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W Wednesday, d d A Aprilil 29 29, 2015
DAY OF MOURNING
CRIME
Workplace culture scrutinized Car set Widow speaks out at Steelworkers’ hall one year after fatal shooting at sawmill MARTIN WISSMATH ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
“V
iolence in the workplace, whether it’s bullying, whether it’s physical, it’s got to stop,” said the wife of a man shot dead at a Nanaimo sawmill one year ago. Marlene Lunn spoke at the National Day of Mourning ceremony at Port Alberni’s United Steelworkers Hall on Tuesday. Marlene is the widow of Michael Lunn, who was killed last year on April 30 when a man opened fire at the Western Forest Products mill in Nanaimo. Another mill worker, 53-year-old Fred McEachern, was shot and killed by the gunman; two others were injured. Michael was 61, a father of three and grandfather of five. A jolly personality, he was known for wearing red T-shirts. Marlene started the Red Shirt Foundation this year with their three children, Mark, Mitchel and Marcy, in memory of her husband and for all workers killed or wounded in the workplace. Marlene said the foundation exists to educate the public about workplace violence, and develop means to help people deal with work-related conflicts. As plant chairman at the Nanaimo mill, Michael witnessed a lot of workplace incidents, Marlene said. “There is a culture that is accepted in a mill, the way people talk to each other that is really disrespectful.” She hopes to make workplace violence a “thing of the past.” Tricia Hartman attended the ceremony and told the Times she experienced harassment at the Port Alberni paper mill, where she worked from 1993 to 2006. “A lot of guys stood up for you,” Tricia recalled; but she
on fire behind garage MARTIN WISSMATH ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
shortcuts rather than the safest route to get the job done. “I find that I’m constantly stepping up to somebody and saying, ‘You know, somebody did get hurt doing that; here’s a better way,’ or ‘you need more training’,” he said. There are many close calls, said Lord. One common hazard Lord notices is workers throwing a sheet of cardboard over a grease spill, rather than properly cleaning it up, he said. If the cardboard slips, you can “get one heck of a ride and end up with a concussion,” Lord said.
Port Alberni police are investigating a car consumed by fire at a local auto business early Tuesday morning. Firefighters were called out to Tar’s Auto Sales on Third Avenue at 6:40 a.m. Tuesday morning to find a BMV sports utility vehicle fully ablaze. Fire chief Tim Pley said crews surrounded the vehicle and used water lines to extinguish the flames. Firefighters approached strategically to avoid any of the car body’s parts that might have exploded from pressure because of the heat, said the fire chief. They knocked down the fire within minutes and spent another 10 minutes dousing hotspots, Pley said. RCMP Cpl. Jen Allan said police suspect arson. An earlier incident on April 22 involved mischief to the same vehicle. “Within a week we have a situation where that car is on fire,” Allan said. “Certainly you don’t have to be a crack investigator to suggest that perhaps the two [incidents] are linked,” Allan said. The car was towed from Tar’s to a secure compound for forensic investigators to search. “They will go over it with a fine-toothed comb and attempt to determine if an accelerant was used [or] any evidence in the vicinity that might indicate how the fire was set,” Allan said.
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Martin.wissmath@avtimes.net
RCMP Insp. Mac Richards lays a flower on the cenotaph outside the Steelworkers hall during a ceremony for the National Day of Mourning on Tuesday. A flag to commemorate the day was flown at half-staff. [MARTIN WISSMATH, TIMES].
felt that reporting the harassment to management and union officials didn’t address the problem. “They brushed it away as a young inexperienced female.” Hartman has since changed careers. Members of the Red Shirt Foundation were at the Steelworkers hall selling red T-shirts for $15 as a fundraiser and to promote a Stop Workplace Violence walk in Nanaimo on Thursday. The walk takes place at Mafaeo Sutton Park from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Marlene invited anyone in Port Alberni who wants to participate but can’t make it to Nanaimo to start a walk here
instead. Changing the workplace culture was the topic of discussion for other guest speakers at the National Day of Mourning ceremony. Rick Lord has worked at the Catalyst paper mill (formerly owned by MacMillan Bloedel) for 40 years. Lord was the safety director at the Port Alberni mill for 24 years. He spoke on behalf of the Unifor Tyee Local 686 workers’ union. Between 1965 and 1992, 12 people died at the mill while on the job, he said. There hasn’t been a workplace death since then, but Lord is worried about the attitude of co-workers who prefer to take
ECONOMY
P.A.’s trade relationships explored in China ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Two top municipal officials have returned from a week in China, bringing back hopes of sending more than raw logs to the Asian country in the future. Mayor Mike Ruttan and Theresa Kingston, the city’s director of corporate services, completed the journey last week to the southeastern region of China, with expenses covered by Vanke, one of the country’s largest real estate developers. “There’s a tremendous interest in Port Alberni’s underused port, both for import and export,” said Ruttan. “There’s some real potential for busi-
MAYOR MIKE RUTTAN
nesses in China to come and look and spend some time, see what our resources are and see
what we have to offer.” Currently the majority of raw logs shipped from Port Alberni’s shores head to China, while all cut lumber at the port is exported across the ocean to Japan. But during his trip Ruttan learned about exchanges with Chinese interests that could lead to local initiatives that recycle resources, such as a solar-powered battery to provide emergency electricity for city hall. The battery could be more economical than a backup generator the city plans to invest in next year, said Ruttan. “Instead of being $50,000 for a diesel generator, it’s $8,000 for one of these solar-powered bat-
teries,” he said. “It’s some really interesting technology that we could use but also our forest companies could use.” For years corporations and governments in British Columbia have explored relationships that could tap into China’s booming economy, including trade missions to the Asian country for the last two years by representatives from the Port Alberni Port Authority, who accompanied Premier Christy Clark. Another mission to China and Indonesia was completed earlier this month, led by B.C.’s Minister of International Trade Teresa Wat. “This trade mission broke new
ground by starting new relationships with parts of China we haven’t been before,” said the trade minister in a statement this month. Ruttan hopes to link Port Alberni’s interests with more Chinese companies. “It’s a matter of doing the follow up with people, putting together their entrepreneurial attitudes with some of the entrepreneurs that we have here and some of the needs that we have in our community,” he said. Eric.plummer@avtimes.net 250-723-8171
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