Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 11, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press b4 John 6977264 business Little chateau on the Prairies Roll i october by chief labor deficit unravels firms c sends garment Industry cant find workers by Dan Lett Ottawa correspondent Ottawa Bob Silver sounds like a Man who is dying of thirst in a water bottling president of Western Glove works in operates a garment company that is growing All is Well except for one nagging problem he cannot meet the demand for his in the years following the Freer Trade Manitoba garment Industry has the biggest problem facing Sil ver and Many other garment makers is a shortage of nearly skilled workers a Short age that is preventing them from taking on additional Given the fact there Are More than Manitoban currently its hard to under stand Why the garment Industry cant find enough but Silver and other Industry representatives Are Adamant there is a and they say its time to Settle this longstanding problem once and for you cant look at a Complex problem like this and come up with a simple Silver weve been through this for 10 years now and i certainly Hope we dont go through that we cant afford to Start All Over this week in senior Federal and provincial govern ment officials will meet with Industry representatives to debate How Best to fill the Short the with support from the believes the Federal government must allow them to import skilled labor from coun tries such As the the Federal on the other believes that retrain ing the unemployed and recruit ing workers from other provinces can fill most of the Winnipeg Liberal la Kevin who has worked for several years to find a solution to the garment labor said he firmly believes immigration must be a Central part of any Wendy Wong above attends training to learn sewing which Silver right says Are in Short a attempt to fill the Industry Lamoureux said while training and Domestic recruitment can there is an immediate need for skilled help that can Only be satisfied through he said a Survey of garment makers shows that an immediate influx of skilled immigrant labor could generate hundreds More t Winnipeg Standard knit for the of three skilled Gar ment who supervise Many aspects of the apparel would allow the com Pany to acquire contracts that would provide work for 30 to 40 sewing machine operators and another 10 to 15 unskilled labor Lamoureux Inkster he argued that training efforts do not produce workers fast enough and Domestic recruitment to proved allowing additional garment workers into the coun try for jobs in Manitoba could do a lot to bolster the provinces Sag Ging immigration inflow and help Spur the he Lamoureux conceded it will be Tough to convince either Federal immigration minister Sergio Marchi or human resources minister Lloyd Axworthy that immigration should be part of the both Marchi and Axworthy have shown More interest in training and Domestic recruit especially Given evidence of a glut of garment workers in Toronto and Silver said attracting workers to Manitoba is he said that in he closed a Plant he operated in he offered All of the nearly 300 workers a Job in his Winnipeg but Only one took up the he noted that while a garment worker is not the lowest paid employee in the Market a Winnipeg sewing machine operator makes Between and per hour the pay usually int enough to convince someone to move to another second income As garment workers often earn the second income for a fam so unless the primary income earner can also find a Job in win its difficult to get them to pull up the Industry also claims that despite attempts to retrain Mani it has been difficult to find unemployed people interested in a garment Industry Allan executive director of the Manitoba fashion inst the Industry lobby group in said because of the skills needed and the difficulty of the finding eligible Candi dates is much harder than Many people one of the biggest challenges has been proving that there Are few in the ranks of Manitoba unemployed who have experience in the garment Finkel human resources develop ment which administers the unemployment insurance previously reported it had 200 people on its files who claimed experience in the Gar ment Finkel said a special investigation involving Industry representatives found that most of the workers were either mis classified or did not have the appropriate skill and the other problem is finding people who want to train for a Winnipeg free press file photo career in the garment Finkel said the fashion Institute operates a Winnipeg training Cen tre for sewing machine operators and the Federal and provincial governments have provided of funding this and the Institute pays a por Tion of rent and provides organizational this the Institute received 92 serious inquiries about a spot in the which is free for All some of whom Are eligible for Federal training Only 45 of the original inquiries subsequently showed up for their Finkel of Only 11 passed the Basic tests and were approved for before classes three dropped so in the Only or less than 10 per cent of All those who inquired about the Actu ally Finkel Dollar falling by Rob Carrick Canadian press Ottawa the High Hying Canadian Dollar has taken a dive in reaction to bloc quebecois Leader Lucien Bouchard expanded role in the separatist referendum the currency fell More than of a cent in Early trading yester Day before crawling Back to cents us at Days a drop of of a the decline contributed to a larger than expected Rise in the Bank rate that interrupted a trend to lower Jeoffrey senior Canadian Market analyst with technical data in said currency markets believe Bouchard has the capability to reverse the sagging fortunes of the referendums yes you want to talk about some one who can bring credibility and bring a rally it would be Hall one trader i was talking to today spoke of him As another mus Solini or Alexander the Bouchard has been named As Quebec chief negotiator with Canada should the province become a Sovereign Hes also replacing Premier Jacques Parizeau several times this week As front Man for the Day today yes the perception is that because Bouchard is More the yes Campaign will gain said Mario an Ana Lyst with mrs a series of polls showing the no Side solidly ahead had bumped the Dollar above 75 cents us last week for the first time in almost two the rally led to a drop in Mort Gage rates and increased pressure for a drop in other consumer loan interest rates were on the Rise As the Bank of Canada raised the trendsetting Bank rate percentage Points to per analysts read the increase As a temporary setback that will have no effect on consumer borrowing costs unless the Dollar Falls the dollars decline yesterday want the first time Bouchard has scared currency markets during the referendum the Man does have an influence on the currency said Andrew chief economist at path Kirby elected president of or society chapter tune director of Cor i pirate communications for the Manitoba Telephone has been elected president of the Canadian Public relations society Manitoba the cars maintains and promotes High standards in the practice of Public relations for the Advance ment of its the profession and Canadian q j j Rudy Thiessen has been appointed human resources for Henderson Dis movers wholesale building the Winnipeg based Henderson firm has 11 Branch offices and warehouses Between Thunder Bay and prior to his new Thiessen was director of the Price water House Centre for career manage ment in a j u Martin Levy has been appointed facility director for the Cana Dian red Cross society Winnipeg blood who holds a masters degree in physiology from the University of will manage All aspects of the centres opera his appointment is part of the red Cross reorganization of its blood which moves from a medical services Model to a highly costeff client pharmaceutical manufacturing in line with Canadian and licensing a a q Winnipeg based consolidated turf equipment 1965 has received a growth achievement award from Wisconsin based Baker Tom Bakers executive said consolidated turf has done an outstanding Job of managing their business and distributing Baker and Chipper vacuums to their Deal got a an appoint ment or a new contract fax or phone the free press business 1355 Mountain 697 or fax Bank rate 10 90919293 9495 source Bank of Canada know regular Price before jumping at sales up last week i referred to some general strategies for stretching the food there Are Many More ways of doing for before you go to the scan the flyers that regularly arrive at your Check to see what special sales Are on for the Are the items on your grocery list on Sale Are there specials on items that you regularly use if your food budget and storage space add them to your weekly specials will influence your menu plan your meals around the deals of the week to save is Chicken or beef on Sale this week Manitoban love a How be sure the advertisements actually offer you a reduced this is when knowing the regular Price of items is refer Home stretch Eleanor Menzies to your list of prices on common items i suggested that you Bright colors in flyer ads and on the shelf signs catch your Atten we expect red signs to mean the product is on but this May not always be the read the sign before you put the item in your grocery read the Fine print on the sometimes the bargain Only applies to one Day of the such As tuesday or you May have to buy two or three packages of each item before you get a reduced another message in the Fine print May show a limit on the num Ber of items a customer May this is one time when having a partner shopping with you is use Ful they can go through the Check out separately with the Over the limit items and you save look for two Forone How be sure that the store has not raised the single prices to compensate for the Sale you must know your some stores feature manufacturers this Means that the manufacturers Are run Ning a special promotion to get you to buy their the promo Tion is sure to get your but before you compare the Price with that of other coupons also can save you Money if you use Thioni effective but use coupons Only for products you planned to buy some coupons can be used in any store where they sell the others will Only be accepted at specific manufacturers often use coupons As a tool to introduce new products or to promote their More expensive if you want to try a new Brand of the product you this is an Opportunity to try it at a lower you should still com pare the Cost to the regular Brand you and assess the Are you saving any Money store brands will still be cheaper than the Coupon As you Start your visit to the Gro Cery look for inshore flyers with they May be for individual or you can get a free product if you spend a mini mum amount on to for you May receive a Pound of butter if your grocery Bill totals More than free offers Are Good ways to try new you will get your Best Deal when you buy an item on use a and receive a manufacturers you May be Lucky enough to get the item consider buying groceries in especially Staple you will reap the sayings Only if the item will not spoil before its make sure your family likes to eat the bulk item before you buy taste test the Sale brands before you Purchase a full you May want to go together with a Friend or family member to Purchase items in split the packages in half and you will each Benefit from the food costs Are a major part of the household its Worth spending some extra to get the most value for your Eleanor Menzies is a profession Al Home economist living in win she is past president of the Manitoba association of Home her column appears if you have com ments for please Call Stephen Covey seminar via satellite october 26 Winnipeg for registration 2548386 Register by ;