tt cs ME estore tthe
A e

nih ALM “ RXR aR se nH CHA
TCR ne tO

eee jh rhe tis

it sa

PRESCHOOL Easter Party was held last Thursday ‘at the
Regional Recreation Complex where spproximatély 560
children enjoyed two hours of games and relays, as well asa
puppet show, an Easter egg hunt, and treats. Some 30

parents were aieo Present. A special thanks h

extended to
co-ordinated the programs.

Chris Hrytzak and Loulse Sheffer —

School District Financing (Part 2)

2.7-Mill Tax oii Expected

By ANNE JONES
(The following article is the

allowed by the government and
these equaled $230,000.

second in a series
school budget fi financing, sub-
mitted by school board trust-
ces.) ,

In our last article, we tried
to explain the way in which all
school districts in the province
are financed through a com-
bination of locally- and pro-
vincially-raised money. In this
article, we will try to show how
the figures apply to School
District No. 9.

As explained in our pre-
‘vious article, each school dis-
trict receives an allotment of
“instructional units” based on
the number of students attend-
ing district schools on Oct. 31
each year and the number of
schools in operation.

For 1978, School District
No. 9 received 167 instructional

units. In addition, the provin- -

cial government credits us with
15 “special approvals”, each
worth 80 per cent of an in-
structional unit. Special appro-
vals are given for provision of
special programs such as learn-
ing assistance, alternate school
operation and educational ser-
vices to visually or hearing im-
paired children.

Each instructional unit is
worth $27,000 and each special
approval worth $21,600.

Therefore we get:

167 instructional units
+15 x .8 instructional
units = 179 LU.'s
179 1.U.'s x $27,000 =
$4,833,000.

Grants for transportation
and health services are also

OFFICE
FURNITURE

Chairs
Filing Cabinets
CASTLEGAR NEWS

Phone 365-7266
for a representative to call

The p PP
sum for provision of School
District No. 9's “basic education
program” is $4,833,000 plus
$230,000, or $5,063,000. As
budgetted by the board, this
sum is adequate to cover the
entire basic educational pro-
gram provided by the district.

However, the provincial
government does not simply
hand this money over the the
school board. As explained in
our first article, the province
raises at least a portion of the
money for the province's basic
education program from prop-

Canadians

erty owners throughout the
province by requiring every
district to levy a minimum mill

known as the “basic

school district property will be,
because the new assessment
was 47,871,534. A mill is 1/1000
of this figure, so last year, one
mill raised SATE 88,

e

This year the inci
government increased the basic
levy from 37.5 mills to 42,5 mills
{an increase of 13.33 per cent!)
No school district is permitted
to levy less than 42.6 mills, no,
matter how much more than its
own requirements that levy
may raise. Any excess goes to
the province to finance educa-
tion in other districts. -

At the present time the
school board has no idea what
the total assessment figure for

Have Only

Themselves to Blame

Canadians have only them-
selves to blame for many of the
country’s economic ills, says the
president of the Canadian
Chamber of Commerce.

Harold Crosby said that
while there is “an international
component beyond their con-
trol,” Canadians have been
largely the authors of their own
misfortune,

Joy Keillor
Bridge Club
Game Results

T d: half tables,

They have allowed govern-
ment to grow too big, to take
too big a bite out of earnings
and to hinder enterprise by
excessive surveillance and
regulation of the private sector,
he said.

They have also allowed
their costs in business and
industry to get out of control
and be less competitive in
world markets, Crosby told a
Charlottetown, P.E.I. local
Chamber of Commerce meet-
ing. =

“Among these costs are
high taxes to finance social
programs. beyond our means
and high wages to satisfy

with an average of 1212, took
part the evening of March 20 at
the Joy Keillor Bridge Club
with the following results:
North-South

First, Grace Donaldson
and Jean Fischer with 145'2;
second, Bev MacDonald and
Inez Walker with 142%; third,
Claira Johnson and Etuka Cam-
eron with 1371/2; fourth, Don
Elison and Jude Goodwin with
182%.

East-West

First, Dr. Kirby O'Don-
aughy and John Frame with
150%; tied for second with
1452 are Bert Tyson and Ian
Glover with Lorne Musclow
and Chuck Clarkson; fourth,
Julie Smith and Bill Scoffham
with 131%,

Selections from the Baha'i Writings

O SON OF BEING!

favor upon thee.

Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee. Get thou
from It thy radiance and seek none other than Me. For!
have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My

ox 3323, Castlegar VIN 1H3
or calls 365-3773 © 385-3239 © 365-2472

Baha'u'llah

“We failed to work hard
enough on the problem of pro-
ductivity, particularly in rela-
tion to the structure of our
industry, economies of scale
and development of good labor
relations.”

Club Prepares
For May Day
Celebrations -

A new executive was elect-
ed when the Community Club
met to discuss May Day prepa-
rations in New Denver recent-
ly.

Mrs. Bev Casely is presi-
dent; Mrs. Shorty De Rosa,
first vice-president; George
Mark, second vice-president;
Mrs. Janet Amsden, secretary
and Mathew Hudson, treasur-
er,

Among the events and
activities planned for the May
Day weekend are a teen dance,
fashion show, casino and dance,
canoe jousting, soap box derby,
bread and pie contests, tug-of-
war, parade, beer garden,
Maypole dance, crowning of the
queen and games and con-

will increase to $48,500, we can
calculate that 42.5 mills will
raise $2,061,250. This leaves
$3,002,750 to be paid by the
provincial government to the
district for our basic education
program.

In other words, Castlegar
taxpayers pay about 40 per
cent of the basic education cost
for district students. Naturally,
we cannot be certaih about
these figures until the new
assessment totals are received
in April. If the mill value has
increased, local taxpayers will
pay more than 40 per cent, but
if it has decreased, they will
pay a smaller share.

Most districts also have to
raise money over that provided
from the basic levy and pro-
vincial revenues. School Dis-
trict No. 9 is no exception.
Buildings constructed in the
past have to be paid for. The
provincial government shares
in this cost, but for 1978, a total
of 3.7 mills is projected for the
district's share of “debt ser-
vices”.

“Debt services” are. sums
required to be paid on deben-
tures sold to finance school
construction, Since this money
has in effect been spent in
building schools, this portion of
a district's budget can only be
reduced by paying off a deben-
ture issue totally (like paying
off a mortgage on a home).

In School District No. 9,
local taxpayers also must con-
tribute towards operational”
costs of Selkirk College and
other non-operating expenses
such as lunch programs. This is

Examined at UBC

Final details’ are Lalcng
shape for the fe

various disciplines the speakers
from tho H

Anthropology of the ‘Unknown:
Sasquatch and Similar Pheno-
mena, which will take place at
the University of British Col-
umbia from May 10 to 13, 1978.

Some 80 academics will
present papers at the con-
ference, jointly sponsored by
UBC’s Museum of Anthropo-
logy and Centre for Continuing
Education,

The wide-spread interest
in the topic is indicated by the

3 Tickets Win
$1 Million Each

In Lottery

Three tickets each worth
3h miltion were drawn Monday
in the Provincial lottery draw.

The winning tickets were
6113888, 4136341 and 1605460.

Two other tickets each

worth $100,000 were also.

drawn. Those winning numbers
were 4674857 and 2784590.
There was a total of 22,000
prizes for about $6 million in
prize money.
The next draw will be
April 30th in Toronto.

© Great variety
in Kate’s

Cotton Knit Tops!

in literature who will speak on
“The Wildman in Medieval
Trish Gaelic Literature" to the
anthropologist who will talk
about “Bushman Images
Among Northern Athapas-
kans” and the psychoanalyst
who will ‘discuss “Unwanted
Possession.”

Noted scholar Dr. Carleton
Coon, one of the world’s most

eminent physical anthropolo-

gists and an authority on
human evolution, will address
the final evening session on
“Why There Has To Be a Sas-
quatch.”

Conference organizers are
still waiting to hear whether
Dmitri Bayanov of the Darwin
Museum in Moscow will be able
to attend. Bayanov is a leading
Russian hominologist who has
recently published, a paper on
the: subject of whether Sas-
quatch is a leftover Neander-
thal man.

Sasquatch hunters John
Green from Harrison Hot
Springs, (who has written
several books on Sasquatch),
and Rene Dahinden of Rich-
mond, (who has travelled to the
USSR to consult with the
Russian hominologists), will
also take part in the sessions.

TV Evangelist Visits
Castlegar Saturday

A host of a weekly, tele-
vision show will be appearing in
Castlegar this Saturday, the
beginning of his nine-day visit
to this area,

Terry Winters, one of a
new breek of Christian evan-
gelists, refers to his approach of
communicating the age-old Gos-
pel of Jesus Christ as “con-
temporary Christianity", as he
seeks to put Biblical truth in
terms that are easily under-
stood by everyone,

iis weekly television show
on Sunday afternoons is a
combination of interviews, good
music ‘and what he calls “ex-
plaining. the Christian mes-
sage”. Terry Winter doesn’t
“preach"—he explains,

On Saturday, he and his
team of performers will be at
Stanley Humphries gymnasium
for one night only. The re-
maining eight nights the evan-
gelist and"his team will be in
Nelson for what the Nelson

churches are calling. “Nelson
Alive”,

His program includes “The
Joyous Celebration”, a lively,
singing group of seven young
people, as well as the Bowker
brothers, two talented men
who play duo pianos.

Winter, who lives in Van-
couver, is a. graduate of the
University of British Columbia,
He gained his doctorate at
Fuller Theological Seminary | in
California.

DENIS
Quality Shoes

for the entire family

Dress — eS — sort

- Eremenko’s $s‘

; Fame

West's Ladies’ Department Present Spring's

Now. Arrivals!

This weekend, plan to drop in to West's, and browse

through our selection of new spring fashions.

© “Country Blue Jeans”

3-piece mix and match ensembles from Tan Jay. Match up jeans with
wrap skirt, long and short-sleeved Jackets. There are also matching

T-shirts!

For the Style Conscious Woman .. ..

e Assorted Spring Body Shirts

Smooth-fitting body shirts for all-day neatness. Soft spring shades tn In

long or short sleeves, and sleeveless.

a

a

oe Wide. Great

d at appr
four mills.

This sum may be largely
eliminated in the future if the
province assumes total respon-
sibility for college costs, but we
have been informed this will
not happen in 1978,

The schoo) district also
budgets for what is called
“non-shareable capital costs”.
Unlike school construction
costs, the cost of acquiring new

equipment for schools and of
improving ground and buil-
dings after initial construction,
must be borne entirely by the
school district.

For many years, School
District No. 9 allowed one mill
for these items, However, the
inflationary trends of the past
few years, coupled with the fact
that our mill value was not
increasing, led the board to
increase this budget area a year
ago and this year, the figure-is
projected to be 2.33 mills.

There is, therefore, a levy
of approximately 10 mills over

cts shorts, etc.

Stretch Terry

FABRICS ® FABRICS © FABRICS

Evelet Fabric

Choose from ne

Remnants

Watch next week for our
Annual Spring
Anniversary and
‘Link Hardware Sale!

Save baskets of the green!

Bealdes fantastic savings of the
. green throughout the store, you'll find

Coming Next Week...

oie

CASTLEGAR NEW

Distributed Bright and Early Every Thursday Morning at “The Crossroads of the Kootenays”

VOL. 31, No, 18

TWO SECTIONS (A&B) ay

CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 1978

26 CENTS

Castlegar Airport's three-month runway closure will begin
Sunday, airport manager John Michelson said this week,
Michelson told the Castlegar News Tuesday the runway will

close at evening grounding time for transport ministry-approved
resurfacing of its.runway. Construction will begin immediately

: a morning, he said.

Aircraft owners whe wish to move their Panes to the Betsey
do

Toni af

| ” Ministry to Consider
‘Very Limited’ Flights

The federal transport
+ ministry may allow “very limit-
ed” small-aircraft flights to and

from Castlegar Airport during -

the three-month shutdown for

runway resurfacing which be- '
‘gins Monday, city council's

airport committee chairman
said Tuesday.

Ald, Gerald Rust | told
council said transport minis!
officials indicated in a meeting
with the committee last Mon-
day that they would consider
permitting some flights in early

_ Morning or in late evening.

Rust said the officials -

“expressed reservations” about.

the city’s proposal that the

airport taxi lane be used as a
temporary airstrip during run-
way repairs, but said they “will
look into it.”

The officials said’ firms
leasing airport property would

‘not be reimbursed for. the

airport shutdown, and said they
were not willing to discuss the
possibility of the construction
being completed in less than
three months, he said.

Committee to Study
Anti-Noise Bylaw

An 11-year-old anti-noise
bylaw will be investigated by
the city’s administrative ser-
vices and finance committee,
council decided Tuesday.

-*. Council approved a motion
by Ald. Jim Gouk-that revision
Of the “antiquated” bylaw pro-
~hibiting excavation and con-
struction in Castlegar after 6
p.m. and during weekends be
considered by the committee.

Gouk said the. existing
‘bylaw appears to ee con-

But Not Until 1979 —

struction by residents on their
own homes during those times,

Planning committee chair-
man Ald, Len Embree support-
ed the motion but said the noise
bylaw did have some: justifica-
tion in cutting down construc-
tion noise made by contractors.
He said his committee's recent
rejection of a request to oper-
ate a gravel pit on the North
Castlegar flood plain was based
Late on the ner

“Discounts Granted

Water and sewer rate dis-
counts offered to domestic
users will also apply to com-

‘Uphill Battle’
-For Meeting

Cutdown Move

The city's efforts to

reduce the Regional District
of Central Kootenay board's
monthly meetings this sum-
mer will “an uphill
battle,” ‘Ald,’ Gerald Rust
-told city council Tuesday.
:. Rust, acting Castlegar
‘director at the March 16
‘board meeting, said direc-
‘tors giveti notice of motion
‘on a proposed cutback from
‘two monthly ‘treetings to
‘one indicated they wanted to
continue with the same
number of meetings during
the summer.

Telling council the

March 16 open board meet:
ing lasted only 90 minutes,
he said the decisions covered
by the board did not: justify
two meetings monthly.
-*. He’ urged council to
support regular Castlegar
director Mayor Audrey
Moore in efforts to gain
approval of the motion,
which is scheduled for dis-
cussion in June.

mercial users in the 1979 fiscal
year, city council decided Tues-
day.

In response to requests
from the Castlegar Downtown,
Businessmen's Association for
the same early-payment dis-
counts given to residential
users, Ald. Gerald Rust, ad-
ministrative services and fi-
nance committee chairman, rec-
ommended they not be granted
this year but be made available
to businessmen next year..

i

CanCel ‘Manoeuvre

REJECTED CONTRACT Is given close scrutiny by Canadian
Alrline Employees Association members (left to right) Brian
Ruffell, Janet Fellman and Dale Paterson, as they picket the

PWA terminal at Castlegar Alrport. Castlegar Alrport ls.

among the 14 airports picketed thie ‘Week while PWA

maintalned normal operations.

—CasNewsFoto by Lols Hughes

CALEA Claims Lockout By PWA

Flights Continue During Strike

Castlegar Airport was
among 14 airports being picket-
ed this week as Pacific Western
maintained normal’ opera-
tions while Canadian Air Line

Employees Association mem- *

bers stayed off the job.

PWA spokesman Ruth
Cowan this week said there
were no flight cancellations and

some delays were experienced
because of weather conditions.

The 550 members of the
association were advised by the
company Sunday -that their

services were not required if.

they engaged in economic ac-
tion to disrupt airline services.

The workers began rota-
ting strikes last Tuesday after

Ciiy Ask 4ea 10

‘contract talks broke down.
They also have been working to
tule and refusing to work
overtime.

Union spokesman Al Wout-
ers said that since the company
had stated that employees who

have taken economic action are:

not required until the dispute is
resolved, and all the union
members have been involved in

Find itew Ste

such action, they have all been
locked out.

Other airports being pick-
eted were Vancouver ‘Inter-
national, Kelowna, Campbell
River, Quesnel, Dawson Creek,

‘Port. Hardy, .Comox, ‘Powell
\River, Edmonton International

and Edmonton municipal, Cal-
gary, Fort McMurray and Yel-
towknife.

Pound Draws Further Complaints

Noise from the city's
Castlegar South animal pound
has drawn further complaints
by nearby residents, Ald. C. S.
Fowler said this week.

Fowler, protective ser-

vices committee chairman, told
city council Tuesday the city
had received “three or four
complaints in the last 10 days"
about noise made by dogs in the
pound at 805 Sixth Ave. S, and

Youth Committee to Seek
Doukhobor, Juvenile Reps

The newly - appointed
youth committee will take
“immediate steps” to broaden
its membership's ctepresenta:

meet with Kelowna Boys’ Club
youth worker Herb Sullivan to
discuss the function and.role of
a youth worker who would

tion of th id. Bud
Godderis reported Posten
“< Godderis, ‘who as health
and welfare committee chair-
man met, with the youth com-
mittee last Wednesday, told
council the four-member youth
committee would seek repre-
sentation from local youth and
the Doukhobor community.
He described the first
meeting of the committee—

Ny be hired by the com-
mittee, he reported:

-Godderis' request that the
youth committee be given office
space in the old arena complex
was referred to the regional
facilities management commis-
sion,

he had instructed animal con-
trol officer Jim Vigue to give
the dogs tranquilizers to calm
the dogs down.

He said residents had
asked the city to find a new site
for the pound but he pointed
out such a relocation would be
“a pretty complex matter”
because the pound would have
to be situated next to the
animal control officer's real:
dence.

A possible ‘solution auld
be to move the pound toa rural
area in some arrangement with
the Regional District of Central
Kootenay, he said.

Mayor Audrey Moore said
the city had previously main-
tained a pound in Robson, and

noted that care of the animals
improved greatly when the city
opened its own pound.

In. response to ‘council
queries about the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals representatives who
had tried unsuccessfully ‘to
organize a branch in Castlegar
late last year, city clerk Barry

said the

’ Council

City’s Pact Criticized

By RYON GUEDES
Editor

CanCel has “manoeuvred”
city council with attempts. to
evade financial responsibility in
securing a Lower Arrow Lakes
water supply for Castlegar,
Ald. Len Embree charged
Tuesday.

In response to water com-
mittee chairman Ald. C. S.
Fowler's report on a meeting
between council members and
CanCe! officials last Tuesday,
Embree—who did not attend
the meeting—criticized coun-
cil's decision to set aside dis-
cussion of the company’s legal
responsibility to provide aid.

Embree told council he did
not see the advantage of the
city going through the “exer-
cise” of a joint approach with
CanCel to the provincial gov-
ernment for funding for the
new system.

“I am concerned that we

“are getting manoeuvred. by

CanCel,” he said. “We're going
through the same, exercise as
we did twice before, except
CanCel is going with us.”:
Asked by Embree whether

cial commitment, Fowler said
they indicated they had some
legal and financial reaponsibl-
lity but preferred to get «
judicial ruling on their respon-
sibility at a later date. :

. But Ald. Bud Godderis
disagreed with Fowler's inter:
pretation of the CanCel offi-
cials’ statements at the meet-
ing. :

“I didn't pick up on any
recognition of any financial
commitment by CanCel,” God-
deris said.

Fowler said he felt the
company representatives’ de-
sire to set aside discussion of its
1960 legal agreement with
Castlegar “is an admission that .
they have a financial respoh-
sibility.”

“I don't think they're ma-
noeuvring,” he said. “I think
we're taking a logical step in
what we're doing.”

Fowler said the water com-
mittee felt interpretation of
CanCel’s financial responsibi-
lities must be decided “when
we see the way clear to ascer-
tain the costs and their effects
on the

the CanCel
said they would | make a finan-

(Con't. Pg. A2, Col. 6)

| Regional
Subject

Castlegar's problems with
the Regional District of Central
Kootenay planning function will
be outlined in a brief to be
presented here at a special
provincial government hearing
next month.

In response to the RDCK
board’s decision to deny the
city's request for a - partial

Planning
of Brief

“Iam extremely concerned

because it is my firm belief that
the RDCK planning function

(Con't. Pg. A2, Col. 51)

withdrawal from regional plan...

ning costs, city council sup-

ported Ald. Gerald Rust’s mo- 2

tion that the submission to the
municipal affairs ministry's re-
gional district review commit-
tee be devoted to a critique of
the effectiveness of regional
planning.

Rust, who as acting Castle.
gar director was the only
member in favor of the partial
withdrawal, told council he “put
forth every I could

think of" to convince the board
that the city should not face full
regional costs. in addition to
paying for its own separate
planning department,

He said the city’s only
alternative to indicate its con-
cern would be in a presentation
to hs hearing, i in the hope that

tives had indicated they would
contact the city again ae
the summer.

ae may lead to some legisla-
tive changes in regional dis-
tricts.

Navigation System
Held Up Until 1979

A federal transport ministry official has told the city
Castlegar Airport will have to wait until 1979 for a new air
navigation system, Ald. Gerald Rust said Tuesday.

‘The airport committee chairman told city council A. A. Bach,
the ministry's Pacific regional administrator, said in a meeting
with the committee last Monday that installment of the track
guidance localizer sought for the airport would be delayed as a

result of “national priorities."

Bach indicated to the committee that he would inform the city
in a letter of the current status of tests being conducted on the
proposed system by the ministry, Rust said.

series on school districts. |.
‘Page Al6 |- °

Ann Landers . + Page Ab J

Estate, and Automotive. ...
Pages Al2-AIS-A1CA15
Editorial

Entertainment . .

ti Pages A
Pulpitand Pew .. Page BS
Sports . . Pages A6-A8-B10
Telenews ... Pages B3-BA

|. Weekend © ;
Weathercast

CLOUDY skies today with
sunny periods during the
afternoon. There will be
increasing clouds and a risk,
of shower activity as we go

into the weekend. J
For convenient home delivery:

of the Castlegar News, call
365-7266. y

appointed to deal with the
dynamic savings on Panasonic of fl
Microwave Ovens and Frigidaire
Appliances. There will also be a
Panasonic microwave oven
damonstration, so don’t miss this

cession booths.

j
“excellent and said its mem-
bers were “very enthusiastic
and ready to get going.”

the basic levy to provide for,
these three areas of local educar
tion. The prospective mill rate
for 1978 is 50.3 mills. Last year

Two Days’

at Castlegar Drug.
Pampers

Newborn. 30's ..

Daytime Extra
Absorbant. 24's .....

Secret

Roll-on Deodorant.
Scented or Unscented.

Spring has Arrived at Castle-|
gar Drug’s Downstairs Toy-
find. Drop In soon and see the

latest in toys and games.

CLOSED THIS SUNDAY
Carl's Orug Hours: 12-1 p.m.
&6-7 p.m.

it was 47.6 mills, so the increase
is 2.7 mills. =

Considering the fact that
the basic levy was increased
five mills, this is somewhat less
than might have been expected.

The total budget is ap-
proximately $5,500,000 exclud- <
ing Selkirk College costs.

How does the board spend
this money? In our next article
we will show generally how this
money is allocated, or “who
gets what”,

fantastic sales event coming next week!

YOUR
LINK
HARDWARE
“STORE

‘AIR TRAVEL
AGENTS FOR
ALL AIRLINES

* Reservations

*

Accommodations

Department Store ;

21 PINE STREET, CASTLEGAR

PHONE 365-7782

365:
‘#1, 401 Front St., Castlegar

High-Rolling

Entertainment

- An estimated 500 are ex-
pected to attend Las Vegas
Night at the Regional Recrea-
tion Complex tomorrow and
Saturday, a Castlegar Sun-
flower Fest Committee epokes-
man said this week.

*: Stan Porter said the two-
day gambling event will feature
seven blackjack tables and two
crown-end-anchor wheels, as

‘Tickets for the dance are
available at Coboe Insurance,
Big Rock Realty and Robinson

Proceeds

the Miss
the Sunflower Fest.

The ‘youth committee
members would be making
contact with the various re-
source people who have indi-.
cated their support and would

City Borrows ,

$1 Million
Uniil July

City council gave final”
approval Tuesday to a bylaw
authorizing temporary borrow-
ing.of up to-$1 million to

“maintain the city until it com-

pletes collection of its tax
revenue. . z

City Administrator Bill
Krug said it was unlikely the
city would borrow as much as
the limit set before completion
of tax collection July 4. :

SILVER JUBILEE. medal winner Ed Lewis,
recantly-retired chief of the Casilegar North
Fire -Department, Is honored by Mayor
Audrey Mcore In presentation Tuesday. The
B.C, Fire Chiefs Association had nominated

Lewls—and others in the province who had
served as fire chiefs for 25 y or
more—for the award, which commemorates
the silver anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's
relgn.—CasNewsFoto by Ayon Guedes

A> memorandum of
agreement granting a six-
per-cent overall compensa-
tion increase to unionized
School District No. 9 em-
ployees for 1977 to 1978,
gained approval by - the’
board of trustees and Cana-
dian Union of Public Em-
ployees Local 1298 members
last Thursday.

School board secretary-
treasurer John Dascher said
the agreement-was retroac-
. tive to July 1 last year and
represented a pay increase
ranging from $60 to $80
monthly for the average
employee.

He said the agreement
called for an immediate
4.5-per-cent payout—
amounting to nine monthis of
$45 to $60 monthly pay-
ments—and payment of the
remainder upon the federal
Anti-Inflation Board's appro-
val of the increase.

Dascher said fringe
benefits improvements in
the agreement included a
new clause providing for six
weeks vacation after 25
years and an increase in
accumulated sick days from
120 to 180.

Also included was a
clause providing for an in-

CUPE, School Board Sign
6% Increase Package

crease from 20- to 40-per-
cent payout for accumulated
sick days upon retirement or
death after five years em-
ployment, as well as a reduc-
tion in minimum time re-
quired for overtime, he said.
Dascher told the Castle-
gar News he did not expect
any difficulty in gaining AIB
approval for the six-per-cent
increase because. the in-
crease is the same as the
federal guideline figure.
Negotiations begin
“within a month" between
school board and CUPE
representatives on the 1978
to 1979 contract, he said.

—_ |