PRN re ge ¢ The single line mill at the Excell Sawmill produces up to 120,000 finished board feet on an 8 hour shift. As workers in one of the several sawmills in I.W.A. CANADA Local 1- 2995 that is into negotiations with em- ployers in northern Ontario, the ap- proximately 65 employees at the Excel Forest Products sawmill in the community of Opasatika about 40 miles east of Hearst Ontario are look- ing for contract improvements, in- cluding a wage increase. Contracts for most sawmills in Ka- puskasing Local 1-2995 and Thunder Bay Local 2693 have expired at the end of August and both local unions want to get new collective agreements signed in their sawmill operations. Both locals are bargaining under the auspices of the Northern Ontario Dis- trict Council, which is an association of the two northern Ontario local unions. Since near bankruptcy less than 6 years ago when the mill was owned by the Isabel Brothers, the sawmill has bounced back to profitability and is looking to expand in the near fu- ture. At present it is a single-line mill with chip and saw that can produce an impressive 120,000 board feet of lumber on an 8 hour shift. The mill produces rough sawn 2 inch lumber from spruce and jack pine up to 2 x 8” and 16 ft. in length. It also produces one inch board which it used to send to the chipper. Excel gets its wood from mostly Crown land which comes in a third party agreement with the Spruce Falls Inc. pulp and paper complex in Ka- puskasing. Excel uses its own loggers to get timber from the Spruce Falls limits and get logs from Spruce Falls in exchange for chips. All of the lumber from the mill is sent to Hearst Tricep Industry opera- tion in Hearst for planing after it is kiln dried. Mill owner Roland Martin says that he has no plans to put a planer in even though the mill site had one at one time. Rather, he is investing in a new J-bar sorter system with 50 bins. “Instead of investing in a planing mill we would rather spend money in the sawmill to increase production,” says Mr. Martin. “Then we would like to put in a second line to increase pro- duction if we are able to get a secure timber supply.” Local 1-2995 president Norm Rivard says that there will be about 12 jobs lost due to the introduction of the J- bar system but that these job losses should be offset if another shift is added or additional jobs are created in lumber grading. “The ideal thing that the mill needs is another line. Then one line can han- dle the big logs while the other line handles the small stuff,” says Brother Rivard. With only a one line system there can be problems, especially if the de- barker breaks down. To get around this the company has put in a reserve log line which will by-pass the debark- er and feed the mill with logs that have already been debarked. Before this system was put into place, production lagged at about 50,000 board feet a shift when there were problems with the debarker. Part of the reason for this is that the mill know recovers the 1 inch boards off of the bull edger rather than send- ing them to the chipper. Such moves have increased overall efficiency. Since Martin took over the mill in 1992 a lot of changes have been made to improve the mill and more are on the way. The company is planning to get rid of waste in a more efficient and envi- ronmentally friendly way. Whereas it used to pile bark in the yard, the com- pany now has an agreement with Spruce Falls to haul and burn the bark in their giant boilers. Wood shavings are shipped to the Levesque plywood particle board plant in Hearst and the sawdust is burnt in Excel’s own boil- ers to heat the operation. Everything that comes into the plant will be used. Nothing will be left on the ground. Union represents workers at Valu-Mart in Kapuskasing The L.W.A. is a diverse union and no less is the case in the northern On- tario community of Kapuskasing where Local 1-2995 holds certification in a grocery store in the community. For over 6 years the local union has represented full and part-time employ- ees at a Valu-Mart grocery store in town. The union organized the operation a couple of years before a major re- cession hit town and the near closure of the Spruce Falls pulp mill took place. The economic downturn in the community made things a lot tougher for people in Kapuskasing. Workers e unemployed and business suf- fered. The population of Kapuskasing shrunk by more than 2,000 between 1991-94. Today there are about 10,000 peo- ple living in the community and things are looking better, mainly because the pulp and paper industry is doing well. As a result things have improved slightly for the three main grocery Stores in Kapuskasing. In addition to the Valu-Mart certi- fied to the I.W.A. there is another Valu-Mart in town certified to the United Food and Commercial Work- _ ers Union. The other store is an A&P certified to the UFCW as well. Now is time that the company pay its employees better, say Local 1-2995 member Louise Landry, who is the union steward at the store. For the past couple of years business has in- creased in the store and workers feel that they should share more in the profits. Their two year contract ex- pired at the end of March this year and workers want a good contract with wage and benefit improvements. Currently there are 12 full-time and about 18 part-time employees in the store. Sister Landry says that the com- pany is trying to eliminate full-time positions so it can pay fewer benefits to its part-time employees. “This is a common problem in the retail and service industry,” say Norm Rivard, president of Local 1-2995. “Employers are looking for every means possible to cut their labour costs and they see part-time employ- ment as a primary way of doing that.” Valu-Mart is owned by the Toronto base National Grocers, who also owns other chains such as Mr. Grocer, Your Independent Grocers and Fresh Mart. The union is currently bargaining with a company representative that sits with the store manager on their side of the table. Sister Landry and Brother Rivard represent the union. In late June, when initial talks came to an impasse, the union applied for conciliation under the Ontario Labour Code. It is hoped that an agreement will be reached without the need for job action. The workers keep busy in the 10,000 square foot store. Many do combination jobs. They make work stocking shelves or at the cashier end — S ¢ At the deli counter in Kapuskasing are Local 1-2995 members Natalie Content 1.) and Sylvie Roy. during a day. Or they may rotate be- tween other departments such as the meat department, deli and bakery. The company normally bases it em- ployement level on total sales figures. It will look at sales from one week and decide how many workers are needed the following week. As this issue of the Lwmberworker goes to press the union and the com- pany are in mediation to seek a new collective agreement. “LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 1995/11