and Vacform

For several of the past national
I.W.A. conventions since 1991,
Koolatron portable coolers have
been among the most sought-after
door prizes by delegates. For Local
500 President Bruce Weber, when
the employer donated coolers to the
union’s conventions on different
occasions, there was a certain sym-
bolism involved.

“It really symbolized a huge turn-
around in our relations with this
company. The owners of Koolatron
began to recognize the I.W.A.,” said
Brother Weber in an interview with
the Lumberworker. “In the late
1980’s labour relations with the
company were terrible. We went on
a 13 week strike against them in
1989. In terms of health and safety
and wages and everything else, we
were struggling with Koolatron.”

Now the Local 500 members who
work at the Koolatron plant in Brant-
ford, Ontario and its sister plant
next door, Vacform Plastics, are
employed under vastly improved
conditions compared to the late 80’s.

“Today our members, due to the
hard work our committees and busi-
ness agents have put in, are in much
better shape than a decade ago,”
said Weber. “Workers are now get-
ting trained, there is monitoring for
the use of chemicals, the employer
is sticking to the collective agree-
ment for the most part and there is
more work for everybody.”

“Over the last nine years the mem-
bership in the plant has become a
true union,” said Local 500 business
agent Saul Marques. “Before that

¢ At the Raywear part of the plant
is Denise Taite, assembling brushes.

e Putting a heat sink in a cooler at Koolatron is union committee member Sharon Brook, of Local 500.

Labour relations improved at Koolatron

operations in Brantford

form committee chair Martin Battice.

they largely paid dues and didn’t
eu how effective a union could
EEG

“The strike (of 1989) brought them.
together,” added Marques. “And
since then the company realizes
that they are union and are here to
stay and work with the employer to
make the operations better for all
involved.”

In October, the Lumberworker
was taken on a tour of the opera-
tions by Koolatron plant chairper-
son Mary Hill and Vacform chair
Martin Battice. Each plant employs
about 32 hourly workers.

The Koolatron plant has an assem-
bly line configuration that can pro-
duce over 700 coolers a day on two
shifts. The models run from 7 liters
capacity in size to 34 liters.

The coolers’ lids are injected with
foam insulation and then “zapped”
with electric currents to ensure the
insulation sticks to the plastic sides.
After curing for 24 hours, the lids
and sides are checked for bumps
and dents.

“Just about everybody who works
in the plant is a quality control per-
son,” said Sister Hill. “Visual inspec-

¢ Outside the plants are Koolatron committee chair Mary Hill and Vac-

tion is a real key to us producing a
perfect product.”

A ‘heat sink” consisting of an alu-
minum surface area device anda

thermoelectric module are placed
into a thermal gasket in each unit.
All units are tested before they are
ut into place and must be able to
rop down to a temperature of -30°C
within a half an hour.

The markets for Koolatron are
Canada (Canadian Tire is a big cus-
tomer), the United States and
Europe. Although the WL
headquarters is in Brantford, it has
a distribution office in California, a
parts/service office in Batavia, New
York and a distribution office in the
United Kingdom.

Koolatron’s portable coolers are
designed to plug into 12 volt ciga-
rette lighters in vehicles. They can
both cool down or warm up what is
inside an insulated container. They
are popular items for truckers and
are sold at many truck stops.

On the Vacform Plastics side, the
workers produce such items as
mushroom trays, video cassette
cases, inserts for fruits and vegeta-
bles and other assorted items.

“This has been the first year we
have worked without a layoff in the
summer time,” said Brother Battice,
who is also a local union executive
board member. “It has been a good
year so far.”

Synthetic beads are fed into an
extruder where they are heated,
mixed with colours, and extruded
into rolls that are used in the form-
ing department.

Any waste that comes off the sides
of the rolls is torn into strips and
then chipped into pieces to be put
back into the system.

“Virtually there is no waste from
the plant,” added Battice. “Most of
the material is molded into prod-
uct.”

The vacuum formed products are
produced when the rolls are fed
through a box and mould system
which vacuums the heated plastic
sheets up or down into the molded
pattern. The forms are then cut,
trimmed where necessary and
packed for shipping.

Most of the plant’s production
goes south of the line.

One other smaller sister opera-
tion, located between the two side-
by-side plants is Raywear. This
operation produces such products as
snow removal brushes and scrapers.

When things have slowed down at
Koolatron, the company has em-
ployed workers at Raywear to build
up inventory and avoid layoffs.

“I think the company has done
more of a conscientious job to pro-
vide work for their employees for as
long as they can,” said Brother
Weber. “The Koolatron bargaining
unit has been more susceptible to
layoffs because of the cyclical mar-
kets for the products that they
make.”

On the plant committee at Koola-
tron, in addition to Sister Hill, are
Sharon Brooks and Judy Jankajan.

At Vacform joining Brother Bat-
tice on the committee, are George

Hyde, and Minder Thanki.

¢ Local 500 member Abdi Rahman at Vacform Plastics, producing trays

for video cassettes.

16/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1998