THE FAR SIDE By GARY LARSON inches toward st continued from front page The PPIRB’s Dave Reid refused to respond to Snow’s claim, saying he isn’t pre- pared to wage a verbal war through the media. In fact, Reid said that the two sides had a promise that they wouldn’t air their dirty laun- dry through the press. “One thing we agreed on from the very beginning is that we wouldn’t negotiate +hrou gh the press and I’m Reid said he would not comment on any of the union demands. Instead, he said_ the PPIRB would look to Fri- day’s meeting as an opportu- nity to bridge the wide gap between the two sides. In an earlier interview with The News, PPIRB pres- ident Eric Mitterndorfer said the union demands were un- realistic, saying high labor, sapere ‘and upgrading costs Sun. 10:00 a p.m Castlegar Foods WHITE BREAD Or whole wheat ¢ 570 g. Fresh Pork Side SPARE RIBS Family Pack GOLDEN RIPE BANANAS ENGLISH | CUCUMBERS| No Name Lemon LAUNDRY || Cotts Pop | 355mL « Asst. Varieties. ees CT or 24 tin case $7.49 LITE TUNA 184 G. LIMIT 3. not going to,” Reid said Tues- day. “I’m really surprised that Len (Snow) has decided to do this because we agreed we wouldn't.” e-killing the industry. ~ Tfastrike occurs, it will af- fect some 16,000 unionized pulp and paper workers — 325 of PPWC Local 1 at Cel- Showtimes: 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Children $6.00 Adults $9.00 TICKETS AVAILABLE AT: Community Complex f ENJOY AND SUPPORT aIP LED CHILDREN Why Pay More? } Big Dipper ICE ‘CREAM 21. © Asst. Flavors SURPLUS DAVE’ _Located in Castlegar Foods BATH TOWELS Cannon’ — PARK BENCH 8 slat..$39.99 Boo dai oscisescocense-nss O09 HOSE & NOZZLE RESIN TABLE UMBRELLA = Swan. 50 ft. ............... $14.99 4 chairs $149.00 : VISE 4" Swivel GAS BBQ Portable ....$39.99 HAMMERS 16 oz We reserve the right to limit quantities SE aancncosaanncnaninensnnnconennnstts Chicken of the Sea Chunk SecondFRO NT! @ Wednesday, April 22, 1992 3n 2 a > CALL THE CURB considers running candidates @ Citizens group begins countdown towards 1993 municipal election Scott David Harrison EDITOR The Coalition Unaccepting Rash Bureaucracy may be throwing its hat into the political ring. At a general meeting Thursday, CURB president Michael O’Connor urged members to run in the 1993 municipal election. “Every member of CURB should be thinking about running for council,” O’Connor said Thursday. “We should go hard after those council seats and hard after the mayor’s chair. ° “I sound like I’m on the campaign trail here,” he told the gathering of 18 CURB members, “and maybe I am.” O’Connor said CURB has begun the countdown towards the 1993 municipal election. He said the citizens group must be prepared to put itself on the line if it wants to change city hall. “We have to get (council) turned around,” he said. “We have to go after the (councillors) and let them know that we aren’t happy with what they’ve been doing.” O’Connor said 19 months remain before Castlegar voters go to the polls. He said CURB must use that time to establish itself as a political alternative to the present council. “The whole reason CURB was formed was to clean the house up, but the broom isn’t working,” he said. “All we’ve seen is the dust being shifted from one end of the room to the other.” Councillor Doreen Smecher said she would welcome CURB and any other candidates. She said competition for council seats would ensure that Castlegar is being fairly represented. Coun. Bob Pakula agreed, saying “everyone has the right to run for council. “I just hope they know the aniount of work that is involved,” he said. Pakula also offered some words of advice to potential candidates, saying the job isn’t all roses and sunshine. “Just wait until they get it from the other side and then they'll see just what it’s like to be on council,” Pakula said Monday. CASTLEGAR’S FINEST @General Inquiries 365-7266 OUR HOURS The News is - located at. 197 Columbia Ave. Our oa +hours-are—__| » Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on weekends and statutory holidays. /SUB )RATES The News is ipublished by Castle News Ltd. for anwest | Publishers Ltd. Mail »subscription rate to e News is $40 Sper year ($44 in ommunities where he post office has ter carrier ‘outstanding co! It’s better late than never for Pete and Mary Oglow. Absent from their own Kiwanis Club Citizen of the Year celebration due to illness, the Oglows finally got the award they so richly deserve for their many years of ity service. Presenting the Ogiows with their speciat prize are Citizen of the Year Chair |~ Bob MacBain (far left) and Kiwanis president Dean Carter (far right). Scott David Harrison EDITOR The countdown towards a Selkirk College strike is on. Negotiations between the college and its 100 full and part-time instructors has hit the “critical stage,” said Jeff Fox, who is negotiating for the the B.C. Gov- ernment Employees Union. The union declaration comes after college instruc- tors and instructional assistants voted 100 Per cent price | -last-week to reject Selkirk’s latest offer. — }- . newsstands is “The employer is asking its employees to accept a consessionary collective agreement and that isn’t ac- ceptable,” fox said. Although Fox declined to disclose the particulars . the college’s offer, he did say Selkirk is offering next to nothing. ‘He said Selkirk is asking instructors and assis- tants to make consessions to sick leave benefits. In addition, Fox said Selkirk is asking part-time in- structors to take cuts to their development courses Selkirk College nears strike and benefit packages. According to a BCGEU news release, the key is- sues that remain to be settled are length of the con- tract, professional development, work schedules, sick leave and benefits. “Monetary figures are not the key obstacle to a set- tlement,” Fox said, although he declined to say what wage increases instructors are seeking. Selkirk instructors have been without a contract since Sept. 31, 1991. HEU plans full-scale walkouts Glen Freeman NEWS REPORTER It’s essential services only at the Castlegar Hospital today. The Hospital Employees’ Union has chosen to ignore industrial inquiry commissioner Stephen Kelleher’s report to Labor Minister Moe Sihota and pull their members from work. “We are pulling out everybody except essential services in all the hospitals ‘across B.C.,” said local HEU on Lae Weir. en five days to sift tnvoaan ‘the HEU - Health Labor’ Relations Association dispute and report Tuesday to Labor Minister Moe Sihota. Kelleher recommends in the report that the HEU “refrain from job action pending a final resolution through | the binding _ ‘third-party process.” Kelleher also suggests that the pay equity issue, the appropriate wage increase and the term of a new collective agreement be referred to a third party for a binding decision. But Kelleher’s proposals haven't made the HEU happy. “The union just thinks that we just won’t get a fair shake if this goes to binding arbitration,” Weir said. The | HLRA’s Martin Livingston also feels that Kelleher’s recommendations are College president Leo Perra said the dispute has flawed. ____ ae dragged on at the union’s request. “We have been wanting to negotiate since August,” Perra said Tuesday, “the union hasn't.” Perra said the union took its time getting to the ne- gotiating table, saying it hoped the change in provin- cial government would give it greater bargaining power. The two sides are set to meet in Trail Friday in an effort to reach .a two-year agreement, which would be retroactive to Oct. 1, 1991. “It's 's premature for us to say if if we entirely agree or disagree with Kelleher’s proposals,” said Livingston. “However I can tell you that there are some items that we disagree with.” The HEU had not taken job action since Thursday when Sihota asked them to wait for Kelleher’s recommendations.