TUESDAY
S I N C E
JUNE 11, 2013
1 8 9 5
Vol. 118, Issue 90
105
$
More kudos for Koshey Page 11
INCLUDING G.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
SD20 support workers part of province-wide job action
A GAME OF INCHES
Session won’t disrupt classes BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
GUY BERTRAND PHOTO
Hans Barth marks the spots during the annual East-West Kootenay bocce tournament held on Sunday at the Trail Bocce Facility. Sixteen teams took part in the event. Watch the Trail Times this week for results.
Improved Internet service on the way Telus and Shaw aiming to expand and improve service BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
Faster Internet service and a first time look at Optik TV is coming down the wire for residents in the City of Trail. On Friday, Telus announced a $6 million investment in Trail in 2013
to improve its communications infrastructure to 95 per cent of city. “Ultimately, what this means is that residents and businesses in Trail will soon be linked to the most advance communications infrastructure offering the best speeds and Internet-based services available,” said Lisa Sauve, Telus media relations. Sauve said that current service rates will not change
as a result of the upgrades, though customers will notice more speed in the level of service, and access to new technology as it evolves. “The last major upgrade was completed in 2009,” said Sauve. “This newest upgrade, replacing the majority of the communication cables in the area with fibre optics, will provide access to new services that were not previously available.”
Essentially, Telus customers will have their homes wired directly to fibre optic cables which increases Internet speed two to three times and allows access to Optik TV service. Sauve said the upgrades will not interrupt current services, though there may be a few minor traffic delays in the area as Telus crews complete construction for the project. See FIBRE, Page 3
Custodians will drop their mops for half an hour Thursday, the first job action undertaken by the local Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The province-wide strike notice was served Monday to its support workers, including the 230 professionals that work in School District 20. CUPE represents school bus drivers, custodians, clericals, maintenance, tech and trades, education assistants, childcare and child and youth care workers and aboriginal education employees. “The plan is we're not going to disrupt classes, we're not going to disrupt anything,” explained Cherryl MacLeod, CUPE Local 1285 board president. “We picked that time so that we would be able to have our study session and not interrupt anybody's education.” Members will join custodians Thursday when they take a half an hour off from 4-4:30 p.m. to take part in a study session inside J. L. Crowe Secondary School and Rossland Secondary School. The meeting will bring them up to speed on what's occurred at the provincial and local bargaining table. But will also crystallize last month's strike vote, which needs to be acted on within 90 days, to ensure the window is open to further job action this fall. The local is looking to send a message, following contract negotiations that didn't result in what the union calls "job security" or a pay increase—a raise that hasn't occurred since 2009. BC Public School Employers' Association, the bargaining arm for boards of education, met with union representatives from the 57 unions banded together over the winter and into the spring. “(Members) are wondering why we're not walking out a whole lot faster than we are but without a sitting government, we're in limbo at this moment because if we go on strike tomorrow there is nobody in Victoria that can deal with us,” said MacLeod. “My members are frustrated because we look around and we see other public sector groups getting to bargain and getting collective agreements, and we get told that there is no money unless we mine our own collective agreement.”
Waneta Plaza... t if g is h e v lo l il w d a d r u o y Free parking • Late Night Shopping Thurs. & Fri. to 9pm
250.368.5202 • www.wanetaplaza.com • 5 min. east of Trail on Hwy 3B
Contact the Times: Phone: FineLine250-368-8551 Technologies 62937 Index 9 Fax:JN250-368-8550 80% 1.5 BWR NU Newsroom: 250-364-1242 Canada Post, Contract number 42068012