:: rawblogXport ::

:: Monday, March 22, 2004 ::

Reviled ex-CEO testifies at civil trial By Nathan VanderKlippe, CanWest
Philip Warner, a lawyer for the WCB, grilled Witte about her knowledge of outbursts of violence on the mine's picket line and at labour disputes in other parts of Canada. He also repeatedly asked her if she made changes to mine security policy after striking miners rioted and later set explosions at a mine ventilation shaft and satellite dish.

'I don't recall,' she said.

Witte's abrasive style and stubborn refusal to give in to union demands earned her a reputation as a pitbull owner. Picketers pilloried her with signs calling her 'Miss Piggy.'

Witte, who now goes by the name Margaret Kent and lost control of Giant when Royal Oak went bankrupt in 1999, is still widely reviled in Yellowknife. When a company she was associated with announced plans to reopen a defunct Northwest Territories lead-zine mine in 2002, some people called for a declaration of the North as a 'Witte-free' zone.

When the former CEO told the court she believed 'the use of replacement workers was not going to increase the risk of any personal harm,' a former miner listening to her testimony snickered.

posted 6:40 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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