° Pictured at the branch office in Castlegar are 1. to r. former local union financial secretary Edith Skiber, Kelly Sallis of
member services and supervisor Sandy Robinson. Photo taken in September of 1993.

Castlegar credit union employees get better
deal with protection of union agreement

To this day one of the most exploit-
ed group of workers in this country
remain the tens of thousands of peo-
ple employed in the banking and fi-
nancial services sector. Whenever
unions try to organize these workers,
the employers pull out the stops to
shut down organizing drives.

Fortunately, in some credit unions,
organized labour has made some
strides to better the wages and work-
ing conditions of many. For some
IWA-CANADA Local 1-405 members
in southern B.C. a union contract has
meant just that - a better deal on the
job.

At the Castlegar Savings and Credit
Union, with its two branches in
Castlegar and Slocan Park, about 25
workers enjoy better wages and work-
ing conditions because of their affili-
tation with the IWA.

The first group of workers orga-
nized by the union were brought into
the local: almost 20 years ago at the
Castlegar branch.

Edith Skiber, a former financial sec-
retary of the local union, now retired,
was there as an employee when the
first contacts were made with the IWA
in 1974. She was one of the workers
who first contacted the union.

Prior to phoning up the IWA the
workers tried to approach the Office
and Technical Employees Union,
which has several credit unions under
its certification. However they didn’t
receive any response and then went to
the IWA.

Many workers:employed at the IWA
certified Pope and Talbot sawmill
(then known as Canadian Cellulose)
did their banking at the credit union
and still do. So there were some in-
stant connections with the union.

In an interview with the Lumber-
worker, Sister Skiber said that the em-
ployees had tried to approach the
company on their own but that those
efforts didn’t pay off. The credit union

welshed on some committments and
promises to its workers.

One of the major issues, which still
exists in many similiar workplaces, is
that of seniority.

“At the time we were seeing promo-
tions being made without any regards
to seniority,” said Skiber. “There was
a lot of favouristism - based upon who
was nice to the boss - who was attrac-
tive - the kind of things that you get in
office workplaces.”

The women in the workplace were
not getting the top jobs. The employer
would hire males off the street and

give them promotions ahead of every-
one else.

Workers in the finan-
cial services indus-
try are among the
most exploited due to
lack of unionization
in the sector

“We said that’s not good enough,”
said Skiber. “We had to get a union to
represent us.”

Today the workers enjoy some of
the highest pay rates in the industry.

The local union just wrapped up ne-
gotiations and brought in some new
pay raises. Top salary is $2,913 per
month,

On October 19 union members vot-
ed to accept a collective agreement
with pay raises of 2 3/4, 3, and 8% over
the terms of a three year deal. Full
benefits were negotiated for part-time
employees, on a prorated basis.

In extended health care benefits,

there were increases, including in-
creases to a vision care program
which now pays up to $250.00 year.
The workers also defended their ac-
cumulated time-off benfits which al-
low them to accumulate 1 hour of

paid time off for each week worked.
Casual employees received a 2.6% in-
crease premium in the first year in
lieu of vacation and benefits increas-
es.

“We think it’s a good deal,” says Lo-
cal 1-405’s present financial secretary
Doug Singer. “If you look around in
the industry, you'll see that the [WA
agreement is far ahead of what work-
ers receive in the average workplace.

The new contract is retroactive to
May 31, 1994.

In general, labour relations at the
credit union’s two branches have
been peaceful. At the Slocan Park
branch, there was an eight day strike
in 1977. The union was in negotiations
and “they just didn’t take us seriously”
said Sister Skiber. zi

Workers from the IWA sawmill in
Slocan came down to support the
strikers and soon the dispute was
over. 2S

Organizing in smaller communities
where other unionized workers live
can be easier in certain situtations
when the unorganized are looking for
a union. Pressure from other union
members can help a great deal in sup-
ported workers who are looking for a
contract.

“If you have a strike it’s nice to
know that many of the members in
the community are IWA brothers and
sisters,” said Skiber.

Most of the language in the collec-
tive agreements are based upon long-
established wording in IWA-forest
industry contracts. In fact the first
credit union negotiator was familiar
with the wording in forest industry
agreements and agreed to include
many such sections in the first con-
tract.

The local union also represents 35
workers at the Nelson and District
Credit Union in Nelson. The local is
also looking at other credit unions, al-
though many are already organized.
The seven branches of the Kootenay
Savings and Credit Union are orga-
nized by the United Steelworkers of
America.

Agreements with other unions exist
at other credit unions. The B.C. Cen-

- tral Credit Union is highly unionized,

mostly represented by the Office and
Technical Employees Union.

However, workers in the banking
sector remain almost exclusively un-
organized to this day.

¢ At the insurance sales department in Slocan Park is member Mary Irwin.

10/LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 1994