¢ Working in the inspecting and boxing end of the plant is union member
Olga Ferreira.

Hard working crew gets
flooring plant into market

everal years ago it was bank-
rupt and in receivership.
Today the employer is try-
ing to get the crew to work
more and varied hours.

I.W.A. Local 700 members at the
Janus Flooring Corp. plant on
Research Road in Toronto, Ontario
have worked diligently to turn their
coraneny) around.

The workers, which produce pre-
packaged, ready-to-use hardwood
flooring, have co-operated with the
current owner to pick the operation
off the ground from when it was
broke in 1996.

Investor and company president
Gerry Hebert received the condi-
tions necessary to get bank financ-
ing and take over the operation from
its previous owner, Floorco, in March
of 1996.

A three year collective agreement,
which expired in February of last
year, has since been renewed and
the employer is growing the mar-

et.

“The company has had some ups
and downs over the years,” says
Local 700 President Ron Diotte.
“With those ups and downs have
been tough times for the crew and
for the local.”

The plant was shut down for more
than 9 months prior to its 1996
reopening and the crew accepted a
revised contract to go back to work.

“We are still working on getting
the collective agreement back to
where it once was,” said Brother
Diotte. “In recent times the
employer has done some things to
change shifts and this has caused
some concern among some mem-
bers of the crew. At first we simply
stuck with the collective agreement
and later we held a vote on amend-
ing the shifts to four ten hour days
to allow for more straight time pro-
duction and additional shifts. It
has been a bit a of mix-up and emo-
tions have run high, ‘especially

when the crew has worked so damn
hard to make the plant competitive

14/LUMBERWORKER/APRIL, 2000

again — it hasn’t been an easy
period for any one involved.”

The primary markets for hard-
wood flooring are Canada, the
United States, Asia and Europe
with the U.S. being the most impor-
tant one.

The mill runs both domestic and
imported lumber. Most of the hard-
woods are Appalachian Red Oak,
Maple, Ash, and Birch. The com-
pany also handles special orders on
a custom basis which are not part of
normal production.

A lot of the imported lumber comes
in green and is dried in the mill’s
own kilns. After drying, the wood is
ripped for finishing into 3/4” thick
strips that are 2-1/4” - 3-1/4” in
width.

From the ripping process the hard-

woods are sorted and then put
through a moulding system that
turns them into tongue and groove
flooring. The pieces are inspected
and trimmed and the defects are cut.
out. The pieces then have end tongue
and grooves put in and are then
passed by additional grading inspec-
tors.

They are bundled for grades and
sent through an automated finish-
ing line, based on grade and colour
requirements. It takes about five
minutes to run through the auto-
mated process from beginning to
end. The pieces are eandeds stain-
ing, coated, resanded and top coats
are put on. Up to 7 coats of urethane
are added.

The components are packaged
into 20 square foot boxes and cus-
tomer packaging labels are added.

“In manufacturing wood products,
such as these, there is a lot of han-
dling, and inspecting, trimming,
cutting and nesting of the compo-
nents into proper volumes,” said
Diotte. “It’s a pretty involved
process.”

There is more intensive labour on
the unfinished side of the plant.

Mr. Hebert said that the market
is growing and that, as hardwood is
a 100% allergy-free product, it is

more environmentally friendly that
rugs, which give off emissions.

Hardwood also has a more attrac-
tive appearance than other flooring
products. “The market is competi-
tive,” he said. “There are a number
of players but that is not unlike any
business.”

The goal of Janus Flooring, said
Hebert, is to produce a high-end
product that few competitors can
match.

“The ‘Images’ line (formerly mar-
keted by MacMillan Bloedel and
now by Weyerhaeuser) is essen-
tially competitive with the most
advanced product on the market,”
he added.

The majority of workers at the
plant are Portuguese Canadians.
Brother Steve Sousa is the plant
chairperson and Lucia da Costa is
the Steward.

The Health and Safety Commit-
tee chair is William Asiedu who is
joined by committee member Brian
Damaso.

“The whole workforce is one that
is dedicated and can take on chal-
lenges,” said Diotte. “They start at
the operation at a level that uses
their skills and become multi-
skilled as they move from work sta-
tion to work station.”

sega

the finishing line.

¢ Local 700 members (1. to r.) Paul Morgado, David Kwarteng, and Antonio Rodrigues feed hardwood pieces into