PAGE 2. WEDNESDAY. MARCFI 19,1t980. WFITRY FREE PRESS Buses could be delayed 'til May The buses may not be on the road until sometime in * May. Charterways Ltd., who were awardecl the operating contract for the recently ap- proved municipal bus * system, says it will be ready to start operations on April 1, however, the town cannot go ahead until the scheme receives Ontario Municipal Board (0MB) approval, a process that could take two * months to complete. "'They have to go through all that red tape," Artchie Groth, a spokesman for the * company said last week,- "I wouldn't be surprised if it starts a bit later than April * Groth said that unless 0MB approval is received by March 21, his company will flot be able to begin operations on the April 1 tender date. "We have to know by the end of (this) week, or we will have to change our minds about the start date," he said. Regional Councillor Bob Attersley said that the buses probably will not be running before May 1 and that the service could be delayed un- tii the middle of May. Attersley, a long-time supporter of a municipal bus service, said that he con- siders 0MB approval a for- mality, adding, "I can't think of any reason for them to say no, there had neyer been a precedent. " Durham. West MPP George Ashe is "well aware of the situation and hopefully wiIl be a lot 0f help," Attersley said. Once approval fromn the' 0MB is received the buses can get on the road hesaid noting that "Ail the rest has fallern Into place." Whten the service is ap- proved, the buses will travel on the four-route system that staff recommended last faîl. At the time of that recommendation, council rejected the implementation of a bus service although it was brought back to life when Attersley asked to have it discussed during the budget deliberations. The bus service was ap- proved last month, despite the objections of Mayor Jim Gartshore who said he would neyer vote for the service because he did not believe that it was needed. The introduction of the service should be of great benefit to staff and patients of the Whitby Psychiatrie Hospital and the Dr. J.O. Ruddy Hospital. When Charterways can- celled their regular runs to these Whitby institutions in December as part of the in- ter-city service provided by GO Transit more than 200 people were left without regular transportation. Since that time, hospital workers have chartered a bus to take them to and from work. BOB ATTERSLEY Workers protest low wages Whitby Psychiatrie Hospital and Durham Cen- tre for the Developmnent.ally Handicapped workers par- ticpated in a demonstration at Queen's Park last week to protest what they claimed to be low wages and poor working conditions. Approximately 75 workers from Whitby's two in- stitutions joined with 300 of their fellow civil servants from across the province as their union representatives prepared to take their con- tract dispute to arbitration. The almost 300 employees 0f the hospital and the centre are among 6,200 councellors, child care workers and nur- sing - assistants who are members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) employed at psychiatric hospitals and homes for the retarded currently bargaining with the Ontario government. OPSEU has threatened to stage an illegal strike if their contract demands of a 15 per cent wage hike and a one year agreement are not met. The province has offered the workers a two year package with wage increase of five per cent and 4.5 per cent. Union spokesmen for both institutions have said that morale is 10w because of the "poor" wage offer and "ldangerous" working *con- ditions. "IWe know the danger is there and we accept that," OPSEU spokesman Ken Thibeau said last week. "Al we're asking is to be paid a decent wage for the dangerous part of the job." As spokesman for the Durham Centre's 90 coun- seilors, Thibeau said that the workers are not only subject to infectious disease but are constantly beaten and scratched.% Incidents of violence, bet- ween residents and staff memnbers at the centre is one of the highest in the provin- ce, he said addlng that a womnan counsellor was almost killed when she was strangled about three mon- ths ago. "If the staff hadn't come along when they did," Thibeau said, "lshe woiild have been dead. " Hie said that the turnover rate at the centre was 50 per cent last year and that morale "bas reached the point that we could very easily walk out. " The OPSEU spokesman for the 200 workers at the psychiatric hospital, Fred Upshaw, said that his mem- bers have been subject to several assaults including one that took a worker to the hospital. "lIt's safer to work at Penetang than it is here," Upshaw said adding that the lack of male staff members at the hospital "isn't helping. " 0 special HIS&HERS CHILDRENS PERMS HAIRCUTS 1/2 PRICE 1/2 PRICE MONDAYS ONLY MONDAYS ONLY SPECIALS END MARCH 319 1980 BLAIR PARK PLAZA WHITBY, ONTARIO 668 -5«1 ---9