Weyerhaeuser N.L'T.

continued from page twelve

_Mark Frenette. a faller with 14 years seniority,
gives another example. “We used to have fuel-up
mechanics to fuel the crummies and now, workers
have to come in on their own time before shift
and pcr their own vehicles. If we're delayed,
we're cited for not being on time for work. The
other day, I was in line behind 15 vehicles and
had to wait 20 minutes. Where the company
finds efficiency in this is a mystery. Actually,
there isn’t any.”

DOWNSIZED TRUCKLOADS

Three years ago the Division had 38 off-highway
logging trucks that could carry an average of 95
to 100 cubic meters of timber and were regularly
overloaded up to 140 cubic meters. Weyco then
switched to highway-rated trucks with 10-foot-
wide beds which were loaded to the top of the
stakes to carry 68 cubic meters.

Later, trucks with eight-foot-wide beds were
brought in, further reducing loads to about 43
cubic meters which resulted in complaints from
management that production was not acceptable.
In order to attain the original volume, it would
be necessary to make the drivers make twice as
many trips in the smaller trucks. The Camp
Committee says this is a physical impossibility.
Strachan comments, “They want to make us look
incompetent so they can bring in contractors.”

Bringing in more contractors is becoming a
concern. Local president Pederson says, “A
couple of years ago I was in Alabama and
Arkansas looking at Weyco operations there.
They were all small contractors or ‘gypos’.” He
adds that the quotas for N.I.T. have been set
with increased amounts for contractors and
decreased amounts for company crew.

Another reason for Weyco’s increased use of

contractors is their availability to work week-
ends. Strachan says, “We have a management
team that wants flexible shifts, four days on and
four off. It’s been fought by the union in our
contract. Everything the company has done
points to them looking at the four-by-four (shift).
The key to retaining unions is for workers to
keep weekends off. If there’s a shift away from
this as being important, I believe it will spread
like a case of the dose through the whole industry.
If the South Island Woodlands say ‘no’, the
company will say ‘Look at N.I.T.. They’ve given
up having weekends off.”

Photos by Elaine Briere

° Hoe-chucker operator Jim Work takes a pause on hydraulic grapple near old Menzies Bay
division. All Weyco operations are now under the North Island Timberlands banner.

ERODED HEALTH AND SAFETY

Health and safety issues are viewed as
management’s number one bullying tactic.
Workers accuse the employer of taking a “search
and blame” approach to accident investigation.

By their very nature, “accidents” are non-
preventable. Weyco management is now calling
these occurrences “incidents”, which are
considered to be avoidable and the result of some
fault by a worker.

Brother Brown says, “The company always has
a way of placing blame. There’s not a chance now
of reporting an injury unless someone’s bleeding.
No matter how trivial the accident, it goes on the

worker's file.” There are concerns that a number
of reports could result in suspension or dismissal.

There was a recent “occurrence” involving a
company driver who hit a corner and flipped over
his logging truck. Previous complaints had been
made by drivers about this section of road. Brown
says, “The crown of the road was too high and
causing loads to shift.”

Strachan reports, “They (management)
interrogated the driver for seven hours over a
two day period. It wasn’t an investigation. They
hammered away at him trying to find a cause for
the accident. At the seventh hour, he commented
that, well, maybe he should have had a look at

continued on page fourteen

Se See

 Buckers off of Crown lands at the Menzies Bay dryland sort. The site has often been bypassed by the company for its privately-owned
ceil sort, idling company crews.

LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 2001/13