Last week the headlines in our local news and online papers were “Teck Coal Cutting 500 Jobs.”
During the election campaign, debates that Mr. Morrison participated in (he came to 8 out of 13 community and school debates), he spoke about his negotiation skills and his support for resource based jobs, particularly mining and forestry jobs. A majority of voters living in communities in the Elk Valley and in Cranbrook, who depend heavily on employment provided by Teck, put their faith in Rob by honouring him with their vote.
Teck Coal have said that they will try to minimize the pain these cuts will have by focussing on early retirement, attrition, and not filling jobs that become vacant, but it is still a loss of 500 well-paying jobs that are very important to our communities and to our local economy.
So here is the opportunity for MP Morrison - work with Teck and stop the cuts. That would be an excellent demonstration of your negotiation skills and your support for our resource workers.
Wayne Stetski