eFeeding a manufactured wood component into a gluer is Local 1-207 member Dorothy Schultz.

Recreational vehicle plant going strong
under union cert in Red Deer Alberta

Down south of Edmonton, Alberta
about 100 miles there is an IWA-CANA-
DA operation which builds recreation-
al vehicles. The company known as
Travelaire Canada Ltd., employs be-
tween 80 - 160 IWA Local 1-207 mem-
bers, depending on when the
production season is most busy.

The operation has been in the union
since 1973 when Local 1-207 went
through a big certification scrap with
the owners who ran the company un-
der the name of Neonex Leisure Prod-
ucts, then controlled by the
notoriously anti-union Jim Pattison.

The union persisted in its organiza-
tion drive as the employer tried to dri-
ve a wedge between employees.

“Tt was a helluva fight,” says Local
1-207 financial secretary and business
agent Bob DeLeeuw. “They tried firing
people and scaring people off but we
hung in there and the crew came with
the IWA.”

Since those early days the owner-
ship has changed hands back to Trav-
elaire which is now owned by Firan
Corporation an international corpora-
tion which has recreation vehicles
and electronics divisions.

Labour relations in the plant are
good now. For the last 20 years, ac-
cording to Brother DeLeeuw, not even
one grievance has been taken to arbi-
tration. Only a handful of grievances
have even gone to the local union for
attention. All have been resolved with
management.

“If there is a problem our union
committee and management get on it
and get it settled,” says DeLeeuw.

Today the Red Deer plant special-
izes in the manufacture of travel trail-
ers (5th wheels) and mini-motor
homes. About 75% of the production
in the plant is the travel trailers which
are a goose-necked version of the fifth
wheel.

The basic construction is done on a
metal chassis frame and from there up
all the work is done in the plant. A
wood floor is put together with 2 x
4’s. Plywood is used on the sidewalls
and roof rafters are put in place.

The outside skin of the trailer is
made of either aluminum or fibreglass

while the roof consists of a rubberized
material which is rolled on once then
given a liquid rubber finish.

The rubber surface holds up better
in hailstorms, which are more com-
mon place in the prairie provinces. A
rubber service also holds up well in
extreme heat and cold when there is
heat expansion and contraction.

Travelaire makes all its own cabi-
nets with hardwood veneers on wood
cores. It stays away from cheaper par-
ticle board which can add more
weight to the vehicle.

That creates skilled jobs in the
plant in cabinet making. All training in
the cabinet making is like it is in other
parts of the plant. It’s all hands on
training.

According to Travelaire’s manager
Bob MacDonald, the company is one
of the very few left in the field who
laminate their own cabinets. A lot of
U.S. products are stapled only. At
Travelaire they are stapled, glued and
put in a press.

The company also employs workers
who install plumbing, insulation, elec-
trical work, and finishing. A gas line
hook-up is run from a propane outlet
to the stove, refrigerator and appli-
ances.

The company has its own linen and
upholstery sections where it produces
all the inserts for the trailers such as
bedspreads, pillow shams, armrests
and cushion retainers etc.

IWA member Gerta Jonas who has
worked at the plant since the early
1960's says that inspectors ensure that
all work is of good quality.

“Over the years the industry has
changed a lot and we are now more
focussed on quality,” she says. “We
have to be to stay in business.”

The company’s furniture comes
from Ducan Industries in Lethbridge.
It gets its quilted stock from
Saskatchewan. However it is a compa-
ny policy to buy Canadian when and if
possible. Much of the steel, lumber,
plywood, panelling and fibreglass
used is Canadian. The fridges, stoves,
furnaces, waterhead and chassis are
all U.S. made. However since the re-
cession it is getting a lot of its compo-

nents from U.S. suppliers as some
Canadian ones have gone bankrupt.

“We managed to come through the
recession,” says Mr. MacDonald. “It
hurt but not as much in the eastern
Canadian market.”

Mr. MacDonald says that the demo-
graphics in the western Canada,
where Travelaire workers are such
that westerners are more used to the

Motors chassis just
Whatever Travel
chassis is made to federal

Increased competition has helped
the company says Mr. MacDonald.

“It (free trade) definitely won't ben-
efit us but we are prepared to sur-
vive,” he says. “We are going to be
here. We've been able to do it (sur-
vive) when the dollar has slid one way
or another.”

One of the competitive advantages
that U. S. production have is a “just in
time” delivery systems of component
materials and goods. When they need
parts and components they can get
them from sources within a day or
two and they don’t have to carry the
inventory that Travelaire does.

So Travelaire will survive on quality
of production and reputation.

One of its strong selling points is
that the RV and mini-motor homes are
manufactured with “hard wall units”
which are fibreglass reinforced plas-
tics on the outer skins. The company
has its own equipment for laminating
side walls.

In addition to the plant workers, the -
union represents 4 office staff which
joined the union in 1979. All contracts
expire on June 30, 1994.

Esther James, who has worked in
the plant for the past 21 years, has
been the sub-local IWA chairperson
for the past 17 years.

She says that Local 1-207 has done
a good job of negotiation contracts
and helping the workers through the
tough times.

“We throught back then (the 1970's)
that the IWA was one of the most. pro-
gressive unions around,” she says.
“Our hunch was right.”

The wages, which are a leader in
the RV industry, have a base rate of
$12.00/hr.

The collective agreement also in-
cludes life insurance, dental and
health care benefits.

°Genevieve Forsythe working on a clean-up crew inside a trailer unit.

16/LUMBERWORKER/APRIL, 1994