¢ Working at the tail end of a hot melt machine at MacMillan Bathurst Inc.'s Pembroke Ontario plant are Local 1-1000 members
Frank Neighbour and Agnes Turcotte. IWA-CANADA represents workers in four MBI plants.

Corrugated union locals get
together to prepare for contracts

ST. THOMAS, ONTARIO — Union
members in the corrugated container
sector are getting prepared in plenty
of time for contract talks with indus-
try later this year. The IWA has been
getting its membership at four Mac-
Millan Bathurst Inc. plants together

to coordinate strategies amongst each
other and with other unions.

On April 5th, 30 sub-local union
delegates attended a workshop con-
ference here to exchange suggestions
for proposals to the industry.

The agenda included determining

priorities for joint bargaining in the
MBI units. Three Local 1-500 certifi-
cations participating were MBI at
Etobicoke, St. Thomas and Whitby.
Also sending a delegation was Local
1-1000 with members from an MBI
plant in Pembroke.

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The conference set: the IWA’
for major issues to be

fod ay

as well.

Delegates made a commitment to
maintain solidarity out. the
upcoming talks and any con-
cession ining such as continu:
ous pasate on Labour Day and
New Year's Day.

The union will also oppose the intro-

duction of multi-skill job categories.
National Service Representative Tom
Lowe says that if multi-skill 18 cate-
gories were introduced then the
employer would gain the right to elim-
inate job postings and promotions
and switch workers around as they
please.

Heading up the corrugated negoti-
ating committees will National
fifth vice-president, Fred Miron, Local
1-1000 Business Agent Mike McCarter
and Brother Tom Lowe along with
representatives of each sub-local.

The following two days saw the
reconvening of the Inter-corrugated
Packaging Council, a meeting of IWA,
Canadian Paperworkers Union and
Energy and Chemical Workers Union.

The purpose of the meeting, at
which 100 union members were in
attendance, was to put together a
common approach to bargaining.

The Council chaired by Dave Matts,
president of CPU at Standard Paper
Box in Belleville, will set up a network
to communicate trends in bargaining
with management. ©

Delegates at the Council meeting
represent over 9,000 workers in the
corrugated sector.

Brother Lowe says that participa-
tion in the Council, which has met 4
times during the past 3 years, is grow-
ing stronger and each meeting is
achieving larger turn-outs.

Contracts at the IWA operations
expire at the end of December, 1991.

Plant reopens after fire shutdown

By TOM LOWE

Some say that Friday the 13th is
considered to be an unlucky day.

For those at Floorco Ltd., (Sub-
Local 1-700), Friday, June 1st, 1990
was their unlucky day. It was on this
day that an explosion took place in
one of the dust storage bins. The fire
that followed spread throughout the
entire plant putting over 40 employ-
ees out of work. That was over nine
months ago. Since this incident, the
employees involved have either drawn
UIC. or found alternative employ-
ment.

During this shutdown period, Bro-
ther Tom Lowe (National Staff Rep.)
and Brother Tony Iannucci (Local
1-700 President) assisted at times by
the Sub-local Chairperson, Joe Vultao
and Sister Celeste Magima, negoti-
ated amendments to the Collective
Agreement. After 5 meetings the
Committee were successful in negoti-
ating improvements in the areas of
vacations, weekly indemnity, bereave-
ment leave, holidays (biggie — full
day with pay on April 28th of each
year, which is the Day of Mourning),
severance pay plus language clean up.
The Union is very pleased with the
results commented Local President,
Tony Iannucci.

After seven months of repairs,
restructuring and preparation, the
Company were ready to commence
operations. So, on January 7th, 1991
the Company informed the Inspec-
tors at the Department of Environ-

ment that all was in readiness and
they were anxious to get everyone
back to work. But, the Department of
Environment just didn’t see it that

14/LUMBERWORKER/MAY, 1991

way. They would not give its approval,
stating that the boiler was not suit-
able to the new duct system installed.

Because of this decision, a special
meeting was called between the com-
pany representatives, the Union rep-
resentatives, the contractors who
installed the system and representa-
tives from the Department of Envir-
onment.

Brother Iannucci was in attendance
and reported the following:

“It was learned that the Company
had installed the new duct system
without the approval of the Depart-
ment of Environment, as a result, the
Department could not approve the
work performed because the furnace
was not of such construction that it
would function properly, basically it
was uncertain if the furnace was safe
in relations to the added changes.”

Mr. Andy Rebic (Manager) stated;
“Because of the age of the furnace,
there was a problem in getting the
parts to modify it and because this
furnace is no longer made, it repre-
sents a problem in getting it replaced.
“The cost;” he concluded, “would be
about $11,000.00.”

On February 4th, 1991, the Com-
pany again approached the Depart-
ment of Environment, informing them
that they had modified the furnace as
much as possible and would like to
start up. But, alas, they were turned
down again.

Finally on April 27, after 11 months
of closure, Floorco opened its doors
and the employees went back to work.

— Tom Lowe is an IWA- CANADA
Service Representative in Toronto

© Local 1-700 President Tony Iannucci (r.) met with Floorco’s General Manager Andy

Rebic prior to callback in April.

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