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'95 job pictur Marsh groupmakles SANTA CLAUS PARADE is bright appealfor funds THieS5SA TURDA 4y - OA Page5 Pae 34 Parade route on page 3 * Bring a donation for the Page -Pae 34 Whitby Free Press Food Drive Sec Page4 TFirnes to" be clgosedl B yMike Kowalski A strke at the Oshawa imes has resulted in the apparent closing of the 123-year-old daily newspaper. Tmes publisher F.M. 'Mac' Dundas announced Tuesday that the Thornson-owned paper wil close effective midnight Dc.4. The newspaper has not pub- Iished since workers waiked off the job Nov. 7 after rejecting the company's offer of' a three-year wage freeze. The approximately 70 union employees had been prepared te accèpt a two-year freeze, but were opposed te an additionai year *thout an increase. Union and management nego- tiators met twice lat week for the first time since the strice sta#ed, but could net reach a settlement. Telephone calîs to the Times went unanswerod Tuesday after- noon. A public relations officer at Thomson Newspapers Corp.in Toronto referred the Free Prss to Dundas. The officiai said ne one fromn Thomson? was available to com- ment and she declined to specu- late on whether the anneunced Sunday ciosing date was moroly a bargaining ploy te give thé unions time te acceptthe cern- pany's Iast offer. Aspokesperson for the South- ern Ontario, Newsp>aper Guild was also not availa le for com- ment Tuesday. The Guiid represents repor- ters, most editors and other newsroom oemployees, as well as SEE PAGE 22' B.us drivers -set, strike deadline. By Mke Kowalski Whitby Transit bus drivers wili strike if contract taîka fail te produce a settiement by nid- nighit tonight.heue A meeting had been scheue for Tuesday afternoon between negotiaters for the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union and Trentway-Wagar bus company. Whitby's 37 full- and part-time bus drivers are Trentway-Wagar employees. Thie cempany pro- vides drivers and maintenance for the Town-owned buses. Athough faced with tonight's strike deadline., union and cem- pan y officiais were optimistic heading into yesterday's session. CA W staff representative Dawn Cartwright termed it a good sign that the two ides were "There seems te be movement. As we left (Monday) they were supposed te be responding te what we proposed," she said. «Vie will keep talking until we get it resolvod, if we can.» Trentway-Wagar president Jim Devlin was just as hepeful. "There's ne reason net te be optimnistic,» said Devlin. ."Pm net aware of anything te prevent us from settling." Cartwright however, left ne doubt about tle union's'position. "If we don't have a tentative agreement by midnight Wednes- day, there will be a strike,» she warned. The drivers have been without a contract since 1992 when thoy were peviously represented by the Aniaigamated Transit Union (ATU). Dge later disaffiliated from theA U and jeined the CAW. Monetary issues and contract lanIguage are the- among the union's major concerna, Cart- Wrigjt said. cThe last wage increase was in. 1991. There needed te be ineve- ment on ecenomic issues," she said. Whitby Transit drivers are now paid $12 te $13.75 per hour. Since this wiil be the CAW's first collective agreement with Trentway, the union is aise, seek- ing contract language te cer te handling of grievances and similar matters, Cartwright said. The company has not proposed any cutbacks or even a wagfe freeze. The difference lies in th e amount of the increase, she added. iMoine is obviously the main reason,'»"Devlin agreed. But hoe preferred not te Ugo public" with Trentway's latest proposai. U'AM I can tell you is that it' aa substantial offer,» said Doviin. Mayor Tom Edwards was net available for comment Tuesday morninýg. But in a press release issued Monday Edwards said Town officiais îave kept close watch on SEE PAGE 34 stl no-înterest in DBIA election By Mike Kowalski Town council may again be faced with the prospect of appointing the management bord of Whitby's beleaguered downtewn business association. As of Monday aftemnoon, ne one had registerod te be a candi- date for election te the next Dewntown Business Improve- nient Area (DBIA) management board. Although potential candidates have until 4:30 p.m. Thursday te file papers it apers that the majority, iit eioftheseven- member board ceuld be appoin- ted by council. But if more than seven quali- fied candidates apply, an election wiil bo held during the first part of December. "Vacancies net I ld by the election process will be iled by ceuncii appeintment," explained Town clerk Don McKay. The procedure te be followed wili ho determnined b council, McKay said, although ho suspec- ted it would ho similar te, the much-criticized method used in the past. Ceuncil would likely advertise the position(s) available and thon appoint the new board from among the applicants, McKay said. An end te, the council-appoin- ted. board has been one of the major.complaints of critics of the 16-year-old DRIA. Eariier this year, council affir- med its su pport of the DBIA and rejocted a demand by isgruntled nierchants that a special tai levied a gainst downtown businesses ho held in abeyance for two"years. . Despite receiving a etitin sil e by 85 peor cent of the more than 400 DBIA members,, council voted te, retain both the associa- tion and the tax. (Money collected froni the tax is used te improve the down- tewn's appearanc <e and te, spon- sor promotions aimed at attract- ing shoppers -. AIl downtewn busineà.sses whether retail or pro- fessional, must pay the levy.) 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