Nomadic Sport Rack crew in Mactier joins Local 1000 Local 1000 is pleased to report that twenty-one workers at the Nomadic Sport Rack company operation in Mactier, Ontario (near Parry Sound) joined the local this spring. Union organizer Angelo Sanservino signed up the workers who manufacture roof racks for all kinds of motor vehicles. The local union is gearing up to negotiate a first collective agreement for the workers who voted strongly in favour of the IWA. Dawson Creek reman plant joins IWA Local 1-424 Workers at the AJ Industries wood remanufacturing operation in Dawson Creek, joined the union’s northern B.C. local on April 14. The majority of 40 workers, most under the age of 30, decided to sign-up in an effort following a request to the IWA for a voluntary certification. The plant, which produces dunnage (from OSB, plywood and particle board), survey stakes and lathe, is built on a village yard where there are impending land-use issues. Local 1-424 member Don Cameron and business agent John Zuehlke conducted the organizing campaign. Brother Zuehlke is currently working to shore up support for first contract negotiations. Job stability, wages and benefits are key issues. Clothing recycling plant is IWA Local 1-3567 reports that 42 workers at the Steelex Enterprises Inc. cloth- ing recycling plant in Ladner, B.C. joined the union following a sign-up campaign conducted by business agents Brian Lund and Earl Graham. Workers, who responded to a Punjabi radio station ad placed by the local, in cooperation with the national union, want better pay and benefits and scheduled work breaks. Steelex exports second hand cloth- ing to Third Word countries. Brother Graham is heading the IWA negoti- ating committee for a first contract. Out in Rocky Mountain country Union organizer Gordie McIntosh, assisted by Local 1-207’s Morris McRee and Local 1-425's Bob MeNair, have been working on an organizing campaign at the 220 worker Sunpine Forest Products lam- inated veneer lumber mill in Rocky Mountain House, about 80 km west of Red Deer. The plant is one of two non-union Weldwood operations, the other being a sawmill in Sundrie, south of Rocky Mountain House. Brother Mcintosh says that many workers are fed up with the compa- ny’s “payment for skills” system, unfair job postings, unjust termina- tions, clique-like “buddy system,” and overall lack of fairness, dignity and respect for its employees. The company has hired two consultants to “spread misinformation” about the union, says Mcintosh, claiming that workers will lose rotations and remain stuck on one shift. PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA = In March, twenty-three IWA women from Western Canada took a course on leadership and organizing. CLC STRATEGIC WORK PLAN JIVES WITH IWA OBJECTIVES Doing our part to organize EVEN THOUGH THE PERCENTAGE of Canadian workers who were part of the unionized workforce rose slightly last year from 30 to 30.3 per cent, the country’s labour movement still has a long way to go to recoup its former glory. During the 1990s, notes the Canadian Labour Congress, the proportion of working Canadians rep- resented by organized labour shrank to 30 per cent from 34 per cent. Asa result, there was a stagnation in living standards and increased inequality in income and distribution of wealth. But according to the CLC’s 2002 - 2005 strategic work plan, surveys reveal that most people would join a union if given a chance and trade unions remain rec- ognized as effective advocates for workers and families. The CLC warns that the decline in Ontario to a 25 per cent unionized workforce is a danger signal to the labour movement. Only Alberta has a lower percentage. “There’s a tough climate out there to organize in these times, especially in provinces like Ontario and Alberta — there’s no doubt about it,” says national president Dave Haggard. “Our union is out there doing its part to actively organize and grow the IWA and the labour movement.” Since ‘97, the union has maintained its commitment to its organizing and growth strategy. “The CLC’s organizing objectives jive with our own and more of our local unions are assessing their organizing possibilities, and much more must be done, both nationally and locally.’ The union has trained dozens of potential organizers across the country. Courses taken include a two-day introductory class for organizers and an intermediate, week-long course. In March, 23 IWA women took a leadership and organizing class for the first time (see photo above). Fishing for new member IT’S A TOUGH JOB and somebody has got to do it! Local ar71’s Sonny Rioux is one of several active IWA organizers out there looking for new organizing opportunities in order to bring the benefits of union member- ship to workers on the coast of B.C. Starting late last fall and early this year, Brother Rioux, a logger from the Sunshine Coast community of Powell River, has been pounding the pavement and beating the bush in several organizing areas. And he has been fishing for new members in partnership with the national union! “Fishing” is term often used by organizers but for Rioux it is being used in a literal sense. He’s out there surveying and making contacts in B.C.’s fish farming and processing industries. “We have a lot to offer these workers by improving wages and working condition and assisting with WCB claims, which the IWA has a high percentage of winning. Workers are seeing a lot of back injuries from pulling and lifting and some bad puncture wounds and carpal tunnel in the processing industries,” he comments. The industry is also faced with some of the international boycott tactics experienced by the log- ging industry. “We're a union with a track record on helping workers with these issues and more,” he adds. Brother Rioux is also organizing on dry land. He’s been leafleting the Crown Island Resort and Golf Community in Courtenay, on Vancouver Island, where over 200 full and part time workers are said to be employed. The early response to leafleting is positive, he says. Workers have been provided contact numbers and information on the TWA. In addition to organizing in non-tra- ditional areas on the Coast, Rioux and the local have been renewing old con- tacts in the Lower Mainland where diverse value-added industries and other PHOTO PG RIOUX = Local 2171's Sonny Rioux seen near fish farm area in Powell Lake. manufacturing plants exist. Back in the Coast logging sector, Rioux has also been organizing tradi- tional contractors — lately in the heli- logging and road building sectors. In short, there’s lot for him to do. He hopes to make some inroads in value- added industries on the Coast too. Like other organizers, he has seen campaigns go the IWA way and then been hit with employer interference during the 10 day period from the vote application to voting day. “The i impact of so-called ‘employer free speech’ is dramatic,” he says. “Workers are often intimidated by the boss.” 8 ] THE ALLIED WORKER JUNE 2003 Sak Te MRS THe samen