nar eee) WI benefits are available during lay-off MOST COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS within IWA Canada certifications have a period of benefit lay-off coverage written into their text. In our major forest industry collective agreements, ABOUT YOUR COVERAGE BY GERRY SMITH the lay-off coverage period you are entitled to is up to six months with extensions for days worked within any month during the lay-off. The lay-off coverage is funded by your employer under the terms of your Collective Agreement to provide continuous coverage throughout periods of intermittent work, should that be the case. : This provision of the collective agreement means that if you become sick or injured during the lay-off coverage period you should file a daim through your Weekly Indemnity plan, not through E.I. Sick bene- fits. The Trustees of Health and Welfare Trusts have received a number of appeals for late filed daims which were delayed because our members simply switched his Employment Insurance claim from active to E.I. Sick Benefits. This change of E.I. status is simple to do with proof of disability. However, failing to use the Weekly Indemnity coverage before the E.I. Sick benefit will cause a number of problems for you if your disability is serious and prolonged beyond your short term dis- ability benefit period. The recently negotiated change to the Qualification Period for IWA Long Term Disability to 26 weeks makes the correct application for Weekly Indemnity and then E.I. Sick Benefits even more important for the provision of seamless benefits. The disability benefits from E.I. provide 15 weeks of coverage. If the disability goes beyond the 15 weeks in duration, an appeal to the Health and Welfare Trustees will usually result in them waiving the rule against the late filing of the claim and allow the daim to be adjudicated by the W.I. Insurance carrier. If the claim is accepted back to the original date of disabili- ty, the EI. benefits already received should be returned to the E.I. because you will need them later if your claim extends into the LTD period. At the end of the W.I. period, if still disabled your claim will be adjudicated by the LTD Plan. The LTD Plan has a 15 week “carve-out” period fol- lowing the last payment from W.I to the first benefit payment from LTD. The benefit payments during the carve-out period are assumed to be provided through the E.I. Sick Benefit program. If these benefits were used in the first 15 weeks of the disability, there will be no benefit available for the carve-out period. The disability benefits coverage from W.L., E.I. Sick Benefits and the IWA-Forest Industry LTD Plan pro- vide continuous earnings loss protection if drawn in the appropriate order. It is possible to apply for E.I. Sick benefits prior to the end of the WI period but this will leave a hole in your benefit period which will not be covered by LTD benefits during the “E.I, Carve-out Period.” The order in which these benefits are applied for is very impor- tant to you and your family. If you have any questions about your benefit cover- age, call your Local Union or the IWA Canada National Office - telephone (604) 683-1117 - and ask for myself. Gerry Smith is the |WA’s Benefits Appeals Representative IWA finance guys get together for a review TO SHARE IDEAS ON HOW tomake our national and local unions run smoother the IWA finance guys got together at the union’s national training centre on March 2 and 3 to talk about issues that affect them — including the new Personal Information and Privacy Act (Bill 38), a web-based Arbitration Information Directory, some book keep- ing tips (including the union’s policy on banking and cash controls), and a review of the IWA education policy and pro- grams. Financial secretaries from seven- teen local unions were present along with national secretary-treasuer David Tones, national staff and presenters. In short, quite a bit of information was packed into a day and a half session. “It was a great opportunity for us together to compare notes and discuss issues that local face as a collective or individual entities,” says Brother Tones. Kathy Wutke, a labour liaison repre- sentative from the Community Saving Credit Union, gave a presentation on the importance the credit union attaches to Protecting it clients personal informa- tion. She also talked about efficient ways of managing payroll accounts, including the possibility that, in the future, strike assistance pay could be electronically deposited in the accounts of qualifying union members. Instruction on how to reduce costs and prevent/detect errors in financial duties was given along with tips on how to produce financial information in a timely manner. Ms. Wutke also talked about avoiding exposure to risks and reducing unnecessary duplication of records and other work. General discussion took place on the IWA’s education policy and managing costs in that area. Many local unions have negotiated educational funds in col- lective agreements and are trying to get the most efficienct use of the funds to reach the most members. General presentations were made by PHOTOS BY NORMAN GARCIA = Pictured, front to back, are national accountant Andrea Fiore, IWA national secretary-treasurer David Tones and local union financial secretaries: 363’s Erik Eriksson, 2171's Bob Freer, 1-423’s Verne McGregor and 1-184’s Harry Groenen. IWA national auditor Lyle Brown of Culver and Co. A represenative from Ford Canada spoke on how the union, as a whole, could save money by ordering officer and staff vehicles from motor companies rather than going through dealers. At the end of the first day, then IWA national president Dave Haggard made a presentation on the merger negotiation process between the IWA and the United Steelworkers of America. Considerable discussion took place about the financial status of the two unions and the structure and dues sys- tem of the USWA works in relation to the services that are rendered. National staffer John Mountain, who has been working on a web-based arbi- tration summaries archive, gave a pre- sentation on a website he has developed to improve the reporting of arbitration decisions, communication of decisions between the national and local unions and make an arbitration archive that is fully accessible. Arbitrations are broken down into four indexes: geographic regions, cited cases, contract interpreta- tion and contracting out decisions. = Left tor. are Local 324’s Daryl Harkness, Local 1-3567’s Brian Harder and Local 1-425’s Terry Tate. B.C. NDP president Jeff Fox spoke to the group on the importance of the next provincial election, slated for May 2005. He laid out the party's strategy for renew- al and invited local unions to rebuild the party. Several locals have also responded to take part. The get together went over well with participants. Saskatchewan Local 1-184’ s Harry Groenen told The Allied Worker that he found the portion on the web- based arbitration system particulary interesting. “It’s a very good resource that is well put together,” he says. “When you go into an arbitration it’s good to have an ace in the pocket and that can be a relevant decision in the union’s favour.” He said bulk buying concepts are good in principle but questioned on how the locals would work together if they decide to. He also suggested that from the mate- rial presented and new material, a course for financial secretaries might be devel- oped in the future. Cranbrook B.C. Local 1-405 financial secretary Doug Singer said the meeting’s presentations were valuable and interest- ing. He said the local union has already taken measures to protect personal infor- mation by using simple methods. He says that local will getting more into using the web-based arbitration system and that the discussion around adminis- tration of strike pay bears more consider- ation to cut administration costs. Kapuskasing, Ontario Local 2995 financial secretary Jacques Jean says that the local is interested in possibly utilizing direct deposit transfer in the event of future payment of strike pay. “We're also going to look into direct deposit for vari- ous union business, like paying per diem or related expenses.” Brother Jean also says the presentation from the B.C. NDP, in attempts to rebuild the party's labour support, might be something the Ontario party could do in the future. He also said that the presenta- tion on privacy was particulary useful. Bob Freer, financial secretary for Local 2171, who attended a similar conference sponsored by the B.C. Federation of Labour late last year, says the get together was very useful. He says the part deali with bulk ing could be of special use and, that since March, he has taken a seminar on privacy legislation issues. “It’s always good to get together to work with each other,” he says. “From day to day we have the same battles. Most locals and unions are finding themselves with less Tesources. Comparing notes and sharing information is important.” JUNE 2004 THE ALLIED WORKER [ -21