e Among the members of the local organizing committee are 1. to r. James Crowhurst, Gerry Gower, Gavin Landsiedel, Manjit Sidhu, Brian Harder, Brian Lund, Don White, Gordon Emery, Asaf Aziz, and Esther DeAmicis. At front is local first vice president Sonny Ghag. Local 1-3567 gears up to increase organizing efforts in communities In I.W.A. CANADA Local 1-3567 things are gearing up to do some more organizing. Like most other locals, Lo- cal 1-3567 has long realized that it will continue to lose members in the tradi- tional sectors and that it has to orga- nize and branch out to survive. In the summer of 1992 the local union was formed by amalgamating the local boundaries of former New Westiminster Local 1-357 and Maple Ridge Local 1-367. Three years ago when the merger took place the mem- bership numbered nearly 4,300. Today the local has almost 4,700 members and is looking to expand. To get an new organizing plan un- derway the local has formed a volun- teer committee of executive board members to form an organizing com- mittee which will form policy in the local union. Local union first vice president Son- ny Ghag, who sits on the committee says that the local has been successful in organizing in the past and wants to continue and expand its efforts. He says that the union realized that organizing has been made a lot fairer during the past two years because of fairer labour laws put into place by the NDP government in early 1993. From October 1992 to September 1993 the local union organized 551 workers in 15 work places. Then until the beginning of October of last year the local certified another 91 mem- bers in 5 operations. - The most recent operations to be certified are Douglas Homes in Chili- wack, T.H. Solid Woods in Surrey, Snowcap Lumber in Abottsford, and Pacific Custom Stain in Surrey. “We believe that the labour laws specificially the automatic certifica- tion procedures, brought in by the NDP have made a considerable differ- ence in organizing,” say Brother Ghag. “There has still been employer inter- ference out there but not as much as we have seen in past years, because of the automatic certification laws.” Brother Ghag expresses concern that the current labour laws may change if an NDP government is not re-elected after its current term. “The Liberals, under Gordon Camp- bell, have already said that they will do away with the automatic certifica- tion procedure and will abolish anti- scab legislation,” says Ghag. The local is gearing up to do some organizing now to make the most out of current labour laws. Local 1-3567 has struck an organiz- ing committee to plan out the direc- tion of organizing in the months ahead. During the past year the local The local union plans® to organize both in and outside of the forest industry has employed 1 or 2 full-time organiz- ers to seek out new certifications and has had some considerable success. Now the local wants to put more re- sources into organizing and wants a greater involvement from the mem- bers. “We hope to become even more fo- cussed on organizing in the months and year ahead,” says Brother Ghag. “That's going to take a increased ef fort on everyone’s part.” In the local union’s jurisdiction which goes from the Vancouver - New Westminster border in the west to Hope in the east and all the way up to Lilloet in the North, there are still quite a few non-union forest industry operations. In Surrey and Langley there are a few major sawmills that. have never been unionized but pay union rate. “There have always been tough ones to get and we’ve worked on them in the past,” comments Ghag. “But we're not going to just focus on the forest industry only. We are now an industrial union which has the abil- ity to represent workers in different sectors.” That willingness to go out beyond the primary and secondary forest sec- tor was exhibited as far back as 1988 Continued on page fifteen Packaging plant Continued from page thirteen But there’s hope: The Tillsonburg plant’s numbers have climbed back to about 150 in recent years. Marques points to other signs that things may be on the upswing. “General Motors, Local 500 member pre-cuts pieces for packing boxes. Chrysler and Ford are now pursuing the Asian market aggressively. And they'll be after the Russian market in the future. That could create high vol- umes if they stay with this supplier. “Then, of course, the jobs will grow back to the way they used to be in the late Seventies. But there’s nothing carved in stone. We’re just being hopeful.” GOVERNMENT AID TO NON-UNION COMPE- TITION One challenge that I.W.A. members in southwestern Ontario face is feder- al government subsidy to non-union competitors. Marques points out that “At one time, in Hagersville they used to produce pallets. But TDS was dri- ven right out of the pallet business by people who recycle them for less than the lumber cost, often operating out of an old barn. “Now these operators are getting more and more into custom boxes - they’re paying themselves next to noth- ing and they have absolutely no over- head. Even if there is overhead, most of them get federal government grants in order to create jobs, thus forcing es- tablished plants out of business. “It’s a very sore point with the union. It’s nice to create jobs. But the government should really look at these manufacturers, what they are doing to the established business. Ninety-nine per cent are not unionized.” He emphasizes that the problem is mainly with federal government fund- ing. JobsOntario, the Ontario govern- ment program, subsidizes unionized as well as non-unionized plants. GOOD RELATIONS WITH MANAGEMENT Generally, the I.W.A., which has represented TDS workers since the mid-Fifties, has been able to work with the management. Hagersville plant manager Jack Brohman says, “We've had a good relationship on both sides. We’re working to maintain and improve it as much as we can.” Marques agrees: “We've always had good communications with the com- pany. Never any problems that we haven't been able to resolve. The last strike was in 1979. It lasted about two weeks overall. It was just a misunder- standing at the bargaining table.” Both sides credit their success to their ability to work on problems ear- ly, before they get out of hand. Another improvement the union has made is the introduction of assistance programs for people with alcohol and drug problems. “They now have a net- work for getting help, where at one time they would just be discharged,” says Marques. IMPLEMENTING EMPLOYMENT cour ® LEGISLATION A challenge that Local 500 members are currently grappling with is the new Ontario employment equity legis- lation that requires that disabled workers be hired. Because export packing is heavy industry, the jobs are almost all hard physical work. The union is trying to determine how these workers might be best placed. “The other big concern right now,” Marques says, “is the reinstatement provisions in the WCB for returning disabled workers to the work force. The board is basically saying that companies have to somehow create a job that suits the medical restrictions of the worker. “It’s the thing of the future and wi have to do it. But it’s difficult, espe- cially with financially strapped com- panies,” he says. As I.W.A. Canada Local 500 faces the future, Saul Marques thinks that the outlook is cautiously hopeful. “Our organization has a lot of hope that this will be one of the thriving companies, based on the fact that the Big Three are now really looking at export markets.” Denyse O'Leary is a freelance writer from Ontario. 14/LUMBERWORKER/JUNE, 1995