Local 1-2693 president Joe Hanlon at meeting. District 6 holds softwood lumber town hall meeting in Thunder Bay United Steelworkers sponsored a Town Hall meeting in at the Lakehead Labour Centre in Thunder Bay on October 26, to discuss the impact of the Harper-Bush softwood agreement on workers and commu- nities. About 80 were in attendance including members of USW Local 1- 2693 and the CEP. Although they were invited, Liberals Ken Boschoff (Thunder Bay-Rainy River) and Joe Comuzzi (Thunder Bay - Superior North) refused to attend. Both sup- ported the Harper-Bush agreement in the House of Commons. NDP MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) noted that both Comuzzi and Boschoff “bolted at the last minute” and said the Liberals should not be afraid to debate the issues in their own ridings. Voisey Bay strikers wins contract A two-month strike against the Inco subsidiary, the Voisey Bay Nickel Company, resulted in a strong vic- tory and first contract for 120 USW Local 6480 members. The crew, organized last year, sought and gained parity with other Inco opera- tions in Ontario (Sudbury and Port Colbourne) and Manitoba (Thompson). They got a 15.5 per cent average wage increase over 5 years, a “Nickel Bonus,” an Earnings Compensation Bonus, and a $6,000 retention bonus for remaining at work. Improvements were also made to pensions (a dou- bling of employer contributions), vacations, overtime, bereavement _ leave and sick leave. [> Goodyear Workers Out in Ontario USW members at three Ontario operations of Goodyear Canada joined 12 other Steelworker operations in the United States to strike the company on October 5, in a North America-wide struggle against concessions. Workers at Goodyear divisions in Toronto, Owen Sound and Collingwood hit the bricks. Job security is a paramount issue. In 2003 negotiations, the union bar- gained job security and invest- ment in North American plants. The Steelworkers have established a pattern agreement with BF Goodrich at three U.S, plants, cov- Union drives to organize Stelco staff District 6 organizers are working on organizing some 700 office, administra- tion and technical staff at Stelco operations in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ontario. During recent restructuring, the staff have been forced to absorb cuts and rollbacks, while USW members at the com- pany’s Lake Erie and Hilton Works operations have reached col- lective agreements that protect job security, wages and benefits. The organizing campaign was in full swing by mid-September. District 6 Director Wayne Fraser says that the workers deserve “a real voice” that will represent them at work. [> Union decries Inco takeover District 6 Director Wayne Fraser said that the Brazilian Compania del Vale Rio Doce’s (CVRD) $19 billion takeover of 76 per cent of Inco has dealt Canada and “severe blow.” Brother Fraser, a native of Sudbury, second generation mine worker and Local 6500 member, told CBC Newsworld in late October that: “I think it’s a shame we allow foreign ownership 1 of Canada’s natural resources...” He = Pictured are USW members of the Goodyear Canada negotiating team. usw ering some 4,000 workers. [> Wayne Fraser also questioned whether CVRD will invest when markets soften in the future. In September Local 6500 exec- utive board member Alex Patterson, USW northeastern Ontario area coordi- nator Dan O’Reilly and CNO research department head Charles Campbell (see photo left) visited Brazil to find out more about CVRD and met with offi- cials from the Brazilian Labour Central ~ the CUT (Central Unica de Trabalhadores). Meetings with mining region workers led to an agreement to form a network of CVRD unions in both countries. “We work in a global mining world,” said Brother Patterson. “So the union needs to go global too.” The USW sent reps to Brazil to meet with trade unionists from the labour central and CVRD operations. usw rHoto Pry T R THE ALLIED WORKER