AB - The Terrace Standard, Wednesclay, September 17, 2003 —

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD _

The Mail Ba

A place for

Dear Sir:

After
reading re-
cent letters
by Peter
Weeber and
Gordon
Blakeburn
where they
both attacked
the credibili-
ty of unions,
their leader-
ship and
members, 1
feel com-
pelled to re-
spond,

In both in-
stances the
writers demonstrated their ignorance and
lack of knowledge as to how union struc-
tures work and to what unions, their lead-
erships and members bring to continue to
further enhance the betterment of our so-
ciety as a whole. oo

Having actively been involved in the.
union movement for the past 28 years and
as a shift worker at the Alcan smelter, it
is an insult that these individuals are so
ignorant and insulting as to what unions
have and continue to achieve on behalf of
all workers and society as a whole.

Unions set the standards. Demoerati-
cally elected representatives of unions
from the shop floor and their members
lobby, fight and participate in all venues
of our society.

Minimum wage issues, health and
safety standards, hours of work, Employ-
ment Insurance issues, equality in the

Ross Slezak

unions

workplace, pay equity for gender issues,
discrimination and harassment in the
workplace along with a fair wage and
benefits are only a sample: of. what
unions, their leadership and membership
are currently struggling for. ;

Tam sure that if Mr. Blakeburn could

truly think for himself, ashe alleges, he.

would realize that in all likelihood that
his standard of living has been signifi-
cantly improved by the mere fact that the
union movement continues to lead the
fight for fair and just wages, benefits and
social justice for all.

So in closing to Mr. Weeber and Mr.
Blakeburn, I say stop your whining and
unfounded allegations, Pick up the torch
and join the struggle to ensure that we
have a fair and just society for all, not
just for the wealthy and the corporate
elite. Perhaps then both of you.can. dem-
onstrate your contribution to the better-
ment of our society.as a whole.

: Ross Slezak,
Terrace, B.C.

Collateral query
Dear Sir: _

The headline in The Terrace Standard
of Aug, 20, 2003 informs us that “Airport
eyes even longer runway.”

The cost is estimated to be anywhere
between $2.5 $3 million for this runway
project.

Will the people of Terrace be held as
collateral for borrowing, their property
pledged as guarantee for repayment of
‘money?

ra

SCOUTS CANADA in the past year.

Thank You

Royal Canadian, legion Branch #1

Knox United Church @ Ikon Office Solutions
Boilers * Terrace Chrysler Ltd.

Wag ree

Terrace District Council
(Scouts Canada) would like
to take this opportunity to
thank all those who have

helped us with donations

Rotary club, Terrace # Canadian Tire * Downtown Lions

Nurses protest
gov't message

Dear Sir:

Once again the provincial Liberal government
has felt compelled to divert precious health care
dollars to costly and misleading advertising. It
brings to mind the oft used saying, “me thinks thou
dast protest too much.” If people were not experi-
encing cuts to services and feeling the impact of
costs being transferred to themselves, would there
be a need to provide us with “the facts"?

L also wonder why the government feit it neces-
sary to highlight that 70 per cent of health care
dollars go to nurses, doctors and health employees,
Health care is aboul people providing care to those
in need. It would be foolish to fund buildings with
no staff to work in
them and equipment
with no staff to oper-
ate them.

Finally, the govern-
ment is again playing
games with numbers
regarding nurses’ wage
increases. The way the
information is present-
ed, the impression is
left that nurses re-
ceived more than the
reality. Our contract
covers April 1, 2001 to
March 31, 2004. In the
first year, nurses re-
ceived about 10 per cent, in the second year about
9 per cent and in the third year, a cost of living ad-
justment of just over 3 per cent.

Rather than spending money on advertising that
gives us information of little value, we want to see
the government working with nurses and people re-
ceiving health care to develop the kind of system
that cares for all British Columbians,

Debra McPherson,
President,

B.C. Nurses’ Union,
Vancouver, B.C.

“We want to see
the government
working with nurs-
es and people re-
ceiving health
care to develop
the kind of system
that cares for all
British Columbi-
ans.”

i - hd Quarry

Gerald Duffus, Terrace, B.C.

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