Friday, December 20, 1991 —- North Shore News - 3 Shipyard workers to picket Versatile Anger builds over severance pay package, yard closure ANGRY SHIPYARD workers laid off from the North Vancouver yard of Versatile Pacific Shipyards Inc. (VPSI) plan to picket the Esplanade and Lonsdale facility if no progress is made on the packages, issue of worker severance the president of the Marine Workers and Boilermakers Industrial Union (MWBIUY has said. George MacPherson said VPS! has refused to meet with the union to address the severance pay issue. Fifteen employees remain at the shipyard; the rest of Versatile’s once-massive workforce was laid off after the company ran into major financial. difficulties earlier this year. Bil] Evers, spokesman for Bur- tard Custom Steel Fabrications Ltd.,; 2 wholly-owned subsidiary of VPSI, said the MWBIU’s re- fusal to sign a collective agree- ment with VPSI has cost the North Vancouver company a ma- jor steel-cutting contract for a superferry currently under con- struction for the B.C. Ferry Corp. In September, the federal and provincial governments, along with a local: shipbuilding consor- ‘tium,: purchased VPSI’s $60- million floating Panamax dry ‘dock: for $15.8 million, $7.5 mil- lion. of which went to pay off Versatile’s deb: to the Hongkong Bank of Canada. MacPherson said he believes VPSI is about to close its North “Vancouver facility permanently; the company, he said, has already _ started to move equipment out of the shipyard. Earlier this week a crew from Richmond's Britannia Heritage Shipyard removed several pieces of shipyard equipment it had pur- chased. from Versatile. The equipment -included band saws and_.work benches. “They're (VPSI) definitely ina closure mode and they’re refusing to*come back to the negotiating table,””. said MacPherson. ~ But Evers said VPSI is not clos- ‘ing and that: Burrard Custom Steel _ Fabrications is still working on - several industrial contracts. “We offered George the same Jindustry contract else has accepted and he’s turned ‘it down. He said they’ve. (union) ‘taken a strike vote, but that strike notice. hasn’t been served,’’ said .: Evers.. ‘‘Well that. has scared off .- potential . customers. We've lost - ithe. steel-cutting -job and that would have employed about 30 of - his people.”” <7 Because of - the. ‘lost job, Evers said“. VPSI. sent one. of its steel- - ‘cutting machines -to its Victoria | - Majority found , % From page 1 "The ‘Asian gypsy moths arrived ‘in the Lower Mainland in May on : freighters’ from... Siberia which came into the port to load grain at “Vancouver and North Shore grain terminals, ~ “. Despite an extensive contre] program fast spring and summer _ that included inspecting ships near Victoria and forcing a dozen ships carrying the moths back to sea, ‘the moths still managed to get ashore. The first recorded finding of Asian gypsy moths on North American soil came from traps near Alberta Wheat Pcol grain el- evator in Vancouver. Three moths were also found on the North Shore between Aug. 12 and 21. A total of nine gypsy moths were trapped on the North Shore, most in the Upper Lynn Valley area, two near the grain elvators and one near Eagle har- bour in West Vancouver. that, everyone . By Surj Rattan News Reporter yard. He said the severance pay issue has to be addressed by the pro- vincial and federal governments. The B.C. Shipbuilding Workforce Industrial Adjustment Committce has submitted a Solu- tions for Change report to the provincial government. The report includes three pro- grams that the committee believes ‘will help resoive the problems cur- rently facing the B.C. shipbuilding industry: © an early retirement package for older shipyard workers; @ a seniority buy-back program for displaced shipyard workers; @a retraining program for dispiaced workers and workers re- tained in the industry. MacPherson estimated that the maximum cost of the three pro- grams would be $83 million. “We realize it’s a high cost, but what we're saying is that while the East Coast shipyards are being bailed out by the government, this is a one-shot deal to save the in- dustry out here,’’ said MacPher- son. He added that the provincial government has not responded to the report. North Vancouver-Seymour Liberal MLA Daniel Jarvis has written to Economic Development Minister David Zirnheit and Ad- vanced Education Minister Tom Perry asking the provincial gov- ernment to adopt the report's rec- ommendations. “Many of these workers are in dire straits with no U.LC. (unemployment insurance) benefits Jeft, after the federal government paid off Versatile and the top management without concern or compensation for the union workers,”” said Jarvis. “If the government gives its support to the sustainable devel- opment committee’s report, Ot- tawa may be prepared to par- ticipate and sit down to negotiate severance pay, retraining and early retirement benefits to the older workers.”’ in Lynn Valiey Fifteen Asian moths were found near the Alberta Wheat Pool ele- vator; another nine were found near Stanley Park. ’ Bell said all of the moths trap- ped are now at New York’s Cor- nell University to determine - whether they are the European or Asian strain of the moth. Agriculture Canada’s Owen Croy outlined details of the spray- ing program to Burnaby council last Monday. in a previous News story, Croy said his department wanted to stop the gypsy moth before it reached the North Shore water- shed area, because “spraying in that area could be very sensitive.’* The spraying program received approval in principle from Bur- naby council. Said Bell, number of letters to other municipalities and we have ex- pressed our willingness to go be- fore council and explain the need for the program.”’ NEWS pholo Mike Wakeliwd A CREW from a Richmond museum was at the Versatile Pacific Shipyerds facility in North Van- couver this week removing several pieces of equipment. While the union representing Versatile workers has said the company plans to permanently close its doors, a company official has denied “There have been a . the charge. WV plans endowment fund Money to finance capital projects, land purchases LACKING A major ‘‘land bank’’ or a significant in- dustrial tex base, West Vancouver District Council has move! towards establishing a new endowment fund to help finance future capital projects or land acquisitions without resorting to taxation. Council tcok to third reading an amended bylaw Monday night to establish the fund, which will be built up to $20 million, and then main- tained at the same relative value through annual adjust- ments. The original Endowment Fund Bylaw was introduced Dec. 9, when West Vancouver advisory finance commission chairman John Hutton ex- plained that the fund had been one of the major recommenda- tions from the financial plan- ning task force. The municipality haa previously established various goals and priorities through its Officiai Community Plan, but the financing of those goals had not been determined. Hutton was taken slightly aback by a suggestion to change some of the items in the Endowment Fund Bylaw to reduce the council voting re- quirement. on amendments from a two-thirds majority to ‘a “‘simple’’ majority. “The two-thirds vote makes it more difficult to alter the bylaw...We felt these funds should be sacrosanct,’ said Hutton. Ald. Andy Danyliu said he preferred a change to a simple By Maureen Curtis Contributing Writer majority because establishing the fund was like ‘‘travelling unchartered waters for the first time,” Danyliu said that when one member of council is away, it takes only one alderman to defeat a motion when a two- thirds majority vote is re- quired. ‘**A simple majofity,”’ he said, ‘‘would give us greater flexibility, for the elected members of council and the people."’ Mayor Mark Sager added that ‘‘the simple majority would in no way detract from the essence of this byiaw.’’ The issue of acquiring pro- perties that carried existing mortgages was also raised. Ald. Don Griffiths expressed concerns Dec. # over the pos- sibility of the municipality fac- ing foreclosure in its ownership of property. The matter was returned to the finance commission and the municipal solicitor, with the result that properties with mor- tgages may be acquired, but under certain restrictions: a a WEST VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL @ at the time of a purchase, the value of the acquisition, © plus the total value of property _in the endownment fund, must not exceed 75% of the thresh- old value or the entire fund at the end of the preceding year. The municipality was advised that opportunities would be lost if it restricted itself to pur- chasing properties unen- cumbered by mortgages. The endowment fund will be fed by various existing funds, plus proceeds from: @ the sale of municipal prop- erty; @ rentals from the lease of 320 Taylor Way; © rentals and concession fees from other municipal lands; @ income earned ‘by the en- dowment fund. West Vancouver’s director of finance George Horwood has also advised council that the endowment fund could help the municipality ia saving money through general borrowing. The municipality pays 12% to 13% interest’ for borrowed ° money; the endowment fund could loan or ‘‘invest its asset’’ at 10% interest return. Such loans from the fund would include binding com- mitrnents by the municipality to repay the endowment fund. According to Horwood’s scheduling, approximately $770,000 from the fund could be available for council’s use by 1995, followed by $1,450,000 in 1996. 8 Automotives MM Classified Ads & Ecolnfo @ Editorial Page @ Home & Garden index @ Mailbox @ Paul St. Pierre @ Trevor Lautens @ What's Going On 33 Second Class Registration Number 2.385 Weather Saturday, rain, High 8°C, Low 4°C; Sunday, cloudy, High 7°C, Low 2°C.