Off Course
This semi and trailer went for an interesting ride Sunday evening and wound up breaking through a patch of ice beside Highway 39 near Midale. As of Monday afternoon the vehicle remained in the field.
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T TRESpA ring 2014
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Sherritt Coal lays off 23
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Issue 47
Estevan
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United Way celebrates fundraising, welcomes McDavid as new president By Jordan Baker jbaker@estevanmercury.ca
A moment of fleeting disappointment for some after last year’s United Way Estevan Telethon was also a chance for the members to remember what it is the organization is here to do. At the United Way’s annual general meeting, outgoing president Dawn Schell left the members with a sobering reminder of what United Way Estevan is and where its priorities are. Perennially, the local
chapter was the first in the country to reach its annual fundraising goal, but that wasn’t the case in 2013 after the organization remained shy of its goal at the end of its October telethon. Still, funds continued to trickle in during the weeks following, and they closed the year with $468,532 in donations, well over the $350,000 they were hoping for. “Goals, even though they are worth setting, can, kind of, take us away from the bigger picture and take the focus away from the things that are really important,” said
Schell in her address to the members and attending representatives of the member agencies. “Is being the first United Way in Canada to reach our goal really what this is all about? Until this past year, that has always been a given to us. Last year brought this organization and the community of Estevan to the realization that all of this is more than that. These are local member agencies and active United Way boards trying to spread good and help people.” She reminded everyone that despite not being first, they raised → A2 UW
Sherritt Coal has laid off 23 unionized employees from its Estevan and Bienfait mines. Word of the layoffs went public last week although the United Mine Workers of America had received notice earlier in March that layoffs were forthcoming. President Rick Dowhaniuk said the UMWA was called to a meeting on March 11 where they learned Sherritt had plans to reduce 28 positions. Through early retirements that number was pared down to 23. “It’s been a brutal couple weeks,” Dowhaniuk said in an interview with The Mercury Thursday. “People are losing their livelihoods and with road bans on in the area it’s tougher for people to find work.” Dowhaniuk said the UMWA was told the layoffs were due to company reorganizing and a reduction of coal sales to SaskPower. He added that Sherritt did not indicate whether or not those employees would be rehired if sales pick up but did tell them further layoffs are not expected in the near future. However, the local situation remains cloudy as Sherritt recently sold all of its coal operations to Westmoreland Coal, which will be taking over control of the local mines later this year. “Everything is kind of up in the air right now,” Dowhaniuk said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty for sure. We are hoping that Westmoreland comes in and says ‘no, we need these people.’ “We don’t know that. We haven’t had any recent contact with Westmoreland. We talked to them a month ago and at that time they said they were fine with the amount of people we had. We’ll see.” Dowhaniuk said it was primarily equipment operators that were laid off. He added one dragline has been shut down. Contrary to reports, no jobs were eliminated at the Activated Carbon Plant in Bienfait, as Dowhaniuk noted that workers shifting due to seniority will bump a couple of newer employees from their jobs. “It’s been a pretty stressful couple of weeks.” There have also been reports that as many as eight non-unionized employees have been laid off in the past month.
Senchuk
Ford Sales Ltd.
118 Souris Ave. N., Estevan 306-634-3696 www.senchukford.ca