We

e WITH A REVERENCE FOR THE RETIRED Rene

ext! & Pi) i Ui,

Brixhe, Harold Sachs and Irvin Baetz (seated 1. to r.) are I.W.A. national

and local representatives. Standing (I. to r.) are Local 500 President Bruce Weber, National Fifth Vice President
and Local 2693 President Wilf McIntyre, Local 700 President Ron Diotte, National President Dave Haggard, Local

2995 President Damien Roy, Organizing Co-ordinator Mike Hunter, Local 1000 President Joe da Costa, and

National Fourth Vice President Norm Rivard.

Union marks retirement of |.W.A. activists

Union officers, staff and family
members of three long-time union
activists Irvin Baetz, Harold Sachs
and Rene Brixhe gathered in Toronto
on June 18 to commemorate the
retirement of the three union broth-
ers, who have more than 115 years of
experience in the union movement.

It was a night of tributes and cele-
brations for three individuals who
dedicated their working lives to the
union movement and the I.W.A.

Speakers, including national presi-
dent Dave Haggard, national fourth
vice Norm Rivard, national fifth vice
president Wilf McIntyre, and local
union presidents in Ontario paid trib-
ute to three union brothers.

For former national trustee Irvin
Baetz, who didn’t officially retire until
earlier this month, the retirement
party marked the end of more than 36
years as a union member.

Born in Brant township, about 10
miles northwest of Hanover, Brother
Baetz grew up in farm country. He
hired on at Hanover Kitchens in 1963
at the age of 28 when the plant was
first being organized by the I.W.A. He
spent all of his working life since then
working for the company.

“In 1963 I really didn’t realize what
was going on during the organizing
campaign,” said Baetz, in an interview
with the Lumberworker. “Some guy
came up to me that winter and won-
dered if I'd be interested in signing a
membership card. I said yes and the
rest is history.” ‘

Irvin started in the countertop divi-
sion and later moved throughout the
plant. The only place he didn’t work
was in the finishing end.

“It was a terrific employer to work
for and stayed that way until about
1989 and 1990 when the recession and
free trade hit the industry,” he added.

By the late 1960’s Irvin became a
steward and in 1972 he unsuccessfully
ran for financial secretary of the local
union. Less than two years later he
was appointed to that position by the
local union executive when Irma Pat-
terson retired. He served in that posi-
tion until his retirement.

In 1993 Brother Baetz became a
national trustee when Local 1-405’s
Edith Skiber retired. He served in
that position until stepping down in
January of this year.

“Like everything else in life there
have been some ups and down but as
far as I'm concerned I remember the
good times and there have been a lot of
them. There’s been a lot of good people

that I've been associated with over the
years.”
Trvin is taking it a lot easier these

Photos by Tom Lowe

eNational union President Dave Haggard congratulated former national
trustee and Local 500 Financial Secretary Irvin Baetz, above. Below, union
organizer and former LSWU Local 2995 union president Rene Brixhe
accepted decorative wall hanging from Local 1000 President Joe da Costa.

days. He’s happy the stress is gone.
Jou van find her anced! reads Gite
running card tournaments at the
Woodworkers Hall in Hanover. —

For national o1 izer Rene Brixhe,
1999 marks the last chapter in a 42
year career as an active trade union-
ist.

Born in the suburb of Lambermont,
Verviers in southern Belgium, Rene
moved to Canada to join two older
brothers in 1954. He settled with them
on rural acreage and learned the ins
and outs of farming.

In the fall and winter, he would cut
pulp wood as allotted by the Crown as
a return for making improvements on
farmland. x

He joined the Lumber and Sawmill
Workers Union in 1957 and got a job
in the Spruce Falls Pulp and Paper
Division as a logger, cutting and skid-
ding pulp cords.

In 1961 he was elected as a steward
and become a member of the bargain-
ing team of the Northern Ontario Dis-
trict Council. Following the infamous
strike against Spruce Falls and the
Reesor Siding incident, Rene was
asked to be an organizer (i.e. service
rep) for Local 2995 in 1963. He ser-
viced up to 17 Spruce Falls camps,
holding meetings, taking on griev-
ances, WCB claims and numerous
other duties.

After being elected as local record~
ing secretary in 1964, Rene become
the president in 1966, serving in that
capacity for ten years. During that
period the local went from $250,000 in
debt and 2,200-2,400 members to over
$500,000 in the black with a member-
ship nudging 5,000. Major contract
gains were made in the primary and
secondary forest industries in the
north during that period.

From 1976-79 he was asked by the
Carpenters’ international office to
become the second Canadian director
of organizing. He organized in
Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, New
Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. On occa-
sion he would sit in on contract talks
in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and
some parts of B.C.

Rene left the Carpenters to become
a mediator with the Ontario Ministry
of Labour in 1980. He then moved
back to the Carpenters when they
asked him to organize in the Mar-
itimes in 1986. .

Ayyear later he became on organizer
with I.W.A. CANADA when both local
2995 and 2693 of the LSWU joined the
Canadian union.

“My most memorable years were as
a member of the Carpenters but I
enjoyed all my career as a union rep-
resentative,” said Brixhe in an inter-
view with the Lumberworker.

He fondly remembers several
I.W.A. organizing campaigns. Rene
tried to organize the Canusa pipe
insulation plant in Huntsville,
Ontario from 1987 to 1993 when he
finally got the break he was looking
for. He got a call from Local 1000 pres-
ident Joe da Costa, signed up the
majority over three days, and drove all
night to made a successful application
at the labour board in Toronto on the
following Monday morning.

“T always joke that it’s the plant it
took one weekend and six years to
organize,” he said. ,

Other memorable I. W.A. campaigns
include successfully organizing three
ee al stored into toes 3

and organizing the Luit
Forestieres hardwood mill in Fort
Coulonge, Quebec in January of 1994.

Rene Brixhe was one of the union’s .
best. Although Harold Sachs, a mem-
ber of Local 500 and a regional and
then a national union izer, with
a career spanning decades, could not
be reached for this article, Brother
Brixhe paid him the ultimate comple-
ment.

“In all my years with all the union
people I’ve met, organizers and others,
I found Harold to have a rare and
exceptional talent of gaining the trust
and confidence of those who we orga-
nized.”

Both men worked on numerous
campaigns together.

10/LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1999