STEEL — THE FIGHTBACK 138 day strike — National Steel Car signs contract ‘We’ve achieved our major goals’. By ELIZABETH ROWLEY > HAMILTON — After 138 days walk- ing the line, fighting the cold and a man- agement under the tutelage of the giant Dofasco steel company 600 workers at National Steel Car in Hamilton ratified a two-year agreement May 29. “It was well worth the struggle’, said union vice-president Ed Curro, ‘‘we didn’t achieve all our goals but we achieved our major goals.”’ . The agreement, retroactive to October 1977 provides for a wage package of 36 cents an hourin the first year and 25 cents in the second — an overall increase. of about 9%. The hourly day rate moves up to $6.53 immediately and the incentive rate to $8.16 in, October 1979, The agreement also provides for full OHIP coverage paid for by the company, and a 30 cent COLA payment into the base and incentive rates after the first year. COLA is suspended in the first year due to AIB regulations. The vote of 240 to 116 ended one of the longest and bitterest strikes seen in Hamilton for many years. The last Steel Car contract signed in 1975 was accepted after the first two offers were thrown out, and the contract before that was settled = = a strike which lasted 1:7 days in 1973. A major part of the difficulty in this set of negotiations was the company’s hard- line approach. “‘There is no real problem of industrial relations’, said Curro, ““Maybe Dofasco being non-union has something to do with it.” Dofasco Subsidiary Steel Car is a subsidiary of Dofasco, the second biggest steel producer in Hamilton next to Stelco. Dofasco is a prime example of what is meant by a monopoly — owning as it does dozens of small companies like the Steel Car, with- out appearing to have any connection to them at all. Throughout the strike, Dofasco tried to keep a low profile, so as to hide the big guns it had pointed at the relatively small Steel Car local. In re- sponse the union organized demonstra- tions which passed right by Dofasco’s plants, pointing out who was really be- hind the scenes (and the problems) in the negotiations. These demonstrations constituted a “‘first’’ for the union which had been hemmed in by legislation preventing so- called ‘“‘secondary picketing’’, that is, picketing of the union’s real adversary — Dofasco. Somehow, through the tang- led webs of legal gobbledygook, the courts had concluded that picketing the manager’s house and picketing a huge corporation were the same cup of tea. So much for Ontario’s ‘‘fair’? labor laws. The union however managed to make You get the shaft, INCO gets the cash PORT COLBORNE — On top of the 437 INCO employees laid off last January, the company announced June 6 they were firing another 22. The news came as contract negotia- tions between INCO, and the Sudbury and Port Colborne locals .of the United Steelworkers resumed contract negotia- tions with monetary issues coming up for the first time. The present contract ex- pires July 10. In addition to the 1,261 Sudbury work- ers INCO cut off the payroll last March, the entire workforce of the whole opera- tion will be laid off for six weeks this summer when the plants shut down from July 17 to August 28. The company’s rationale for throwing thousands on the jobless pile has been the depressed state of the world nickel market. The recent Ontario budget allowed the profit-bloated multi-national to scoop $5-million of the taxpayers’ money into their coffers in the form of tax incentives. Meanwhile, the 15,000 workers laid offin the six-week shutdown will lose some $9-million in pay. INCO workers, and Local 6500 Steel- workers president Dave Patterson hit the nail on the head at the recent Canadian Labor Congress convention in Quebec City last April when he said, ‘‘We get the shaft, and INCO gets the profits.” The rumour in Sudbury was true oe The Sudbury rumour i is spreading, INCO in Port Colborne has added a further 22 technical workers to the 437 it has already fired at its research station. its point by dawdling when it came time to pass by Dofasco. Kidd Glove Treatment Hamilton media used kidd gloves on Dofasco throughout the strike, mention- ing the connection only when it couldn’t be avoided, and by. constantly referring to Steel Car management as though it had a life of its own: National Steel Car however has no shareholders of its own and all of its profits go to Dofasco shareholders. It was no small wonder then, that this rela- tively small company was able to stall and delay as long as it did, One of the biggest steel giants in the country was right behind it, pulling all of the negotiat- ing strings (and all of the stalemates) from behind the scenes. Dofasco is also one of the last hold- outs against the United Steelworkers’ Union, which has made several attempts to organize Dofasco workers. Dofasco has worked hard to keep the union out of it’s plant, always upping the ante over the contracts settled in Hamilton’s other. mother-bountiful — the Steel Company of Canada. As one worker put it, ‘“‘Stelco does the striking and Dofasco gets a nic- kel up’’. This strike was undoubtedly an ' Workers at National Steel Car had to take on the Dofasco monopoly in order to win their latest contract. Dofasco subsidiary — the National Steel Car. Despite the freezing weather which was the norm throughout most of the strike, the Car workers were determined to hold on and win a fair settlement. As one worker said, ‘‘It was mighty cold out here, but it was mighty cold inside that plant too!’’. It was a tough battle for union members and their families, but ‘‘I think it’s made the union stronger’ con- attempt to freeze the union out of a cluded Vice-President Curro. 4 The world’s top 30 According to the International Iron and Steel Institute, total world output of steel in 1977 was 673.2 metric tons, of which the following 30 steel producers accounted for the following tonnage: Figures in millions of metric tons 1 The Soviet Union* ........:......... Gapitiiat eS Sey rie ey 147.0 2° The, United States ooo. on 505 ss0:s.c0as Se ess Gee aisle sia neice 113.1 IRDA o one ccieet onsen sibs te Oise Pn eus uae loess 102.4 4. West Germany ..........0sccccce. Beasts cies HS Sony Sone ar 39.0 Dc MMW es 5 ta fame a Sa Maes ena bod se + S55 ieee Bees 23.3 TEC RT BCE oo icsee this oe Sirs a vw wins co SHINER a 22.1 BBA ois. os o's cseciseig ees pees ; Srp anne Sinan ea aooee 20.5 De POINNG 5 occ eins cate cess tees oles ke eee ae ee ee Se 18.0 10 Czechoslovakia* ......... Sada AR SAE HERO GOOD AG On One 15.0 14: Canada. : South KO 255 SOA I IS So xia Raise oe 4.2 2A AUS esses ores e es cetera oioaat. SS ORK FEI OOCON 4.1 OO WOON ae Sse bao kids ECS Se oe 66 che see eee eeesk Siete’ Stpreakc eke 4.0 “ake BAR Pe OPP Pern Gg Ss ee Pale Seas 3.7 21 GYAIGOSIAVIA = 5 ove s ces Cats BBA AS ocn moe cae Sosstes 516 3.2 28 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ........ Siete (aes asssia ores 3.2 29 Argentina ..... Piven ois alc 0's p sind =o «oa visiaie ait i900 snes amis SS AS OAT 30 Bulgaria* ...... i py Te eS I cbeiainieleveupiereteietacs SA Se os ee *Socialist countries where the fastest growth in steel output is taking place. = PACIFIC TRIBUNE—June 16, 1978—Page 4