tae lee ke eater enn Al4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 19, 2002 Union says new SCI bosses using workers as scapegoats A DEMAND that Skeena Cellulose workers take a 20 per cent pay cut is a calculated strategy an the part of new owners to dodge the blame for their own inability to restart the operations, a union leader charges. Darrel Wong, president of local 2171 of the TWA, says he doesn’t believe NWEC Timber and Pulp and president Daniel Ve- nlez have the money to Carry out upgrades, start logging and crank up mills. “The real issue is they don’t have the money to complete the balance of the deal, which was put- ting people back to work,” Wong said. “The easiest way to take pressure off is to cre- ate a scapegoat,” he Close call added, “So now they're trying to put responsibilty for not going back to work on the workers.” IWA members here, plus unionized workers at other SCI mills, voted May 23 to reject proposals by NWBC. Veniez responded by saying he was going on holidays. “T am of the opinion they are really not serious about putting people back to work,” Wong said. Wong said NWEC ta- bled a proposed collective agreement that in addition to a 20 per cent pay cul would have stripped away many elements of the pre- vious contract. “The company has draf- ted a document that they knew would be unaccept- able,” he said. “We're not going to unilaterally just gut our entire collective agree- ment just because some company made a business arrangement that perhaps they couldn’t afford in the first place,” he said. Taking Veniez’s deal would unravel 75 years worth of negotiations, he said, and undermine con- tracts elsewhere along the coast. West Fraser operates its sawmill in Terrace under the same contract and terms with IWA members as Skeena Cellulose, he said, He said it would be un- fair to West Fraser for the IWA to agree to a cut-rate contract with its competi- tor just down the road, Wong said workers are prepared to sit down “in a cooperative spirit” and discuss ways to reduce costs and improve perfor- mance. He said similar talks with Interfor resulted in savings of $400,000 per month at its Squamish sawmill without conces- sions to the collective agreement. “E think it’s time for the company to realize it is the year 2002," Wong said. “Labour relations are not based on the 1800s. What we need to do is sit down in a cooperative manner and find solutions to the problems.” NWEC president Da- niel Veniez was on holi- day and unavailable for comment last week. for climber A TERRACE rock climber is warn- ing other climbers about dangerous rock fall conditions after narrowly escaping a falling boulder. Philippe Grant, 36, and two friends were at the Copper Mountain climbing area June 11 when a boul- der the size of a small car came crashing down the face, barely mis- sing the group. The hvge chunk of granite bounced off a ledge on its way down and broke into several smaller pieces. A large piece of the boulder broke away and shot out toward the threesome landing just 20 feet from them, Grant said. “When I saw that rock fall 1 in- stantly grabbed my helmet, put it on my head and started to run,” he said. “Luckily nobody was climbing at PHILLIFE GRANT narrowly missed being hit by falling rock while climbing at Copper Mountain June 11. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO the moment,” Grant said. “That rock fall came down and we just ran for our lives — it was crazy.” He counts it as one of his closest calls in 12 years of climbing. He's warming other climbers and even hikers not to visit the popular rock climbing area for the next cou- ple weeks to allow any remaining unstable rack to fall loose. 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