Saturday, January 9, 1993 @ May was the pressure cooker for issues just waiting to boil over. Labor and management in the pulp and paper industry were barely able to keep the lid on a strike before it boiled over into June. An anticipated walkout by the province’s 12,000 pulp workers, 325 of which work at Celgar, was averted May 7. The two unions decided to back down on their threat to hit the bricks in the hopes reaching a new agreement. Mediator Vince Ready was brought in later in the month. The Regional District of Central Kootenay introduced its controversial | Bylaw 923. The legislation would force Slocan Valley residents to clean up any property deemed to be unsightly. Immediately, the bylaw met with | opposition. Austin Greengrass of the Slocan Valley Concerned Citizens Forum said, “we do live in a so-called democratic 1 society. We do not live in 1936 Nazi ) Germany.” | The heated debate would spill over into 1993, when members of the SVCCF would examine ways of fighting the bylaw in court. May also saw the resurrection of the Castlegar-Robson bridge conflict. Mayor | Audrey Moore dragged the issue from the mire by having the city send a letter to Transport Minister Art Charbonneau. Moore pointed to the traffic problems created by the Celgar expansion project, which were expected to only get worse. Rossland-Trail MLA Ed Conroy applauded the move, and expressed the need to turn up the heat on the province. Conroy said something had to be done, || whether it was a bridge or a secondary | access. By the end of May, Conroy even began to lose patience with his own party. “I’m having a hard time using ‘we’ when I speak about the government,” 2 vi. ye Trouble was brewing at Ceigar as 325 PPWC workers prepared for a strike. Conroy said. “Sometimes I just want to use ‘they.” May also had its ‘lighter’ moments. Councillor Jim Chapman refused to accept the idea of the city converting its white mercury-fueled street lights to amber-colored sodium lights. Chapman pleaded with council to not buy $95,000 worth of the lights from West Kootenay Power because he said better lights are available. The issue has since become a rather, uh, light-hearted dispute between Chapman and Coun. Lawrence Chernoff. The two city officials can often be seen in the parking lot after a council session, hammering out the latest pros and cons of various types of streetlights with neither one illuminating the other. Castlegar Savings Credit Union announced its plans to relocate next to Safeway. At the time, no one could foresee the intense lobbying that took place because the building was constructed with non-union labor. The Coalition Unaccepting Rash Bureaucracy made news by launching an assault on the city’s plan to relocate the public works yard. CURB president Mike O’Connor balked at the $850,000 price |. tag going up by $25,000. He said the city | was misleading its taxpayers. “It’s all a smoke screen for more spending,” O’Connor said. But Coun. Kirk Duff said CURB simply | had not done its homework. He said the increase was small, and not far off of what was only an estimate in the first place. CURB went so far as to conduct its own poll, resulting in 176 | votes in favor of the relocation, 10 | against. eee May notes: A strike by teachers at Selkirk College was averted after a two- year deal was reached. Retroactive to Oct. 1, 1991, wages went up 12.35 per cent over 27 months. The package allowed instructors to earn a maximum of $60,000 per year... More talks about erecting a shopping mall in the city persisted. Hearings were held for one mall beside the Sandman Inn, while another developer spoke of | setting up“shop across from Blue Top | Burger. June was the green light that marked the start of the province-wide pulp industry strike. On June 9, some 325 Celgar employees walked off the job. Castlegar’s Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada Local 1 soundly turned down an industry-wide offer by 95 per cent. PPWC employees were second only to Kamloops workers to put up picket signs. One week later, 12,000 pulp workers around the province fell in step. At the heart of the issue was a two- year deal that initially included an hourly increase of $1, and the elimination of one statutory down day. Allegations flew fast and furious between management and labor. PPWC president Stan Shewaga said the last contract saw the industry reap millions in profits while there were no returns to the workers. But Pulp and Paper Industrial Relations Bureau president Eric Mitterndorfer said the cupboard was bare. Mitterndorfer blamed an uncompetitive industry and an agreement with the workers that was beyond managements’ means. “We’re not moving unless we get a better offer from the employer,” Shewaga said. “We should be getting back into the ball game instead of beating each other over the head to see who’s going to bleed to death,” Mitterndorfer said. It was only the beginning. June also saw B.C. Hydro end up in hot water with local residents. Zuckerberg Island was flooded and sustained damaged, while marinas above the Hugh Keenleyside Dam were drought stricken. As part of its Columbia River Treaty with the United States, B.C. Hydro released as much as 125,000 cubic feet of water per second from the dam, thinking there would be no impact from the high water output. Not so. Scottie Tait of Scottie’s Marina said in just four weeks water levels at Syringa dropped over 18 vertical feet. Both Scottie’s Marina and Syringa Park Marina saw business dwindle in the face of what they said could have been a record year. The problems with the water levels would continue through the summer. eee June Notes: Tragedy claimed the life of 18-year-old Devin Turner. The recent high school graduate apparently drowned at Christina Lake while jumping from cliffs at Texas Point Provincial Park. Bruce and Nancy Ketchum found that their cross-Canada tour to promote unity went better than expected. The Ketchums appeared on CTV’s Canada A.M. One of Sunfest’s biggest events was cancelled. The annual boat race was scrapped because of threats that a bloodbath would occur if anyone in the viewing area crossed the pulp workers’ pickets lines. Canada Post had its own headaches, trying to convince local residents that the Castlegar post office wouldn’t close. Although no guarantees were made to keep the post office open, a representative said “nothing is happening in Castlegar, for now.” ad Bruce and Nancy Ketchum fought for national unity during their cross-Canada tour.