February 6, 2000
Volume 30, No. 6
West Coast Transit Workers Vote To Join CAW
Transit workers, bus drivers and maintenance workers in the Lower Mainland Vancouver area have voted to join the Canadian Auto Workers union in a Labour Board supervised vote. The workers, employed by the Coast Mountain Bus Company, voted 1,426 in favour of joining with 1,392 voting against and 2 spoiled ballots. SeaBus drivers (hovercraft) are also now part of the CAW. The drivers were formerly represented by Independent Canadian Transit Union (ICTU). Altogether the unit will comprise 3,250 members. CAW president Buzz Hargrove welcomed them to the CAW - now 240,000 - stating, "They will bring a strong group of workers into our union and we are looking forward to delivering services from collective bargaining to education." Hargrove added that while this is the largest single group of transit workers, the CAW already represents 3,100 transit workers in other municipalities outside B.C. The vote brings 600 skilled trades (maintenance) workers into the skilled trades section of the union.
Hargrove Slams Secret Plutonium Shipment
CAW president Buzz Hargrove slammed the secret import of plutonium recently from the United States into Canada for use as a fuel in a test at Chalk River, ON. Hargrove, in a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, said the CAW is completely opposed to the action and urged that the test not go ahead. CAW members who live along the route flown over by the helicopter carrying the plutonium, especially those in Sudbury and North Bay, are outraged plutonium passed close to their homes and workplaces, he said. "Plutonium should be treated as a dangerous waste product to be immobilized and guarded in its country of origin. It should not be commercialized. Canada can send specialists to help Russia and the U.S. deal with their plutonium problems, but we should not be bringing their problems here." The federal government should adopt the recommendation of the all-party parliamentary committee that the plutonium fuel plan be scrapped. Hargrove also told Chretien that Canada should be pushing for a global ban on plutonium production and use.
A Quick Look At The Alternative Federal Budget
The Alternative Federal Budget was released this month, outlining a series of government priorities for 2000 and 2001. Here they are in brief: - $2 billion for National Child Care and Early Education Services; - $3 billion for health care (including $2 billion for community and home care and $0.5 billion for a National Drug Plan); - $5.5 billion to bolster family income security through the Child Tax Credit; - $2 billion for a national Housing Investment Fund; - $1.4 billion to support post-secondary education; - $6.0 billion to restore eligibility for Unemployment Insurance benefits; - $2.9 billion to restore funds cut from income support programs; - $1.5 billion for investments in infrastructure, with an emphasis on environmental infrastructure; - $1 billion for an Atmospheric Fund. The AFB rejects tax cuts and argues that future budget surpluses should be reinvested in health care and other essential services, said CAW economist Jim Stanford, who helped prepare the 46 page document. The proposal is for a fiscally responsible reinvestment that would reduce poverty and unemployment, provide affordable housing and child care, improve access to education and health care and enhance environmental sustainability, an AFB release states. Such a reinvestment would put money back into the economy and into people's pockets, which would stabilize domestic production and demand. The investments would be made while maintaining a balanced budget over a five-year planning period and the federal debt would be reduced at a pace similar to current federal government projections. The AFB is a project of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Choices: A Coalition for Social Justice, based in Winnipeg.
Staff Appointments
CAW president Buzz Hargrove had made the following appointments of service representatives: - Sukhvinder Johl, chair at Derlan Aerospace, CAW Local 112, will be working out of the CAW's Toronto office; - Mike Reuter, chair at CAMI Automotive, CAW Local 88, will also be working out of the CAW's Toronto office; - Daniel Déry, president of CAW Local 1044, will be working out of the CAW's Quebec office; Hargrove has also announced that John Lang, who has been working in the CAW legal department on a temporary contract basis, has been appointed a permanent member of the CAW legal department.
More New CAW Members
The following workers have recently decided to join the CAW: - 68 workers at Lakeview Inns and Suites in Gimli, MB. They become part of CAW Local 4272; - 42 new members at Marmon/Keystone Canada Inc. in Burlington, ON, who become part of CAW Local 504; - a new unit at potato chip maker Small Fry Snack Foods in Hartland, NB; - 27 members at Bupont Motors Inc. in Timmins, ON, join CAW Local 599.
Bulletin: CAW Communications LUMA Conference
The CAW Communications LUMA conference will be held March 31 to April 2, at the CAW Family Education Centre in Port Elgin. The conference will feature guest speakers and practical workshops for labour editors. For more information, contact CAW Communications at (416) 495-6548. N.B. All local unions are eligible to send delegates whether or not they are CAW Local Union Media Association (LUMA) members or not.
Bulletin: CAW Working With Pride Conference
A CAW Conference for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgenders and Allies will be held April 14 to 16 at the union's Port Elgin Family Education Centre. The conference theme is "working with pride" and the conference will focus on concerns and issues faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender CAW members in the workplace and society. The registration deadline is March 24. For more information contact the CAW Human Rights Department at (416) 495-3781.
WEB PREVIEW: CAW Web Page
Here's a brief look at just some of the information available on the CAW home page. Facts from the Fringe An irregular and irreverent serving of economic tidbits No. 20, February 3, 2000 Funny Money Imagine the semi-authoritarian leader of a medium-sized Latin American country-one with GDP of, say, $30 billion. The leader wants to make several major state purchases: take over a mining company here... For the full text, go to the CAW web site, www.caw.ca, under Newsletters Facts from the Fringe.
