skyscraper_1
October 24th, 2006, 03:31 AM
Last Updated: Monday, October 23, 2006 | 9:40 AM AT
CBC News
The board-games manufacturer promising to bring 1,500 jobs to Parrsboro is being accused of poaching workers from other businesses.
Headz Gamez International said it has already received more than 900 job applications for the factory it is building — many from people who already have work.
CEO Kerry Martens said most of the jobs won't start until the factory opens in 2008. But wages will start at $12 an hour, about $2 more than those paid by most factories in the area.
"I didn't know it was so low for factory workers," Martens told CBC News.
Parrsboro has a population of about 1,200, but 5,000 people live in the surrounding area on the northern shore of the Minas Basin.
Martens said he wasn't out to steal workers from other companies when he decided to move his business — which produces sports-themed games — from British Columbia to Nova Scotia.
He said two companies have approached him to complain about the impact of higher wages and the loss of workers.
As a result, Martens is now urging local residents to think twice before leaving their current jobs.
"Don't give up a 15-year career just because another company comes by," he said. "We will fill the positions."
Meanwhile, the town of Parrsboro continues to prepare for the arrival of Headz Gamez. Housing projects, office construction and the development of a new sewage treatment system are well underway.
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Maritimers love to complain.....
CBC News
The board-games manufacturer promising to bring 1,500 jobs to Parrsboro is being accused of poaching workers from other businesses.
Headz Gamez International said it has already received more than 900 job applications for the factory it is building — many from people who already have work.
CEO Kerry Martens said most of the jobs won't start until the factory opens in 2008. But wages will start at $12 an hour, about $2 more than those paid by most factories in the area.
"I didn't know it was so low for factory workers," Martens told CBC News.
Parrsboro has a population of about 1,200, but 5,000 people live in the surrounding area on the northern shore of the Minas Basin.
Martens said he wasn't out to steal workers from other companies when he decided to move his business — which produces sports-themed games — from British Columbia to Nova Scotia.
He said two companies have approached him to complain about the impact of higher wages and the loss of workers.
As a result, Martens is now urging local residents to think twice before leaving their current jobs.
"Don't give up a 15-year career just because another company comes by," he said. "We will fill the positions."
Meanwhile, the town of Parrsboro continues to prepare for the arrival of Headz Gamez. Housing projects, office construction and the development of a new sewage treatment system are well underway.
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Maritimers love to complain.....