August 13, 2000
Volume 30, No. 21
CAW Negotiates First Contract For SEIU
Over 6000 former SEIU members in 85 bargaining units have voted through OLRB votes to join the CAW in recent months. Negotiations for new contracts are underway in many and this week the first negotiated CAW contract was ratified by 96 per cent of the workers at Merrymount Children's Centre. The contract provides 3-½ percent increase in a one-year contract. Bargaining the unusual one year contract was the decision of the bargaining committee as future goverment funding levels were uncertain. The contract also contained a breakthrough for the workers who travel as part of their job. The mileage allowance is no longer just an employer "policy" which can be changed or even eliminated at the whim of the employer or because of government cutbacks. It is now in the collective agreement. As well overtime equalization language was negotiated for the first time. The 90 workers faced a six week strike during their last set of negotiations. The workers this year joined the CAW and are now members of CAW Local 302.
Vancouver Hotel Members Get Excellent Deal on Eve of Strike Deadline
The 467 members of CAW Local 4275 at the Hotel Vancouver voted to accept by 97 percent August 12 a new agreement reached just prior to the strike deadline that "raises the bar for all CP hotels and sets pioneering conditions for the hotel sector as a whole," says area director Len Ruel. The contract was won in an area beset by hotel strikes this summer and far exceeds any of the settlements to date. The two year contract includes a 3 percent wage increase with substantial classification adjustments and a further 3 percent increase one year from now. Major benefit improvements will be made available to a much expanded number of part-time workers and for the first time, senior part-time and casual workers will be eligible for weekly indemnity and Life/AD&D. New provisions include up to one year of parental leave, laser surgery as a vision care option and five bereavement days for immediate family.
CAW Political Taskforce
The CAW Political Taskforce headed up by NEB members Alex Keeney and Julie White has worked through the past eight months to carry out the mandate endorsed by the December 1999 council. The task force has held a number of pilot sessions and in June every local union across the country received membership leaftlets to be distributed on the shop floor, in the offices, and variety of workplaces where the CAW's 240,000 members work. The leaflets outline the extensive consultation to take place throughout the coming months and also contain a tear-off survey that is to be returned to the local union and ultimately analyzed by university statisticians. If your workplace has not received these leaflets please contact your local union immediately.
CAW National Executive Board Adopts Statement on Violence
The CAW's national executive board statement on violence adopted in July was published in the Friday, August 11 edition of the Toronto Star. DYING AT THE HANDS OF GOVERNMENT CUTS The Canadian Auto Workers union has just passed yet another statement on violence against women at our leadership meeting last week. It was with sadness that we marked the recent deaths of six women killed by their former partners in the past two months in Ontario. But our sadness spreads beyond the immediate families and communities of these women who were killed: on average three women a week are killed in Canada by a partner or former partner. These recent deaths are horrific reminders that we live in a society that continues to allow vast numbers of women to be beaten, raped and controlled - emotionally, sexually, and economically - by men. Among the most tragic aspects of the recent murders is that these deaths clearly illustrate gaps in the system that have already been identified time and time again - by the coroner's inquest into the death of Arlene May, by the Federal Government Panel on Violence Against Women, and most especially by women's groups across the country, including NAC, who have been campaigning tirelessly for over twenty years, demanding government action to end violence against women. The government's response to the most recent deaths is to again call for another inquest, even as they fail to implement the recommendations already in their hands from inquests into all-too-similar situations. We should be very cynical about the government's intention to study the issue further. Some call for a 'more policing' solution. But a strict 'law and order' agenda does not go to the root of the problem, does not address the position of women in our society, does not provide women with options, and does not make violence against women a community responsibility. Women are dying at the hands of men, but they are also dying at the hands of governments that cut off all options -- by eliminating funding for second stage shelters, by grossly under funding emergency women's shelters, by virtually eliminating affordable housing, by drastically cutting welfare and unemployment insurance. Women who live in poverty, women of colour, Aboriginal women, older women and women with disabilities are most at risk of violence in our society, and still they continue to receive the least amount of support. Efforts to address violence against women must be driven by a social justice agenda that addresses poverty and discrimination. Violence against women affects all of us. Given the statistics, the CAW has recognized that many of our members are living in violent (and potentially violent) situations. We have taken a number of steps such as negotiating women's advocates in CAW workplaces and anti-harassment training, educating our members about violence, and making donations to women's shelters (about $90,000 a year). But with each passing year, more women die and many more are in danger. The CAW will participate in a national, cross-sectoral women's anti-violence publicity campaign this fall, as part of the World March of Women. We will work within our communities to bring greater attention to the ongoing issue of violence against women, and to broaden the debate from a 'policing' issue to a community and social justice issue. We will push, with renewed energy, for federal and provincial funding for women's groups, for emergency shelters, for second stage housing, for strict enforcement of gun control laws, for affordable housing and for a reversal of cuts to social assistance. Women also need immediate stronger support from the justice system and all levels of government. The following steps would provide a greater margin of safety for women and their children while broader social and economic measures are being put in place: 1. All police departments need to create risk assessment units so that when a man is first charged, specially-trained police along with representatives from women's organizations meet with both the victim and the accused before the bail hearing. 2. Restraining orders have repeatedly failed to protect women. One breach of a no contact order must mean that the accused is arrested and remains in jail until the trial. Surely one breach is enough to indicate that the accused poses a continued threat. 3. Front line services and second-stage shelters for battered women must be adequately funded. Government cutbacks and lack of political will mean that every day, women are being turned away from shelters and services, forced to return to violent situations. Some of these women are killed. Meanwhile the campaign to end violence against women is ongoing. It can be tiring, frustrating, and demoralizing. It is a silent war, and the casualties keep mounting. The government has become part of the problem. We need to renew our efforts and join with others to be part of the solution. Violence against women is not a 'women's issue'. This is an issue for all of us. We all need to take responsibility. We need to speak up and speak out - to other men, to our governments, and in support of women who are taking the lead. Buzz Hargrove, President, CAW-Canada
Shipbuilding Policy Forum
The extensive lobbying campaign carried out by the CAW to establish a new shipbuilding policy for Canada is coming to a head in September. Tentatively the dates of September 7 and 8 have been set for the premiers' forum in St. John's Newfoundland.
Holmes Foundry - Successful Lung Cancer Claims
Two more significant victories were achieved for workers who died of lung cancer as a result of their workplace exposures to carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) at Holmes Foundry in Sarnia. One worker was hired in Octoer 1964 in the core room. He retired in 1988. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 1993 and passed away on May 7, 1994. The claim was submitted July 6, 1999 and was accepted June 13, 2000. His wife is deceased but his daughter will receive $242,324.98. The other worker was hired in 1942 and worked as a cupola operator until leaving work in 1977. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in August 1995 and died in December 1997. The claim was submitted August 31, 1999 and was accepted June 16, 2000. His wife and two children will receive $131,097.96 and his widow will receive a monthly pension of $1,499.50. CAW Local 456 President Bill Hicks said, "These successes make all of the work and effort in attempting to establish these claims well worthwhile."
Richest Canadians
While the gap between rich and poor continues to grow in Canada, a Canadian magazine recently released its list of the 100 richest Canadians. Here are the top 10 richest Canadians, according to Canadian Business magazine: 1. Ken Thomson, Toronto. Publishing. $23.5 billion; 2. Irving family, New Brunswick. Petroleum, forestry, media. $6.2 billion; 3. Bombardier family, Montreal. Aerospace Manufacturing. $6 billion; 4. Galen Weston, Toronto. Groceries, retail, real estate. $5.35 billion; 5. Gururaj Deshpande, Boston. Optical network components. $5.05 billion; 6. Charles Bronfman, New York. Alcohol, entertainment. $4.95 billion; 7. Lede brothers, Vancouver. Fibre optics, construction. $4.6 billion; 8. Jeff Skoll, Palo Alto, Calif. Internet (e-Bay). $3.85 billion; 9. Edward (Ted) Rogers, Toronto. Cable TV, media. $3 billion; 10. Terry Matthews, Ottawa. Telecommunications. $2.8 billion. The magazine's review indicates that 26 of the top 100 richest in Canada are now billionaires. Major increases in stock market wealth helped escalate the average net worth of a person on the list to $1.29 billion, a 21 per cent increase over last year. A few days earlier a report from the Canadian Council on Social Development indicated there are 1.3 million more poor households in Canada than there were 25 years ago. It revealed that young families are increasingly likely to be poor.
WEB Preview: CAW Web Page
Here's a brief look at just some of the information available on the CAW home page. Join the CAW - Sign up with the CAW today! For more information contact the CAW Organizing Department at 416-497-4110 or 1-800-268-5763 or e-mail at organize@caw.ca. For the full text, go to the CAW web site, www.caw.ca, under Join the CAW Pamphlets.
