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Photos courtesy LW.A. Local 700

¢ LW.A. Canada Local 700 members hit the picket line in droves at Canac Kitchens in Thornhill, Ontario, to put pressure on their employer.

Three day strike gets settlement at Canac

After about six months of negoti-
ations between I.W.A. CANADA
Local 700 and Canac Kitchens in
Thornhill, the union successfully
went out on a three day strike to
put pressure on the employer. The
agreement was ratified on October
18, the third day into the strike.

The union organized the opera-
tion in April when over 700 work-
ers voted to leave the United Broth-
erhood of Carpenters and Joiners.
The Carpenters never laid charges
against the I.W.A. for raiding as
the workers wanted better repre-
sentation.

The new three year agreement
sees wage increases of 4.5% in each
year on the base rate and 3.5% on
the other job classifications.

“This strike and getting a collec-
tive agreement was a real chal-
lenge for Local 700 and a real build-
ing block for the workers,” said
national fourth vice president Norm
Rivard. “It was a tough set of nego-
tiations over 6 months and an agree-
ment finally was reached with the
push that the strike gave it.”

“Before we got into negotiations,
there was really no significant
labour relations going on between
the union and the company — it
was a constant fight and a con-
stant battle for everything,” added
Brother Rivard. “During those
negotiations we built a new rela-
tionship with the company and
things are very, very positive now.
Canac accepts the fact that if they
work with their employees and
work with their union, that it’s
going to be a better plance to work
for everybody.”

Local 700 president Ron Diotte
said that the workers have solidi-
fied behind the union.

“During the long period of nego-
tiations we tried to deal with as
many, of the issues as we could,” he
said.

About 90% of the contract lan-
guage was amended in one form or
another.

“During the short strike the work-
ers showed a strong sense of unity
which was a key factor in reachin;

anew collective agreement,” adde

Brother Diotte.

As part of the settlement, the
company agreed to give the union
its own office when extra space
becomes available. The multi-racial
crew can have access to 10 job stew-
ards that the I.W.A. has trained.

Currently there are about 775
union members in the plant and
the company plans to add another
100 jobs by next spring as it builds
another production line.

“We have been told by the owner
(Kohler Furniture) that it intends
to expand its market share in the
United States where most of the
plant’s production goes,” said
Diotte. “That means good things
for our membership.”

The plant produces a large vari-
ety of kitchen cabinets, ranging in

rice tags from $5,000 to over
$50,000.00

“The crew produces very, very
high quality products and are proud
of the job they do,” said Diotte.

The union negotiated job post-
ings for the first time, grievance
procedure improvements, and an
in-plant Employeee Assistance
Program.

“It’s not the model that the I'W.A.
has worked on with the Assess-
ment Referral Service attached to
it, but at least it’s a start in the
right direction,” said Rivard.

“We've built a lot of confidence in
the employees. The committee is
happy with the way we put together
negotiations and there’s a whole
bunch of activists that are coming
up through the ranks of the work-
force,” he added.

By 7 o’clock in the morning on
October 16, there were over 600
union members on the picket line

outside the plant and overflowing
into the street.

The union briefed company secu-
rity ahead of time and let the local
cops, which numbered about 30,
know what was going to happen. A
lane of the street was cordoned off
to give enough space to the strik-
ers.

“It was a rare situation where
the security didn’t work against
the union and things kept ona
peaceful basis,” said Diotte. “No
driver coming into the operation
was going to be forced in past the
picket line.”

“Luckily the company closed
down the plant, except for the man-
agement,” said Brother Diotte.
“There was no hint of scabbing the
place out like happens in so many
other strikes in Ontario.”

¢ Amass meeting of Canac members went over the negotiated agreement and approved it with strong support.

12/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 2000