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Union wins precedent setting case on successorship rights

THE IWA SCORED yet another big
Court victory on April 2, when all three
judges on a case in front of the Ontario
Court of Appeal decided that, in the
vent of bankruptcies and takeovers by a
Teceiver or trustee, the union contract
must go with the workers. The prece-
dent setting case ruled that IWA Local
790, formerly certified to the TCT
Logistics warehouse in Etobicoke, gets
full successorship rights despite a bank-
Tuptcy judge’s decision otherwise.

“The court of appeal ruled that the
bankruptcy judge should have butt out
and that workers have rights under their
collective agreement to work for whatev-

er entity or company
takes over,” says IWA
Canada national
president Norm
Rivard. “This is a
major ruling in
favour of workers
and will go a long
way towards protect-
ing collective rights
which are frequently being trampled on
in Ontario. Until now, bankruptcy
judges regulary ruled that collective
agreements were not to be upheld by
receivers or bankruptcy trustees.

“We very much welcome the ruling,”

Norm Rivard

says Ron Diotte, president of the
Toronto local. “It’s an important victory
for the labour movement and it’s an
important victory for the workers who
remain.”

Most of the forty-four workers who
were at the operation when the plant
went into receivership have gone onto
other jobs elsewhere during the two year
period that the union fought the case.

The company had 60 days to look for
grounds to appeal the decision to the
Supreme Court of Canada.

In other matters, Local 700 has con-
tacted the registrar of pensions in
Ontario to go after TCT on missing pen-

sions. The workers belonged to a defined
benefit plan which, under pension legis-
lation in Ontario, must be able to pay out
the workers their entitled benefits.

“We trust these people will go after
the pension because this is something
that should have never happened in the
first place. Things slipped through the
cracks,” says Brother Diotte. “Things
have to fixed up right and justice has to
be done on the pension issue too.”

The workers on the warehouse site
have been in the union since 1973. “It
has been one of finest bunch of mem-
bers who really supported their union
over the years,” says Brother Diotte.

Coastal mediator
renders binding decision

The IWA condemns flex-shift
scheduling rights granted industry

and calls for investment on Coast

THE IWA SAYS THAT thata new col-
lective agreement written for five IWA
Coast locals and Forest Industrial
Relations by government-appointed
mediator Don Munroe, tilts the schedul-
ing of work in complete favour of the
employer association. On May 28, Mr.
Munro, appoint-
ed under a provi-
sion of the
Coastal Forest
Industry Dispute
Settlement Act
last December,
released a new
collective agree-

ment which,

among other

Don Munroe things, calls for

full flexibility on

shift scheduling in manufacturing and
logging operations.

“The coastal industry has gotten
many of its wishes,” says IWA Canada
national first vice-president Wilf
Mcintyre. “The elimination of over-
time for weekend work, especially
Sundays (if the worker has not worked
at least 40 hours in the previous six
days) is especially offensive to our
members. This will have a particularly
negative effect on driving skilled trades
away from the coastal industry.

Over 10,000 IWA members walked
out on November 21, 2003. On
December 13, ith no end to the dis-
in sight, both the IWA and FIR
agreed to binding Haas pezaite

i in the spring of 2004,
a ae pa one that Abe sulaigy

would continue with its refusal to

jate an agreement.
ne that the coastal industry has

een granted flexibility in scheduling

work and reducing costs in its mills
and woodlands operations, the IWA is

“0 THE IWA IS CALLING ON
EMPLOYERS TO INVEST IN
NEW INFRASTRUCTURE AND
CREATE NEW JOBS AND
STABILITY IN OUR
COMMUNITIES.” - WILF
MCINTYRE, IWA FIRST V.P.

calling on those employers to live up to
their commitments to invest in new
infrastructure and create new jobs and
stability in our communities,” says
McIntyre.

McIntyre also says that one positive
development is that the agreement is
four years in duration, retroactive to

PHOTO COURTESY LOCAL 1-85

= Ona tour ofa TFL 44 heli-logging show near Port Alberni during the
mediation period were, I. to r., Weyco Sproat Lake IWA chair Tom Dawes, IWA
national first vice president Wilf Mcintyre, arbitrator Stan Lanyon, arbitrator
Dave McPhillips, Sproat Lake vice chair Russell Ross, a chargehand from Hayes
Forest Services, a heli-pilot, Weyco’s Dwayne Leskewich, and Sproat Lake
manager Mike Regan. The men were studying contracting out issues.

June 15, 2003. The union has negotiat-
ed a series of six-year agreements in the
forest industry throughout parts of the
province’s Interior regions. “At least
with a shorter-term deal we will be able
to return to the table sooner to address
some serious issues created by this new
agreement,” says McIntyre.

The union has also gained some
measured protection over the introduc-
tion of stump-to-dump contractors.
Parent companies can contract out the
entire operation, but workers will have
rights to continued employment and
severance will be paid out to workers
that don’t get jobs with the contractor.
In the event of a permanent closure of

Progress in Interior mill negotiations

Since the March issue of The Allied
Worker, Prince George Local 1-424 has
negotiated and ratified numerous collec-
tive agreements in the northern Interior
region. Local president Frank Everitt
reports that by achieving strike mandates
and dealing with local issues, six-year
contracts were reached at the following
operations: Canfor Quesnel Forest
Products, West Fraser - Fraser Lake,
Canfor Tackama in Fort Nelson, Canfor
Plateau in Vanderhoof, and Canfor
Houston. Acceptance rates varied from 67
Per cent in Houston (where two previous
agreements were turned down) to 85 per
cent in Fraser Lake. A deal was reached at

with Weldwood Quesnel and, as this issue
oes to press, the Northwest Wood
Preservers operation in Prince George is
still outstanding.

In the province’s southern Interior,
Kelowna Local 1-423 president Ben Landis
announced on June 11, that 60 per cent of
the nearly 1,600 members who cast their
ballots, voted in favour of ratifying a new
‘Southern Interior Master Agreement.
Tentative agreements had been turned
down twice previously.

Brother Landis expressed thanks for
members who attended crew meetings
and expressed their thoughts on the rec-
ommended settlement.

The local and the IFLRA were able to reach
the deal with the assistance of mediator
Mark Brown, who helped work out the
‘settlement at a crucial time.

an operation, the severance pay will be
increased to ten days from seven.
There will be increased contributions to
the IWA-Forest Industry Pension Plan
from both employers and employees.
However, the contract stops short of
having coast employers give the union
the right to make future decisions on
the IWA-Forest Industry Pension Plan.
There are also some minor improve-
ments to severance pay and seniority
retention, as well as wage increases of 2
per cent in each of the final three years
of the collective agreement. Both sides
will meet and try to come up with an
agreement on an additional Return of
Capital Employed system or
Gainsharing agreement by the end of
September, 2004.

The agreement calls for a straight
time travel rate at 75 per cent of the
worker's job rate or the Group 1 labour-
er rate, whichever is more. Workers
will also be able to work through their
holidays if they want and their floating
holiday as well. To view the changes to
the agreement in their entirety visit the
IWA website at www.iwa.ca Click on
Negotiations 2003.

“We are not pleased by this agree-
ment,” says McIntyre. “It definately tips
the scales over in favour of the employ-
ers who will now be able to schedule
their plants for 27/7 production at
straight time. Rather than simply shut
old plants down, this industry must
invest to manufacture new products and
efficiently cut value-added from more
and more second growth forests.”

JUNE 2004 THE ALLIED WORKER | 3