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There‘s no more waitingâ€" the axe has fallen for 300 SunarHauserman employees Chronicle Staff Like 300 of his coâ€"workers, Tony Dietrich is out of a job. When SunarHauserman officially closed last week, the 31â€"yearâ€"old father of four joined the ranks of the unemployed. On a lateâ€"January morning, Dietrich opened a letter that confirmed his suspicions. It was over. It was official. "It is with regret I have to inform you that all SunarHauserman employees, both hourly and salaried, will be terminated as of January 31, 1990," read the letter signed by Bernard Stolte, plan manager. 5 The plant was forced to close when Hayworth Inc., of Holland, Mich. acquired the fi&m produce Sunarâ€" Hauserman‘s line of steel office iture. The company plans to build the furniture in Michigan. From the kitchen of his Waterloo townhouse, Dietrich reflects on how he and his coâ€"workers felt while waiting for "the axe to fall". "They started laying people off about a year and a half or two years ago, so the rest of us never knew from one week to the next whether we had a job â€"â€" and that was no "On January 5, everybody finished out their shifts and went home. And then the next morning, on a Saturday, everybody got a phone call at home," Dietrich says. "All the supervisors had been advised that they had to report to a meeting that Saturday morning, and they were told at that time the plant would be shut down. So the supervisors had to get on the phone and contact every employee to tell them. But at that time, they didn‘t know if the shutâ€"down was permanent or how long it would be for." For more than three weeks, SunarHauserman employâ€" ees awaited word. Would the plant reâ€"open? Did they still have jobs? Although murmurings among employees showed that most suspected unemployment was in store, no one knew for sure â€" until the letter came. But feelings of job insecurity went back much further among employees, Dietrich says. religion in the public school system. When I was a young boy growing up in Preston, we were fed a regular diet of D _DDOEL IC4L2 smklin ankani avatam tant Christianity. . Wemrudfie‘chminx'@":h? Lord‘s Prayer and launched into Christâ€" ian religious studies several times a week. We even had visits from various Protestant Ministers from time to time. And that was all well and good for me B nlm f "‘h tiu ut it wasn‘t until years later â€" when I was an uml‘::l‘fifll‘fl student at McGill â€" that I realized just how unfair and cruel it is to teach religion in the public schools. It was then that I began to realize that apwaodotymmhavetoleutionfor people of all races, creeds and religious beliefs. But when I saw that same society difitfimligions beliefs in a school system that was financed by, and open to all of its citizens, I knew we were far from being tolerant. That is why I was happy to see the Ontario Court of Appeal strike down C alee in on nee s 10e Te atitty for reliâ€" Not just any old religion, mind you. Not just any old religion, mind y Religion has no place in public schools btrommansrmmmeundnm mt remerenreentnnrdionetet novicrmnentamerntinamanitrencrvn~ mness Week gious classes In schools last week. The court was unanimous in its verâ€" dict: all five judges said religious classes interfere with the guarantees of freedom of conscience and religion in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Any other verdict would have asâ€" tounded me. It is the hallmark of our society not to push a specific religion down anyone‘s throat. Can you imagine how a Jewish parent must feel when his child must take a course in Chrininmiz".:dOr what about the student who is Hindu or Buddhist? Or the person who doesn‘t believe in God at all? Everyone is equal and everyone is entitled to their beliefs. And that means igion in, and look at the word classes in public elementary Because SunarHauserman was in receivership when the plant closed, the employees are not likely to receive any termination pay or severence pay. Dietrich says no employees have received any holiday pay, yet. And because he was just a few months short of giving the company 10 years of service, he will recieve no pension. fi:‘odla:'henyl.“Oneofmyneighbonwhomkedwithme t a house and acquired a mortgage in April, and was laid off in May." _ _ _ s But because he had felt uncertain about his livelihood for so long, Dietrich says his notice of termination was a relief of sorts. "We knew it was coming, but we didn‘t think it would be so sudden and so blunt. We thought we would slowly watch the place close with people gradually being laid off. "But it was like slowly dying of cancer, and then having it over with. It wasn‘t nice, but I felt anger and I felt relief. I didn‘t have to worry anymore about if my job would still be there Monday because, once and for all, it wasn‘t. But I‘m angry that I should have $10,000 in severence pay that my government or my union can‘t get for me." Dietrich says after talking to many SunarHauserman employees, two things are evident: they have lost faith in their government and in their union. He says they are angry that the government allows U.S. companies to take over Canadian companies â€" often showing little regard for Canadian labor laws such as layâ€"off notices, holiday pay and serverence pay. And they are angry at their union for mlatedvu'king to get them the things they are rightfully entitled to. s As the sole income earner in his family, Dietrich says he has done his best to stretch his available funds to support his wife Joanne, and children Crystal, Tiffany, Nadine and Jordan. Buts it‘s hard to make ends meet, and the sooner he finds another job, the better. Although this time out, he‘s going to be a bit more cautious. He doesn‘t want to invest another 10 years into a job where he comes up empty handed â€" no severence, no pénsion â€" nothing About The Law in plaiinh <omadbign " c h carefully, a "public‘ school system. That is only being consistent with everything that our country stands for. Tolerance. Equality. The freedom to follow your own conscience. Why on earth did so many of our ancestors leave Europe several generaâ€" tions ago? Think of it. They wanted the right to follow their conscience. They didn‘t want the state telling them what God to believe in. Religion does not belong in the public schools. It has its rightful place in the church, synagogue or other religious institution â€" where you go by choice, not by decree. That‘s why I was disappointed to see a Christian minister, Rev. Fred Kabler of Kitchener, say he was frustrated by the court‘s ruling because he thought we were now a country dictated to by the Not at all. The court has said just the opposite. It doesn‘t want a majority â€" in this case, Christian Protestants â€" to take away the rights of the minority. That‘s why I was also disappointed to see the Waterloo County Board of Eduâ€" utionnotdrmtherendinxdthelad’s Prayer at the start of its sessions. WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1990 â€" PAGE 25 "It‘s not so bad for me â€" I‘m still fairly young and I can find another job, but some of the older guys are going to have a hard time," Dietrich says. "It could be years before they find out what kind of pension payment they‘re going to get." Sunartiauserman employee Tovzmoiemch (with hfly)‘hw-\dm the Waterioo plant finally k Bebonis Crantall unon I hope that the board reconsiders its position because, again, this is a "pub lic‘ school system that is financed by and open to citizens of all religious faiths, and even those who have none It saddened me that the trustees would not be tolerant of others and their rights to follow their conscience. The old ways simply aren‘t good enough anymore We‘re a diverse society. Religion has caused so much strife over the years. It has been the source of wars because one group has tried to force its beliefs and values on another without consent. But it can also be the source of much good. If its values â€" love, sharing and kindness to others â€" are imparted in a positive way that doesn‘t force anyone to follow a particular belief. So I hope that the board, too, will see what the Ontario Court of Appeal did and follow its guidelines. If not, someone may apply to the court soon in an effort to stop this unfair practice. J. Frederick Sage! is counsel to and a partner in the law firm of White, Jenkins, Duncan & Ostner in Waterloo.