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Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Volume 61 No. 08
Service levels named if a strike Cameron Orr The good news is that negotiations were still ongoing as of press time and no strike notice had been issued even as essential services levels had been set by the Labour Relations Board. Unifor 2300 said they wouldn’t issue any strike notice until an essential services ruling was made, but with the ruling made official last Tuesday, it’s been silent from both them and the District as they try to work out a new Collective Agreement. The ruling states that normal snow clearing operations would take place if five inches or more of snow accumulated in Kitimat. Bargaining unit members would also be deployed in tandem trucks if snow begins accumulating on arterial roads or on hills, the decision also says. Management staff, however, will be in charge of 24-hour coverage when it’s not snowing, which includes sanding and salting the roads and keeping drains clear. The essential services order says that the employer will have to use management to the best extent possible but union members could be called in to operate machinery for large snowfalls due to the increase in safety from those employees’ experience. Sewer and water systems will see crew members called out only for emergencies, qualified employees only for Tamitik Sports Complex will respond to any property alarms, and there is no essential services necessary for Riverlodge, the order states. For interments at the cemetery, the order states one heavy equipment operator for a back hoe, one labourer and one exempt employee will be called out.
Petitioner seeks a Quatsino walkway. /page 3 Hotels plan openings by end of the year. /page 8 PM477761
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
1.30 INCLUDES TAX
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All Native Tournament The Kitamaat Ladies team came close to a top finish but still walked away with a respectable silver in the finals at the All Native Tournament in Prince Rupert. Through two quarters, Kitamaat matched the Bella Bella ladies basket for basket, as there was no bigger lead than the four-point cushion Kitamaat had at the halftime buzzer, 31-27. In the final a big three-pointer by Bella Bella’s Lisa Grant pulled that team to within one point of the Haisla ladies starting the third and it wasn’t until Denise White and Yvonne Campbell hit back-to-back shots inside the box that the Heiltsuk team pulled away. It ended 71-59 for Bella Bella. Kevin Campbell
Promises not being delivered for Alexander townhome tenants Cameron Orr Despite promises from the developer, the residents at the Alexander townhomes have yet to receive any real formal relocation plan and the group of residents at the complex are concerned by the company’s behaviour. It’s not a matter of being against a redevelopment of the property that would result in all the residents being evicted — in fact renter Steve Everitt, who had expressed his concerns to council, agreed the plan to redevelop is a good thing, and he says his fellow neighbours in the complex agree, but he and others began receiving eviction notices even before any other contact with the property owners. The property is planned to be developed by company Coast to Coast, who has partnered with ROI Land Investments. The registered owner of the property is a numbered one, 1016566 BC Ltd Inc, based in Quebec City. Since Everitt spoke to councillors on his concerns at a public hearing regarding rezoning of that property, he said the landlords have come back with altered eviction terms. Now, instead of a $500 return if a tenant promises to leave early, Everitt said promises are being given for $1,000 to those who have to leave, and they’ve also been given numbers to other landlords in town for potential new places.
Everett said they’ve called the two numbers provided, one to the Whitesail townhouses next door to Alexander and to Kiticorp, and only Kiticorp had since returned his call, and was told there was no immediate openings. Everitt and his wife Connie say they won’t stay in Kitimat once they’re eventually out of their home. He will retire and head somewhere south in the province, as it’s just too expensive to keep living here. Even so he said he’s worried about the other tenants who will be looking for a new place. “It is a bit more appropriate,” he said about the improved $1,000 offer. Yet that money doesn’t tend to go very far in Kitimat these days, he said, given the various moving expenses and hook-up fees associated with a move. Tenants were expected to meet with a representative of the property owner on Monday for further information. Perhaps the most important thing tenants need though is time, said Everitt. At the time of the February 9 public hearing for the property rezoning councillors were concerned with the residents’ treatment so far. Continue on page 2