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ary 24, 1986 - News 985-2131 Classified 986-6222 Circulation 986-1337 80 pages 25¢

250 JOBS AT STAKE
erges on coll

‘NORTH VANCOUVER’S Bel-Aire Shipyards

ohn Fitzpatrick, -presi-
‘of the Marine Workers
dd: Boilermakers’ Industrial
tion (MWBIU), said
Thtitsday that all hourly -
workers at the shipyard
thaye: been Iet'go.
The. remaining 12 depart-
t.heads on salary have

Si
“Bash Yeiven notice that their
nee Ta tery Le
Vices will not be needed
yond January.

... JOBS LOST

Re so .

OTS a tragedy,” Fitz-
patrick said,.‘*to sce one of
Vancouver's ‘prime yards go

d. is on:thé verge of collapse.

down the goddamn tubes
because. of the financial
games being played here.”’

The union president
estimated 250 jobs will be
lost if the 25-year-old
multi-million dollar ship-
building operation goes
under.

Acquired in early
September by North Van-
couver's Pinecorp Research
and Development Corpora-
tion, Bel-Aire has had no
shipbuilding contracts since

the June, 1985 completion of
the approximately $25 mil-
lion John P. Tully.

The hydrographic vessel
was built for the federal
Department of Fisheries.

Coe ae v

wei

JOHN FITZPATRICK

Hourly - paid workers,
Fitzpatrick said, had been
paid off, but given no sever-
ance pay.

“Some of those guys have
been with Bel-Aire for 26
years, They were given their
pay and that’s it, out the
door, no severance,
nothing.’

DECLINED COMMENT

Bel-Aire genera! manager
Al Horner declined any
comment on the situation at
the shipyard Thursday.

The North Vancouver
telephone number of
Pinecorp has since been
changed to a Vancouver

number. There was no
answer at any of the cor-
poration’s Vancouver locals
on Thursday.

In a Nov. 13 News story
chronicling the affairs of
Pinecorp and its 12 sub-
sidiary companies, Greg
Kamenka, the corporation’s
president at the time, said
the acquisition of Bel-Aire
was part of Pinecorp’s
research and development
mandate.

A new vessel propulsion

‘system, he said, was being

developed.
$25M RAISED |

Pinecorp originally raised

ipyaras

approximately $25 million
through the sale of Scientific
Research Tax Credits
(SRTC), which it received
from ' Revenue Canada in
1984, ~

But rules were changed
under the SRTC program in
the May 23, 1985 budget

‘after a plethora. of ‘‘quick

SRTC financing
schemes were uncovered,
which cost the Canadian
taxpayer an estimated $2
billion in lost tax revenue.

- According to Fitzpatrick,
Bel-Aire has done nothing
since Pinecorp took over.
““T>would say they never
had any interest at all in get-
ting into the shipbuilding
field.”’

SAVE ATTEMPT

flip’’

Fitzpatrick said the
MWBIU is currently draf-
ting a letter to the Canadian
Labour Congress to find out
what can be done to save the
shipyard and what is. being
done to investigate the deal-
ings of the Pinecorp Cor-
poration. ;

He added that he has left
messages with Pinecorp ex-

"ecutive concerning the Bel-

Aire situation since he was
made aware of it on Jan. 17.

But he has thus far receiv-
ed no response:

On Jan. 10, various staff
from Pinecorp’s North, Van-
couver office contacted the
News to say they had not
been paid since the end of
November.

Three days later, Pinecorp
comptroller Don Burnham
said the corporation’s
payroll was “‘paid up to