SOUTHERN ONTARIO REPORTS

The Toronto office reports three
settlements in the greater metropoli-
tan area.

Most recently workers at Grief Con-
tainers Inc. ratified a three-year deal
with across-the-board increases of
nearly 15% over the duration of a
contract expiring in January of 1992.

Employees at the Milton based cor-
rugated drum plant also obtained ben-
efit improvements in life insurance,
accidental death and dismemberment
and weekly wage indemnity.

In June of 1988, thirty-one employ-
ees at a school and office supplies
company in Weston ratified a first
contract at Moyer Vico Corporation.
A full range of contract language
including union security, job classifi-
cations and rates, layoff and recall
rights, and extended leave of absence
clauses was won by the members.

In Toronto, twenty-five employees
at PMC Corporation (Floor Co. Divi-
sion) successfully obtained a two-year
contract with a wage increase of $1.40
on a base rate of more than $8.25 per
hour.

Seven of twenty-three proposals
submitted-to the committee members
were accepted by the employer. Ten
additional proposals were negotiated
at the table. Additional holidays,
weekly indemnity, and a new drug

plan were among the additional bene-
fits won by Local 1-700 and commit-
tee members.

In addition to the favourable settle-
ments in Local 1-700, fourteen employ-
ees at Oakwood Specialties in Oakville
have settled in November of 1988 on a

two-year deal with increased wages
and benefits.

Shipper/receivers at the basket and
dowel manufacturer received a wage
adjustment of $1.50 per hour in addi-
tion to the overall increase. Weekly
indemnity and O.H.I1.P. payments will
now be totally paid for by the employ-

er.

As IWA-CANADA expands its
operations in southern and southeast-
ern Ontario, it should increase its
efficiency and obtain better contrac-
tual gains for its members according
to Bill Pointon, Fourth Vice-President
of the National union.

There is a tremendous potential for
IWA-CANADA presence in the sec-
ondary wood products industry. How-
ever, unlike some other parts of the
country, especially British Columbia,
negotiations tend to take place on an
individual company or plant basis.

“The concept in the west is that you
have associated bargaining on an
industry basis. In the east, each con-
tact is a separate set of negotiations
with an exception of the corrugated
sector,” adds Brother Pointon.

Local 1-242 (Whitby), 1-337 (St.
Thomas), and 1-76 (Etobicoke) bar-
gain together opposite their employer
MacMillan Bathurst. Representa-
tives from each plant sit on the union’s
negotiating committee.

IWA officers see greater advan-
tages for independent Ontario locals
to bargain together on a geographical
basis. Better resources can be pro-
vided and common interests co-ordi-
nated at the bargaining table.

Closure Announcement Hits
Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan

By Dennis Bonville,
President, Local 1-184

In early February, Simpson Timber
Company of Seattle announced the
June, 1989 closure of their sawmill in
Hudson Bay, east central Saskat-
chewan.

The effect this could have on the
community of 2,500is a direct job loss
of 400-450 mill workers, loggers and
company staff and an unknown num-
ber of spinoff jobs lost in the commu-
nity. Included in this number are 175
IWA-CANADA, Local 1-184 members,
many of whom started their careers in
this industry with The Pas Lumber
Company in the late 1940s in Reser-
eve, Saskatchewan, 40 miles south of
Hudson Bay. i

Simpson has operated the stud mill
since 1965, manufacturing primarily
2x 4s and 2 x 6s and have made
comfortable profits over the years but
maintain they are leaving because of a
depleted timber supply in the imme-
diate area.

The announced closure will have a
direct impact on the crown owned
SFP plywood plant in Hudson Bay as
well. Even though this Company has
said they will continue to operate,
there appear to be some obstacles to
overcome. The supply of logs to the
plywood plant has come from Simp-
son Timber’s annual cut. Approxi-
mately 200,000 cords of wood are
harvested annually, of which 60,000 is
delivered to the plywood plant to
maintain production.

The Local Union office in Prince
Albert, Saskatchewan has posed the
question of wood supply and wood
usage to the provincial government.

What happens to the remainder of
the tree when the peeler log is
removed? Who utilized this merchant-
able timber if Simpson Timber Com-
pate sawmill and planing mill is not

ere?

Ba

Dennis Bonville

MacMillan Bloedel also operates a
mill in Hudson Bay. Their facility
manufactures wafer board sheeting
from aspen logs. They too are required
to harvest a certain amount of soft-
wood when building roads, clearing
landings, etc. There must be an outlet
for this timber also.

Meetings are being arranged be-
tween the Local union and the provin-
cial government to address some of
these questions, with hopes of finding
a viable solution in order to facilitate
continued operation of the wood
industry in Hudson Bay.

The Chamber of Commerce in Hud-
son Bay sends colorful brochures all
over the country declaring Hudson
Bay as the Forest Centre of Saskatch-
ewan. We in the IWA believe that
unless present Forest Management
practices are updated, we could
merely become the centre of Saskat-
chewan.

The natural resources in the Hud-
son Bay area are not totally depleted
in our opinion. These resources belong
to all of us, not the big companies. We
are more determined than ever to
make our thoughts known when it
comes to Forest Management in this
province.

__ At present there are nine remaining
independent locals spread through-
out the southern portion of Ontario

and three geographical locals, 1-1000
(North Bay), 1-500 (Hanover), and
1-700 (Toronto).

Local 1-112 in Brampton, Ontario struck a corrugated container plant on
February 27. Ninety-two union members at Atlantic Packaging walked
out for industrial wage parity over a three-year contract. Visiting the
picketers is National first Vice-President Gerry Stoney. To his right is
Clivet Golding, local President in Brampton.

Continued from page 10
point we were approached by teach-
ers.”

Norman Rivard, president of Kap-
uskasing Local 1-2995 reports that in
September of 1988 his northern
Ontario local was granted certifica-
tion to represent most employees
working for the Hearst and District
Association for the Mentally Retard-
ed. His local, formerly the Lumber
and Sawmill Workers Union, has also
held certification for retail store
employees at a farmers co-operative
in Hearst since 1972.

In other jurisdictions our union
represents car dealership employees.
Loggers’ Local 1-71 has signed up
members at Terrace Totem Ford and
Prince George Local 1-424 claims cer-
tification in the parts and _ service
departments of three car dealers.

Duncan, BC. Local 1-80 represents
custodians, bus drivers, grounds
keepers and maintenance workers at
school districts in Cowichan and Lake
Cowichan. Garbage disposal, inciner-
ator, and waterworks employees at
the Cowichan Valley Regional Dis-
trict are also Duncan union members.

Vancouver Local 1-217 claims to
have certifications outside the forest
industry in no less than eleven differ-

ent companies, among them Coast
Marine Tug and Barge in North
Vancouver.

Employees at Husky Camper in
Coquitlam, B.C. and Sauder Plastics
in Richmond are represented by Local
1-357 in New Westminster.

In the Southern Interior of BC.,
Cranbrook Local 1-405 bargains for
office workers at Castlegar Saving
Credit Union and the Nelson and Dis-
trict Credit Union. The financial ser-
vices industry elsewhere lacks union
representation.

Chaparral Industries in Kelowna
manufactures prefabricated modular
homes. More than 30 IWA-CANADA
Local 1-423 members work in the
busy factory. Business for the small,
low maintenance prefab home com-
pany looks good and more work may
be on the way.

Our local unions across Canada are
active in negotiating collective agree-
ments for an incredible range of
employee groups. The forementioned
ones are only a brief summary of [WA
operations outside the forest industry.

‘You don’t have to be a logger, mill
or forest products workers to receive
better wages and working conditions
negotiated by the IWA.

IN SOLIDARITY
One hundred and eighty-five members at Slocan Forest Products raised
some $9,800.00 for the 1988 Zeidler Christmas Fund. Receiving the cheque is
Neil Menard, National Second Vice-President, second from the left. Others in
the photo are, left to right: Klaus Offerman, Local 1-405 Business Agent; Billy
Soukoroff, Barry Scannell, Job Steward; Dave Betts, Vice-Chairman and
Mayor of Slocan; Dave Fredrickson, Safety Chairman and Job Steward, and

Mike Gahimer, plant secretary.

After a pep talk from Brother Menard, members at the nearby Westar
Timber mill in Castlegar responded to the Slocan challenge by raising another

$9,200.00

LUMBERWORKER/MARCH, 1989/11