower ar- rangements, pressed wildflowers, stained glass, leather work, knitting, weaving, twine mats jewellry and others. Fresh baking and produce will also be available. Blood needed by Red Cross With the London unit of the lied Cross, chronically short, of blood for transfu- sions, the upcoming Blood Donor Clinic at Goderich District Collegiate Institute is extremely important at this time. The donor clinic will be held at the school on Wednesday,.Oct. 28, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Local clinic co-ordinator Mary Donnel- ly said that while all blood types. are needed, the Red Cross is particularly Short of the rare RH Negative _type. Donelly said the organization hopes to collect 300 units of blood at the clinic. Free babysitting for donors will be pro • - vided by the (.aDCI students council froin 2 p.m: to 5 p.m., . The clinic is staffed by London Red • Cross workers with the aid of loyal volunteers and the co-operation of the Goderich Lions and Kinsmen Clubs. Time -marches.. .back Sunday Time usually marches on. However this Sunday, Oct,. 25, it marches back precisely one hour in the annual fail. switch from Daylight Saving Time, to Standard Time. The switch means you will have to get up one hour earlier Sunday to keep in step with the new schedule – so don't forget to set your clocks back. The offical time for the change is 2 a.m. Sunday morning, however, everyone except the true night owls should remember to change their clocks 'before going to bed Saturday night. Just to, be sure. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR Upcoming sale The Huron Tract Spinners and Weavers Guild are gearing up for their annual Sale and Exhibition of Spinning and Weaving to be held in Benmiller the first weekend of November. Goderich resident Cathy Dykstra has been spen- ding a lot of her free time weaving rag rugs and other items for the sale. For story and pictures, see the front page of the Community section. Special sections Included in this week's Signal -Star are two special publications: The Robertson School edition and a Car Care supple- ment. Students at Robertson worked very hard at writing stories, selling and designing ads. taking pictures and help- ing lay -out the newspaper. We hope you take a few moments to look at the good results. Our Car Care supplement pro- vides general car care tips as well as how to prepare your vehicle for the onslaught of winter. 1