Hudbay still mining despite walkout
HudBay still mining despite walkout
Workers want better pay, pension
PICKET lines went up at HudBay mines in Flin Flon and Snow Lake on Saturday for the first time in 40 years.
Some 180 HudBay Minerals mechanics, pipefitters and machinists walked off the job after the latest round of negotiations failed to reach a contract.
The company issued a statement Saturday confirming the strike action started at noon. HudBay said production would continue despite the strike.
“A comprehensive contingency plan is in place, and the company expects operations to continue and production guidance to be maintained. The striking workers represent about 12 per cent of HudBay’s 1,460-person Manitoba workforce,” HudBay said.
Wages and pensions are reported to be the main points of the dispute, and the company said it’s willing to go back to the table at any time.
“HudBay sought a mutually negotiated agreement over several months and does not believe the strike action is necessary.
“HudBay remains committed to the bargaining process and hopes the union leadership will engage in good faith negotiations.”
The International Association of Machinists, local 1848, said in a statement the bargaining process “never stood a chance,” adding the proposed wage increases would still leave workers earning less than apprentices and certified trades workers at sites in The Pas and Thompson.
“From the beginning, management’s attitude toward us has been hostile,” IAM grand lodge representative Ian Morland said in the statement posted on the local’s website.
“We offered to assist management with a controlled shutdown of all operations in the event a strike, but they rejected this offer outright. They believe they can run the equipment without us. But we repair and maintain this equipment, and it will break down if it is not maintained properly. This could have been avoided.”
HudBay’s website states the 777 mine in Flin Flon produces zinc, copper, gold and silver. Commercial production began in 2004, and the mine is expected to continue until 2020. In Snow Lake, a concentrator processes ore from the same minerals in the nearby Lalor mine. The refurbished Snow Lake concentrator was commissioned in the third quarter of 2014 and has the capacity to treat 2,700 tonnes per day.
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Copyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 03/05/2015
Workers want better pay, pension
PICKET lines went up at HudBay mines in Flin Flon and Snow Lake on Saturday for the first time in 40 years.
Some 180 HudBay Minerals mechanics, pipefitters and machinists walked off the job after the latest round of negotiations failed to reach a contract.
The company issued a statement Saturday confirming the strike action started at noon. HudBay said production would continue despite the strike.
“A comprehensive contingency plan is in place, and the company expects operations to continue and production guidance to be maintained. The striking workers represent about 12 per cent of HudBay’s 1,460-person Manitoba workforce,” HudBay said.
Wages and pensions are reported to be the main points of the dispute, and the company said it’s willing to go back to the table at any time.
“HudBay sought a mutually negotiated agreement over several months and does not believe the strike action is necessary.
“HudBay remains committed to the bargaining process and hopes the union leadership will engage in good faith negotiations.”
The International Association of Machinists, local 1848, said in a statement the bargaining process “never stood a chance,” adding the proposed wage increases would still leave workers earning less than apprentices and certified trades workers at sites in The Pas and Thompson.
“From the beginning, management’s attitude toward us has been hostile,” IAM grand lodge representative Ian Morland said in the statement posted on the local’s website.
“We offered to assist management with a controlled shutdown of all operations in the event a strike, but they rejected this offer outright. They believe they can run the equipment without us. But we repair and maintain this equipment, and it will break down if it is not maintained properly. This could have been avoided.”
HudBay’s website states the 777 mine in Flin Flon produces zinc, copper, gold and silver. Commercial production began in 2004, and the mine is expected to continue until 2020. In Snow Lake, a concentrator processes ore from the same minerals in the nearby Lalor mine. The refurbished Snow Lake concentrator was commissioned in the third quarter of 2014 and has the capacity to treat 2,700 tonnes per day.
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Copyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 03/05/2015
credit union sues katz over unpaid loan
The only thing I can say about this, is that this is hilarious! Trying to get out of it, Surprise, Surprise. As if this isn't something a politician would do!
Credit union sues Katz over unpaid loan
By Kevin Rollason
FORMER mayor Sam Katz is being sued for more than $88,000 by the Assiniboine Credit Union for non-payment of a loan.
In a statement of claim filed in Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench last week, Katz, the president, director and shareholder of Hu’s Asian Bistro, is accused of being in arrears on what’s left of the $350,000 loan he took out on July 9, 2009, to open the restaurant at Ellice Avenue and King Edward Street.
The lawsuit says March’s payment of $4,170 hasn’t been paid and as of March 18, with interest, the total amount owing is $88,001.74.
When contacted, Katz said he had called the credit union, and he thought the matter had been worked out.
“I called when Danny’s Whole Hog (Barbeque & Smokehouse) just closed up and disappeared,” Katz said.
“Danny’s Whole Hog has been there for the last three years. We’ve already told them (the credit union) we are paying it.
“I’m surprised there’s a lawsuit.”
A spokesman for Katz said a demand letter has already been sent to Danny’s. The spokesman said Hu’s had sublet the space to Danny’s, and the restaurant had been paying rent monthly until it closed down last month.
Neither the lawyer for the credit union nor a spokesperson for Danny’s could be reached for comment.
No statement of defence has been filed and the matter has not been heard in the courts.
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Powered by TECNAVIACopyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 09/04/2015
selinger silent on builder's rush job claim
Selinger silent on builder’s rush job claim
Cites lawsuit over stadium deal
By Bartley Kives
MANITOBA Premier Greg Selinger has refused to respond to allegations his government rushed Investors Group Field into the construction phase.
Construction company Stuart Olson and former Winnipeg chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl both allege the province ignored deficiencies in the design of Winnipeg’s new football stadium before giving construction crews a green light to proceed.
Stuart Olson made the allegation this week in a statement of defence filed to a lawsuit over design and construction deficiencies launched by Triple B Stadium, the shell company that owns the 33,500-seat, $209-million facility.
In the statement of claim, Stuart Olson alleges Triple B and the province “made many decisions with respect to the construction and design of the field without first adequately taking the time to consider many details” and “sought to complete the project in as fast a manner as possible.”
Sheegl, a former Triple B chairman, made his own claim in 2014, alleging Selinger pushed the project into construction in advance of the 2011 provincial election without regard for design problems.
“We had two choices: We could stop with the hole half dug and re-evaluate what we were doing, or we could keep going. And the message was ‘keep going,’ ” Sheegl said last year.
On Friday, Selinger declined to respond to the allegations on the basis a lawsuit is before the courts. The premier would only repeat the assertion it was time to replace Canad Inns Stadium, the old home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Polo Park.
“What I recall was the old stadium was time-expired, it was dangerous and there (were) real concerns about public safety at the old stadium,” Selinger told a news conference in north Winnipeg’s Riverbend neighbourhood.
“We always encouraged the facility to be built.”
Triple B is seeking damages from Stuart Olson and architect Ray Wan in a lawsuit alleging 42 design and construction deficiencies, including heating and insulation problems, drainage and moisture issues, access issues and concrete problems so serious they require the concourse to be replaced at an estimated cost of tens of millions.
Triple B plans to tear up part of the stadium’s upper concourse this April in the first phase of a concrete-replacement program that may take two seasons.
Stuart Olson CEO Dan LeMay said his firm raised concerns about the stadium’s concrete and water drainage during the construction process, which saw the contractor raise more than 500 formal questions about the design.
“One of the issues for sure was the cracking,” LeMay told a news conference Friday at Stuart Olson’s Winnipeg office, adding the concrete was then tested and approved.
“We installed the concrete as per the design approved by the owner.”
Triple B alleges the slab design and composition resulted in weight restrictions so severe they make it “a problem for moving kegs of beer” around the stadium.
LeMay said he couldn’t explain why the cracking took place.
Nor would he elaborate on his written claim the stadium project was rushed and given a low budget “in accordance with the political and financial requirements” of the province. He also declined to say what discussions took place between Stuart Olson and Triple B Stadium from June 2013, when problems with the stadium were first made public, to March 2015, when Triple B Stadium filed its lawsuit and disclosed the severity of the facility’s problems.
For his part, Selinger also declined to comment on why it took nearly two years for Triple B Stadium to disclose those issues.
“Answers are not forthcoming from this government about what has transpired here and we need to get to the bottom of what happened,” Conservative deputy house leader Heather Stefanson said Friday, renewing a call for an audit into the stadium project.
“I think what’s happening is they’ve tried to sweep it under the carpet, and they can’t do that now.”
Selinger said the auditor general is free to investigate the project.
LeMay, meanwhile, said in nearly 30 years in construction, he’s never had to hold a news conference about a project.
“We like to work through issues with our owners and resolve them. We like to understand what the challenges are,” LeMay said.
“To receive the lawsuit and to first hear of the lawsuit through the media was a disappointment.”
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Powered by TECNAVIACopyright (c)2015 Winnipeg Free Press, Edition 25/04/2015