INCE October of 1988, IWA- CANADA Local 1-1000 has operated as a geographical local within our National Union. It now represents more than 2,100 workers in 32 different operations spread through north central Ontario. Local 1-1000’s jurisdiction includes the counties of Muskoka, Haliburton, and Hastings and moves easterly from Prince Edward county along the Canada-U.S. boundary, Then the local moves up along the Ontario-Quebec border to the 47th degree north paral- Jel and then crosses the province west to Lake Superior, The local’s jurisdic- tion also moves down south along the Great Lakes (including Manitoulin Island) to Simcoe county. Although the local represents work- ers primarily in milling and second- ary woodworking industries, it also represents a relatively large number of workers in textile related industries and the packaging industry. ONTARIO’S ‘AMALGAMATED LOCAL UNION” In June of 1960, Local 1-1000 held its founding meeting in North Bay, Ontario. At that meeting, delegates from 16 individual operations met to discuss issues affected by workers largely in the lumber industry. The workers formed an “amalga- mated local” which was the predeces- sor of today’s widely accepted geo- Edward Charrette at La Jambe For- est Products hardwood mill finishes clean- ing a maple log with an electric power saw, before it goes to a lathe. graphical local union. Individual plants could retain their complete independence in collective bargaining. Prior to 1950 one particular opera- tion, Pembrooke Shook Mills, which had a sawmill and paper plant, was certified to what was called the National Woodworkers Union, an independent,. non-affiliated union group. It subsequently became Abitibi Pulp and Paper in 1960, then MacMil- Jan Bloedel in 1980. Finally, the facili- ties became MacMillan-Bathurst Inc., which also operates 3 additional cor- rugated Ontario plants in St. Thomas, Etobicoke and Whitby. Local 1-1000, along with other Ontario jurisdiction was a long time local of Region 2 in the old Interna- tional Woodworkers of America until 1986 when that Region and Region 1 (Western Canada) merged together. Finally, the local gained complete Canadian independence when IWA -CANADA was inaugurated in 1987. Most sawmill operations in the local are geared to handle a combination of hardwoods and softwoods, depending on market conditions and timber supply. In 1989, the G. W. Martin company had 12 operations certified to the local prior to its break up and sell off in that year. The Martin plants had 6/LUMBERWORKER/MARCH, 1990 Local emerging in Ontario represented about 70 per cent of Local 1-1000’s members at the time. Martin’s 180 employee sawmill in Searchmont closed down in April of 1989 while Martin’s sawmills in Huntsville and Alban were reduced to one shift, throwing 55 workers on to the unemployment lines. To get 1-1000’s membership back up to its present level, the officers concentrated the remaining indepen- dents units in the geographical area (Hawkesbury and Iroquois Falls). OFFICERS AND STAFF In order to administer its huge land area, the local holds executive board meetings along with an annual meet- ing in North Bay, Ontario. The Executive consists of the presi- dent, vice-president, financial secre- tary, recording secretary, warden, con- ductor, and board member. President Joe da Costa is himself one of only four part-time presidents in IWA-CANADA. Brother da Costa is an employee at La Jambe Forest Industries in Sault St. Marie. Financial Secretary since 1985, Brother Earl Chaput is a die-mounter at MacMillan-Bathurst in Pembrooke. Since there is no permanent union office, Brother Chaput runs the local’s financial affairs out of his home base- ment, as his local union by-laws provide. “There’s some definite growing pains going on here”, says Chaput. “We understand it’s going to take some time for our local to get on its feet within a National Union frame- work. Brother Chaput says that the local wasn’t getting much in return for its dues formula in the old International and that expectations are much higher for its prosperity within IWA-CANADA. The local’s two full-time staffers are ex-United Steelworker Mike McCar- ter of Ft. Coulonge, Quebec, just across the Quebec border from Pembrooke, and Ron Green, an ex-member of Local 1-500 in southern Ontario and former employee at Sklar-Peppler furniture in Hanover, Ontario. Both business agents are responsi- ble for negotiating contracts through- out the local along with each sub- local’s elected negotiating committee. Later this year at least 10 sets of negotiations will take place. Local President, Joe da Costa says that the local staff needs more help to service and expand the membership. The local intends to go through a | | | & selective process and choose some candidates for organizing and leader- ship seminars. NEW FOREST POLICY HELPFUL Local 1-1000’s operations are depen- dent upon a long term sustainable timber supply. As in other parts of the country, certain cutting privileges are under attack. The ex-G. W. Martin sawmill in Harcourt is under threat of closure if a timber supply within Algonquin Park is shut down. For decades selec- tive hardwood and softwood logging has gone on within Algonquin’s © At Amoco Fabric’s polyproplene fibre plant in Hawkesbury, Ontario are (I-r), Stephane Sauriol, Denis Bougie, and Andrew Preece. The three men are tying in fibre strands on a machine that weaves carpet backing. boundaries. Currently, cutting plans are being reviewed by the Provincial government. Brother da Costa sees potential problems with La Jambe’s Sault St. Marie mill if cutting rights in the Lake Superior provincial park, north of the Sault, are revoked. Local 1-1000 has made an appeal to the District Ministry in Wawa to provide sustain- able timber supply for the mill. “We believe that the IWA’s new forest policy can work to head off confrontations with the environmen- talists and go a long way to keep the companies honest,” says da Costa. However, Local 1-1000’s presence in the logging sector is very limited, where worker committees are neces- sary to keep an eye on industry for- estry practices. Brother da Costa said although IWA-CANADA'’s value added strate; for forest products is a key to provid- ing jobs, current local certifications are threatened by the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. Declining tar- iffs and low wage U.S. competitors threaten to put many Ontario furni- ture and furniture component manu- facturers out of business. (Continued on page 12) © Attaching a printing die to a press at MacMillan Bathurst's corrugated plant in Pembroke, Ontario is press operator Wayne Sell.