Bloorview Macmillan Hospital in
Toronto. The crew is still waiting for
an arbitrator to be agreed upon by

= Feller buncher at Tembec Spruce Falls
bush operation. proto NoAMAN GARCIA

both sides. [> Woodlands
Negotiations Local 1-2995 presi-
dent Guy Bourgouin says the union
is battling back against demands for
concessions at the bargaining table
in current woodlands talks with
Tembec, Spruce Falls and Abitibi
Iroquois Falls divisions. Brother
Bourgouin says that Spruce Falls and
Abitibi want to introduce
owner/operators on their limits.
“They want contractors to shack and
bach it in the woods and we say no
way,” says Bourgouin. “Both of these
outfits are going to be facing a strike
vote unless they drop their conces-
sions off the table.” Both companies
are also trying to drop unionized tree
planters from the collective agree-
ment. Abitibi is also pushing for
50:50 employer/employee benefits.
“These employers are using the cur-
rent economic circumstances of the
industry to attempt to gut our union
contracts,” comments Bourgouin.

(> Agreement at Atway
Transport Local 1-2693 reports that
workers at Atway Transport, a
Buchanan Forest
Products’ sub-
sidiary, have ratified
a three-year collec-
tive agreement,
with the assistance
of a mediator. The
crew, which voted in favour of taking
strike action to backup its demands,
will get wage increases of 2 per cent
in each of the last two years of the
agreement. They had been without a
contract since April 30, 2004. Local
president Joe Hanlon says the crew
beat back calls for concessions and
that shift scheduling issues may be
worked on during the agreement. [>
Contract reached in Mount
Forest Local 1-500 president Bruce
Weber reports that, in early
November, a tentative agreement was
reached at Quality Homes in Mount
Forest. Over 100 Steelworkers are
employed at the prefabricated home
manufacturing plant which has been
very busy at a time of year that pro-
duction normally tapers off. Wage
and benefit improvements average 4
per cent per year. “Since the last cou-
ple of agreements, there has been
less turnover in the operation — evi-
dence that workers will remain there
when they are compensated more
fairly,” says Brother Weber. |»
Talks at Dashwood Windows
Local 1-500’s president Bruce Weber
also reports the union is working on
getting a new agreement at
Dashwood Windows, near Lucan,
Ontario. The contract expired on
November 16, 2005. Non-monetary

Joe Hanlon

= Over 350 Steelworkers are employed
by Interforest. proto NORMAN GARCIA

issues have been settled at the plant,
which is a subsidiary of Minnesota-
based Anderson Windows. It is one
of only two unionized plants in
North America. [> New Work in
Durham Ontario Local 1-500 says
that some lost jobs at a veneer man-
ufacturing operation in Darlington,
Pennsylvania (a Steelworkers’ plant)
will be located to Durham, Ontario.
In 2003 the parent company, the
Danzer Group, closed a veneer
plant in Princeton, West Virginia.
Local union financial secretary Saul
Marques is heading up a negotating
team at the operation. The contract
expires on December 31, 2005. [>>
New Jobs in Hanover Bruce
Weber also reports that a new com-
mitment to invest at the Hanover-
Hearth Cabinets plant (formerly
Hanover Kitchens) will see new
machinery and other upgrades.
Employees have been informed
that a new “Acorn Production
System” will be put into place, to
speed up production and delivery
times in the fall/winter months.

THE ALLIED WORKER DECEMBER 2005 | 14