The two sides have been negotiating for a new contract for about one year. Contract talks broke off Jast week. The school board and the union have agreed to call ina mediator. NVSB superintendent Dr. Robin Brayne said Tuesday that there are 30 issues left unresolved in: the contract negotiations. The board said the union is unwilling to present a demand on salaries until other outstanding issues are resolved. But the board maintains that it will not offer wage increases for the 1992-93 and 1993-94 school years. One outstanding issue is that of WAGG CREEK PARK By Surj Rattan News Reporter class size. According to the school board, the union wants reduced class sizes for all categories except special education resource rooms. But the board argues the union's demands on class size will! cost the district $13.5 million over its current budget. The board also claims that the union proposes that registration be denied in a_ neighborhood school if the additional student would cause a class-size violation or if the chiid can be accommo- Reduce size of seniors’ complex, developers told THE DEVELOPERS proposing a seniors’ housing com- plex bordering on Wagg Creek Park in North Vancouver City are being pressed to come. up with a smaller version of their project. “Everyone on counci! wants to see the project go ahead, but we want to decrease the bulk so it’s not so imposing on the park,’’ Coun. - Bill Bell said at council's May 17 meeting. City council voted unanimously to ask staff to report on the shape of the development with floor- space ratios (FSRs — a measure- ment of a building’s total floor space compared with its lot size) of 1,3 and 1.0 times the lot size. The most recent proposal from Buron Developments for the site at the southwest corner of: 21st: Street and Chesterfield Avenue is 48 units (a FSP. of 1.46 times the’ lot size). Council heard strongly stated arguments for and against the proposal at two lengthy public hearings in April. Coun. Rod Clark said residents opposed to the development were concerned: with neighborhood preservation. _ “The developer is taking advan- tage of a beautiful site. This is a long-standing piece of parkland NORTH VANCOUVER CITY COUNCIL | _ by Stephen Wisenthal and has to be seen as such. A handshake can be extended to res- idents by making an FSR of 1.0,” said Clark. “I believe this (a 1.0 FSR) to be a solid middle ground.” Said Coun. Stella Jo Dean, ‘‘! would certainly hate to fose this development if we’re going to say 1.0 FSR rather than 1.46 FSR.’’ “Seniors don’t cause any noise. They go to bed at nine o’clock,”’ she said. And Coun. Barbara Perrault said: I would like to see the den- sity between 1.3 and 1.46. I could never see why seniors’ housing would be a detriment to a park.”’ She added that seniors would make the park safer by being ‘tadditional eyes’? on the park. Said Bell, ‘‘l am hoping the de- veloper- can come back with a project which is viable but does not alienate the community.” Auto dealership aids cyclist injured on Lions Gate Bridge NORTH SHORE Nissan staff and customers have con- ‘tributed approximately $2,500 to a fund for a dealership "employee who was severely injured while cycling to work -across the Lions Gate Bridge on Tuesday, May 18. Dennis Newitt, 27, of Van- ‘couver, is expected to remain in Vancouver General Hospital for three to four months as a result of the mishap. “Basically, 1 was shocked when I got the phone call,’’: said his _ boss, John Laakso, North Shore Nissan parts manager. “Dennis isan experienced ““eyclist. He has ridden that bridge to work for four years,’’ he said. Newitt has worked for four years in the parts department. -. He was struck by a car at the south end of the bridge during the morning rush hour. Pedestrians at the scene lifted the car off. Newitt , and pulled him off the road, ac- By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter cording to a Vancouver Police spokesman. Laakso said Newitt suffered life-threatening injuries, including a punctured lung and broken bones. Newitt was in surgery for 13 hours the day he was injured. Newitt is not expected to return to work for one year. A Dennis Newitt Fund has been set up by the North Shore Kingsway Auto Group. To contribute to the fund, cali 985-9311. City dated in another school. Meanwhile, according to the NVSB, the union is demanding that the school board continue to pay 100% of the money necessary to provide substitute teachers for six union bargainers for a period of 35 days. The union wants the board to pay for 50% of the cost of pro- viding substitutcs beyond that point. On the issue of special educa- tion aides for special needs stu- dents, the school board said the union wants language changes that would increase the cost of special education aides by an estimated minimum of $500,000 annually, The NVSB also maintains that the teachers’ union wants teachers to have the right to issue student reports to parents without first providing a copy to school prin- cipals. The school board said the union wanis to maintain current ar- rangements regarding benefit coverage for part-time teachers. Wednesday, May 26, 1993 - North Shore News - 3 iwo sides far apart in NV labor dispute 30 unresolved issues to greet mediator in District 44 contract negotiations CLASS SIZE, wages, hours of work and the role of acting administrative officers are just some of the outstanding issues preventing the North Vancouver District 44 School Board (NVSB) from signing a new collective agreement with the North Vancouver Teachers’ Association (NVTA). The current contract gives a part-time teacher the same benefits as a full-time teacher in North Vancouver, Another outstanding issue, ac- cording to the school board, con- cerns the practice of sending teaching staff co the B.C. Teach- ers’ Federation or the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, The union’s position, said the NVSB, is that the school board should grant a leave of absence indefinitely to a teacher who ac- cepts a position to the staff of the two teachers’ organizations. But the school board said it is willing to grant such leaves only to a maximum of four years. The board added that the union does not want acting ad- ministrative officers to participate in teacher evaluations or teacher disciplinary procedures. But the NVSB maintains acting administrative officers have all the duties and responsibilities of ad- ministrative officers. On the issue of childcare leave, the board said the union wants a teacher on childcare leave to be given teaching experience credit for salary increments. A teacher on leave to provide child care should also maintain seniority for up to two years, according to the union. But the board’s position is that teachers are not gaining teaching experience while on such long- term leave. Other union demands, accord- ing to the school board, include: *¢ guaranteed 20% preparation time for teachers; six days of paid leave and a further two days at the cost of a substitute teacher for the death of close friend; ¢two months’ paid distress of a teacher related to the job. leave for in crisis Class size and limited. progress in contract negotiations are key factors in the current labor con- frontation between the NVSB and the NVTA, according to NVTA president Linda Watson. LGH rethinks continuing formula policy — free baby A LIONS Gate Hospital (LGH) committee is grap- pling with the . whether or not to pay for the baby formula it pro- vides to new mothers at the hospital. The hospital’s contract for free baby formula expires at the end of June. By Anna Marie D’ Angelo News Reporter “It (paying for formula) is something you really struggle with,’’ said Randi Enweani, LGH maternity nursing director. LGH, as most B.C. hospitals, teceives baby formula for free. Some formula - manufacturers also give hospitals large sums of money to sign contracts, Enweani said LGH decided to go with Ross Laboratories in its current two-year contract because the company promised to keep a low profile in the hos- pital and with physicians. Consumer loyalty to baby forumula brands first used in a hospital is known to be high, Enweani said an estimated $70,000 worth of baby formula is used at LGH each year. More than 96% of LGH mothers initially breast-feed their babies. But within approx- imately six weeks of leaving hospital ‘‘a high percentage’ of mothers stop breast-feeding their babies. Enweani said the hospital is aware of the high drop-off rate. But said Enweani, ‘Our phi- losophy is to support, promote and protect breast-feeding.” “It is our business to see if ‘having formula goes against that,”’ she said. : Meanwhile, breast-feeding supporters say LGH should pay for the formula. - “There should be formula in the hospital, but they should buy it like any other product in the hospital,’’ said Renee Hefti, Vancouver Breast-Feeding Cen- tre spokeswoman and lactation consultant. The West Vancouver resident said that because most LGH issue of NEWS photo Neil Lucente THE MAJORITY of breast-feeding ‘mothers from Lions Gate Hospital stop nursing their babies within six weeks of leaving hospital. An exception is Joanne Cullen, shown here with eight-month: -old Kieran who is still breast-feeding, and. her son, 3 ¥e-year-old Matthew. Cullen is a leader in the La Leche League, an organization that supports nursing mothers. mothers breast-feed their babies, the hospital’s formula’ expense should be relatively low. “In the past, it’s been the forumla companies that have provided the education about breast-feeding to the health pro- fessionals,’’ said Hefti. “It’s the woman who has to formula-feed her baby who pays the cost for all these hospital freebies,’’ she said. The cost for a family to feed a baby with formula is approxi- mately $120 a month. Breast-feeding advocates argue that buying formula is an unneccesary expense for. most mothers who are informed and about breast- receive . support feeding. Health Minister Elizabeth Cull said hospitals receiving free formula and promoting breast- feeding send a mixed message to new mothers, She recently urged hospitais to drop their free- formula deals.