October 12 2016

Page 1

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2 TASTE OF THE TROPICS

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

10

3 BREASTFEEDING CHALLENGE

Serving the Hub of the North since 1960

BOYS WIN VOLLEYBALL TITLE

Volume 56 • Issue 41

Blizzards kill power across Northern Manitoba BY KACPER ANTOSZEWSKI KACPER@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Nearly 2,000 homes were without power across six communities in Northern Manitoba on Oct. 6 after a blizzard, including nearly 1,500 in Thompson alone. Other communities impacted included York Factory, Leaf Rapids, Sherridon, The Pas, Flin Flon and Snow Lake. Manitoba Hydro public affairs officer Bruce Owen noted the outages in Thompson were largely due to trees that had fallen onto power lines; other communities reported broken lines, though specific causes were not always indicated. On the same day, Manitoba Hydro established an emergency operations centre in Thompson in order to address the outages, though Owen noted that weather conditions impacted

the ability for service crews to mobilize. The School District of Mystery Lake also decided to close schools throughout the city that day, with the initial decision being made due to safety precautions: the early morning was plagued with high snow and poor visibility, and many vehicles in Thompson are not equipped with winter tires as of yet, posing a significant hazard for both students and vehicles in drop-off zones. Fire exits were also blocked by the heavy snow. The closures were extended for the remainder of the day when schools throughout the city reported intermittent power outages throughout the morning. Canada Post reported Oct.7 that mail delivery in Thompson was cancelled due to unsafe conditions and would resume once the weather improved.

A Manitoba Hydro worker repairs a damaged line near the Thompson Regional Airport on Oct. 5.

Thompson Citizen photo by Kacper Antoszewski

TWIN MOTORS IS GIVING AWAY $10,000 GUARANTEED*

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DETAILS BELOW THE FOLD

Smelter becoming a single-furnace operation in 2017 BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Vale’s Manitoba Operations could have fewer workers next years as it changes its smelter to a single-furnace operation but the company hopes that the transition will affect fewer than 35 employees due to reduced hiring this year as well as retirements and resignations. The reduction is a result of less external feed from the Voisey’s Bay, Newfoundland plant being available as the Long Harbour processing plant ramps up operations, the company says. “We have planned for some time to become a single-furnace operation,” said Manitoba Operations corporate affairs and organizational development manager Ryan Land. “Initially, we planned to reduce to one furnace in April 2015. The extension of the second furnace from

2015 to 2017 is the result of more feed being available from Labrador than was originally expected. We will continue to process our own Manitobasource nickel at roughly the same rate through to 2018, until the concentrate loadout facility is complete and commissioned.” United Steelworkers Local 6166 president Les Ellsworth said in the September issue of the Steel Gauntlet union newsletter that the current contract with the company doesn’t include provisions to address the fallout from going to a single-furnace operation. “We do not agree with

a single-furnace operation because it puts the whole operation in jeopardy if the furnace goes down and there is no backup,” Ellsworth wrote in his president’s report. “We know that there will be fewer people needed to run the smelter and possibly some effect on the refinery. The company has stated that they will do everything they can to avoid a layoff. It is expected that the numbers will come from areas such as: under budget for hourly employees, possible members retiring, and moved to other areas of the plant. Our position is that we need to look at

every contractor and have our members trained to take over their work before there are any layoffs in our membership.” Land said shutting down one furnace would reduce the overall workforce plan of 1,500 for Manitoba Operations by about 70 positions but noted that the current number of actual workers was less than 1,450 and after the second furnace is shut down, the projected number of employees would be 1,428. He also said that maintaining a two-furnace smelter is no longer viable for a number of reasons. “Since smelting and

refining costs are largely fixed, our unit costs will go up slightly as a result of the reduction in volume,” he said. However, there is no opportunity to increase our throughput. Number one furnace would be due for a major rebuild in 2017 but there is no feed available to fill it if it were rebuilt and, most importantly, we must reduce our sulfur dioxide emissions to meet the performance agreement in place with Environment Canada to cover the 201618 timeframe during which the concentrate loadout facility is being constructed, which means lowering our smelter throughput.”

Ellsworth’s president’s report also made mention of recent safety violations in one the Manitoba Operations mines. “A proper joint investigation took place and it was revealed there was a cause for concern,” he wrote. “Let me be perfectly clear, we will not walk away or hide when it comes to ensuring our members’ safety at work.” Land said the company was also committed to ensuring worker safety. “The fact that we continue to have significant incidents and near misses occur is a stern reminder Continued on Page 5

www.twinmotors.ca *BUY

ANY NEW OR USED VEHICLE THRU OCTOBER AND YOU COULD HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN $10,000 FULL DETAILS IN-STORE

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THOMPSON 40 Station Road, Thompson, MB 1-800-268-2312 • 204-677-2312

FLIN FLON 110 PTH 10A, Flin Flon MB 1-888-778-3686 • 204-687-3686

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DAUPHIN 1212 Main St., South Dauphin Dauphin, MB • 1-888-270-6804

YOUR twin motors SALES TEAM: Adam • Sid • dave • CALL 204-677-2312


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