FRIDAY February 7, 1997 hangs on $50,000 By tan Noble News Reporter LESS than $50,000 over the life of a 30- month agreement separated more than 17,000 North Vancouver kids from their classrooms Thursday afternoon. That was an estimate provid- ed by North Vancouver School District 44 administrative ser- vices coordinator Keith Denley on the difference that must be made up to prevent a CUPE strike this morning. The difference stems from a mediated agreement reached between the school board and 750 CUPE workers in the dis- trict and what the British Columbia Public Schools Employers Association — which ultimately must approve the deal — will accept. The 36-month mediated deal calls for a 15-cent-an-hour increase retroactive to June 1996 and a similar hike in March 1998. Benefit improvements were also slated to kick in in March 1998 for District 44 CUPE workers, who are current- ly paid between $12.54 and $25.92 per hour. But Ken Werker, executive director of the employers’ associ- ation, said that over the first 24 months, a deal must fail within provincial guidelines that call for a zero increase for the first 20 months, 1% in the next four months and an annual average maximum of 1.2% thereafter. “In an effort to get a deal, the association planned to meet with the school board and CUPE Thursday night. “We're looking at a range of solutions and some involve vai ing contract _ lengths,” said Werker. “We definitely will not go over the guidelines.” CUPr president Mike Hocevar said that to prevent a strike, a setthement had to be reached by 6 a.m. today. Hocevar told the News that the union had backed off on its demand thar the employers’ association not be given jurisdic- See Striky paae 3 WEATHER sun ana clouds TO daw -C, NEWS photos Terry Peters BRAD Min, a Grade 10 Carson Graham student, receives his measies vaccination from North Shore Health nurse Joan Rousseau. Hundreds vaccinated at Carson Graham By Raberi Galster News Reporter ATTEMPTS to contain a potentially deadly measles outbreak at Burnaby’s Simon Fraser University campus may have come up short with the surfacing of the virus in North Vancouver’s Carson Graham high school. Following in Burnaby’s footsteps, Nerth Shore Health quickly set up a vaccination clinic in the school’s cafeteria on Wednesday. ‘The clinics were set up in response to news that a Grade 9 Carson Graham student contracted the virus from his brother who attends I “All we can dos wait and see if there are reports of fur- ther cases,” said Brian O'Connor, North Shore’s Chief Medical Health officer. He said the disease has an incubation period of cight to 12 days, making an accurate assessment impossible for sev- eral more day O'Connor added that two more “suspicious,” but not confirmed North Shore cases are being investigated. Symptoms of measles include fever, runny nose and a cough, Several days later a rash appears on the face and spreads to the chest and arms. An infected person’s eyes may aso be sensitive to light. ¢ B.C. Ministry of Health estimates that complica- tions from measles are fatal in one out every 1,000. Last Wednesday, Carson Graham students were also See Students page 2 NURSES spent Wednesday and Thursday vacci- nating 350 Carson Graham students.