IWA PEOPLE

AND PLACES

PHOTO COURTESY IWA LOCAL 1-184
= IWAmember Seamus Lubiniecki
escaped crewcab wreckage.

Saskatchewan millworker
survives miraculous pileup

Brother Seamus Lubiniecki is one
lucky millwright — or maybe he had
an angel looking out for him this.
past February 10. While driving to a
pension conference, Seamus ran
into some rough weather. Overnight
rain, high northwesterly winds and a
snowstorm
made driving
conditions near
Regina treach-
erous. After
turning on to
the double-lane
Highway 1
about 17 km
from Regina,
Seamus hit a snow squall and threw
on the brakes, stopping only three
feet away from a jack-knifed semi-
trailer. From behind, a second semi
veered left, smacking the back of
Seamus’ GMC extended cab. The
truck had crushed around him as
the dash pushed into his knees and
he was driven under the trailer. The
roof and sides collapsed. Then a
third semi hit the pileup! The ner-
vous drivers found Seamus in the
twisted wreckage, where he asked
for a knife to cut himself out.
Despite gas and diesel spills the dri-
vers pried the roof up from the rear
and out Seamus was extracted from
the wreckage.

Brother Lubinieki was taken to the
Regina hospital and got a half-dozen
stitches to the head. After a medical
exam, Local 1-184 first vice presi-
dent Albert Digness drove him back
to his hotel.

“We always knew there was protec-
tion when you belong to a union,”
says local financial secretary Harry
Groenen. “But Seamus has taken us
all to a new level!”

Bro. Lubiniecki

= Dean Lott (I) accepts presentation.

Local awarded by United Way

Local 1-207 was one of three
unions honoured for its contribu-
tion to the Alberta Capital Region's
2003 United Way Workplace
Campaign. On February 26, finan-
cial secretary Dean Lott accepted
the award from Tom Olenuck, presi-
dent of the Edmonton and District
Labour Council.

ICHMON
R HOTEL D

& CONVENTION CENTRE

PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA

= Atthe roastin late February, Harvey (middle) is seen with his wife Leona as secretary-treasurer David Tones gave thanks.

UNITED WAY ROAST RAISES OVER $10,000 FOR BC CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

A big thanks to Harvey!

BROTHER HARVEY ARCAND, one of the most
respected and capable officers in IWA history was roast-
ed and toasted to raise money for a good cause - the
United Way of the Lower Mainland. The event, which
took place on February 28 at the Best Western Richmond
Inn, drew a crowd of over 250 and raised over $10,000
which has been donated to the BC Children’s Hospital
Heart Ward.

Harvey, his wife Leona, family and many members of
the union, labour movement, and management were
entertained for nearly three hours by a list of roasters that
included then IWA national president Dave Haggard,
former IWA national first vice president Neil Menard,
Williams Lake Local 1-425 president Terry Tate, WA
Local 1-405 president Bob Matters, former IWA Local 1-
85 president Larry Rewakowsky, the CLC’s Gordie
Larkin, sister Louise and niece Jessica, Judith Brown-
Rudersdorfer of the IWA-Forest Industry Pension Plan
office, Riverside Forest Products Human Resources
Manager Don Cadmun, long-time friend Terry Sexsmith
and former brother-in-law John White. Ken Neumann,
then District 3 director of the United Steelworkers of
America was also on hand to thank Harvey and present
him with a Steelworker jacket.

Brother Haggard presented a humourous slide show
on the life and times of Harvey: from his childhood, to
many outdoor adventures, union activities and get
togethers with family and friends.

“Tt was a great night and an occassion to take some
friendly potshots at our good Brother,” says Neil
Menard. “We wish Harvey, his
wife Leona, and family many
happy and prosperous years
together. Nobody has served the
IWA better in more difficult sit-
uations than did Harvey. He
made great contributions to the
IWA and to working people
throughout his career.”

In May of 1992, at the rela-
tively young age of 42, Harvey
was appointed as fourth vice-
president of the national union
by then national president Gerry Stoney. He was sworn
in on June 5, 1992 as a part-time rep at the national level
while he remained president of the Williams Lake local
union.

Neil Menard

At the national level he did
“| numerous tasks as a union rep-
resentative on the IWA-Forest
Industry Pension Plan’s Board of
Trustees, the Long Term
Disability Plan and a number of
Health and Welfare plans.
? Harvey was born in Radium,
RiiorgD B.C. in the province’s East
lew hi bad Kootenays. He was raised in
a Skookumchuck and Radium Hot
Harv’s sister Louise Springs. In his early years he
(r.) and niece Jessica helped his father cut and haul
timber for manufacturing into railroad ties.

By 1968 he was hired on in Fort St. James at the
Canadian Forest Products operation. That year and the
year before, the IWA fought a bitter fight in the Interior
for wage parity with the coast.

An incident in 1970 solidified Harvey’s support for the
union. When a company rep threatened the crew that the
mill would shut down if they gave the IWA a strike man-
date that year, he started to become very active in the
union.

He went from being a production worker to a saw filer
and went on to become one of the first saw fitter appren-
tices in B.C. under a new Filers and Fitters
Apprenticeship Program. In 1971 he was elected as plant
chairperson and a year later he became an IWA Local 1-
424 executive board member. Then, by 1975, he was sec-
ond vice president of the local union.

In 1977 Brother Arcand was acclaimed as president of
the newly-formed Williams Lake Local 1-425, which was
carved out of the Cariboo-Chilcotin region in the south-
em part of Local 1-424. The local hit a high of 1,700
members in the late 70s. A major downturn in the econ-
omy in the early’s saw the local’s membership bottom
out at 800 in 1982 - tough days indeed. The local contin-
ued to organize and, as the economy recovered, the
memberhsip rose to 1,200 by the end of the 1980s.

In the national union Harvey served in many roles
including a Pension and LTD specialist, negotiator, trou-
bleshooter, and peacemaker. He was a jack-of-all trades,
whose services will be missed by many.

Brother Arcand is now working for WE Group
Benefits and Consultants and continues to assist the
IWA on a consultant basis.

24 | THE ALLIED WORKER JUNE 2004