e Pictured is the supercrane and log yard at the Tembec United Sawmill in Hearst, where pattern agreement

was achieved.

hen union members
at the Tembec United
Sawmill in Hearst,
Ontario settled their
collective agreement
with their employer on October 10,
they achieved a pattern-setting
agreement for 2,500 - 3,000 sawmill
workers in northern Ontario.

One hundred and seventy-five
workers voted 93% in favour of a
three year contract that has set the
standard for members of I.W.A.
CANADA Local 2995 and 2693.

The new deal includes across-the-
board wage increases of 8% over
three years (2-1/2%, 2-1/2% and 3%
in each respective year).

The agreement also includes
breakthroughs on both the calcula-
tion and payment of vacation pay,
ae education fund and better bene-

“The union still has to negotiate
with various employers. said Norm
Rivard, president of Local 2995
when the agreement was announced.
Rivard is now the union’s national
fourth vice president.

“Now our local unions are using
the three year agreement as a pat-
tern for bargaining in the north,”
said Rivard.

National fifth vice president Wilf
McIntyre, also Local 2693’s presi-

dent told the Lumberworker that
there is a lot of work to do in the
local since both sawmill and logging
agreements are negotiated simulta-
neously.

“We have tried to get the industry
to the bargaining table at earlier
dates but they have dragged their
feet,” added Brother McIntyre. “Now
everybody wants to get collective
agreements.”

Local 2693 First Vice President
Joe Hanlon said that logging com-
panies and contractors are giving
the union major resistance over the
issue of contractors on company
limits and/or worksites.

“These are major issues that we
are having to deal with,” said Han-
lon. “Right now it looks like we’re
headed for confrontations with Dom-
tar (former E.B. Eddy in the Sud-
bury region) and Kimberly-Clark (in
the Longlac, Geraldton and Terrace
Bay region).

On January 14 of next year, the
local heads into conciliation with
the Domtar White River mill and
bush operations. If there is no agree-
ment, a strike could take place.

_At the Former E.B. Eddy opera-
tions in Sudbury the union may
strike after mid-January as Domtar
has pulled away from the table.

Local 2693 has five mills to nego-

Domtar r White River sawmill, is 8’ by-pass operator and Local 2693
Rene Burube. Photo taken in September 1993.

tiate with. They are Buchanan in
Atikokan, Hudson Forest Products
in Hudson, Kakabeka in Thunder
Bay, Domtar in White River, and
Dubreil Forest Products in Dubreil-
ville (which will begin in 1999).

It is also negotiating contracts at
14 bush operations with both com-
pany and contract crews. They
include Bowater, Kimberly-Clark,
Abitibi, Domtar, MacMillan Bloedel,
Shuniah Forest Products, Firesteel,
Thompson Timber and several oth-
ers.

Local 2995 has also achieved the
basic pattern agreement at Tembec
Division (Malette Inc.) in Timmins
and is working on collective agree-
ments at Tembec in Cochrane and
Kirkland Lake, McChesney in Tim-
mins (now owned by Domtar), and
the Tri-Cept planing mill in Hearst.
It has reached agreements with
Excel Forest Products in Opasatika
and Lecours Lumber in Hearst.

“Our members in the mills are
not too keen on a long-term agree-
ment that goes beyond three years,”
said Local 2995 President Damien
Roy. “The same goes for our logging
operations, for which we will begin
negotiations with next year in our
local.”

Brother Roy predicts that the
companies will the asking for six
year agreements which, he said,
“are way too long.”

ern Ontario

At the Malette mills in Hearst,
Local 2995 was.able to negotiate
new contract language which will
protect the membership from the
introduction of contractors.

Malette agreed that they will not
hire contractors or sub-contractors
to do maintenance commonly done
by the Bargernins unit members.
The employees will have a first shot
and right of refusal if the work comes
up.
“This means that we are going to
be successful in getting work that
has been scheduled for weekend
crews in the past,” said Roy.

At the Timmins operation, any
construction work should be given
to laid-off workers and union mem-
bers must have the first right of
refusal.

The breakthroughs on vacation
pay are significant for both locals.
Now the members will be paid an
additional $60 for every week of
vacation they are entitled to.

“This will provide extra money to
encourage I.W.A. members to take
the holidays they are entitled,” said
Brother McIntyre.

“We have had a problem, at least
in the past, where a lot of our mem-
bers weren’t taking their vacations
for various reasons,” said Brother
Rivard.

“Now if everyone takes their time
off, more jobs will be created by
recalling unemployed members or
hiring new people.”

The I.W.A. pattern agreement
also reduced the number of hours it
takes to get higher vacation pay by
getting the employer to agree that
all weekend hours worked will be
credited in future calculations.

Now it takes between 0-800 days
to get 4% vacation pay, between
800-2,000 days to get 6%, and
between 2,000 - 4,000 hours to get
up to 8%.

Other parts of the pattern settle-
ment negotiated at Malette United
include better life insurance bene-
fits, more money for safety boots
and the purchase and/or replace-
ment of prescription glasses, better

weekly indemnity coverage,
improved dental care and long dis-
ability benefits.

On December 9 and December 13,
Local 2995 reached agreements at
Excel Forest Products and Lecours
Lumber respectively. Also included
in those agreements were an addi-
tional floater, bringing the total
paid holidays to 13.

The local also negotiated, at Excel
and Lecours, a lump sum cash bonus
of $2,500 to be divided into four
payments in lieu of a profit sharing
plan.

On November 27, Local 2995
struck against Olav Haavaldshrud
in Hornepayne (see article page 31).

¢ This photo, taken in 1990, shows boardway worker and Local 2995 mem-

ber Roland Phillipe, at McChesney Lumber in Timmins.

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1998/35