Forests to the people Mini-hoops Bursting with colour A group of local loggers want to They're like the Harlem Hannah and Walter Boser's reform the province's forestry Globetrotters, the Half Pints are garden won first place in Best practices.\NEWS All coming here\SPORTS I]4 Garden Contest\COMMUNITY B1 I I WEDNESDAY $1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST July 28, 1999 ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST outside of the Terrace area) NDARD VOL 12 NO. i6 Hospital didn't plan, say docs year the shortage is at dangerous levels. Nursing shortage here until end of August Leisinger said it's impossible to predict a nurse shortage By ALEX HAMILTON Mills has restricted admissions to its general medical like this even though nurses must book holiday times DOCTORS SAY the nursing shortage, which has ward to 15 people when the baby nursery is open and to 20 months in advance. restricted admissions at Mills Memorial Hospital, is the when the nursery is closed. "Everything should have worked out per normal, but fault of administrators not planning properly for the sum- It has run out of its own staff nurses and can't find some nurses have left the community to work elsewhere mer. enough casual, on-call nurses to fill in. which was not expected and the casual pool has depleted Dr. Paul Warbeck said hospital managers failed to Warbeck said doctors are very uneasy since they are un- by those taking the vacancies of the permanent positions prepare for the predictable problems that occur when able to serve the community adequately. that left," he stated. nurses take holidays. He added that a number of administrators have degrees Five staff nurses left to work elsewhere in a sho~ period "There is no evidence that they were planning summer in nursing, but none of them have offered their services to of time, causing the crisis. scheduling in a timely manner; they seem to believe naive- help with the shortage. It's impossible to foresee resignations and full-time ly that reliance on casually employed staff is no different They could do something useful like answering the nurses calling in sick, Leisinger added. than relying on part-time or full-time staff for difficult phones or paperwork to free up another nurse, Warbeck Normally, when'a full or part-time nurse is sick or takes scheduling problems," Warbeek stated in a letter to The said. holidays, a casual nurse will be called. Terrace Standard. "I don't see that they have seriously considered all their But Leisinger said the casual pool list has also depleted He said administrators are encouraging doctors to keep options," he said.. because many are vacationing, on sick leave or on long people in the hospital for the absolute minimum amount of Michael Leisinger, the hospital's chief admiuistrator, term disability. Some casuals can also only work on time possible, to not admit them at all or to send them else- , said the nursing shortage is something that happens every specific days or have specialities related to specific wards. Dr. Paul Warbeck where. summer whe n nurses take time off fo.r vacationing , but this Cont'd Page A2 Early morning deal averts Alcan strike ALCAN'S UNIONIZED workers are being negotiated by CAW for GM and Ford asked to ratify a contract giving them raises workers work out to $48 a month for every of at least 2 per cent a year for three years year of service. and a one-time signing bonus of $1,500. In terms of wages, workers will receive Approximately 1,400 members of CAW one per cent a year for three years. Based Local 2301 had originally rejected a final on the average Alcan wage of more than company offer and put up picket lines $50,000 a year, the one per cent equals 12:01 a.m. July 24. naore than $500. Alcan's final offer was .5, The resulting tentative deal was reached 1 and 1 over three years. four and a half hours later, just as the com- But workers also get a guarantee of at pany was in the middle of winding down its least another one per cent a year as a bonus aluminum smelter operations. for meeting certain plant and company Company and ration representatives say a financial and performance targets. The key feature to ending the strike was agree- target each year is three per cent. ing to form a committee to deal with pen- Alcan's final offer had been no guaran- sion issues which couldn't be solved during teed minimum bonus. Non-union workers talks. already receive the bonuses but there is no Union bargainers had wanted workers to guaranteed minimum. retire with fuller pension benefits at an ear- Company officials noted the bonus lier age than is now the case. amounted to 2.67 per cent, 2.97 per cent Workers now receive full pemions if any and 2.46 per cent over the last three years combination of age and years of service add which haven't been stellar economic ones up to 85. for Alean. But Alcan said it couldn't negotiate Workers also won a guaranteed minimum' changes to its pension plan because it is pension for employees with 30 years of ser-. managed by an Alcoa subsidiary which vice at age 55 and will receive a one-time takes care of the pensions of all its workers payment of $10,000 for anyone who retires across Canada. within the next three years. It did offer to set up a sister plan, but that The current average Alcan wage of more~ was rejected by CAW. than $50,000 a year places them among thei "The committee [on pensions] is pretty highest paid union workforce in B.C. With' significant. It will be a senior conunittec benefits, the a,nount comes to $75,000 a: with local representatives and, in our ease, year. head office. There will be decision makers Had there been a strike, Bourehier said on this committee," said Alcan official the company had plans to replace lost Kathlecn Bourchicr. aluminum production here at facilities else- Alcan workers now receive $55 a month where. for every year of service meaning the She said opening a closed potline at a monthly amount for a 30-year employee plant in Kentucky and extending the operat- works out to $1,650. ing life of an old plant hi Quebec were pos- Alcan officials noted other pension plans sibilitles. Logging proposal sought for Stewart A PROPOSAL to make logging ill the with road buiilding costs," hc added." Stewart area more economical and stable is "Anything's on the table at this point in to be sent to government in the next couple time." CONSERVATION OFFICERS Dale Ryan andAdrian property July 17. The bear was moved to an un- of weeks. One possibility is designating the region Juch handled a three-year-old male Kermode who disclosed location north of Terrace later that same Details on the proposal are still being an economic zone where different rules was caught catching chickens behind a Lakelse Lake day. finalized, said Stewart mayor Andy Burton, would apply than elsewhere in the pro-' adding he doesn't want it made public until vince, he added. forests minister Dave Zimhelt has seen it. "When the timber value is very, very low But Barton did say the proposal will take maybe you have to look at that in a dif- Rare Kermodei is trapped direct aim at the historic problem of the ferent light," he added. forests in the Nass Timber Supply Area: A RARE Kermodei bear was trapped, tranquilized and The idea of treating the high-pulp area catching the Kermodei. By 3 p.m. the afternoon of July 17, forests full of low-value logs that arc only taken far into the bush after it was spotted eating the chick- differently is one that was also put forward the bear caught himself in a pot snare -- a metal cylinder good for pulp. ens ofa Lakelse Lake family July 17. a year ago in a forest industry development lined with chicken designed to grab hold of the bear's paw. The low values mean it's usually the last Debbie Jean, who lives on the property, said the family strategy connnissioned by the City of Ter- The bear chewed the wire around his foot and clawed area licensees turu to for logs. wasn't in danger and that family members were more con- race and prepared by former forests minis- trees, but failed to escape before conservation officers "Right now it's a fibre basket that's only cerned for the conservation of the bear. ter Dave Parker. Adrian Jueh and Dale Ryan returned to the scene. accessed when markets are at their peak," Legally, the Jeans have a right to shoot the bear to pro- It suggested the area be dealt with as a Within 35 minutes of their returu, the bear was tranquil- Burton said. "When there's a shortage of "rehabilitation challenge" outside the tect their property, but they didn't. "Because it's a ized, tagged and ready to be trucked up to a remote loca- Kermodei," Jean explained. fibre they use us and when things go sour common one-sLze-fits.all forest manage- tion north of Terrace where it would be unlikely to return. they turu us off." The bear was also lucky it had not yet ventured into ment system. Juch explained the further a bear is moved and the more An area that unprofitable, with operations Jean's garbage.