The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

r Wednesday, October 7, 1981 28 Pages 119 NO, 40 Horrendo us problems Durham Region could be facing a "horren- dous" problem in the area of health care for the elderly. The regional commissioner of social ser- vices, Doug Johns, has warned that unless ac- tion is taken to solve thé problem in the near future, it couid turn out to be a more expen- sive probiem than originaily intended. See story on page 5. Vole ùn îF eL ÏM M over Workers at Whitby's North American Steel Equipment Company Ltd. were back on the job yesterday morning after accepting a cornpany offer to bring the 44-day old strike to an end. John LaRose, president of Local 6662 of the United Steelworkers of America, said that the unit's 32 members approved the offer Sunday by a 98 per cent margin. He said that 25 of the 32 strikers showed up for the meeting, held at the union's Oshawa hall.1 "That's a good turnout and we're happy that we finally have a settiement," LaRose added. The company and the union wili now enter into a three-year contract that wiil see houriy- rated workers receive a 30 cents an hour across-the-board increase in each year of the settiement. Under the oid contract which expired on June 30, workers at the Hopkins Street plant earned an average wage of $8.61 an hour. The.contract also provides for increases in the cost-of-liing ailowance (COLA) and a 100 per cent company paid dental plan. Holiday schedules wili remain the same. This dispute has been a long and bitter one with accusations of bargaining in bad faith charged by both sides. During the strike, the union even went as far as to accuse the com- pany's owner, Rosalies Fabricius, of strike breaking. The union also have several griev- ances with the company that have yet. to be resolved. Bennett on hot seat Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Claude Bennett (above) spent some time under gun at last week's meeting of Durham Regional Council. Bennett attending the meeting in an effort to answer questions <rom municipal politicians on relations between the region and the provincial government. His message essentiaily said that while the provincial governmnent must live up to its commitments, municipalities should 'be prepared to take more responsibiiity. See story on page 6. Port lWhitby. 1