¢ Brendon Murphy (I.) and Keith Mattice are lumber rackers at Lajambe's Sault St.
Marie sawmill.

Two week strike gets
e contract at Lajambe

SAULT STE MARIE, ONTARIO —
Two hundred and fifty IWA-CANADA
Local 1-1000 members had to strike
their employer for two full weeks for a
settlement. Workers at Lajambe For-
est Products Ltd., voted 70% in favour
of a two year deal which will expire in
November of 1991.

Local president Joe da Costa, who
is also a worker at Lajambe, says that
the crew has earned more respect
from the company because of the
strike.

Early in negotiations, the company
demanded concessions in both wages
paid and contract language.

The union fought on issues like
rollbacks, statutory holidays, length
of contract and a company demand
that vacation clauses be “grandfath-
ered” in the agreement.

Lajambe also unsuccessfully tried
to get rid of the company pension plan
and institute an RRSP plan without
any improvements.

Local 1-1000 has collective agree-
ments with the same company at
small dimension lumber mills in Gar-
den River, and Heyden.

“The agreement at Sault Ste. Marie
gave us a greater opportunity to set a
negotiating pattern at the other
mills,” commented Brother da Costa.

The smaller Lajambe operations
run almost exclusively on private tim-
ber sales while the large Sault Ste.
Marie operation supplements its
crown timber cut with private sales.

Lajambe has been competing in a
market which is largely affected by
the rising Canadian dollar.

The company returned to the bar-
gaining table quickly to meet cus-
tomer orders in April.

Union members at the veneer plant
will receive 45 cents/hr. in the first
year and 55 cents/hr. in year two.

GARDEN RIVER AND HEYDEN
SETTLEMENTS

A.union negotiating committee con-
sisting of staff representative Ron
Green, Eldon Barry, Ron McMillan,
Kevin Jones and Brad Roach had to
sit down with Lajambe five times and
go to conciliation with the Ontario
Labour Relations Board in order to
get a two year deal.

Fifteen IWA-CANADA members
work at the company’s Heyden divi-
sion while 30 are employed at the
Garden River plant.

Workers will get a 42 cents per hour
wage hike on a base rate of $7.60. In
year two, there are across the board
jumps of 55 cents per hour.

At Garden River the workers were
successful in getting several demands
for strong contract language met.
Wording on such issues as hours of
work, vacation pay allowance, ad-
vance notice of layoff and seniority
was resolved.

The employees were concerned
about gaps in wages and these con-
cerns were addressed through classifi-
cation adjustments in the new con-
tract.

Increase to Group Life Insurance
and Accidental Death and Dismem-
berment were won at both plants
along with an improved plan for pre-
scription drugs.

D YOUR LUMBERWORKER LATELY? ..
dais Mies ype have. The Local 1-424 members take a few minutes to
read on their lunch break at Canfor's Netherlands Division in Prince George.

. Phil Cor-

WESTON, ONTARIO — In the first
agreement of its kind in southern
Ontario, an IWA-CANADA committee
has successfully concluded a set of
pay equity talks with an employer.

At MacMillan Bloedel’s Kingtrim
Division here IWA Local 1-700 has
helped achieve pay equity for three job
classifications affecting women em-
ployees.

On March 26 a document was
signed which finalized wage increases
affecting more than 15 women work-
ers in the plant.

Under provincial pay equity legis-
lation introduced in 1985 by an NDP
influenced minority Liberal govern-
ment employers with more than 500
employees had to notify their employ-
ees of a pay equity system by January
of 1990.

Pay equity established equal pay
for work of equal value.

This mandatory posting date of
January, 1990 for MacMillan Bloedel
was postponed by mutual agreement
of the parties, in order to complete
negotiations.

Two job categories (Trim Bundler
wrappers and Trimmers) were given
hourly hikes of 91 cents and 6 cents
when compared with other jobs in the
plant, using a “point evaluation” sys-
tem. Another pay equity classifica-
tion (finger joint feeder) was settled
through negotiations with a 34 cent
an hour increase.

The IWA committee consisted of
plant committee members Paula
Furtado, and Carol Richard, Local
1-700 president Tony Iannucci, and
national staff representative Bob
Navarretta.

The committee is to be commended
for its hard work in negotiations with
a very tough employer.

NEGOTIATIONS SET FOR
DOMTAR-SUNOCO

After a lot of hassle with a Pay
Equity Commission Tribunal union
negotiators have gotten Domtar—
Sunoco to reluctantly post notifica-
tion of a pay equity program in their
plant in Prescott, Ontario.

The union had to go to the Tribunal
to get an admission that Domtar-
Sunoco was part of the larger Domtar
Inc. empire which employs over 16,000
people.

IWA-CANADA joined with the Cana-
dian Auto Workers who were given
similar treatment by Domtar-Sunoco
at a plant in Chatham, Ontario.

The company is now intent on sit-
ting down with both unions to discuss

pay equity.

© Seamer operator Carolyn Douglas at
Domtar-Sunoco in Prescott, Ontario.

© Workers meeting before permanent closure at packaging plant.

Atlantic Packaging shuts
doors on workforce

BRAMPTON, ONTARIO — Eighty-
four IWA-CANADA local 1-112 mem-
bers permanently lost their jobs here
on April 20, as Atlantic Packaging
closed its corrugated container plant.

Almost half of those workers had
not seen any work since February,
1989 when the independent local had
to strike the employer for wage parity
with other workers in the industry.

After the 13 week strike, Atlantic
operated at half capacity as it shifted
much of its production to its other
plants in Mississauga and Ingersoll.

The company, despite paying out
more than $483,000 in severance and
termination pay, has done nothing to
assist in the relocation or retraining of
the workers.

Among the reasons given for the
plant closure were a restructuring of

the company and downsizing of some
operations.

The plant operated on leased land
from the Bramlea Realty Corpora-
tion. [WA-CANADA will hold succes-
sion rights on the site until June of
1991.

To assist the members that have
been laid off, the union has received
and sent out copies of job application
forms to other corrugated plants in
southern Ontario. Since the closure,
several skilled workers have found
other jobs in the industry. ‘

“Tt’s a very sad occasion when we
had no indication that this kind of
thing would happen,” said union rep-
resentative Tom Lowe, who himsel
worked at the operation and acted as
the plant chairman for 10 years.

“This was entirely unpredicted by
people who thought the plant was
stable and had a secure future”.

LUMBERWORKER:

1990/13