Rie. ee ee ee ee
Place Mont Roc strike

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° Local 1000 members and kitchen staff Lise Dignard and Louise G
worker visited Place Mont Roc in April of 1996.

A new owner of a retirement facil-
ity in Hawkesbury, Ontario is doing
its level best to force concessions on
its workers and the I.W.A. is on
strike to prevent that from happen-
ing. At the Place Mont Roc resi-
dence, 35 full-time, part-time and
casual employees, who are all mem-
bers of I.W.A. Local 1000, have been
on the picket line since August 13.

On November 18, 28 of 29 voting

members rejected the employer’s
latest contract offer, which included
jor concessions.
he employer has been scabbin,
out the operations to break the wil.
of the workers. All but two of the
strikers are women.

“The company believes that they
can basically overpower and intimi-
date the women to a point where
they are forcing them back to face
concessions,” said Local 1000 Finan-
cial Secretary Michael McCarter.
“Our members are on the picket
line to say no to concessions and
fight this rotten employer.”

“Not only are they demanding
major concessions, but the employer

is taking full advantage of (Ontario
Premier) Mike Harris’ labour law
reforms and is bringing in scabs to
do the bargaining unit work,” said
Brother McCarter. “To drive home
their point, the employer is holding
weekly parties for the scabs.”

It is only the second collective
agreement that the union is trying
to negotiate, having organized the
operation in 1992. The first con-
tract expired in early July of last
year and the union has been tryin;
to get the employer to sit down an
bargain in good faith.

Instead they have provoked a
fight which is becoming a protracted
struggle.

In one job category alone the boss
wants a $.00/hr pay cut. The com-
pany also wants a three year freeze
on all wages.

In addition, they want to cut
annual sick day benefits down to 7
days from 30. To add insult to injury,
the company expects the workers to
receive payment for the sick days
at the end of the year.

“We went to a mediator and even

he shook his head and said ‘what
do you do when you get sick in Jan-
uary?” added Brother McCarter.

Local 1000 President Joe da Costa
said that the union will stay behind
the striking workers as long as it
takes to get a settlement.

“They are trying to starve our
members into submission and the
I.W.A. will simply not allow this to
happen,” said Brother da Costa. He
also remarked on the company’s
“strong arm” tactics against the

picketers.
These tactics have included bring-

ing in scabs in vehicles with blacked
out windows.

“Bringing in people under cover
to strike break is a tactic used
decades ago,” said da Costa. “It is
something that a goon employer
would do.”

Place Mont Roc has also hired
five “transportation bodyguards” to
work at the home.

The union has a protocol agree-
ment that it will not block any essen-
tial workers during a dispute.

Yvon Rochon, a part-time Busi-

is in fifth month

ness Agent for Local 1000, told the
Lumberworker that the company
has taken action and filed charges
against some of the picketers.

Some of the local cops have been
jerks as well, sebally harassing
the picketers.

“We met with the city mayor,
some counselor and have told them
about this,” said Rochon.

He said that the I.W.A. strikers
have received a lot of support from
Local 1000 members in the area.
There are over 350 members who
work at Amoco Fabric and Fibres,
Texturon, and Fib-Pak.

The strikers have also received
support from other unions includ-
ing the Canadian Autoworkers, the
United Steelworkers of America,
the Canadian Union of Public
Employees, the Ontario Public Ser-
vice Employees Union and the Office
and Professional Employees Inter-
national Union.

At press time it appears that the
strike will continue into to New
Year. The local union is exploring
options to help the Place Mont Roc
strikers through the holiday period.

“We will definitely calling on the
support of I.W.A. members across
the country,” said McCarter. “But
the request might come in a differ-
ent way than some of our local
unions have seen in the past.”

¢ Personal service attendant Sol-
onge Lallement (1.) and housekeep-
ing attendant Carole Thibodeau.

National OH&S Director Tom Lowe

National safety
director appointed

Former National Staff Represen-
tative Tom Lowe says that the union
has given him a pretty good gift to
ee his 25th year in the organiza-
tion. At the national convention in
Thunder Bay, the official announce-

ment was made that Brother Lowe
is the new National Director for
Occupational Health and Safety.

“I’m honoured to be given an oppor-
tunity to work with the National
Safety Council, Brother Neil Menard
(National First Vice President and
officer responsible for health and
safety) and many of the health and
safety activists that there are in the
I.W.A.,” said Brother Lowe in an
interview with the Lumberworker.
“It is a new challenge to start defin-
ing and working on a job that really
hasn’t existed for the past several
years.”

In early 1991, then National
Safety Director Verna Ledger retired
and was not subsequently replaced.
That job remained dormant until
funding was appropriated and
Brother Lowe’s appointment was
made.

“We're glad to have Tom on board
as the new National Safety Direc-
tor,” said Brother Menard. “He is a
knowledgeable and enthusiastic
individual who we think has the
right qualifications for the job.”

_/n the summer of 1995 Lowe was
given the responsibilities for occu-
pational health and safety out of
the I.W.A.’s national office in
Weston, Ontario. In a way, it started
a grooming process which eventu-

ally led to his new appointment.

“T’ve had a lot of the I.W.A.’s sup-
port in becoming more educated and
active in the health and safety
arena,” said Lowe. “I have had a lot
of support, especially from Fred
Miron (National Second Vice Presi-
dent), in furthering myself as a
health and safety rep.”

Lowe has been involved in health
and safety issues in Ontario for over
9 years. About 6 years ago he began
to get heavily involved in WCB advo-
cacy and has experience fighting
WCB claims at Allies,

He has his tickets in the areas of
WCB instruction, from Level 1 to
Level 4, workplace heath and safety
and instructing return-to-work pro-
grams.

“I see my responsibilities as an
extension of the National Safety
Council,” said Lowe. “I will carry
out whatever duties and responsi-
bilities are given to me by Brother
Menard, the Safety Council and the
Executive Officers of the national
union.”

With the union’s new emphasis
on education and organizing,
Brother Lowe sees occupational
health and safety as an integral
ingredient.

“I think we have to encourage an
education program in health and

safety to encourage awareness and
on the basis that people will become
active members,” he said. “We have
to train people to be able to repre-
sent workers at the (OH&S) level
and deal with WCB issues as a
whole.”

Lowe said that education must
also deal with political issues.

“When you look at what is hap-
pening with the Harris government
in Ontario and what they are doing
to destroy the WCB system, work-
place inspections and all of the pro-
tections that labour has fought for
over the decades, you can see that
our membership has to be politi-
cally educated as well,” he said.
“Unless we advise our people and
educate our people on what’s hap-
pening around us and some of the
legislative changes that are happen-
ing, particularly to the WCB and
the Occupational Health and Safety
Act, the struggle to get rid of the
Harris government will be even
tougher.”

In mid to late October, Brother
Lowe visited B.C. to get a further
handle on what is happening in that
province. He visited with Brother
Menard, Local 217 Safety Director
Jim Parker, and Local 1-71 Safety
Director Bob Patterson.

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER 1997/3