Vancouver Shipyards are back on the job after a week-long strike by office and security work- ers was settled on Wednesday. When 15 members of che Office and Technical Employees Union (OTEU) Local 15 agreed to a new con- tract, more than 400 shipyard workers were able to go back to work, Brian Foley, the B.C.- Labor Relations Board associate chair- man of mediation, helped solve the dispute. He had earlier been involved in an unsuccessful mediation session between the union and company. As the strike wore on, he could see the two sides becom- ing more intransigent. So, on Tuesday, he sent out a list of recommendations to borh sides, . “Sometimes, you need a third party to suggest a com- promise,” he said. The compromise works out to three 40-cent-an-hour raises to be paid as of Nov. I in 1996, 1997 and 1998. The union was secking wage hikes of 60 cents, 45 cents and 55 cents on those dates while Vancouver Shipyards offered 30 cents, 40 "cents and 50 cents. Prior to the strike, salaries for ase workers at vancouver - Shipyards ranged from $2,276 to $3,938 a menth. The settlement means that work continues on B.C. Ferries high-profile fast ferries at the shipyard. The strike started Nov. i8, shutting down work at two Vancouver Shipyards sites on the North Vancouver water- front and idling 600 workers. However, — strikers were forced to vacate onc site, Vancouver Drydock, when the company’s application for an injunction was approved. —~ lan Noble NEWS photo Paul McGrath LONSDALE elementary children arrive at RecCentre Delbrook after being evacuated from their school on Thursday. Ice rink tank source of ammonia leak From page 1 The entire school population of 300 students and teachers were raken there by six B.C. Transit buses. The students left through the school's back exits and walked down to Chesterfield Avenue to board the buses. Lonsdale elementary is located in the 2100-block of Lonsdale Avenue, across the street and slightly south of the Lonsdale recreation centre, the source of an ammonia gas leak. Principal Moffat said the concentration of gas at the front of the school at the time of the morning evacuation was so strong that ir hurt the eyes. The elementary students were among approximately 500 people evacuated near the ree centre because of a leak from an ammonia tank. The heavy-than-air gas is used to make ice for the ree centre’s ice rink. The leaky ammonia tank held 800 gallons (3,000 litres) of the gas. [t was half full after the leak. To press time, fire officials didn’t know how much gas had leaked from the tank. Ammonia is an irritant that can react with moisture in a person’s mucous membranes and cause burning and irri- ration. Ammonia combined with water can burn skin. North Vancouver City Assistant Fire Chief Barry Sotham said ammonia, like any gas in a coniined area, can be icthal if the gas is in large quantities and there is no oxygen available in the space. Firefighters responding to the ammonia call could smell the gas as they travelled up Lonsdale Avenue shortly after 9 a.m. Rec centre staff had evacuated everyone from the school by the time fire- fighters arrived, said Sotham. According to Sotham, two firefighters and one rec centre employee had to be treated for gas irritation at the scene. Environment Canada was called in to do air sampling. “It was textbook. As a matter of fact, you couldn’t have asked for any- thing better,” Sotham said of the response to the gas leak. As fire and police wound down their efforts shortly before 11 a.m., Sotham said there was no problem with air quality, although a strong odor of ammonia could be smelled on the northwest side of the Lonsdale and 23rd Street inter- section. One hour after the gus leak was detected, the Upper Lonsdale Kentucky Fried Chicken and White Spor outlets had been evacuated along with Lonsdale elementary. A yellow police line was placed across the road at 21st Street and Lonsdale Avenue where two police cars with their lights on were parke! in the cold drizzle. North Vancouver Mo $s Were diverting cars west around the evacuation area. Highway traffic w allowed to travel south on Jonsdale. B.C. Transit buses wer: not using the main street, causing several people, mainly seniors, waiting at bus stops to express confusion. Shortly after 10 a.m., at 21st and Lonsdale and with- in a half block of the evacuated school, there was a slight smell of ammonia when the wind picked up. At 16:20 a.m. a News reporter and North Vancouver RCMP Const. Ben Rodrigue were almost overcome by a strong smell of ammonia at the intersection. Rodrigue immediately began to evacuate the Upper Lonsdale McDonald’s restaurant, while other officers evacuated the remaining businesses on the block. Meanwhile back ar the noisy Delbrook RecCentre gym, two televisions sets with videos playing were surrounded by kids about 15 deep. Some pupils had playing cards, paper and pencil crayons to busy themselves, but the laughter and excitement was not conducive to that kind of activity. Students Mark Klaver, 12, Keith Williams, 12, Chris Devlin, 11, and Farnoud Gholamireza, 10, agreed the ammonia smell was “pretty bad” and they were glad to be missing out on school work that morning. To press time, the iogistics of feeding the whole group pizza for lunch was being worked out by a group of adults that included principal Moffat Rumor had it that bails would be distributed after lunch to get rid of som of the high energy emanating from the room. Dismissal was at 2 p.m. Parents we: pected early. tie NEWS photo Terry Peters. REC centre’s Milan Jeitlik gets hosed off after being near the ammonia gas leak. i WV school board considers grade shuffle Catherine Barr Contributing Writer EVERYTHING old may be new again for crowd- ed. West Vancouver schools. A space crunch at Sentinel and West Vancouver Secondary School (WVSS) has forced members of West Vancouver School District 45 to do some quick thinking. The result is a proposal that suggests, among other things, a return to Kindergarten to Grade 7 education for elementary ‘schools, grades eight through 12 for secondary school and grades cight through 10 for Rockridge Middle School in the upcoming 1998-99 school year. During the 1983-84 school vear the district added Grade 7 to the secondary school level in response to. a downward trend in elementary school populations. The district also closed four elementary schools at the time. The numbers are back up and the district is also grappling with unforeseen changes including: BB a return to Asia by a number of families; # @ morc families moving into apartments within the Flollyburn elementary catchment area; @ the “magnet” effect of the new high-tech Rockridge Middle Schoo]. It has attracted eastern school district families co the ern area of the district. Families from Bowen Island and other Lower Mainland communities have also discovered the school. The dratt proposal, Facilities for the New Millennium, was presented at an education committee meeting on Tuesday. Approximately 200 concerned parents crowded into Cedardale Centre to hear Doug Player, school rintendent, announce the plans. The two-part draft deals with the immediate over- crowding issue and future financial planning. The document also proposes private/public partnerships designed to fund future development within the school district. Player emphasized the importance of a “quick time line” for the grade change. He said that the grade reconfiguration should be imple- mented for the start of the next school Students currentiy attending Grade 6 will be most a [f the proposal is approved, the students will remain enrolled at their respective elementary schools for the upcoming 1998-99 year. Academically, they will have advanced to Grade 7. The board is also considering reopening Cypress Park Primary School, home to Chatham Preschool and Gatehouse Montessori School, and the addition of portable classrooms to most of the elementary schools acrass the district. WVSS will begin the next phase of renovations, The west wing of the school will be demolished over the summer and 10 new portables will be added. Player warned that if grade recon- figuration is rejected for next year, WVSS students will have to attend school in nwo shitts ‘Trustee Ken Hayeock was quick to remind the audience that “this (proposal) is a recommendation to the board” and that no firm decisions have been made. Several audience members voiced their support for the grade reconfiguration. Ted Cape has three children enrolled in the district's public school system. He said that “double-shifting is not a solution to anything — it is the problem.” He called the report “lucid” and “well-handled” and endorsed support of the proposal. The school board returns to the issue at its Dec. 9 meeting. Response sheets are available at West Vancouver schoo!s and the school board office for anyone wishing to forward comments and suggestions to the board. The board will also be holding a series of community meet- ings on the subject through December and January. Board decisions could be made by Jan. 20.