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Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Volume 61 No. 09
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
$
1.30 INCLUDES TAX
District of Kitimat workers on strike Cameron Orr Bargaining between the District of Kitimat and Unifor 2300 has seemingly broke down, with the District on one hand saying they’ve given a generous offer and the union on the other saying their issues aren’t being addressed. The District of Kitimat gave a final offer to settle to the union last Thursday, Mayor Phil Germuth said through an open letter, which he said keeps the union to among the best-compensated workers in the province. His letter also notes that while a brighter economy still lays on the horizon, the community simply cannot handle the burden of what they say would be a 12 per cent property tax increase. “Many people, including seniors and others on fixed incomes, could be negatively affected,” he wrote. Due to the strike, the Riverlodge, the Tamitik Arena and the Kitimat Ice Rink, and the swimming pool are closed, while picketers are lined up outside the Public Works yard and at the entrances to City Centre Mall, where the District of Kitimat have their offices on the third floor. The landfill remains open but there is a union presence at its entrance as well. The District on February 28 released a document outlining their offer to the union, which sees 2.5 per cent wage increases every year up to 2017. They say they’ll also add 10 full time positions over two years in the Leisure Services Department, and a list of nine other promises, from better training to an agreement to enter into an apprenticeship program. The District through their release repeated that “the [DoK] has been bargaining in good faith, wishing to reach a settlement with Unifor 2300. Oh but were it that simple. The union sees the District of Kitimat’s public communications as bargaining through the media and do not see their actions as being done in good faith.
Unifor 2300 workers picket at the Public Works yard Monday, March 2. “When the District of Kitimat’s bargaining representatives, including Mayor and Council, resorted to the oldest trick in the bargaining and politics book, where they try and pull the wool over the public’s eyes by distracting the public’s attention from all of the serious issues in the work place as a whole and try and make it all about money and add in a few Bandaid solutions, we were shocked and surprised,” read an open letter penned by Unifor 2300. In particular the union was shocked that the direction from the District’s bargaining representatives came from Mayor and Council itself, calling it “childish communica-
tion and inflammatory statements.” With what the union saw as an “abusive relationship” from the council to the employees, the union say they have decided to post information of their own to shed light on “what is really going on.” The union issued a flyer over the weekend with a number of concerns, saying the District is exploiting women in the workplace, denying training opportunities, and denying a DoK and Alcan historical wage relationship, among a number of other issues. Continued on page 2
The tale of Kitimat’s zero dollar home In the words of a Kitimat Housing Resource worker, it’s messy. Not the property itself that is — even as the District of Kitimat treasurer says it would need a lot of work to be liveable — but rather the circumstances to how a small, dilapidated trailer in Vista Village has become the problem of the town itself. Trailer J7 in Vista Village has been through three owners — sort of — and the town administration
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has all but given up collecting the remaining $1,373.84 worth of property taxes and wants council to give the word to start the process of writing them off, which involves sending a letter to the provincial government to allow it. All this, however, leads to one unanswered question: should the District even give in to the request, given the anything-but clear cut situation in the trailer park? Housing Resource Worker Paul Lagace,
who has certainly been noticed by park owner Lee Ann Wolfin given a lengthy report from her lawyer to council on the subject of this trailer, which refers to him a number of times, told councillor February 23 that he would encourage holding off on allowing a tax write-off until a dialogue can be opened to sort out residents’ issues. So the history, according to lawyer Michael Gemmiti’s report, is that in 2012 a recent owner of the trailer moved in without notifying management. The owner was allowed to stay in the park on
conditions that they upgrade the trailer and provide proof that the trailer was bought from the previous owner. This new owner proved to be a bad tenant, the letter continues, and repairs were never made and rent not paid on time. In 2013 the ownership was called in to question as well, as the registered owner was still the previous person, referred to in the letter as Mr. E. Ownership was sorted out with a formal purchase but taxes remained unpaid. The second owner, referred to as Mr. F, eventually
left the trailer after the landlord issued an eviction notice for unpaid rent and had that ruling held up after a Residential Tenancy Board hearing. However, writes Gemmiti, even after getting an Order of Possession and after Mr. F stopped paying rent, Mr. F tried to sell the trailer to another buyer but all of the trailer’s previous issues made the latest sale very troublesome. All this has led the landlord to seek a tax write-off in order to demolish the trailer. Yet a letter from the lawyer’s office
didn’t dissuade at least one councillor from feeling tenants at the park aren’t getting their fair shake. “There have been cases that have been won, proving that the owner of the trailer park has blocked sales in the past,” said Claire Rattée. “I don’t see why we should give her a break on a property tax that she blocked the sale, wrongfully, so she can tear this trailer down.” Rattée said it’s clear to her that previous owners of the trailer had been willing to pay the taxes but were not given the
opportunity. That inability is likely due to the eviction and order of possession hearings for the trailer, which made future ownership transfers questionable and therefore made the payment of taxes not a clear cut issue. District Treasurer Steve Christiansen said from his perspective, he just sees that people had lived in the trailer while not paying any money on taxes. Yet seeking collections from the previous owners may be more costly than wiping the slate clean. Continued on page 9