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Strike resolved at Columbia operations

THEY HIT THE BRICKS in mid-
December of last year with a strong
spirit of solidarity to last them
through the freezing winter. Almost
three months later, on March 13 — fol-
lowing a meeting with the Ministry of
Labour and their employer, Columbia
Forest Products (plywood and particle
board plants) in Hearst Ontario — 71
percent of voting workers accepted a
new five year agreement with across-
the-board wage increases of 60
cents/hr. each year.

Although 75 workers at the particle
board plant already operate 24/7 on
12 hour shifts, and the first 8 hrs. on
their Saturday shifts is paid at time
and one-half, one of the key issues
that provoked the workers in the ply-
wood department was the company’s
attempt to force workers at the poplar
plywood mill to work 24/7 on a 12
hour schedule without the same ben-

efits as the particle board plant. “That
really made our people angry,” says
local union presi-
dent Damien Roy.
“They saw things
going backwards if
they were to accept
those terms in an
agreement.” In
mediation on
x March 13, the issue

Damien Roy was ironed out and
the plywood mill will go 24/7 and
workers will be paid time and one-
half for the first 8 hours of that first
Saturday, the same as the particle
board side. With a new schedule of
24/7 in the dry-end part of the ply-
wood mill and the new weekend
schedule in the green-end, approxi-
mately 25 new jobs will be added in
the near future. Another major issue
was the company’s attempt to force

the plywood side to work on stat holi-
days (with the exception of Christmas
and New Year's) while the particle
board workers already had a volun-
tary agreement not to work. This
issue was also resolved successfully.
Before calling the strike the negotiat-
ing process had been through concil-
jation in November and mediation
from December 11-13. On January 7
the company, with the help of the
Ministry of Labour, put forth a propos-
al which was rejected by a vote of 92%.

Norm Rivard, national second vice
president, who assisted the union
negotiating committee in seeking an
end to the dispute, says the agree-
ment addresses the concerns of the
majority of the members and is an
industry leader in terms of wage
increases. “It was a tough strike for
three months,” he says. “The issues
were very clear for the crew.”

PHOTO BY WILF MCINTYRE
= Strike action was swift and solid as Local 324 members put up their pickets outside the sawmill in The Pas.

They shut down the north

IWA Canada Local 324 united millworkers and loggers
to take on Tolko Industries in Manitoba

STRIKE ACTION WAS SWIFT for
IWA Local 324 members, employees
of Tolko Industries in The Pas and
other parts of northern Manitoba,
who struck logging and milling oper-
ations on January 30. Three hundred
and fifty workers participated in the
strike which ended in early March.
“Virtually the whole north went
down,” says IWA national first vice
president Harvey Arcand, the
union’s head negotiator. The union
agreed with prominent mediator
Vince Ready’s recommendations
that outstanding issues go to binding
arbitration. The company agreed too,
as its IWA sawmill and logging oper-
ations and CEP pulp mill were down.
Local 324 union president Judy
Anderson says the company was

“Deating around the bush for far too
long” and had to be brought to its
senses with the strike. “They wanted
to roll over the contract, which
expired in 2001, until

pany loggers and “Schedule A”

contract loggers and haulers.
During the strike the company got
an injunction to limit the number of
IWA pickets to three

2004 with nothing in it f] WE AGREED TO and cut the time they
for the workers,” says could delay vehicles to 3
Sister Anderson. REI MeeVee minutes. “This was a

“We agreed to binding |] T0 GET A RESOLUTION solid picket line,” says
arbitration in order to get national third v.p. Wilf
a resolution in a situation |} ~ HARVEY ARCAND McIntyre, who also led
where one was unlikely } |WA FIRST V.P. the IWA committee.

without a lot longer dis-
pute,” says Brother Arcand. “Under
this process we ended the dispute and
got people back to work without fur-
ther damage to the workforce and the
communities, “

Outstanding issues include wages,
benefits and a fair deal for both com-

Other members were
Anderson; Terry Derhousoff, Norm
McKenzie, and Tom Kirkness for the
mill; Dave Matheson and Laurent St.
Aubin for company bush crews; Jody
Ehman for contract bush operators
and Tom Burke-Gaffney for the
Northern Wood Haulers Association.

Four day strike get new deal
at Inscape Office Furniture
Over 160 IWA Canada Local 500
members at the Inscape Office
Furniture plant in Holland Landing,
Ontario struck their employer for
four days before Christmas last year
to successfully renew their collective
agreement. Local financial secretary
Saul Marques, who chaired the bar-
gaining committee to finalize the
agreement, reports that the union
achieved improvements to the
defined benefit pension plan which
will pay a minimum benefit of $26
per month per year of service and
more, based on a sliding scale. The
workers will also receive across-the-
board increases of $1.30 per hour
over the four-year deal. Brother
Marques says the local was sur-
prised that it was a short strike.
“We thought we'd have to dig in for
a longer strike, so we're glad it
turned out as it did,” he says. The
nearby Curtis office furniture plant
is also certified to Local 500.

Skeena Cellulose lockout
still continuing in Terrace
Local 2171 president Darrel Wong
says that despite the union’s efforts
to negotiate a start-up deal, IWA
members at the Skeena Cellulose
Inc. sawmill in Terrace remain
locked-out by their employer. Last
year the company was purchased
by NWBC Timber which also
acquired the Skeena pulp mill in
Prince Rupert and satellite opera-
tions. The IWA continues to fight to
maintain the integrity of the collec-
tive agreement and had “98 percent
of the contract back in place,” says
Brother Wong, adding that the
employer retracted many of the
positions that it had previously
agreed to across the bargaining
table. “This move by the company
really threw our negotiations into a
tailspin,” says Brother Wong. “In
the opinion of our bargaining com-
mittee, the company does not oper-
ate with integrity.” About 180 mem-
bers are affected by the lockout and
have been assisted by the national
union’s strike assistance fund since
September of 2002.

Fishing derby raises morale
and funds for Bowater crew
On March 16 Local 2693 sponsored
an ice fishing derby to raise funds
and morale for striking union mem-
ber in Ignace, Ontario. The workers,
who struck the Bowater corporation
in August of last year, are maintain-
ing pressure on the company to
renew a collective agreement with
the IWA at a mill it purchased.

Local union president Joe Hanlon
says that over 100 local union mem-
bers, and supporters from families
and the community made the event
a success and that over $500 was
taised to assist the strikers. “It was
a great turnout and a time when we
could bring our people and their
supporters together during a dis-
pute which has dragged on for too
long,” says Brother Hanlon. “We
hope to see the company get back
to the table soon.”

APRIL 2003 THE ALLIED WORKER | 9