with clients to design complete store
interiors and free standing mer-
chandise display fixtures, with metal
exteriors and glass interiors. They
will work with designers to build
entire stores.

The estimation process is very
important.

“Estimating is very key,” said Mr.
Mear in an interview with the Lum-
berworker. “That’s how we get the
jobs and that’s how we monitor how
much jobs cost us to do so we can be
competitive on future jobs.”

The detailing are is where design
drawings are broken down into
actual structural components, which .
are essential to build the job for the
budget required.

“These guys will take the job and
say ‘how can we build it for these
types of costs,” said Mear.

“Our goal is to get enough sales
and enough business to operate
around the clock and bolster our
afternoon shift and evening shift to
a point where they are comparable
to our day shift.”

The plant has in-house wood,
metal and glass working depart-
ments. The metal shop, which
started a couple of years ago, spe-
cializes in tig (continuous feed)

¢ Pictured outside the shipping and receiving area at Pinehurst are (I. to r.) plant chair Alex Watson, Local 700 eldins d ishi grind-
President Ron Diotte and steward Rob Rudisch. elaine and eens ae é

Toronto Local 700 makes progress in
Pinehurst specialty furniture plant

hat a difference a year
can make. In October
and November of 1997
1.W.A. CANADA Local
700 was fighting off
an employer-driven decertification
bid at the Pinehurst Furniture plant
in Mississauga, Ontario. A year
later, with a new plant manager,
the union was talking to the com-
ee and solving grievances amica-

ly.

“In 1997 the employer tried to
capitalize on the bad labour rela-
tions that were occurring in the
plant and our lack of effectiveness
in dealing with problems that were
coming up,” said local union presi-
dent Ron Diotte. “It was absolutely
a pitch battle to keep the members
in the union. In the end the major-
ity of the members strongly believed
that they should stay with the
LW.A.”

After the dust settled and the
votes were counted about three-

uarters of the members decided
that they wanted to remain I.W.A.
members

“We had a tremendous amount of
help from (union organizing coordi-
nator) Mike Hunter and (organizer)
Harold Sachs,” said Diotte. “The
union held meetings with the crew
every 3-4 days and the turnouts
were big.”

Only four years before the work-
ers decertified from the United
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Join-
ers. After they went non-union the
employer went on the attack and
representatives decided to get back
in a union.

“After the (Conservative govern-
ment of Mike) Harris got first elected
in 1995, a lot of employers in Ontario
went goofy and Pinehurst was no
exception,” said Brother Diotte, in
an interview with the Lumber-
worker. “There become a shared
mentality by employers that unions
could be of no use and, with the gov-
ernment of Harris on their side,
many companies went on the offen-
sive.”

Less than a year after the crew
first decertified from the Carpen-
ters, they found the I.W.A. “Believe
me — it was no picnic from the begin-
ning,” said Diotte, who become the
local union president that year.
“And until just recently the employer

wouldn’t even let us inside the plant
where the workers are on the job.”

Diotte and Hunter were kicked
out of the plant during the defense
against decertification.

Even National President Dave
Haggard couldn’t get inside the door
just about a year ago.

That changed after the company

ut Human Resources Manager
ave Mear on the job.

“Now at least we can have friendly
conversations, which is a big change
from what we encountered there
before,” added Diotte. “We have a
two year collective agreement which
we are abiding by and we are solv-
ing most of our conflicts at the plant
level.”

“The union committee (of chair-
person Alex Watson, along with
stewards Rob Rudisch, Jacques
Potvin and Jan Komosa) are doing
an excellent job holding the union
together in the plant,” he said. “They
hold union meeting at least once a
month on different shifts to deal
with problems that come up.”

“These guys work well with the
company and have the respect of
the majority of workers in the plant,”
he added.

TOUR OF PLANT

Things have gotten so good that
the employer even let the Lumber-
worker go for a tour in the plant last
October. Pictures where only allowed
in the show room, shipping area
and outside the plant.

Pinehurst has been at its new
Mississauga plant since January of
1996. The new plant offers over
150,000 square feet of floor space,
more than double the 70,000 square
feet that it had in its old main plant
and other units in Brampton. The
move has greatly increased the com-
pany’s efficiency.

Pinehurst now employs about 100
I.W.A. members which produce high-
end cabinet and fixtures for com-
mercial use. It produces the coun-
tertop, tables and other components
that you see in such retail outlets as
Tim Horton’s Donuts, The Bay,
Sears, Cotton Ginny, Laura Secord
and Indigo Raptures. It also sup-
plies the fixture for automatic teller
machines to the Canadian Imperial
Bank of Commerce and produces
store fixtures for Macy’s depart-
ment stores in the northeastern
United States.

The company’s designers work

e Brother Diotte in showroom with display unit made for Marks and

Spencer.

ing of fixtures.

The workers take both light gauge
metals and heavier metals, coat
them together, then clean and pol-
ish them.

The wooden furniture line is a
very modern and efficient operation
which begins with sheet fed materi-
als (mostly medium density fibre-
board or laminates and some veneer
boards) that are fed into a auto-
mated Giben panel saw set to cut
up to 8’ x 12’ and 5’ x 10’ sheets.
The saw has an arm that will push
in 4 sheets at a time on a roller for
precision cutting. Particle board,
coated with veneer, is also handled
by the Giben.

When Pinehurst started getting
into high quality veneer work about

° Quality display units in showroom.

two years ago it brought in an expert
from a furniture manufacturer and
got away from a smaller cold press
in favour of a larger automated hot
press that can process 4-5 sheets in
about 1-1/2 minutes.

Primarily MDF goes in through a
glue spreader where the veneer is
laid on before hitting a hot press.
The workers also carefully match
grains and stitch veneer in a cli-
mate-controlled area to prevent
shrinkage or enlargement.

In the plant’s solid wood break-
down area standardized plank sizes
are cut down to the components
needed using shapers, stickers, join-
ters and planer.

A Computerized Numerical Con-
trol (CNC) system is used to control
the equipment to perform cutting
the same dimensions over and over
again. Whereas cutting by hand on
a table saw can result in cuts that
are out by a couple of millimeters,
Mr. Mears said that the automated
CNC system will get edges and joints
bang-on every time.

The CNC program will take archi-
tects’ drawings, break them down
into parts, and spits out factors that
will provide for maximum recovery
of sheet goods. The equipment oper-
ators read the CNC programs and
then manually program machines
to follow instructions.

Continued on page seventeen

gS EEE

LUMBERWORKER/JUNE, 1999/9