Photo by Wil Mcintyre ¢ Outside the picket line this summer were new members of Local 2693 at the Leo Sakata and Earnway Industries plants in Thunder Bay Ontario. Thunder Bay local strikes for first contract in ‘sweatshops’ Labour legislation introduced by the former NDP Ontario government could prove to be invaluable in set- tling a labour dispute in I.W.A. CANA- DA Local 2693. In the northern On- tario city of Thunder Bay 150 workers at Leo Sakata Industries and Earnway Industries, went on strike in July of this in order to get their first collec- tive agreement. After more than a month of negotia- tion when both companies, owned by common investors, had dragged their feet and refused to negotiate seriously with the union, the I.W.A. used a pro- vision of labour law to request for first contract arbitration with the em- ployers. Leo Sakata, which manufactures electronic components for microwave ovens and laser printed is 51% owned by Earnway Industries, that makes plastic parts for those same compo- nents. Production from both plants is sent to Chicago, Illinois. Both plants are “modern day sweat- shops” says Brother McIntyre, who or- ganized the operations. Wages in the operations ranged be- tween $6.85-$8.00 hr. without benefits. The employer has taken advantage of the workforce which consists of visi- ble minorities and new Canadians, from the Phillipines, Hong Kong, Poland and Chile. The union first found out about conditions in the plant after a female worker in the plant complained of sexual harrasement. Local 2693 was contacted after the employee was ter- minated. The worker has contacted ethnic community organizations to no avail. It turns out that Mr. Anthony Chan, manager at Sakata, is the president of the Chinese Canadian Cultural Associ- ation in Thunder Bay, and has done little to better the lot of the workers. The association also acts as a con- nection to funnel workers into the plant. The Leo Sakata company has taken advantage of JobsOntario programs which has paid up to $2.00/hr. as a subsidy for 9 months of training. Work in the plant is highly repetitive with a great deal of soldering. Ventila- tion systems are poor and the union has had to put pressure on the compa- ny just to turn ventilation fans on. Tom Lowe take on duties for health and safe One of the union’s National Staff Representatives in Toronto has been given the position of person responsi- ble for safety in Eastern Canada. Tom Lowe, a representative with the 1.W.A., was officially given the respon- sibility this past summer. Brother Lowe, who originates from the MacMillan Bathurst Inc. corrugat- ed container plant in Etobicoke, is a union activist with a solid background in health and safety. And the timing to get more invol- ment in health and safety in the province of Ontario is right. With the election of the Conservative govern- ment of Mike Harris in June of this year, labour expects there to be vari- ous attacks on health and safety regu- lations in the province. The Harris government has vowed to disband the bipartite Workplace Health and Safety Agency and transfer its responsibility to the Workers Com- pensation Board. This move has been soundly criticized by both labour and management. In addition to getting rid of the agency, the Conservatives are going to reduce Workers Compensation premi- ums and stop an NDP-initiated Royal Commission on the state of the On- tario Workers’ Compensation Board. With all of the planned attacks on Health and Safety and other attacks EN, e National Staff Rep. Tom Lowe. on working people, the I.W.A., like other unions, is planning to do more in-house work to uphold the rights of the membership. That means that the membership will have to become better educated on their rights and that advocacy skills of I.W.A. health and safety ac- tivists will have to be sharpened. “I think that we have got about a year before the big changes begin to hit,” says Brother Lowe. “We have to do everything possible in the mean- time to oppose the Harris government and prepare for the worst case scenar- ios.” Lowe has been out there circulating in the province and has handled some WCB cases in Locals 2693, 500 and 1- 700. He has tackled adjudication pro- cedures and fought cases that have been appealed by employers and the Board. Getting a representative responsi- ble for safety in Eastern Canada has been long overdue says National Sec- ond Vice President Fred Miron. “We are proud to have Tom as our safety representative in the east as he is highly qualified for the job,” says Brother Miron. “We have needed someone qualified for this position since the national union has not re- placed the National Health and Safety Director. Brother Lowe has several qualifica- tions that make him an appropriate choice for the position. He is a qualifited WCB Training In- structor that can teach Level 1 - Level 4 training. He wide range of instruc- tion capabilities will allow him to teach workers how to solve their WCB problems that start in the work- place and reduce the chances of such problems from arising again. He will also instruct workers to act as repre- sentatives of injured workers and teach them how to resolve problems by contact the WCB themselves. Higher levels of worker instruction include how to act as a representative of injured workers in oral hearings in front of the Hearings Officer at the WCB and before hearing panels at the WCB Appeals Tribunal. With few amentities for workers, women workers pooled their own money and bought a refrigerator to put their lunches in. At first the em- ployer refused to allow them to plug the refrigerator in, claiming that it uses too much electricity. “When we get anti-union companies coming out of Asia and setting up shop in the Thunder Bay area, people need to be aware of what is happen- ing,” says Brother McIntyre. “These investors want to bring their labour standards into Canada too and al- though we do invite foreign invest- ment, we don’t want sweatshops in Thunder Bay.” “The I.W.A. has stepped a distance away from the types of workplaces that we normally organize,” says McIntyre. “When we heard what was going on in Leo Sakata and Earnway we had to take action.” McIntyre says that the community of Thunder Bay has been supportive of the workers and that the workers have been able to get their side of the story out in the media. The union won the vote at Sakata by an 88% margin and at Earnway by an 80% approval. “We though with that message, the companies would settle down and ne- gotiate a reasonable collective agree- ment,” adds McIntyre. “But after 4-1/2 - 5 months of negotiating, there was no progress made.” The company refused to negotiate any contract language concerning union security, seniority, grievance procedures and a list of other de- mands from the workers. At one time during negotiations, the Leo Sakata plant offered some of workers raises between 10-50 cents an hour. The union immediately filed charges of unfair labour practices, * Attempting to further negotiations, the union has filed for conciliation and now for first contract arbitration. Brother McIntyre says that without first contract arbitration it would be impossible to negotiate a collective agreement with anti-union employers, eet Lowe will also intruct a course on return-to-work and reinstating injured workers. Brother Lowe has also received his Health and Safety Instructor’s Certifj- cate from the Workers Health and Safety Centre and can teach courses on health and safety law, confined space, lockout procedures, joint occu- pational health and safety committee responsibilities, the right to refuse un- safe work, accident investigation, bar- gaining health and safety, WHMIS, bargaining health and safety, muscu- loskeletal injuries, ergonomics, and effective communications, etc. a SR 14/LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 1995