Photo courtesy Local 1000

¢ Spirits were high on the picket line outside the veneer mill in Rutherglen, Ontario. The crew had been out since late January to stop the gutting of

some contract provisions.

Union goes back to work at Columbia Forest Products

L.W.A. CANADA Local 1000 mem-
bers at the Columbia Forest Prod-
ucts hardwood veneer mill in Ruther-
glen, Ontario voted 95% in favour of
a contract settlement on March 25,
following eight weeks on the picket
line in a strike against concession
demands by the employer.

The company went to the bargain-
ing table with the idea of buying off
the workers with wage offers in
attempts to get them to get rid of
job security provisions in the collec-

‘ive agreement.

On January 29, 86% of the work-
ers voted to hit the bricks to pre-
vent the dilution of seniority and
job posting provisions in the collec-
tive agreement.

At the end of the strike, the crew
went back to work with wage
increases of 4%, 3% and 3% over the
term of the agreement, a better
RRSP plan, better vacation provi-
sions, some benefit improvements
(pharmacare and vision care) and

the protection of seniority and hours
ofwork, |

“One thing the company was look-
ing for was unfettered right to lay
off people for up to three days when
mechanical breakdowns occur, out
of sequence of seniority,” said Local
1000 President Joe da Costa.

“They also wanted to take away
temporary job postings from the
contract.”

The membership beat Columbia
back on those issues.

As now stands, when somebody is
off work for legitimate reasons for
more than 20 days, the job can be
temporarily posted. This process
gives workers the ability to upgrade
skills or seek a shift that better
suits their needs.

The union has also maintained
the principle that workers be trained
for higher skilled jobs (i.e. trades,
lathe operators) based on their
seniority and the skill and ability to
learn.

“We didn’t want a system where
the employer could appoint workers
to job postings based on favouritism,”
said Brother da Costa.

As part of the settlement, the
union has agreed to continue to
cooperate with the company when
overtime is required.

During the negotiations before
the strike, Columbia was demand-
ing mandatory overtime if volun-
teers couldn’t be found.

“They (the company) have to come
and talk to us and consult with us,”
said plant chairperson Martha Ulch.
“There’s going to be a process that
is going to followed.”

Sister Ulch said the union has
forced the company to stick with a
regular Monday to Friday shift based
on five 8 hour days.

“There were some tense moments
during the strike,” said Ulch. “But
the membership stuck together well
throughout and spirits were good.”

Following a meeting with man-

agement that went nowhere, the
crew decided to shut down the plant
tight from March 12-15 and didn’t
let any management in or trucks
past the gate, apart from a gas truck
that went to a depot which served
outlying areas around Rutherglen.
“Our members got fed up with the

management and said that if they
didn’t want to talk to us we were
not going to let them go to work,”
said Ulch. “That definitely got their
attention.”

The union was served with an
injunction on March 17 and both
sides went back to the table shortly
thereafter.

“The members at Columbia stayed
out, not over money issues, but over-
union principles,” said Brother da
Costa. “We as a union, are proud of
the way they stood together and
took on this employer. It makes us
all feel good.”

Local 1000 maintains picket
line at Place Mont Roc

e Kitchen staff photographed in
April, 1996.

Local 1000 members on the picket
line at the Place Mont Roc retire-
ment residence in Hawkesbury,
Ontario are “pumped” and in good
spirits says the local union’s finan-
cial secretary Michael McCarter.

Thirty-five workers are now in
the seventh month of their pro-
longed strike against an employer
which is out to force concessions.
The strike began on August 13, and

the employer has been scabbing out
the facility since then.

The I.W.A. members, all but two
of whom are women, have braved
all elements to fight their employer.

On February 27 the union met
with the crew to examine whether
or not provincial hospital disputes
legislation, could be used to end the
strike. Such legislation forbids job
action and essentially deems work-
ers as essential service providers.

“The crew is not comfortable with
that because if they get covered by
the act, that means they don’t have
the right to strike any more and
will have to go to arbitration,” said
Brother McCarter, in an interview
with the Lumberworker.

“The members are very strong
willed that they are going to win
this strike and they do not want to
go to arbitration,” he added.

Under the legislation the union
and the company would wind up in
front of a 3 member arbitration com-
mittee consisting of one union rep,
one company rep and a chairperson
that both sides agree to or the gov-
ernment appoints.

The workers took a vote in August
of last year before they went on
strike, to not be covered by such leg-
islation. The vote was 21 to 5 against
the essential services type option.

The company has refused the
union’s proposal at a one-time shot
at mediation. They said no.

“This employer is out for conces-
sions and arbitrators don’t tend to
give concessions, they tend to give
increases,” he said.

The last time the union actually
met with the employer was in
November of 1997. They took some
concessions off the table at that
point in time. The union took a vote
which ran 28-1 in favour of staying
on strike.

“The mediator has called us sev-
eral times since then, but there’s no
sense in meeting with the company
unless it backs off on its concessions
demands,” added Brother McCarter.

The company want the Registered
Professional Nurses to take a
$2.00/hr. pay cut.

“That is complete bullshit,” said
McCarter. “The company is also try-
ing to take away pay benefits from
part time workers. They used to get
4-1/2% extra pay in lieu of a benefit
package.”

Place Mont Roc also is demanding
that their employees work twice as
long to get a sick day.

“Our members are working in a

home of the aged. Sickness is some-
thing they have to deal with ona
daily basis.”

Hawkesbury was hit by the Janu-
ary ice storm which hit eastern
Ontario and. Quebec. Fortunately
the I.W.A. had a trailer set up. Hydro
power went out for a short time at
the trailer and inside the home.

However some of the strikers went
without power for three weeks and
temperatures dipped to -40°C. Some
obviously couldn’t make it to the
picket line.

“The people who were on the line
stayed on extra shifts on their own
to cover for those who had to deal
with the ice storm,” said McCarter.

The strikers had a better Christ-
mas with support pouring in from
I.W.A. locals across the country and
from the national union.

The national strike fund kicked
in $500.00 per member. That was
matched by I.W.A. local union dona-
tions after Local 1000 sent out a let-
ter asking for assistance.

“We have meetings every two
weeks to deal with any issue and
make sure that if any problem comes
up that it doesn’t get lengthy or it
doesn’t grow,” he added. “Everyone
is standings solidly together on this
strike.” x

The strike is being led by chair-
person Joanne Tallion and commit-
tee member Alain Sarrizin.

LUMBERWORKER/MARCH, 1998/7