Local 1-207 strikes
Weyco Grande Cache

I.W.A. Canada Local 1-207
members hit the bricks at the
Weyerhaeuser sawmill and planer
in Grande Cache, Alberta from July
19-August 6 to put pressure on their
employer for a collective agreement,
one which expired back on February
28, 2001.

Although 59 per cent of voting
members accepted a new three year
contract (92 per cent voted in favour
of a strike mandate), local union
president Mike Pisak said the union
was successful in getting the
company to drop its concession
demands.

The union achieved across-the-
board wage increases of two per
cent, in each year of the collective
agreement.

During mediated negotiations it got
Weyco to drop its attempt to remove
language from the collective
agreement that provided a guarantee
that the pension would be no less

than $3 better than the forest industry
pension plan. It was also successful in
striking for better vacation language
and having contributions maintained
to a union education fund.

Other gains included better
benefits such as increased life
imsurance, improved extended
health care benefits and an increase
in the safety boot allowance.

“People weren’t overly happy with
the deal but the majority voted to
settle and fight other issues another
day,” said Brother Pisak.

The negotiating committee was
lead by national first vice president
and spokesperson Neil Menard and
Pisak and also included committee
chair Tom Joseph, and members Ed
Boni, Dean Lott, and Paul Allwood.

Brother Pisak said the softwood
lumber dispute with the United
States was in the back of everyone’s
mind and that the 19-day strike
was successful in holding the line

Ns
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8
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« Picketers outside the mill were solid in their job action to beat back

concessions.

and staving off rollbacks.

“We would have liked to achieve
absolute wage parity with I.W.A.
mills in the southern interior of
B.C. (various production job wages
are lagging behind by six to 30 cents
an hour) and get stronger protection
against contracting out to ensure
our members do all the jobs that
they are capable of doing,” added

Pisak. “We think we can resolve
those issues in future years.”

The local union president said
that before the strike the company
was talking that the union didn’t
represent the interests of the
workers in Grande Cache.“We
proved them wrong. The crew ran
an effective picket line and was
behind the union,” said Pisak.

Manitoba negs
continued from page thirty-three

get “meaningful negotiations” into
place for the Northern Wood Haulers
Association, and these negotiations
are taking place under mediation.

The company has tabled a proposal
which the union has responded to,
requesting a mediator review it and
get back to the I'W.A.

One problem that Arcand sees for
the NWHA is that, like last year, it
is getting late in the year where “we
Baded up with half the season pone
before the problem was resolved.”

In Manitoba there are about a
dozen major log hauling contractors
and Arcand said that Tolko has
simply been trying to get rid of
higher hauling rates. The company
is driving rates that truckers haven’t
seen since the 1980's.

A union agreement should see a
truck owner get paid $108 per hour

in order that they can pay
depreciation, fuel, maintenance,
and an I.W.A. wage and benefit
package.

Through mediation the union has
negotiated an interim rate of $90
per hour.

Under the interim agreement
some drivers have suffered a break
in pension service, something that
the I.W.A. wants to remedy.

“It’s tough to organize in Manitoba.
Workers are divided,” says Arcand.
“And it’s not so different from many
other parts of the country. There’s
some people who think they can win
if they take somebody else’s job
away and work for less money.”

“We're moving ahead slowly and
are trying to get bushworkers
organized and retrieve the entire
NWHA,” said Arcand.

WORKING WITH FIRST NATIONS

Tolko utilizes the services of
numerous bands within First

Nations communities. The union is
in the process of forging links with
the Swampy Creek Tribal Council
the umbrella council for various
Cree First Nations in northern
Manitoba.

The union is working with the
council to get an agreement to allow
the Moose Lake Loggers to achieve
a viable collective agreement with
Tolko, to bring up the standards for
all workers.

“And we’re also talking about
organizing all First Nations logging
crews — it’s a slow process and both
the union and the Swampy Cree are
in the stage of getting to know each
other better,” said Arcand.

“In practical terms, First Nations
logging crews out there are getting
a bad deal,” said Arcand. “They not
only have obligations to log but they
have obligations to their own
communities as well.”

Those obligations include the
commitment to train Cree workers

with varying degrees of experience.
Some have no experience in the forest
industry.

“Tolko is trying to treat the Cree
the same as a highly-skilled and
highly-developed and technicall:
proficient workforce,” said Arcand.
“That is simply not yet the case. They
(the company) are not recognizing
the obligations that exist for training
in Native communities and the rates
they pay should reflect those
realities.” ‘

“We don’t know of any First Nations
logging crews that are not having
some measure of problems out there,”
he added. “We want to work with the
Cree for a long-term working
relationship.”

“The Swampy Cree want tobe
active and work with the I.W.A. while
retaining autonomy about what they
do,” said Arcand. “In the north, First
Nations are working with us and we
want to put a maximum effort into
making it work.” &

a2

¢ Pictured is company lo;
traffic for both sawlogs and chips.

“>

ui

Deen Nokes

gging equipment near Thompson, Manitoba. Tolko has slashed the number of

hauling jobs in favour of an increase in rail

34/LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 2001