]

= The District 3 conference featured well-attended workshops on collective bargaining, lobbying and political action. norman Garcia

Winnipeg conference held

Delegates from Wood Council local unions in Western Canada
joined their fellow Steelworkers for the District 3 conference

MOST DELEGATES TO the IWA Council conference, held in
Winnipeg on October 1 and 2, remained in town to join their fellow
Steelworkers during the District 3 Conference between October 2 -
5. Over 350 delegates attended the largest district conference ever.

With some 60,000 members, District 3 (which geographi-
cally covers the western provinces and northern territories)
is the fastest growing district in the international union.

District 3 Director Steve Hunt highlighted several
achievements the district has had over the past few years -
including the merger of over 30,000 former IWA Canada
members into the district, the merger of former PACE Local
1-1375 (Iembec Pine Falls, Manitoba) and the merger of for-
mer members of the BMWE, (USW Local 2004) who work
to maintain track for the Canadian National Railway.

Hunt was pleased to say that between 2003 - 2005, over
5,000 members have gone through educational programs
put on by the district. He mentioned that, in 2006, the dis-
trict’s former education coordinator, Carol Landry, became
the first women to become Assistant to the Director in

Western Canada.

On the issue of the District 3 Campaign
to Stop the Killing in the BC forest industry,
Hunt said it has been necessary because
the government, its agencies and the indus-
try did not care enough. He said the process
of contracting out, which has helped created 7,000 compa-
nies, has provoked a “culture of desperation” as workers have
had to engaged in a “race to the bottom” to low-bid contracts.

The director told conference delegates that the issues of
contracting out and safety will be on the bargaining table
with the B.C. coastal forest industry in 2007.

On the organizing front, Hunt noted that the district has
brought in over 4,000 members over the past three years
and is working hard on expanding its organizing efforts. He
encouraged all members in their home locals to help out:
“You know the issues and you know the people in your com-
munity.”

On a discussion on organizing, Local 1-2171 member and
District 3 Organizer Sonny Rioux said that many non-union
woodworkers have no voice and no representation and that

26 | DECEMBER 2006 THE ALLIED WORKER