ee

© 363 COURTENAY BC
Spirits of local strikers is strong
Local 363 reports that strike activity was
strong in the local and that spirits were
high on the picket lines. Local members
attended a rally at the Field Sawmill
imex) on December 13. Pickets were
Stationed at Weyerhaeuser North Island
Timberland operations, including the
Menzies Bay dryland sort, and the
Sayward Timber dryland sort. Local
president Rick Wangler said there were
some non-union log trucks moving on
the Island Highway with private sale
wood. “We were concerned that some of
this stuff may be surrogate wood for
Weyerhaeuser,” said Brother Wangler,
who said there was growing anger and
disappointed over the operation of some
non-union crews in the area.

4-425 | WILLIAMS LAKE BC

&. value-added plant picks
up and trucker talks continuing
Local 1-425 reports that the Parallel 55
reman plant in Williams Lake has
increased it workforce to over 50 union
members with the introduction of new
equipment. Ithas evolved from a fruit box
component plant into stud mill, fed with
a diet of blocks from local sawmills. A
current five-year agreement, with a wage
reopener, is in place. Elsewhere in the
local, negotiations for agency agreements
with owner/operator truckers are
underway at the Riverside Soda Creek
and Williams Lake mills. At the Lignum
Ltd. operation, the local has gone into
arbitration issues related to short-haul
truckers while agency agreements have
already been put in place for Weldwood
owner/operators.

© 41-3567] FRASER VALLEY BC

Local union takes action in
shutting down its operations

Local 1-3567 president Sonny Ghag says
the local took swift actions in striking
FIR operations. Pickets appeared at all
International Forest Products opera-
tions prior to the November 21 call for
a coast wide strike, as the company was
the first to attempt to impose conces-

ionary terms and conditions. Pickets
o@:: up throughout the Fraser Valley

in both milling and logging operations
and throughout the local’s jurisdiction
in the Lower Mainland. “The turnout
on the picket lines was very strong,”
says Brother Ghag. “Our members
were angry, especially at Interfor and
Weyerhaeuser operations.”

830 WINNIPEG MB

Corrugated units going strong
as Unisource interpretation won
Local 830 president Jack Alexander says
that production is going strong at the

urfit-MBI and Norampac corrugated

nts in Winnipeg. On December 20
the local swore in five new members at
Norampac as the workforce expanded
to 103. At Smurfit-MBI an expanded
87” web corrugator needs more work
and a lack of manpower has delayed the
start-up of a Ward printer/diecutter. At
the Unisource distribution warehouse,
on December 16 the local won an inter-
pretation from the Manitoba LRB
which upholds a seniority list issue in
the union’s favour.

QUEBEC

Simmons negotiations to begin
Local 1000 business agent Yvon Rochon
informed The Allied Worker that collective
bargaining dates with the Simmons
matress plant in Kirkland have been set
for January 21-23. The crew will meet on
January ro to discuss and ratify a set of
demands. It will be the second collective
agreement for workers who want to deal
with such items as the bonus system,
workers’ compensation and shifting
problems for the employers just-in-time
production system. Sears Canada is a
major client of both custom and stock
mattress produced in the plant.

THUNDER BAY ON

Local meets with Domtar White
River operation management
Local 2693 met with Domtar officials on
a number of occasions in December in
attempts to get workers back and deal
with arbitration cases at the White River
sawmill and woodlands operations,
where about 260 workers have been off
since last June. More talks are slated for
January. The local ratified a four-year
pattern deal with Longlac Wood
Industries’ woodlands prior to a strike
deadline. The crew, which operates on
Kimberly-Clark’s limits, is also reaching
pattern levels on its pension plan. At the
K-C woodlands operations in Longlac,
Geraldton, Nakina and Terrace Bay,
contract talks broke off on December 8,
where 250 members seta strike deadline
for January 6, 2004, if job action is
necessary. Columbia Forest Products
gave members lousy news in Nipigon,
laying off 40 the week before Christmas.

TORONTO ON

Local negotiating with Dominion

Local 700 reports that workers at the
Ajax Dominion store (formerly Loeb)
are looking towards getting a new col-
lective agreement. Dominion, which is
owned by the Great Atlantic and Pacific
Tea Company, has over Go stores in the
Greater Toronto Area that are mem-
bers of the Retail and Wholesale sec-

tion of the Canadian Auto Workers
union. In other news, Local 700 presi-
dent Ron Diotte reports that a one year
extension agreement has been ratified
at Skyway Lumber operation in St.
Catherines. Workers received a three
per cent raise in pay. It is the fourth col-
lective agreement for the crew.

000 NORTHCENTRAL ON

Local mills under negotiations

Local 1000 president Michael McCarter
informed The Allied Worker that contract
talks are underway at the
Commonwealth plywood plant in
Pembroke, where 135 union members
are employed. The contract expired in
April, 2003. Meetings are set for
February 3 and 4, 2004, after which a
strike deadline could be set. Brother
McCarter added that the members want
better wages, benefits and contract lan-
guage. The mill produces both hard-
wood veneers and __ plywoods.
Negotiations are also underway with
Columbia Forest Products in
Rutherglen, which employs some 275
IWA members. Negotiation dates have
been set for January 6 and 7, after which
an agreement or conciliation may follow.

HANOVER ON

Talks underway at Hanover
Kitchens and egg tray plants hire
Local 500 president Bruce Weber reports
that negotiations at Hanover Kitchens, a
custom kitchen cabinet mill, are
progressing with some contract language
issues resolved. The plant has been
purchased by Southbridge Inc., which
has five operations in southern Ontario,
may be slated for a production expansion.
A reduced crew of 36 is now working. In
other positive news the Hartmann egg
tray plant in Brantford has grown its
workforce to 340 IWA members. A year
ago it had 87 union members working.
The company is operating on its old
Cascade Dominion facility in town and
has opened a modern facility on the
former Hussmann refrigeration
manufacturing site on the other side of
town, as it expands markets.

FILE PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA
= Local 1000 member at Columbia
Veneer in Rutherglen.

KAPUSKASING ON

Local participates in committee
and Weyco sells Chapleau mill
Local 2995 reports union members at
the Tembec sawmill in Cochrane have
agreed to sit on a joint committee to
examine wood costs and other issues.
“We are tired of the mill being hit with
curtailments every time there is a blip in
the marketplace,” says local president
Guy Bourgouin. “We have agreed to
work hard for solutions to make the
overall operation more viable.” In other
news, in mid-December Tembec’s
purchase of the Weyerhaeuser sawmill
in Chapleau was finalized. So far no
planned changes to employment levels
are reported. Brother Bourgouin says the
local is looking towards better labour
relations than it had with Weyco. From
the local’s perspective, the membership
is relieved that the Tembec-Domtar
merger recently fell through as there
would have been closures of IWA mills.
“It appears the two companies have
different views on several issues,” adds
Bourgouin.

HARRY GROENEN ° LOCAL 1-184 e SASKATCHEWAN

He’s lived in the
small community
of Shellbrook,

1 Local 1-184 financial-secretary
Harry Groenen outside Wapawekka.

role as financial-secretary for an IWA local that covers a whole

province. Today, forty-six year-old electrician Harry Groenen,

who originates from the Wapawekka sawmill near Prince
Albert, is one of the union’s top officers in the province. From
the opening of Wapaweeka (a partnership between
Weyerhaeuser and Woodlands Cree First Nations) in May of
1999, it was about two years later that local members would
elect Harry as a local officer. In his early years Harry set out on
his own as an independent electrical contractor, fulfilling his
apprenticeship at age twenty-three, working on both domestic
' and industrial jobs. Later he would partner into a general con-

a
5
E

Life as a union representative is a
challenge says Prince Albert worker

tracting business before returning to work on his own. On
several occasions, he would sign with the CEP to work on
various jobs at the Weyco pulp mill in Prince Alberta. In

Sasakatchewan all early ‘99, he applied for a job at the Wapawekka mill as it
his life, where little neared completion. Harry
did he know that in “YOUHAVETOLEARN became a natural leader at the
the future he QUICKLY ABOUT THE _‘™illl, where the IWA negotiat-
would be thrust eda voluntary agreement. “I
intoa challenging DIFFERENT CULTURES had a lot of questions about

INOURUNION” how the union would work

with us back then,” he
~ HARRY GROENEN recounts. “After a while it
2 3 became apparent the union
FIN-SEC LOCAL 4-186 OTT PS sttong as our

commitment to it.” Today Harry services both Wapawekka
and Weyerhaeuser’s Big River sawmill, which has third and
fourth generation millworkers and a strong IWA history.
“You have to learn quickly about the different cultures in our
union,” he says. “It can be a rewarding experience. I enjoy
the challenge of helping people.”

DECEMBER THE ALLIED WORKER | 7