re a ORGANIZING AND GROWTH PHOTO BY LAWRENCE MACKAY = Pictured are negotiating team members. L. to r. are Earle MacCallum, Dan Belliveau, Wade McNorton and Peter Daley. Scotsburn sawmill workers vote in favour of the union Following the opening of a ballot box by the Nova Scotia Labour Relations Board on September 30, Local 1-306 won its first-ever certi- fication in the province. It’s a his- toric milestone for the former IWA local and also the first forest industry operation for the Steelworkers in the Maritime province. Workers at the Deniso Lebel Ltd. sawmill in Scotsburn voted 37-15 to join the local union. Workers there sought to join the former IWA as far back as April when the first phonecall was made to the union. Union organiz- er Mario Fortunato, then president of the IWA local, worked on the campaign with an effective inside committee. That committee, he says, did a great deal of work to make the orga- nizing drive a success. “Those workers strong- | ly supported the union and now Mario Fortunato they have the support they deserve,” says Brother Fortunato. “As the IWA we reached out to new members in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Now that we are Steelworkers, we have an even better ability to rep- resent sawmill workers in Atlantic Canada.” Steelworkers’ Ontario/Atlantic Canada District Director Wayne Fraser says ”...it’s exciting to bring new sawmill workers into our union on the heels of the IWA merger.” He added: “Woodworkers in Atlantic Canada need to know that there is an opportunity to improve their working lives by joining the Steelworkers union.” District 6 staff representative Lawrence MacKay has held meetings with the crew. An elected negotiating committee including Peter Daley, Dan Belliveau, Wade McNorton and Earle MacCallum, (see above photo) will be at the bargaining table. Top items to be addressed include workplace harrassment and health and safety issues, fol- lowed by wages and benefits. on the job is a big issue PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA = Steelworkers - IWA Council officer Wilf McIntyre (foreground), seen here at the founding convention of the Council, is heading up organizing efforts. To his right is Local 1-324 president Chris T. Parlow. FORMER IWA VICE-PRESIDENT TO LEAD ORGANIZING FOR THE USWA - IWA COUNCIL Building a stronger union WELL-KNOWN IWA COUNCIL officer Wilf McIntyre, former first vice-president of IWA Canada, is taking on the key job of directing and coordinating organizing activities within the IWA Council-affiliated local unions of the Steelworkers. That means in the months ahead Brother McIntyre will be working with former IWA locals and a pool of organizers within those locals, to prepare and deliver organizing campaigns across the country. “Y'll be working in all three Canadian districts of the Steelworkers,” says Brother McIntyre. “As part of the council’s function, there will be a special emphasis on organizing in the forest industry — to strengthen our union’s presence in that sector right across the country.” Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard and Canadian Director Ken Neumann, also see a strong prior- ity for organizing in the forest sector. As part of the merg- er agreement, an initial $1 million will be spent on orga- nizing in traditional areas that were covered by the IWA. “This means the forest industry and other industrial and service sectors, including banking,” adds McIntyre. “We've got everything from the forest industry, to health care to hotels in our local unions. Our organizing program under the Steelworker banner will still reflect that great diversity. The whole program is a good fit.” As new certifications are organized within former IWA locals, they will become affiliated to those locals, under the Steelworkers’ dues formula. Brother McIntyre sees tremendous potential in the forest sector economy, in B.C., the prairie provinces, Ontario and Atlantic Canada. “We are also going to look at organizing efforts in the logging and hauling sectors, which are largely non-union,” he adds. “Much work has to be done in the tradition areas of the council.” McIntyre, who began as a volunteer organizer for Local 2693 of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union in 1973, is going back to his roots in the union move- ment. “Organizing is the life blood of any trade union. The Steelworkers are one of the leading organizations in Canada when it comes to bringing in new membership and we want to be a vital part of that great tradition.” Former IWA organizers will undergo a two-day refresher course with the Steelworkers. A more intense, week-long course, for new organizers, will be offered next year. “We are looking forward to kicking off our orga- nizing program as soon as possible,” comments McIntyre. “Our IWA Council within the Steelworkers looks at this arrangement as an excellent opportunity to recapture some of the enthusiasm that existed in the former IWA in the late gos and early 2000's. In recent years we haven’t been as succeessful — now we will have the human and financial resources to assist our efforts.” Steel hopes to land fish workers WHEN THE BALLOT BOX is opened, likely in January of 2005, the Steelworkers are optimistic they will be certified to rep- resent workers at the Pan Fish Canada North American Ltd. fish processing plant and cold storage facilities in Port Hardy, northern Vancouver Island. If the applica- tion for certifica- tion, which was made in late November, is suc- cessful, it will be the firstever bargaining unit for the union in the B.C. fishing industry. Steelworkers organizer Leslie McNabb, who is a Local 1-363 member and a log Leslie McNabb scaler at Menzies Bay, says crew mem- bers are fed-up with favouritism being practised by the employer. Junior workers are called back before senior workers. Sister McNabb has been spearheading the campaign in recent weeks, assisted by union organizers Sonny Rioux, Gordie McIntosh, and Local 1-2171's Barb Cousineau. In addition to seniority issues, many in the crew of 150 are concerned about health and safety. “There are a fair number of repetitive strain injures in the operation,” says Sister McNabb. She says that the workers have often brought safety issues to man- agement, only to have them ignored. Although the campaign stretched back to March of last year, a previous card sign- ing campaign fizzled in the summer months. In early November a group of workers contacted the union and the campaign progressed. An effective inside committee did a good job of rallying sup- port for the drive, says Sister McNabb. “Workers need to know that there are alternatives for them and that the Steelworkers are here on the coast to help them,” says Brother Rioux. Pan Fish is a multinational company based in Norway, which has operations in B.C, the United States, Norway, and Scotland. The fare is trying to stack the voter's list with names it i le that haven’t worked at Pepys al time and have even moved out of the area. ‘The entire case is in front of the BCLRB. DECEMBER 2004 THE ALLIED WORKER a siz