; as

eSWEARING IN I.W.A. CANADA’S NATIONAL OFFICERS in December of last year was outgoing national vice president Fred Miron (r.). Taking the oath of

office (1. to r.). were Second Vice President Harvey Arcand, Secretary-Treasurer Terry Smith, Fifth Vice President Wilf McIntyre, National President
Dave Haggard, First Vice President Neil Menard, Third Vice President David Tones and Fourth Vice President Norm Rivard.

Rivard looks towards
challenge as 4th V.P.

The I.W.A.’s new National Fourth
Vice President is Brother Norm
Rivard, an individual -who became a
local union, president, at the.age of

29 and served 18 consecutive years
as the Jeader of Local 2995...»

‘Born and raised in New Liskeard,
northeastern Ontario, Rivard first
got a job at Morrissettes Manufac-
turing in Haleybury, not far from
New Liskeard. There he worked as
a machinist making mining equip-
ment such as drilling rods and dia-
mond drill bits.

_-There-he also became exposed to
unionism as the operation was cer-
tified to the United Steelworkers of
America.

- He started working at the Rex-
wood particle board plant in New
Liskeard in 1969 before being laid
eiand then rehired in January of
1970.

It wasn’t until 1975, when the
workers at the plant joined the then
Local 2995 of the Lumber and
Sawmill Workers of Canada, that
Rivard become a member of a union
again. He was instrumental, with
others, to see that a majority of
workers joined the local, which even-
tually merged into the I.W.A. in
1988. :

“It took'a four and a half month
strike for the workers at Rexwood
to get their first collective agree-
ment. By the time the local was in
contract negotiations for a second
collective agreement, Rivard was an
active member of the negotiating
committee.

- He rose fast within local union
ranks and was approached to become
a service representative in June of
1979. Only a year later, he was
elected to:become the local union
president, succeeding outgoing pres-
ident Ivon Desroches.

Rivard, along with others, was
instrumental in bringing his LSWU
local. into the fold of [WA-CANADA,
thereby ending Local 2995’s long
affiliation with the United Brother-
hood.of Carpenters and Joiners.

“T am proud to say that we have
absolutely no regrets about joining
the I.W.A.,” said Brother Rivard in
an interview with the Lumber-

worker. “Not one of our members

—

¢ National Fourth V.P. Norm Rivard

has ever told us that we made a bad
move by joining it.”

Rivard, his wife and two young
sons will be relocating to the Greater
Metropolitan Toronto area later this
year. It will be a big change, mov-
ing from a small community like
Kapuskasing (population 10,000) to
the giant metropolis of Toronto.

“I'm looking forward to the oppor-
tunity,” said Rivard. “There’s a lot
of new responsibilities that come
with becoming a national officer
and I believe I’m up to the chal-
lenge.” Rivard said he wants to see
the I.W.A. organizing and growth
strategy work in central and east-
ern Canada.

“We want this organization get
into Quebec more where there has
not been a significant presence since
the mid 1980's,” said Rivard who is
bilingual in French and English.
“There is a large untapped potential
in that province.”

He also wants to push for more
organizing in greater Toronto, and
the Maritime provinces, including
Newfoundland. Organizing efforts
have already begun in New
Brunswick (see story page 6).

As a local union president, Rivard
served as a member of the I.W.A.
Forest Environmént Committee
since its inception in 1988. He also
was a member of the union commit-
tee which studied and made recom-
mendations to change the per capita
structure of the I.W.A. in 1997.

e The newest National Executive Board Members taking the oath in
December were (I. to r.) Local 2995 President Damien Roy and Local 2693
President Joe Hanlon being sworn in by National President Dave Haggard.

Wilf Mcinty

re elected

as National 5th V.P.

One of the new national officers
that was sworn in at the I.W.A.’s
National Executive Board meeting
in December of 1998 is National
Fifth Vice President Wilf McIntyre,
from Thunder Bay Ontario.

Brother McIntyre started the new
year working for the national union
on a part time basis and will have
increasing duties as funding becomes
available. His duties will be phased
in with an expansion of roles as the
union’s structure in central and
eastern Canada undergoes change.

Born in Kenora in 1947, Brother
McIntyre become a member of the
Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union
of Canada (affiliated with the Inter-
national Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners) in 1966 when he worked
in logging at Ontario Minnesota
Pulp and Paper company camps.

He then started working in Boise
Cascade logging operations in 1968,
working at various jobs from cut

and skid to heavy equipment oper-
ating (bulldozers, skidders, loaders,
etc.) to trucking.

Wilf become a local executive
board member in 1979, the same
year he started working for Local
2693 on a part time basis. After the
local union conducted a bitter strike
against Boise Cascade which ended
in 1980, he began working as a part
time organizer and servicing repre-
sentative until he went to a full
time role in 1986.

During the LSWU merger into
IWA-CANADA in 1987, Wilf became
Local 2693’s First Vice President.
He then succeed Fred Miron as local
union president in 1990, when
Brother Miron became I.W.A.
National Fifth Vice President.

He thus became a member of the
union’s national executive board
and served on it for eight years
before becoming a national vice

Continued on page three

2/LUMBERWORKER/MARCH, 1999