¢ At IAM’s headquarters in Maryland were (I. to r.) the Photo courtesy IAM IAM’s Grand Lodge Representative Randall Rice and Administrative Assistant Rod Kelty, 1-3567 President Sonny Ghag, IAM International President Tom Buffenburger, I.W.A. National President Dave Haggard, Local 1-424 President Fred. Carroll, Local 1-207 President Mike Pisak, Local 1-184 President Dennis Bonville, Local 363 President Sy Pederson, Local 1-80 President Bill Routley, 2171 President Darrel Wong. Local 2995 President Norm Rivard and national union staffer Scott Lunny. Absent from photo were National Third V.P. David Tones and Local [.W.A. team visits [AM partnership operations by Scott Lunny, Director Policy & Information Services For many years we have known our workplaces are changing. At first, local unions gradually became involved in co-operative and team management schemes at the opera- tion level. Recently change has been coming more rapidly and occurring in more profound ways than ever before, with companies pushing harder than ever for new and more peodctivg ways of operating at all levels of the business. While our union has a policy on Workplace Reorganization, I.W.A. involvement in these schemes to date has been mostly reactive and 4 | eal “Yo ~ 4 e Harvester operator Ed Frost (right) discusses Finnish-made Keto harvesting head. Workplace co-design Continued from page six ‘The local union president said the tour also revealed the importance of having a partnership agreement in writing with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. The other thing that is important js that any co-design deal must not conflict or take away collective agree- nt. mRewakowsky admits that, in its exuberance to get the process up and running, the Sproat crew did step out of bounds with the collec- tive a ment on a couple of occa- sions but that now things are fixed UP What we as a union have tried to has occurred with much less than full partnership. In response to this situation, we have sought out new ideas, new techniques and new approaches to partnership and co-operation from a union perspective. THE STUDY TOUR The opportunity arose, through fraternal ties to the former IWA- USA, to meet with, tour and study operations with the International Association of Machinists and Aero- space Workers (IAM) in the United tates. The IAM has one of the most devel- oped union programs on cooperative 4 w: enforce is the fact that it doesn’t matter if some ways of doing things are outside the collective agreement for 5 days or for 5 weeks. If you do so, you set a precedent that the com- any can take advantage of at a later te.” One highlight of the co-design sys- tem has been more training of exist- ing crew members before hiring is done from outside the division, As of press time, thirteen I.W.A. members were trained as truckers, four were broken in as fallers, and there were three individuals trained for jobs as a dryland sorter/grader, r operator, and log loader. Rewakowsky said that the co- desing process can eventually help add jobs to the bargaining unit when mar! es up. “It would be IBasdl for management management, called HPWO (High Performance Work Organization). With a number of major companies in various stages of development of HPWO, the chance to learn from the Machinists presented a timely opportunity for our union. The I.W.A. sent a group of eleven to tour with the IAM over a one week period — November 7-13, 1998. The I.W.A. participants on the tour were: Dave Haggard, National Pres- ident; David Tones, National 3rd Vice President; Norman Rivard, National 4th Vice-President; Dennis Bonville, President, Local 1-184; Mike Pisak, President, Local 1-207; Bill Routley, President, Local 1-80; 2 erm logging operations with Monte Hallberg. In the foreground is a to argue for the introduction of con- tractors in our logging or milling operations when our guys can make a sound argument that they can effi- ciently do the job in the bargaining unit,” he said. Brother Russell said they crew at Sproat is still trying to get Forest Renewal B.C. related work for exca- vator operators which are in the bargaining unit. When it started doing watershed restoration and road rehabilitation work a couple of years ago, MB brought in contract back hoes and completely by-passed the bargaining unit. Russell said that MB is falling behind in FRBC-related jobs and expects that when it recommences work using excavators, that the 1.W.A. crew will get the work. Darrel Wong, President, Local 2171; Sonny Ghag, President, Local 1- 3567; Sy Pederson, President, Local 863; Fred Carroll, President, Local 1-424; and Scott Lunny, National Director, Policy and Information Services. The I.W.A. group first met with the International President of IAM, Tom Buffenbarger. We also met with the staff of the HPWO Depart- ment at the IAM Headquarters in Upper Marlboro, Maryland (near Washington, DC). Next, the group toured the IAM’s school - the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center at Placid Harbor, Maryland. Among other courses, the IAM offers a week- long school on High Performance Work Organization Partnership at Placid Harbor. The next stage of the tour involved exposure to HPWO in practice. The I.W.A. group toured the following operations: Harley Davidson assem- bly plant, York, Pennsylvania; Wey- erhaeuser Woodlands, Hot Springs, Arkansas; and, Weyerhaeuser Sawmill (Dierks), Arkansas. In touring these operations, we met with District and Local Union staff, committee members, and some management personnel. HIGH PERFORMANCE WORK ORGANIZATIONS The Program - HPWO is described by the IAM as follows: The High Performance Work Orga- nization (HPWO) program is a part- nership effort for labor and manage- ment. The IAM realizes that creating a better work environment where management and labor make joint decisions about the workplace keeps jobs at home. HPWO agreements differ from “quality circles” and other management - designed par- ticipatory work schemes because HPWO’s require a role for workers in designing the company’s growth strategy as well as aS workplace. (See IAM Journal, Volume 4, Spe- cial Edition 1998). The distinction is drawn between HPWO and the “team concept,” which BIBes “shop floor participa- tion while maintaining top floor control.’ In contrast, HPWO involves a real partnership where the part- ners (labour aa management), “jointly decide on a strategy to sta- bilize and grow the business. Through consensus decision-mak- ing, the problems are jointly defined, the solutions and responsibilities are truly shared.” THE PRINCIPLES The departure from “quality cir- cle” and “teams” is based on Key Continued on page eight |g SS SSS LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1998/7