PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA = Some members of the union’s provincial negotiating committee pictured are, I. to r., Local 1-417’s Joe Davies, Local 363’s Rick Wangler, Local 1-80’s Bill Routley, Local 1-85’s Monty Mearns, Local 1-3567’s Sonny Ghag, IWA president Dave Haggard, Local 2171’s Darrel Wong, IWA first v.p. Harvey Arcand, Local 4-405’s Bob Matters and Local 1-423's Troi Caldwell. Union faces forest industry that doesn’t want to talk Major agreements turned down in the Interior regions N OW most agreements have been voted down with the IFLRA, CONIFER, Weldwood and Canfor north, the union is going back to negotiate. “The membership has voted and we are back to the table to get a different pattern agree- ment,” says IWA National President Dave Haggard. “We must see if we can get another deal without going on strike.” The union president says that the member- ship needs to understand the process of col- lective bargaining (see right) and how their wage and contract demands are presented to the industry as the IWA’s negotiation position. “We never get everything we set out for but we always put our absolute priorities in the forefront,” he says. “This time around those priorities are pensions and job security.” “This year has presented a particulary tough set of negotiations for the IWA,” says Brother Haggard. “And we are faced with an entire industry that does not want to negotiate.” Haggard says that 2003 negotiations have seen a convergence of factors working togeth- er to undermine the union at the bargaining table: an average U.S. tariff of 27.2 per cent against Canadian softwood lumber exports, the rapid rise in the Canadian dollar and low lumber prices, and high unemployment in the industry. The B.C. Coast locals been the hardest hit of any area (see feature pages 10-11) and are under attack by the industry. “This is the reality that we are facing this year,” says Haggard. “When push comes to shove if strike action is necessary to back up our demands, I believe the membership will give our committee the strike mandate necessary to put more pressure on the industry and take job action if necessary.” The Process 4. Contract demands from the WA Wage and Contract Conference are presented to the industry in different regions.. 2. Negotiations take place with industry associations or major forest companies to establish a pattern agreement. 3. Demands are modified and positions are placed across the table to industry base on votes of the the full PNC. 4. \WA Provincial Negotiating Committee (PNC) negotiates the best deal possible and makes recommendations to the membership. 5. Local union presidents vote “Yes” or “No” on recommending tentative agreement(s) in their local union jurisdiction(s), including consideration of regional and local issues. 6. Referendum ballots take place giving the rank and file member- ship the democratic right to accept or reject tentative the agreement presented. 7. In the absence of an agreement from industry that the commit- tee believes is satisfactory, the union ballots the membership to support legal strike action if necessary. These ballots can be sent ‘out to back up the committee with a strike mandate while talks or on, or if talks break down. Committee working on next steps With the recent rejection of agreements in the northern and southern Interior, the IWA Provincial Negotiating Committee is planning its next moves. The committee has been placed in a unique situation. Some locals have rejected the agreement and others have accepted it. The south- ern deal with the IFLRA is rejected by the majority of members in the three locals, even though Kamloops and Cranbrook accepted it. In the north, the Williams Lake local membership has ratified the agreement but Local 1-424, which votes mill-by-mill is getting strong rejection votes in its CONIFER mills, Canfor operations, and Weldwood mills. The IFLRA and northern Interior companies have been invited back to the bargaining table by the union. Coast negotiations have been in limbo as FIR and the IWA have undergone disputes over individual companies being in or outside of main table talks. The LRB ruled in favour of the IWA on August 6, directing FIR to get back to the bargaining table with the union. lective bargain with the union on 4 orders 10 days of talks in August or a ment by both sides for future contract tal July 31.- as a result of the rejection of IFLRA ment and early voting results indicating n fro! Prince George Local 1-424, the Provincial Negotiating Committee meets to discuss next steps. July 21 - Williams Lake Local 1-425 releases results of Weldwood vote - 54% per cent accept. CONIFER bargain ing units in local (Lignum, Riverside Williams Lake and Riverside Soda Creek) accept agreement by 66% margin. West Fraser in Williams Lake votes the deal down and later ratifies it after changes to a local memorandum. July 18 - IFLRA agreement voted down by a collective margin of 57%. Kelowna Local 1-423 rejects agreement as Kamloops Local 1-417 and Cranbrook Local 1-405 accept. FIR continues to refuse to negotiate with IWA on Coast, even though union asks to resume talks. Case goes to Labour Relations Board. July 2 - A tentative pattern agreement is reached with Weldwood Canada, representing some 1,500 workers. It is the last tentative agreement reached before a vote. June 24 - Tentative pattern agreement reached with CONIFIR covering 1,800 workers including IWA members working for West Fraser, Slocan, Riverside, Tolko, Abitibi and Lignum. June 13 - Union and CONIFER hit impasse over Canfor deal on the issue of Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) bonus systems used. June 11 - Tentative pattern agreement reached with Canfor, representing some 2,500 workers in Northern | B.C., following resumption of talks one day earlier. June 9 - The first tenative pattern agreement is reached with the IFLRA, representing some 5,000 workers in the B.C. Southern Interior region. A six-year deal with 11% in wage increases, better seniority retention and severance pay and a bonus system is negotiated. Employer and employee contributions to the pension plan are negotiated as well as standard flexible shifts for mills. June 3 ~ Talks with IFLRA resume as strike ballots prepared for southern Interior IWA locals. May 24 - Talks with IFLRA break down over shift schedul- ing, severance pay, benefits, pension contributions and contract language. Mid-May - Bargaining continues with IFLRA as union pushes for pattern agreement. Pension plan funding and industry demands for flexible shifts are main issues. April 28 - Bargaining demands exchanged with FIR on the Coast as industry proposes one-year rollover. Meeting is planned for May 3 over how to deal with local issues. Latter March - April 7 ~ Talks continue with IFLRA as sub- committees struck to study costs of benefit plans, includ- ing |WA-Forest industry pension plan funding issues. Committees exploring apprenticeship issues, shift sched- uling also formed and meet. March 19 - As negotiations start, the IWA is hit with an important contracting out issue with Weyerhaeuser as the company plans to transfer its falling to contractors in Pt. McNeill and South Island. The union files a grievance and links ‘he fesue to upcoming Cooma ee March 18 - Following inl cranes oie 'FLRA on March 18, the union expresses cautious optimism and its commitment to getting a deal. x February 21 The IWA holds a provincial tract conference in Vancouver to fo matic set of sere for 25,000 18 | THE ALLIED WORKER AUGUST 2003