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THE OBSERVER | Saturday, January 16, 2010
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Snowmobilers all set to go, but there’s one thing missing.........................»13 Livin’ life in The Fish Bowl
»11 VOLUME 15, ISSUE 02
SATURDAY, January 16, 2010
www.ObserverXtra.com
Woolwich workers get 3% wage increase Township agrees to new three-year deal with its unionized employees STEVE KANNON Even in the current economic climate, Woolwich’s outside workers will receive pay increases of three per cent annually over the next three years, as the township this week reached a new collective bargaining agreement with 19 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees local 1542. The contract, effective Jan. 1, replaces the previous three-year deal that expired Dec. 31. For this year, the deal brings the average wage to $22.50. Formally, the new agreement gives workers a 1.5-per-cent wage increase each year. A further “market adjustment” of 1.31 to 1.56 per cent will be applied annually to each worker’s pay, effectively making the rate approximately three per cent. The market adjustment was negotiated to bring employees’ wages in line with what is being paid in comparable municipalities, explained chief administrative officer David Brenneman. Aware that the increases are out of line with private-sector raises, he said the township is forced to negotiate based on what other municipalities have settled on recently, noting the Woolwich deal is very similar to what Wellesley Township gave its workers last year. “The reality of the situation is that we’re not comparing public to private, but we’re negotiating in a climate where we’re compared to other municipalities. The union is looking for parity among neighbours.” For 2010, the wage increase will add another $27,800 to the budget, said director of finance Richard Petherick. See WAGES page »06
A GIVING SPIRIT Yvonne Martin, seen here with husband Ron, was killed when the building she was in collapsed during the earthquake that hit Haiti.
Caring about others is what brought Elmira nurse to Haiti
Making her fourth mission trip to impoverished country to provide medical assistance, Yvonne Martin died in devastating earthquake JONI MILTENBURG Yvonne Martin was in her sixties and a grandmother of 10, but she had the energy of a much younger woman. During her annual mission trips to Haiti, she rode in the back of a pickup truck and slept on a dirt floor without complaining or losing any enthusiasm for the work she was doing. Martin, 67, died in Tuesday’s devas-
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tating earthquake in Haiti. She was the first confirmed Canadian casualty of the magnitude seven quake. Martin was part of a team of seven nurses from the Kitchener-Waterloo area that was in Haiti to conduct medical clinics in the northern part of the country. This was her fourth trip to Haiti; she made the trip every January. “This had been her focus since she retired,” said Martin’s oldest son Luke.
Luke and his brothers Terry and Dean gathered at Terry’s home Thursday afternoon to share memories of their mother. An active woman who loved people and had an opendoor policy, she was also prayerful, and faith was a big part of her life. Yvonne was a nurse at the Elmira Medical Centre for more than 30 years before she retired. After retirement, she dedicated a great deal of her time See QUAKE page »02
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