ww’ ORGANIZING AND GROWTH

Org win at South River Planing

The IWA brought about 20 workers into Local 1000 on June 20 when it won a certification vote at the South River Planing Mill in South River, Ontario, mid-way between Huntsville and North Bay. Union organizer Angelo Sanservino and Mike Hunter conducted the cam- paign. The workers’ issues include unfair treatment, lack of seniority protection, and no wage increases for the past three years. Some work- ers with 14-15 years seniority only get two weeks holidays and top rate in the plant is $11.95/hr.

Drive begins at Decor-Rest furniture in Woodbridge

Local 700 began signing cards at the Decor-Rest Furniture plant in Woodbridge, Ontario in mid-June, where about 250 workers are employed. The union has begun a mail-out campaign to workers, which produce uphol- stered furniture

Mike Hunter items such as sofas and armchairs. National orga- nizing coordinator Mike Hunter says a tip came from inside the plant that the workers want better pay and dignity on the workplace floor. Local president Ron Diotte, business agent Tom Lowe and organizer Fran Borsellino helped out in the initial stages of the campaign.

= Speakers corner a hit in 02.

Local 1-3567 back at the PNE The IWA‘s ever-active Fraser Valley local will be out organizing on the fairgrounds of this year's Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver. For the second consecutive year, the local, in cooperation with the nation- al office, will be setting up its famous tent and booth between August 16 and Labour Day, to meet with the public and give out informa- tion on the union.

Road crew joins Local 2174 Local 2171 is pleased to announce that union organizer Sonny Rioux has recently brought in a con- tract road building crew into the IWA. Seven workers employed by the Campbell River

Sonny Rioux based Strathcona Contracting joined on July 14. The full phase contractor largely oper- ates on northern Vancouver Island. It has rock drills, backhoes and some gravel trucks.

PHOTO COURTESY IWA LOCAL 2693

= From the |. tor. are Donna Llewellyn, Stacey St. Marseille, Sheila Gravelle, Laura Lee Rawlyk, Jennifer Masson.

ONTARIO LOCAL ORGANIZES CANADIAN BLOOD SERVICES CREW

Life blood of the union!

THE TERM “LIFE BLOOD OF THE UNION” took ona new wrinkle in early June, when IWA Local 2693 organized 25 workers in Sudbury, Ontario. In union parlance, getting the “life blood” means bringing in new members and that’s exactly what the union did when local business agent Bert Poulin and national organizer Fran Borselllino teamed to successfully sign up and certify employees of the Canadian Blood Service (formerly Canadian Red Cross) in town.

The workers, who collect blood donations in Sudbury and many far, outlying communities, are known as phlebotomists and clinical assistants.

“They travel away from Sudbury for at least three days a week, putting in very long hours,” says Brother Poulin. “Transportation conditions are very harsh and they want these issues dealt with, along with some

respect and dignity on the job.” The workers also

have scheduling issues to address. Donna Llewellyn, who works at CBS, says a union member in Sudbury referred the group to the IWA. Previously they had tried to join the Ontario Nurses Association, to no avail. “We had to do something to protect ourselves,” she says. “The employer was doing as it pleased with us and it was time for us to join a union to get our issues properly addressed.”

Sister Borsellino, who has been out organizing in the private health care field, says the [WA’s strong reputation in the community and its growth in the health care field, helped bring in the blood service workers.

Local 2693 president Joe Hanlon extends the IWA’s wel- come to the crew and encourages all the workers to take an active part in strengthening the role of the union in their workplace. “We will work hard to get the best deal possible for these new members and I congratulate them for taking

the step in joining our organization,” says Hanlon.

Feeling the effects of the Tories

THE CONSERVATIVE Ontario gov- ernment of Mike Harris, now being headed by premier Ernie Eves, has done a huge number on the labour movement in the province, says IWA National Second Vice President Norm Rivard. The Tories have deliv- ered, in spades, what the business sector has lob- bied for in terms of anti-union laws and the effects are being felt right across the labour move- ment. “What is going in Ontario is unbelievable,” said Brother Rivard, in an interview with The Allied Worker. “The organiz- ing climate is getting worse as many employers think they have an open right to freely interfere in campaigns as they often do. The effects on our union, like other organizations, is that we have often run up against walls when workers get scared by the boss or the employer simply refuses to negotiate after the place is orga- nized,” he added.

Rivard cites a current paper, released by labour lawyers Elizabeth Mitchell and Rob Lebi, which high- lights the damage to labour.

Norm Rivard

The anti-union onslaught started shortly after the 1995 election when Harris took power. He introduced Bill 7 which, among other things, took away automatic certifications and faster hearings for unfair labour practices (threats or firings of workers). In ‘98 they enacted Bill 31 the “Wal-Mart amendment” to the labour code, nulli- fying a 25 year-old law which granted automatic certification to a union where there was “egregious” conduct on behalf of the company. Now the OLRB can only order a second vote. The list of changes to a fair playing field goes on. OLRB staff has been gut-

FILE PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA = Seen in April of ‘96 was an IWA contingent protesting Harris’ policies.

ted, and four vice chairs fired dur- ing the term of their office in ‘96. Seven vice chairs were not reap- pointed, upping the work load on the remaining ones.

In the 2002-2003 fiscal year only 13,708 people were able to join a union in a province of over 13 mil- lion inhabitants, versus the ‘94-95 fiscal year when 32,166 joined unions. There were only 489 suc- cessful applications versus over 1000 per year in the early gos. “We have to get active politically to boot the Tories out,” added Rivard. “If we ignore politics we get whacked.”

8 | THE ALLIED WORKER -AUGUST: 2003