° At the waferboard plant in Longlac, Local 2693 member and welder Francis Trottier, puts some touches on a mainte- nance job. Northern Ontario local avoids near strike with Kruger Inc. in Longlac operations. There was a close call in northern Ontario this summer when Local 2693 members were set to strike against a list of concession demands presented by Kruger Inc. at the company’s two Longlac, Ontario operations. Kruger, which took over both the hardwood plywood and waferboard plants from Weldwood Canada in Jan- uary of this year, started negotiations with the goal of gutting the collective agreement. A 98.3% strike vote from the I.W.A. membership in favour of job action was taken in mid-June, sending a strong message that the union wanted no part in the compa- ny’s demands. After both sides met with a govern- ment mediator, a week of further ne- gotiations took place and a three year collective agreement was tentatively reached on June 30. The following rat- ification vote saw 82% of the members vote yes for the deal which will see pay increases of 3% in each year of the agreeement, in addition to a cash pay- ment of $500.00 “Basically the company was trying to rewrite the collective agreement,” says Local 2693 President and Negoti- ating Committee Chairman Wilf McIn- tyre. “Our position was that they would have to move the vast majority of their demands off the table or there would be have been strike for sure.” Kruger was out to introduce combi- nation jobs which would pay one rate and would be totally controlled by su- pervisors. It also wanted to put in 10 different seniority lists and keep all promotions along lines of progres- sion. The company wanted to contract out any work it deemed necessary without regards to the existing bar- gaining unit. In previous years the union had fought long battles against Weldwood when it ran the operations. The I.W.A. also beat back the com- pany’s attempts to institute a “team leader” concept. Also dropped was Kruger's attempts to gut the existing grievance procedure. “Kruger came to northern Ontario with the intention of invoking the kind of collective agreement and manage- ment style that it enjoys in Quebec and Eastern Canada,” says Brother McIntyre. “We had to stop them and uphold the basic pattern settlement of the NODC (Northern Ontario District Council).” The NODC is an amalgam of I.W.A. CANADA Locals 2693 and 1-2995, which sets bargaining standards in the north of Ontario. Manny Ranger, plant chairman at. the waferboard division and a mem- ber of the Negotiating Committee, says that when contract talks began, Kruger introduced 37 “pages of garbage” seeking concessions. “We were not going to accept that stuff,” says Brother Ranger. “They (Kruger) said they needed changes but when we met they told us ‘these are the changes and that’s it.” “We want to work with the compa- ny, but we’ve got to be working from the inside out,” he says. “We’re not prepared for them to ultimately im- pose demands on us.” Brother McIntyre said the union was surprised when Kruger showed up at the first meeting to present its demands without any presence from the management at the Longlac opera- tions. is “We found that unusual because with any other company we negotiate with, the management is there,” he says. “The people that Kruger had talking for them acted like they hadn't been at a bargaining table before. They seemed like new industrial rela- tions people.” McIntyre said that the I.W.A. had to explain the history of the collective agreement that it had with Weldwood in order that Kruger could appreciate the history of labour relations in Longlac. “Through that process, we were able to convince them that rewriting the collective agreement was no way to solve the problems that we face,” he adds. The union was able to make clear that it doés not want contracting out to be another problem in the future. The collective agreement now says that if the company wants to do capi- tal expenditures, they can do so as long as the contractors are union. “As a union and as workers we have to be concerned about the company's present and future economic situa- tions,” says McIntyre. “There has to be a good working relationship.” The union has agreed to allow tradesmen from the two plants, who are on separate seniority lists, to do extra work in eachother’s operations on a voluntary basis. That agreement should go further to prevent any fur- ther move to contract out. In addition to wage increases there were increases in medical coverage, weekly indemnity, long term disability and a money purchase (RRSP) pen- sion plan. In between negotiations the union was also able to settle several out- standing grievances. Currently there is one grievance, concerning the issue of hog fuel hauling, which is going to arbitration. Ken Paquette, the Local 2693 Busi- ness Agent responsible for the opera- tion, says the union crews stuck solid- ly behind the Negotiating Committee during contract talks. “I think that Kruger’s push for con- cessions did to us what the Harris government has done to the labour movement in Ontario,” he says. “They have made us even more united as a union.” Union rallies its support behind Howard Hampton to assist in NDP leadership win The New Democratic Party of On- tario has chosen a new leader and he is the I.W.A.’s candidate of choice all the way. On June 22, Howard Hamp- ton became party leader following a third ballot run-off at the NDP’s con- vention which was held in Hamilton. Mr. Hampton, a Member of the Provincial Parliament, gathered the support of 971 delegates, defeating second place candidate Frances Lankin by 178 votes. All of the I.W.A.’s 15 convention delegates threw their support behind the winner. Hailing from the Rainy River riding in northwestern Ontario, Hampton is one of 17 New Democrats elected in 1995. Since that election, former Pre- mier Bob Rae has retired. A former Attorney-General and Min- ister of Natural Resources with the 1990-95 NDP government, Hampton has drawn widespread support in the party and has worked to bring back the full support of the Ontario Federa- tion of Labour. Fred Miron, Second National Vice President of I.W.A. CANADA, says spit iit Bl e Howard Hampton that Hampton has been a friend of the union for years, dating back to the 1978-80 strike against Boise Cascade in Fort Frances. Hampton is from Fort Frances, which is a blue collar area of the province. He is also a labour lawyer and has worked on staff at the Cana- dian Labour Congress, until he be- come an MPP in the 1987 election. Brother Miron says the labour movement worked hard to get Hamp- ton elected. “I think it is significant that the LW.A. supported the new NDP leader in B.C. (Glen Clark) and has done the same to help elect Howie Hampton in Ontario,” adds Miron. “We are getting behind people who give the NDP a whole new dynamic.” Miron says: that Hampton, especial- ly being a former Minister of Natural Resources, has a solid grip on issues that affect I.W.A. members. “Howie is a close as the phone to us and we will be working with him and the NDP to oppose the slash and burn policies of the Mike Harris (Conserva- tive) government,” says Miron. Brother Miron says that the LW.A. has remained solidly pro-NDP in On- tario and played a key role in support- ing candidates in the north of the province, where eight NDP MPP’s were elected in 1995. Wilf McInytre, President of 1.W.A. ‘CANADA Local 2693, which incorpo- rates the Rainy River riding, says that “we supported Howie from day one and even before he threw his hat in the leadership race, he was consulting with our union to become clear on how we see issues in Ontario.” In the 1995 election the local union released two activists, Brothers Keith Caldwell from the Buchanan sawmill in Atikokan, and John Kraun, from the Avnor woodlands division in Ignace, to work on the Hampton campaign. Brother McIntyre says that Hamp- ton believes that labour must play a key role in rebuilding the party and taking back the government in a fu- ture election. “He reminds me of Glen Clark in B.C. when Clark clearly spoke out on behalf of working people and whose side the NDP is on,” says McIntyre. “Hampton does not shy away from his working class roots.” Hampton's father was a union mem- ber at the pulp mill in Fort Frances and his parents supported first the CCF and then the NDP. As an Executive Vice President of the OFL, McIntyre sees that most unions in the province, including the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, are going back to the NDP. It is clear that the Harris government or the Liberals are not going to do the Continued on page thirteen ee 12/LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1996