IWA strike is necessary on the B.C. Coast

IWA MEMBERS ON THE Coast of
British Columbia went on strike on
November 21 to back up their negoti-
ating committee and beat back
Forest Industrial Relation’s attempt
to impose terms and conditions on
IWA members (see stories page one
and three).

Union loggers and millworkers,
from IWA Locals 1-80, 1-85, 2171, 363
and 1-3567 voted 89 per cent in
favour of taking job action to back up
their negotiation committee and now
they are exercising that action. They
have been in a legal strike position
since September 25.

IWA President Dave Haggard,
chair of the union’s negotiating com-
mittee says “the industry hasn’t
shown the leadership to deal with the
problems it faces and is now looking
to solve them on workers’ backs.”

FIR initially proposed a one-year
deal with no changes when negotia-
tions began in
April. Now it is try-
ing to ram conces-
| sionary terms and
conditions
through on IWA
members.

* “Their tactic is

totally unaccept-
Dave Haggard able,” says ene
Haggard. “First they turned down
our offer for an agreement. And then
they charged us with breaking off
negotitaions, even though we said we
would get back to them on a
November 11 proposal.”

The union pointed out that FIR’s
moyes do not deal with the union’s
issues, including properly fixing up
the pension plan and that industry

wants to continue to contract out.

FIR’s November 11 offer of a three
year agreement does not cut it with
the union. The companies want the
unfettered right to schedule work as
they please, for the life of the con-
tract, and have the unfettered right to
contract out coastal logging opera-
tions on a stump-to-dump basis, sub-
divide operations on a stump-to-
dump basis, and eliminate travel
time. “This type of agreement would
represent a death knell for the IWA
membership on the Coast,’ says
Haggard. “The Weyerhaeuser’s of
the world would continue with reck-
less abandon to cut the IWA up into
tiny pieces. There is little doubt
about that.” FIR only offered up a
measly 25 cents per hour wage
increase in the second and third year
of the contract.

CUSTOMER SER
RECEIVING DOCK

SHIPPING / RECEI
DOCKS 5,6,

Sabeh, and Ali Mohammed.

PHOTO BY BRIAN THOMPSON - COURTESY BRANTFORD EXPOSITOR
= Local 500 member Martin Battice (r.) is seen on the line talking with (I. to r.) plant chair George Hyde, Kalil

Taking on a tough employer

Local 500’s crew stands up for better pay and

benefits at Brantford plastics manufacturer

THEY HIT THE BRICKS to fight
for better wages and conditions. At
the end of their nearly three month
dispute, IWA Canada Local 500
members at the Vacform Plastics
plant in Brantford, Ontario made
some considerable headway as cre-
ative solutions were found at the bar-
gaining table.

The crew, which produces injec-
tion moulding plastic trays, has
agreed to move from a 37.5 hour
work week to a 41.0 work week, on a
continental shift basis. They will be
working three twelve hour shifts with
a paid ten minute break every two
hours and a 20 minute paid lunch.
Then they work a single 6 hour shift
with breaks.

The results of the agreement is
that the crew will take home larger
paycheques and the company will
achieve greater production as it
expects to grow with the market,

“It was a tough strike against a
tough employer, there’s no doubt,”

says Local 500 president Bruce
Weber. “The crew ran a very effective
picket line and withstood the
employer bringing in scabs to break
the strike. Not one IWA member
crossed the picket line. They were all
very united in their strike action and
our local union is proud of them.”

The IWA achieved a five-year
agreement with across-the-board
increases of forty cents an hour in
the first year and thirty-five cents an
hour increase in the remaining four
years of the contract.

The agreement was accepted by a
eighty-four per cent majority.

The union negotiated a back-to-
work agreement which assured that
all thirty-one strikers would return
before any new hires.

One of the main products pro-
duced at the plant is plastic mush-
room trays which are used all over
the province and the United States.
The plant owner also operates a facil-
ity in Mississauga which produces

larger plastic pots which he hope to
tie-in with the mushroom tray busi-
ness.

“We think that the five-year agree-
ment more than gives the company
the stability that it is looking for,”
says Brother Weber.

“Our members are willing to work
with the company like they always
have. To continue to do this they
require the respect and dignity they
deserve,” he adds.

Vacform is right next door to the
Koolatron plant which is owned by
the same businessman. Over the
years, workers in both plants have
successfully struggled for better air
quality and other health and safety
standards. Koolatron’s main line is
portable coolers that plug into 12 volt
vehicle cigarette lighters. The prod-
uct has captured more market share.

In addition to mushroom trays,
the Vacform operation has produced
inserts for fruits and vegetables and
video cassette trays.

PHOTO COURTESY IWA LOCAL 1000

= On the line in Ft. Coulonge
(photo from July 2003).

Produits Forestieres crew is
determined in their strike
IWA Local 1000 members who have
been out on the picket line at the
Produits Forestieres operation in
Fort Coulonge, Quebec hope that a
new investor will take over the oper-
ation by the end of the year.
Seventy-five workers have been on
strike since May 5 to put pressure
on their employer who had can-
celled bargaining sessions. The
prospective buyer is Pinexel Inc.
which is based in Lac St. Jean. “The
crew has little trust or confidence in
the current owner,” says Local 1000
president Michael McCarter, who
has met with the new investor. “We
would like to see a change in own-
ership and we don’t see why a rea-
sonable collective agreement can
not be reached by both sides.” If
that occurs, McCarter notes that the
mill will have to build up its log sup-
ply before getting into full swing.

Ignace town council requests
Bowater and IWA return to table

In October the previous mayor of
the town council of Ignace contacted
both the Bowater Corporation and
IWA Local 2693 to get both sides
back to the bargaining table and
resolve a labour dispute that began
in August of 2002. Union members
have been on strike against the
company which purchased the mill
from a local entrepreneur, then sunk
$25 million into the operation. The
company wants the unilateral right
to implement shifts and contract out
some of the work done. “We wel-
come the initiative of the mayor and
hope to return to the table as soon
as possible,” says local union presi-
dent Joe Hanlon. An officer of the
Ontario Labour Relations Board has
also been contacted to bring the
sides together. “There’s no reason
why we shouldn't be able to negoti-
ate a proper collective agreement
which meets industry standards,”
adds Brother Hanlon.

Local 324 members locked
out during contract talks!
Manitoba Local 324 was hit with a
huge surprise on November 3 when
their employer, Prairie Forest
Products in Neepawa, locked out the
crew in the midst of negotiations.
The company, owned by Prendiville
Industries, wants to impose conces-
sions on the membership. Local
business agent Chris T. Parlow says
the membership wants better
wages, not reductions. “The cost of
living doesn’t decrease, so why
should the overall yearly wages of
many of our members decrease?”

=.

NOVEMBER 2003 THE ALLIED WORKER | &)