September 8, 2000
Volume 30, No. 24
Overwhelming Support At CAW Leadership Meetings
In meetings from Halifax to Windsor to London and Toronto, CAW leadership and activists have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the CAW's support for eight SEIU locals in Ontario seeking the democratic right to join CAW.
Out of the more than 2,500 CAW leadership voting so far only six have been opposed to a CAW's National Executive Board resolution on the issue. The resolution outlines the CAW's response to the CLC decision to ban CAW from CLC, provincial federations of labour and labour council events and structures.
Speaker after speaker rose in support of the fundamental democratic right of workers to choose their own union. Some urged the CAW to continue seeking a solution with the CLC, while many wanted the CAW to move on and explore alternative national as well as local structures and relationships within the broader labour movement.
CAW president Buzz Hargrove said the CAW has worked hard to find and will continue to search for a solution, but cautioned their appears to be little chance of one solution in the near future. Hargrove said the CAW will continue to support the creation of a progressive and strong labour movement.
For a list of dates and locations of upcoming leadership meetings see Page 3 of this edition of CONTACT.
Parkwood Hospital Employees Join CAW
Another large group of Ontario hospital workers have joined the CAW, further increasing the union's influence in the health care sector.
The CAW recently won an important representation vote involving more than 1,300 employees at Parkwood Hospital and St. Joseph's Health Care Centre in London, Ontario. The vote, conducted by the provincial
labour board on August 31, unites workers at these facilities within the same union once again.
In 1998, the 550 members of SEIU at Parkwood voted to leave and join the Canadian Health Care Workers Union. Earlier this year the members represented by SEIU at St. Joseph's Hospital and Mount Hope Centre elected to join CAW.
Falconbridge Workers Remain On Strike
CAW members at Falconbridge in Sudbury, Ontario, have entered their fifth week on strike against the nickel, copper and precious metals producer.
The company is continuing to demand take aways in areas such as seniority rights, contracting out language, union representation, changes to health and safety and others.
In an attempt to run its operations, Falconbridge has also filed for injunctions to limit picketing.
Rolly Gauthier, president of CAW Local 598, said the membership remain strong. "The letters of solidarity and those who have shown up to help out on the picket line are greatly appreciated and are a big boost to morale," said Gauthier.
There are more than 1,200 CAW members on strike at Falconbridge.
Internet users wanting more information on the strike can visit http://www.minemill598.com/
Despite facing CLC sanctions, CAW members celebrated the Year 2000 Labour Day with a variety of activities across the country.
In Toronto the CAW held Labour Day celebrations for members and their families at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, where participants listened to speeches and enjoyed food and drink. The CAW didn't participate in the Toronto labour day parade this year after the CLC applied sanctions against the CAW because of the dispute over the democratic rights of 30,000 Service Employees International Union members in Ontario to switch to the CAW.
In other locations across the country, CAW members also took part in Labour Day activities in a variety of ways.
CAW president Buzz Hargrove's Year 2000 Labour Day message can be found on Page 4 of this edition of CONTACT.
Flight Service Specialists Vote To Merge With CAW
Members of the Air Traffic Specialist Association of Canada (ATSAC), the union representing 850 flight safety specialists at 79 airports across Canada, have voted to merge with the CAW.
ATSAC members voted 95 per cent in favour of merging with the CAW in balloting conducted by mail over the last six weeks.
"I'm pleased with the outcome of the membership vote and look forward, as part of the CAW, to striving to improve working conditions for our members", said Ron Smith, ATSAC president.
The CAW helped flight specialists win a 13 per cent wage increase over three years in their last round of bargaining. ATSAC members provide flight information, weather briefings to Canadian and international pilots, runway condition reports, vehicle control, flight planning, emergency help and other services at medium sized and small airports across Canada. They also provide communications to all aircraft across the North Atlantic.
CAW's Hargrove Calls Swamping At Burnt Church Excessive
Federal fisheries enforcement officers used "excessive force" in ramming and swamping native fishing vessels in Burnt Church, NB, says CAW president Buzz Hargrove.
Hargrove recognized the important role of Department of Fisheries and Oceans in enforcing fisheries regulations, but said the August 29th actions by enforcement officers will serve only to escalate the dispute in Burnt Church.
"Trained enforcement officers are supposed to exercise restraint during difficult disputes, not step up the level of physical confrontation. It was not necessary to ram and swamp those two fishing vessels."
Hargrove said that instead of automatically supporting all actions of enforcement officers no matter if they are justified or not, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Herb Dhaliwal should be pursuing a peaceful resolution of the matter, possibly through the introduction of a mediator.
CAW Members Urged To Support The United Way
The following is an excerpt from a Sept. 11 letter to CAW local presidents and recording secretaries from CAW president Buzz Hargrove:
"Poverty and its symptoms are increasing at an alarming rate all across the country. More and more people are dependent upon food banks and shelters for their survival. In urban centres, everywhere, the homeless have become a fixture on our streets. Domestic violence both physical and mental, neglected children and substance abuse are just some of the manifestations of the growth in poverty.
The United Way is the only means available to many of the agencies, which have been established to assist individuals through these troubling circumstances, to receive any kind of stable funding. As a result, our donations of money and time are as important as they have ever been. With that in mind, I urge all CAW members to support their local United Way campaigns to the fullest extent possible."
CAW Avon Maitland School Custodians Vote In Favour Of Strike
Former SEIU members, now part of the CAW, who work at the Avon Maitland District School Board are the first former SEIU unit to be in a legal strike position.
CAW members at the Avon Maitland District School Board in southwestern Ontario, who are custodial and maintenance workers, voted 99 per cent in favour of strike action in late August.
The 177 full-time, part-time and casual workers employed at 30 Avon Maitland board schools were in a legal strike position September 8. The majority of the workers make $14 per hour and have had no negotiated wage increase since 1993.
Among the 30,000 members of the eight former Service Employees International Union locals in Ontario who have opted to join the Canadian Auto Workers union, this is the first group to vote in favour of strike action, if necessary.
Their contract expired April 30.
National Workers Compensation Conference
The CAW's National Workers Compensation Conference titled "Fighting Appeals - Sharing Experience" will be held November 3 to 5, 2000, at the CAW Family Education Centre in Port Elgin, Ontario. The registration deadline for both the conference and child care is Friday, October 13.
Imagine...National Child Care Now!
A conference for workers, advocates, researchers, policy makers, parents and anyone else interested in children's issues.
Date: September 22-24, 2000
Place: Days Hotel & Conference Centre,
Airport Road, Mississauga, Ontario
This weekend conference, sponsored in part by the CAW and organized by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, includes workshops on: health and safety, wages, diversity, playground inspections, advocacy, and much more. Plenary sessions will cover the impact of provincial legislation (i.e. downloading and Bill 160) on child care, the National Children's Agenda and strategizing for future action.
To register, or for more information, call (416) 538-0628, e-mail ocbcc@web.net or visit www.web.net/~ocbcc.
UPCOMING CAW LEADERSHIP MEETINGS
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|
DATE |
LOCATION |
|
Quebec |
Thursday, |
Sheraton Centre |
|
Manitoba & Saskatchewan |
Friday, September 15 |
International Inn |
|
British Columbia |
Monday, |
Hotel Vancouver |
|
Alberta |
Tuesday, |
Westin Edmonton |
| Newfoundland | Monday, October 2 9:00 am |
Airport Plaza Hotel Salon A and B St. John's |
