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2 Wednesday February 10 2016 POLITICS LABOUR NEWS BRIEFS Father and son charged as drug dealers in Hay River PoliceinHayRivertookmorethanakilogramofweedand 130gramsofcrackothestreetsinrecentweeks.Tworaids involving three addresses resulted in three people being charged including a father and son. On Feb. 3 RCMP of- cers found 1.4 kg of marijuana 100 grams of crackco- caine cash and paraphernalia. Antonio Mennillo 26 and his dad Christian Girard 55 face several drug track- ing charges. Also on Jan. 20 19-year-old Calvin King was charged with tracking and possession of a weapon for a dangerouspurposeafterpolicereportedlyseized30grams each of weed and crack from a home in the West Chanel area. The charges have not been proven in court. Police nd loaded sawed-o shotgun in vehicle Mounties say a loaded rearm was pointed from a vehi- cle in Fort McMurray Thursday afternoon. Wood Bualo RCMP were called at about 1210 p.m. with a report of a man who had pointed the gun at another vehicle at the intersection of Hardin Street and Highway 63 southwest of the citys core. Ocers found the vehicle on nearby Franklin Avenue pulled it over and arrested the 34-year- old Fort McMurray man without incident. He remains in custody on rearms charges and the investigation is ongoing. No shots were red and no one was injured. Three rescued in Behchoko Two separate search operations resulted in three people being rescued within 24 hours of each other. The RCMP local search and rescue team and ice road sta found two BehchokomenreportedoverduefromGametinearTimmy Lake north of the Gameti junction at about 1230 p.m. Jan. 29. They had left the previous night and were prepared for the weather with emergency supplies and food. Nei- ther required medical attention. At 11 a.m. Jan. 30 RCMP were alerted to a man unconscious on the ice near Edzo. He was located and received rst aid. Alcohol was a factor. FIDDLE WORKSHOP February 19 20 21 2016 Come to Fort Smith for a Friday Evening Jam Fiddle Classes on Saturday Sunday Orchestra Classes as well as other Instruments REGISTRATION FEE 80 for full Workshop or 40 for 1 day paid by February 12 90 for full workshop or 45 for 1 day after February 12 Private lessons may be arranged for 100Student 7 to 9 PM Friday evening for Registration Home Room Classes 9 AM to 8 PM Saturday 9 AM to 3 PM Sunday with two-hour lunch breaks Located at JBT Elementary School Fort Smith Free Old Time Community Fiddle Dance Concert 200 to 300 PM Sunday Beginners are welcome No need to be able to play an instrument Minimum age is 8 years old to 90 years young FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Bart Hartop ...........867 872-2154 .....gail_barthartophotmail.com Linda Duford .........867-876-0656..........................ljtd58yahoo.ca By CRAIG GILBERT WhentheUnionofNorthern Workersaskedthe4000GNWT employeesitrepresentsforpri- orities heading into the next roundofcontractnegotiations sexualharassmentandmental health were top-of-mind. The UNWs opening pro- posal for modications to the collective bargaining agree- ment CBA included deni- tionsofworkplaceviolenceand harassment including bully- ing and abuse of authority. Thisincludesvexatiousbe- haviourintheformofrepeated and hostile or unwanted con- ductverbalcommentsactions or gestures which aect an employees dignity or psycho- logical or physical integrity. It was a high priority es- tablished by our bargaining conference UNW president Todd Parsons said. What we saw from the locals was lan- guagearoundprotectionfrom violenceintheworkplacesex- ual harassment and bullying is of paramount concern for many of our members today. Lead negotiator for the GNWT Shaleen Woodward agreed a discussion about those issues in the workplace would be very helpful. Thenegotiatingteamshave met for seven days already spending about one or two hours at the table per day and working with their own cau- cuses in the meantime. There are 10 or 11 UNW members or technical sta on the em- ployee negotiating team four on the GNWT side. The negotiators dealt with housekeeping items includ- ing grammar and wording changes to the previous CBA and non-monetary items ones that do not directly cost the GNWT anything like job security language rst. The changes can be sub- tle but have the potential to make a big dierence. It takes us hours to work through just a comma Par- sonssaidaddingtheyhavenot started talks on costed items suchassalaryandvacationpay. Eachsidesopeningpropos- alsarepublishedonlineaccess themviahttpwww.unw.ca government-nwtscrolldown toJan.15.TheGNWTwants tobeabletobillemployeeswho take educational leave and ei- therfailtocompletethecourse they intended to or do not re- turn to their job for at least as longastheywereaway.Itwants tohavethesameabilityforem- ployeeswhoarepaidtorelocate to the territory and leave after less than a year on the job. In a number of cases em- ployees have been moved to the NWT by the GNWT only to resign a short time after ei- ther returning to their origi- nal place of hire or accepting employment outside of the GNWT the document reads. Thegovernmentalsowants tobeabletohirereliefworkers across its entire operations. CurrentlytheCBAlimitsthat ability to facilities that oper- ate year-round. Ouroverallgoalistomain- tain a sustainable public ser- vice the proposal concludes. To do this we need to achieve abalancebetweeninvestingin employeesandscalresponsi- bility.Webelievethatthisshould be a shared goal between the Union and the GNWT. Among other things the union is seeking improve- ments to vacation pay more timeoforspecialleaveforthe death of an extended family memberortogetmarriedpa- rentalallowancecompassion- ate care allowance increases tonightandweekendshiftpay premiums and a 200 winter clothingallowanceforoutside workers. The unions opening pro- posal also strikes out entirely twoclausesrelatingtotheem- ployers ability to contract out union work replacing nearly 100 words with one sentence Thereshallbenocontracting out of bargaining unit work. The contract expires at the end of March. The sides plan to meet again on March 29 following weeks of more be- hind-the-sceneswork.Parsons said scheduling conicts are to blame for the gap between face-to-facetalksbutthatboth sideswouldbecommunicating andexchangingdocumentsin the meantime and the UNW wouldbeconnectingwiththe membership. Iftalksbreakdownthepro- cess would see the union and GNWT enter into third-party mediationatwhichpointthey would be in a legal strike or lockout position respectively. The UNW leadership would take it to the membership for a strike mandate vote before taking any job action. That would be a consider- able time away from todays date if we have to go in that direction Parsons said. Mental health a focus as union GNWT start contract talks Mr. Wong demonstrates tai chi at the Chinese New Year celebrations held in Yellowknife Feb. 6. The lunar New Year was Feb. 8 ringing in the Year of the Monkey. PhotoBillBraden