The Lucknow Sentinel, 1984-10-24, Page 14
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Printed in Lueknow, Ontario, Wednesday, October 4, 1984
Z4pages
Bruce county pu
Bruce County Public Health• nurses set
up picket lines in Lucknow and Wiarton
.yesterday as their strike against the: county'
enters its third week. The nurSes, who are
the lowest paid in Canada, .are seeking
parity with their \Counterparts in Grey -
Owen Sound and Surrounding counties.
.•
President of the union: local Betty
Hendriks tried unsuccessfully to present
the nurses's position to_connty council at
their October 16 session. The nurses had
• prepared a statement which was to be
read,• accompanied by copies of a. petition
signed by 1,200 -Bruce County, residents,
urging the county to return to negotiations
and get the nurses back to work. After
being. told she was on the agenda_ by othe
county clerk's office, Hendriks was told by
Bruce County warden Maurice Donnelly
she could; not appear before the council,
because she was not on the agenda.
Hendriks said she was not intending to
bargain with council but only to explain the
nurses' position, because the nurses do not
believe all council members understand
their reasons for not accepting the offer
made by the county board of health and
why the nurses. have been forcedinto a
strike.
There is a lot Of misinformation said
Hendriks in an interview with The
Sentinel, Friday. The nurses want to work
and should never have been forced out in
the first pja,:e. The finanee. 'Committee
apparently approVed .paritY the,iiffer
made by the board othealthVat. definitely
not parity, SafttitendlikS::,','.':
The nurses participated m a withdrawal
of services for two day durations, once a
week, from October 4 until October 11
when they were locked out by the county.
They have been without a contract since
December, 1983 and did not initiate a full
•
c health nurses picket in Lucknow
time strike' as was their right; because they
were -concerned for the health and safety of,
the people in the communities they serve.
When Hendriks could not appear before
county council, she submitted the state-
ment and petition to the council as
correspondence and it was read at the
meeting. Following the. meeting, several
county members approached the nurses
who attended the meeting, to tell them
they did not realize, prior to hearing their
statement, that all of the nurses were not to
receive parity in the offer made by the
county. The proposed two year salary scale
offered gave some of the nurses a minimal
salary increase of about two per cent.
The nurses' statement said giving them
parity with Grey -Owen Sound would mean
an increase of approximately 19 per cent,
As well as being the lowest paid public
health nurses in the country, according to
the Study of Public Health Units prepared
by the_ Ministry of Health released in
March of • this year, the, nursing staff
population ratio for Bruce County means
the county should employ 17 nurses. The
county budgets for and employs only 12
nurses.
In outlining their situation 'to county
council; the nurses pointed out that all
their non -monetary issues were ignored.
The offer eliminated retroactivity,. the
degree allowance, cut back on .the cost of
living allowance for mileage and introduc-
ed retrogressive language through the col-
lective agreement.
The nurses' statement to county council
requested council members assist the
nurses in having negotiations resumed, in
order to have the nurses return to work.
No one wants to be on strike, said.
Hendriks, but the nurses feel what they are,
doing is right. "We cannot accept an unfair
deal. We cannot remain the lowest paid
health nurses in the country forever. There
comes a time when you have to take a stand
for what you believe."
Hendriks said morale on the picket line
is gOod and the support froni other union
locals has been terrific. Nurses' organiza-
tions and other union locals have sent
money to contribute to the strike fund.
Since the county locked out the nurses
last week, it is up to the county to resUme
the negotiations. -
- • •
IN THENEWS °
Open fuel tenders.
Lucknow Village Council opened fuel
tenders to supply the Lucknow Arena and
Lucknow Fire Hall at their regular October
session.. The lowest tender of , W. A.
Hamilton Fuels was - accepted. Lucknow
District -Co-op also tendered with the
difference in the two tenders being less
than one cent.
Snow , Removal
One tender was received for the removal
of snow in the 'village. Kinloss Sand and
Gravel's tender of $37.50 an hour! for a
snowblower and $27,50 an hour for tandem
dump truck was. accepted. •
Sell hardware buiiiiesg
Ron Machan Hardware after 151/2 years
has been sold to Richard and Dixie Askes
of Lucknow, who will \take over the hard-
ware business November 1, under the
name of Lucknow Hardware Ltd.
Turn clocks back
this weekend
Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend
with the return to Standard Time. Turn
your clock back one hour Sunday, October
28, at 2 p.m'
•
Announce winners of Co-op baking contest
Five winners have been announced in Gloria Murray, gift package, Lucknow
the 40th birthday cake baking contest,
sponsored by the Lucknow District Co-op,
in conjunction with Co-op WeekOctober 15
- 20.
Winners included first, Margaret Lane
who wins a free colour consultation by
Maxine Alton of Over the Rainbow Colour
Consultants; June Gilchrist, second, gift
certificate from Mary Lou's Beauty
Lounge; third., Joanne Sproul, food vouch-
er, Fairview Foods; fourth, Joanne Doher-
ty, gift certificate, Sewing Box, and fifth,
Co-op.
. 'Honourable mention to those who also
entered, Helen Maclntyre, Nancy Macln-
tyre, Isabel Gaunt, Suzanne Andrew,
aandra Curran, Nancy. Gibson, Elaine'
Irwin, Betty Needham, Janet Wilkins and.
Margaret Errington.
Co-op balloons were released by stud-
ents at area schools, Brookside, Lucknow,
Kinloss, Kingsbridge, Ripley and Lucknow
Christian School, to mark Co-op Week.
Brookside principal Don Tremeer's
balloon was found in the Ripley area and
Kingsbridge students Constantin Ritgen ,
and Ray Dalton's balloons were also
discovered in the Ripley area by Henry
Hartemink and Tom Black.
Participation was good at the member
appreciation night on Wednesday at the
store when sales were reported brisk.
A copy of the book, The Farm, published
• as a salute to farmers during Ontario's
Hi -Centennial was presented to Harry
Lavis, a founding director, to mark the 40th
anniversary. of Lucknow District, Co-op, at
the Co-op dance Friday evening.
County council approves computer system
Huron County Council approved going
ahead with a $137,828 computer system for
three of its departments.
Only Exeter Reeve Bill 'Mickle and
Deputy Reeve Lossy Fuller were opposed
to making the purchase which was
approved at the October session.
Osama Sherif of London, an 'engineer
from Woods, Gordon, the consulting firm
which recommends buying the computer
system from MAI Canada United was on
hand to, answer council's questions. And
there were many.
1
.Deputy Reeve Fuller said she had
contacted a local computer salesperson and
they had' never heard of MAL Roth Mr.
Sherif and clerk -treasurer -administrator
Hanly said, the firm has been in
business for man'Y years. MAI has put
similar systems in other municipalities in
Ontario and is currently installing such a
computer system for Lambton County.
Mr. Sherif said there were two computer
vendors - MAI and Molnar Systems Group
that had their proposals compared. Initially
six firms were approached, including IBM,
but only the two systems mentioned Plus
R. J. Thompson Data Systems responded.
MAI is the selected system for several
reasons, said Mr. Sherif. The reasons
include the fact that MAI can be expanded,
the work of adapting the software to fit the
county is included in the wit of the system,
, . there is a shorter installation time - 11
months and an overall lower price by about
$15,000. *
There was a disappointment from county
councillors when Mr. Hanly said there
were no funds left' in a provincial grant
program for computers.
"Funds under this project are (dried up.
Maybe we can hope for, an election to bring
on more funds," said Mr; Hanly.
Huron County will end up with a
computer in both Goderich and Clinton.
The one in Goderich will 'Service both the
finance -administration and highways de-
partments and the one in Clinton will be at
Huronview for that institution. The system
also includes seven video display terminals
and four printers.
• The overall cost includes obtaining a
software license at $44,000, Other costs for
such things as computer room renovation
Nand air conditioning are also included.
Over and above the $137,000 figure
there will be an annual maintenance and
communication line fee of approximately
$9,000,
The county budgeted for $150,000 for the
computer system. '
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