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#1 AND WEST VANCOUVER

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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