February 5, 2010
Volume 40, No. 5
CAW Local 598 Members Ratify Xstrata Agreement
CAW/Mine Mill Local 598 members at Xstrata Nickel in Sudbury, Ontario have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year collective agreement that rejects company demands for concessions and ensures greater job security for workers.
CAW members voted 93 per cent in favour of the new agreement. The CAW represents 580 active members and 500 workers who are laid off.
"Our priorities included the elimination of numerous company demands for concessions, while also making gains in the areas of job security and pensions," said Jerry Dias, assistant to the CAW President. "With the support of the membership we achieved those objectives after tough around-the- clock bargaining."
The new agreement includes a $2,500 signing bonus for active and laid off workers, a retirement incentive of $10,000 for eligible employees who voluntarily elect to retire with an unreduced pension during the life of the agreement, and the re-opening of the Fraser Copper Mine creating 140 jobs.
Other gains include a $150 per month pension gain for those with 30 years service or more, spousal life insurance of $10,000 and a number of other benefit gains. There is a wage increase in the third year and COLA is maintained.
Company demands for temporary recalls and temporary workers were rejected. "All members returning to work will have the same rights as any other member and their recall rights will be renewed," said CAW/Mine Mill Local 598 President Richard Paquin.
He stressed that the new agreement protects and improves the pension plan. "Our membership has remained united throughout this journey and has to be commended for staying united," Paquin said.
CAW's Nash Gets NDP Nomination
| Supporters of Peggy Nash gathered in a Parkdale-High Park high school to nominate her as the federal NDP candidate come election time, January 28, 2010. |
Hundreds of supporters of Peggy Nash crowded into a Toronto high school auditorium to nominate her as the NDP federal candidate for the Parkdale-High Park riding, the riding she represented as a Member of Parliament from 2006-2008.
"This country needs her leadership in the House," said NDP Leader Jack Layton at the January 28 meeting. "Peggy was raising the crisis in manufacturing in the House three years ago. This was at a time when MPs were derided by the Conservative government for speaking up on behalf of those who were losing their jobs. She was pushing for a manufacturing strategy, a green manufacturing strategy." Layton said that had the government heeded Nash's advice then, our economy would be in much better shape today.
Although there is no election on the horizon, Layton pledged that getting Nash elected would be a priority for the party. The incumbent is Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy, a one time party leader candidate and former Ontario MPP. Kennedy has raised the ire of many residents who complain about not having seen him since the last election.
Nash, a lifelong resident of Parkdale-High Park and community activist, was lauded for her commitment to social justice issues, working hard with groups ranging from Students for a Free Tibet to Equal Voice and various environmental organizations.
In her nomination acceptance speech Nash spoke about her deep shame, shared by many Canadians, at how our country has fallen in the eyes of the world during the tenure of Stephen Harper. "I was deeply embarrassed and infuriated that our country was voted the most notorious fossil during the Copenhagen UN climate change negotiations," said Nash.
Nash also talked about the necessity of breaking through the cynicism many Canadians feel about politics and our government to create a real democracy of local and national engagement. "Let's work together to create a new democracy where your MP is the voice of the community, for the community!"
Protesters Take Over N.S. Government Office to Save Ferry
Demonstrators took over a Nova Scotia government office on February 4 following a spirited rally calling on the Nova Scotia government to reverse its decision to end the high-speed ferry service between Yarmouth, N.S., Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine.
The group of approximately 250 people, including CAW members and staff, eventually left the building peacefully.
Politicians of all stripes, except for the NDP, attended the rally outside and spoke in favour of keeping the ferry service, including Yarmouth Mayor Phil Mooney. CAW President Ken Lewenza also spoke at the rally and pressed the need to reverse the decision which was made suddenly and without consultation.
"The short-term and long-term effects of this decision are devastating to every industry - from tourism to shipbuilding," said Lewenza. The end of the ferry service means a loss of 100 direct jobs and 500-600 spin-off jobs. Lewenza said that the Yarmouth to Maine route is the only crossing that isn't supported by the federal government and this situation must be fixed for the long term viability of the communities that rely on the ferry service."
To hear more about why Nova Scotians need the Yarmouth ferry, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/rescueourferry#p/a/f/1/X2iaFxs41YQ
OFL Launches Communities That Work Campaign
Unions in Ontario are pressing Premier Dalton McGuinty to make next month's budget a 'good jobs' budget with a campaign calling on the government to protect public services, create green jobs and support precarious workers, among other demands.
"The top priority for the Ontario government must be to preserve and create good jobs," says Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan. "That's how we'll pay down the deficit and speed up and consolidate the economic recovery. It's the only sustainable way to really help the government's bottom line.
"Billions of dollars have been spent on infrastructure to stimulate the economy," said Ryan. "We don't want to see that progress reversed in this budget by cuts or sell-offs."
On February 1, the OFL launched its "Communities That Work" campaign, taking to the airwaves in a province-wide blitz of radio ads to deliver the message.
"This is an important campaign and I encourage all Ontario CAW members to get involved in their communities," said CAW President Ken Lewenza. The CAW recently began the process of re- affiliating with the OFL and the campaign is the first major initiative since then.
For more information or to find out how to get involved, please visit: http://www.communitiesthatwork.ca/
Unemployed Running Out of Benefits Before Finding Jobs
A new report reveals that hundreds of thousands of unemployed Canadians may run out of Employment Insurance benefits before they can find a new job.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report indicates that 500,000 Canadians who launched EI claims last year could have benefits run out with no job prospect on the horizon.
The report, which was written by Canadian Labour Congress chief economist Andrew Jackson, highlights that 120,000 more unemployed Canadians could not collect benefits as of October 2009, compared to October of the year before, prior to the recession.
"We can expect that the total number of new regular claims in 2009 will (have) hit about two million," Jackson said. "If the exhaustion rate were to remain the same as in 2006-07, we could eventually see some 500,000 plus exhausted claims in late 2009 and into 2010."
Although the report credited the government for extending benefits by five more weeks, it said these changes were not enough to handle the additional demands caused by the recession.
Even with EI system improvements, only about half of those unemployed across Canada were collecting benefits as of last October. In Ontario, which has been hard hit by the recession, the number collecting benefits is about 41 per cent, Jackson said.
McMaster Establishes Canada's First Labour Studies School
Hamilton's McMaster University will be the first Canadian university to run a fully autonomous labour studies school, following an announcement made on campus January 26.
McMaster pioneered the development of university labour studies programs in Canada, establishing the first in 1976.
Since then, labour studies programs focusing on issues of work, trade unions, globalization, equity and labour market restructuring have been formed in universities across the country - usually under the umbrella of the social and political sciences departments.
Expanding the scope of the program into its own school at McMaster, will offer professors and program administrators more flexibility in determining curriculum, programs and enhanced graduate study opportunities for students.
This move is significant because it comes at a time when Canadian business schools have become common place among post-secondary institutions, said CAW Work Organization and Training Director David Robertson.
"Hopefully this ground-breaking work at McMaster will strengthen Canadian labour studies programs elsewhere in the country in the face of these current academic trends," Robertson said.
McMaster University has maintained a long-standing relationship with the CAW, partnering on a landmark non-degree labour studies certificate that was launched over 10 years ago. Each year over 200 students participate in after-hours labour courses focused on everything from politics to the environment, and labour history to the economy.
Notes from Haiti.
CAW Members Support Rescue Mission of Haitian Orphans
CAW Local 2002 members Edie Kaye and Elizabetta Long took part in a rescue mission that brought orphaned Haitian children to their new families in Canada.
The mission lead by Air Canada, and dubbed "Operation Stork", helped unite 154 orphaned children with their adopted families.
"There were concerns that the adoption process was tied up in various levels of bureaucracy, which worried many of the new parents," said Kaye, a workplace representative at the Air Canada Reservations office in Saint John, New Brunswick.
"Air Canada offered to expedite the process by flying these children to Canada. I feel so fortunate that I was able to take part in this initiative."
Both Kaye and Long work as Customer Sales and Service Agents for Air Canada and were among the many CAW members who volunteered their time to assist the Haitian children during their flights to Canada. Three Air Canada flights were sent to Haiti from January 23 to January 30 as part of Operation Stork.
The CAW has set a goal of raising $250,000 for Haitian relief efforts.
CAW Welcomes New Members
# Nutritional Management Services, St. Thomas, ON - 22 members in CAW Local 2168;
# Waterloo Regional Homes for Mental Health Inc., Kitchener, ON - 31 members in CAW Local 1106;
# Mcintosh Limousine Service Ltd.,/Air Cab Limousine Services (1985) Limited and Aaroport Limousine Services Ltd., Toronto, ON - 210 members in CAW Local 252;
Education Update!
New! One-Day Grievance Handling & Workplace Leadership - Basic
Would you like to know how shop stewards or committeepersons investigate grievances, present them to management and write them up properly?
Would you like to learn how by practicing these essential steps using actual workplace situations and contract language?
Have you considered running for this position? Or are you simply interested in learning more about how the union handles workplace issues?
If yes, this one-day introductory course is for you.
This course was produced by the CAW Education Department. For information on how to register or how to book this course in your area, check the CAW web page at www.caw.ca/education., or contact the CAW Education Department at educate@caw.ca.
Stop Bill C-391 -Save the National Gun Registry!
The CAW is ramping up efforts to ensure that Bill C-391 (the bill to scrap the federal long-gun registry) does not become law. To find out how to lobby your MP, please contact http://www.caw.ca/en/8182.htm
For more information, also visit: http://www.caw.ca/en/8182.htm
