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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1989-01-31, Page 5• " \ • s„,,X:\‘„ „, \„ , • `‘`, • • •••• v \\K.:a \ st. \ • \ \ ,ss \ ••%. •k•• \ \ ••• \\\ \ \ \ • N \ $\••"! `z, \\`;‘,., \tft '•%`;‘,"';„•,%':',..4\,:\., , \\N • \ ..,,,z\\;`, • \\ \N„ \1•\ \ \\„„ \ •\N \ NN\ 'z:\\ \•:,\•\ • • s. \\,...-..••„,‘, •,,,i:,4,1,:••ft \\\,..: \•,., • \ \ NOVICE AND JUNIOR similar -pairs ice dance medal winners from the Wingham Figure Skating Club re- cently were presented with their trophies. They are: back, Shari Mundell and Jenni Kerr, Blaine Moore Trophy for Novice silver; Patricia Daer, Luella and Jack Kerr Trophy, gold, Junior; front, Lisa Alexander and Kara Neil, Blaine Moore Trophy, gold, Novice. St. Catharines man acts as mediator in dispute talks David Whitehead of St. Catharines has been appointed as mediator in the long-standing dispute between the Huron County Board of Education and its 390 elementary school teachers. Mr. Whitehead brings an ex- tensive background in both education and dispute resolution to the Huron contra et talks. He currently teaches organizational behavior at Brock University in St. Catharines and was formerly associated with the faculty of business administration at the University of Western Ontario, According to Jim Breckenridge, field service officer with the Education Relations Commission (ERC) in Toronto, Mr. Whitehead has been "a fairly busy third -party mediator" in education disputes in the past. The board and its elementary teachers have been negotiating since early last March, anticipating the expiry of their previous agreement on Aug. 31, 1988. Two earlier attempts at mediation were held last May and a fact- finding hearing was held on Sept.. 22. The talks broke down, however, as neither side k the dispute was able to find a way through the tangle of such unresolved issues as salary and benefits, preparation time and staffing, aniong others. In an action unprecedented, in Huron County, more than 300 elementary teacher staged a demonstration at 'the board offide in Clinton on Nov. 28 hi ati effort to draw media and public attention to their plight and to try to pressure the board into retuk . .g 'to the bargaining table. However, the board refused to hear the teachers at a public meeting and -HCBE chairman John Jewett ru10 the group out of order for attempting to negotiate in public. The teachers then 'left without in- cident. In a prepared statement released to the media just prior /to the demonstration, the teachers claimed that the board had been unwilling to meet with their negotiating team during the period of confidentiality of the fact-finding report The bOard refuted this, however, claiming that the upcoming municipal elections — and the possibility of new school board members being elected — was the delaying factor. Later, the board contacted the teachers again and on Dec. 16, representatives of both sides met to resume negotiations. The talks broke down once again, however, although both sides described the session as amiable. With the mediator's appointment, Mr. Breckenridge says the next step in the Huron County dispute is to try to set up another meeting between the two sides. Legislation governing collective bargaining between school boards and teachers has been in place since 1975, when the School Boards and Teachers Collective Negotiating Act — which created the ERC was passed by the Ontario legislature. The ERC has a number of func- tions including monitoring all negotiations, collecting and providing data to all parties in collective negotiations, assisting the parties in their negotiations, training third -party neutrals. The commission's functions also include adjudicating charges of bad - faith, and advising the lieutenant governor in council concerning jeopardy to students' courses of study in the event of a strike and -or lockout between boards and teachers. Ground rules for bargaining in the education sector state that bargaining in each jurisdiction begins in January of the year in which the agreement expires, and all collective agreements in the sector expire on Aug. 31. PRESS COUNCIL The Wingharn Advance - Times is a member of the Ontario Press Council which will consider writ- ten complaints about the publication of news, opin- ions and advertising. If a complaint cannot be re- solved with the newspa- per, it should be sent to the Ontario Press Coun- cil. 151 Slater St., Suite 708, Ottawa, Ontario KIP 5H3 I 0t: i') 1 Responding to increased pres sures on our cities, towns gad townships in areas such as healt care and provision of water and sewers, the province will increas grants to municipalities by 5.4 pe cent. This increase — which is higher than the rate of inflation — will allow municipalities to respond to dramatic increases in funding demands for important services. In order to target the increased spending to services that are in most need, Municipal Affairs Minister John Eakins has announced that grants for water and sewer projects twill increase by 11.3 per cent. The large increase in support for sewer and water projects follows concerns expressed by municipali- ties about the deterioration of the in- frastructure, which is go- important to the efficient functioning of our municipalities. In addition, the provincial gov- ernment has urged the federal gov- ernment to begin contributing to the cost of upgrading infrastructure in municipalities. Since the federal government has refused to meet its share of the cost so far, the province has kicked in extra to help muni- cipalities. Mr. Eakins als6's announced in- creases of 13.9 per cent for muni- cipal financing of day nurseries and an 8.3 per cent increase to meet municipal contribution toward con- servation authorities. Grants without any strings at- tached (known as unconditional grants) will remain at the same level as last year, in order that funding may go to these other areas of high priority. • •,work-inleOcturce ma* M „program pfoiride,„ h partiCipaots an .opportu minister,- protect aft' e PUNIC lands, inter* r resources. The 301110 receives free hoard and lodging in staffed camps .across the Oro**, as well as a basic wage of $15 per. day. To qualify, you must be • receiving secondary scboal education and be 17 years of age by Dec. 31, 1989, but not 18 on July 31, 1 9 (born between Aug. 1, 1971 anti., Dec. 31, 1972). Interested teenagers are en- couraged to apply as soon as possible, as each student is selected on a first-come, first -serve basis. The deadline for applications is March 31. Additional information is avail- able by calling the ministry's- youth programs office at (416) 965-1258. Forms and brochures are available at any of my three riding offices. New System I have recently announced a cen- trally -controlled marketing system for fresh wholesale asparagus grown in Ontario will be established. The Ontario Farm Products Mar- keting Commission recommended this action following an expression of opinion poll held in December 19 in which 71 per cent of asparagus growers casting a ballot were in favor of the • centrally -controlled marketing system. Fresh asparagus growers have made their position known on the need to establish a unified market- ing° system for their product in On- tario. I am pleased the new mar- keting system will be in place for the 1989 crop year, The Ontario Asparagus Growers' Marketing Board, which will ad- minister the new system, is under the supervision of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission. The system will be established under the Farm Products Marketing Act. There are approximately 300 fresh asparagus growers in Ontario. Junior Ranger Each year, young people from across the province express an in- terest in the Junior Ranger Program under the Ontario Ministry of Na- tural Resources. Last year, a total of 14 from Huron County spent a suc- cessful summer as Junior Rangers. For' those interested in outdoor Separate school board looks at pay equity issue The Huron -Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board has decided now is the time to find and correct any inequities which may exist in employee salaries. At its regular January meeting, the „board decided to hire the consulting firm Stevenson, Kellogg, Ernst and Whinney to develop a pay equity program for HPRCSSB employees. Bill Eckert, HPRCSSB director of education, said appointment of the consultants is to meet with provin- cial govermnent requirements which dictate that school boards must have a program ready by June 1989 to be implemented by January, 1990. Simply stated, pay equity is considered to be equal pay for work of equal or comparable value. Mr. Eckert explained that the hired consultants will study 13 employee groups within the Huron - Perth system, and the job descriptions of every employee classification evaluated and compared. The consultants will meet with every employee in each of the 13 groups and this dialogue is expected to result in clearly defined job functions for all. As part of the study, the employees will be asked to rate their particular job function against others on the scale. Onere, the study is completed and releaed, it will be presented to the board for its approval. Mr. Eckert does not anticipate any major inequities to surface as a result of the study. While admitting that inequities do exist at present, he said they are not so great as they cannot be cleared up. This is the first move by the board to correct any inequities which do exist. Previously, the HPRCSSB had been "studying the matter" of pay equity to become familiar with legislation on the issue, Mr. Eckert said. Should any amendments in employee salaries be necessary, the government requires that they begin next Jan. 1. In the Huron -Perth board, Mr. Eckert named two groups which have no male employees — secretaries and teacher aides. The HPRCSSB's directors are all male, he added. The study is estimated to take 15 to 18 weeks to complete at a cost of $18,000 to $19,000. Annual meeting is this Friday The annual meeting of the Belgrave-Auburn Co-op will be held this Friday in the auditorium of the Blyth Community Centre. The banquet and annual meeting starts at 7 p.m. Guest speaker for the event is Huron -Bruce MP Murray Cardiff. ; , I r