IMPACT! Edition 23, August 2007 [Archive]

Sam

08-01-2007, 06:08 PM

THE UNIONS’ NEGOTIATING COMMITTEES ARE NOT KEEPING THE MEMBERS INFORMED ABOUT CURRENT COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ISSUES. ALL WE GET ARE RUMOURS AND CONFUSION. WHY ALL THE SECRECY? SINCE THE LAST FOUR-YEAR MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WAS REJECTED, THE NEGOTIATING COMMITTEES SHOULD HAVE BEEN SEEKING INPUT FROM THE MEMBERSHIP. WITHOUT INPUT FROM THE MEMBERSHIP, IT IS LIKELY THAT THE NEXT MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WILL BE REJECTED TOO, RESULTING IN WASTED TIME AND EFFORT BY THE NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com[IMG]http://www.uatravelers.com/forums/ /><o:p></o:p>**

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In the Group One Negotiating Group, it appears as though the local 424 negotiating committee was attempting to break the Group One Solidarity, by recommending acceptance of a four-year collective agreement for the second time. (Just like the local 720 Ironworkers.) It appears that the local 424 negotiating committee, including the business manager are trying to satisfy the demands of the contractors, instead of representing the best interest of the membership. As a result of their actions, the local 424 negotiating committee have placed the Group One members in a position where they are depending on rumours for their information. For the past 30 years, Alberta building trades unions have come to the bargaining table with a minimum set of demands, which have typically been in the best interest of the employers. By such actions, the building trades negotiating committees have demonstrated weakness, and reduced the strength of the building trades unions to almost zero. In order to maintain their standard of living, workers now have to work excessive amounts of overtime, give up their vacation time, and sacrifice time with their families, which is a major cause of family breakdown. Fortunately, the local 424 negotiating committee’s recent attempt to negotiate a four-year collective agreement did not succeed, as has been shown by the over 66 percent rejection by the members. KEEP THE FAITH MEMBERS OF 424! GROUP ONE MEMBERS THANK YOU FOR MAINTAINING SOLIDARITY! Other building trades unions managers are continuing this same trend, which is harmful to the membership. Another example of union weakness is when local 488 recommended that the members support the provincial Conservative Party, an action that was initiated by the Alberta Building Trades Council. The Alberta Conservatives acted against organized labour by bringing in the Division Eight legislation in the Alberta Labour Relations Code. The Alberta Conservatives also promote the use of foreign workers, who are taking away union jobs, at a time when Canada have an adequate supply of skilled labour. As a result, the building trades members have suffered significant job losses and financial losses. In BM local 146, several years ago, international rep Albright was pushing members to vote for Ralph Klein, and he stated that he knew Klein very well, and that Klein was pro-labour. When three members expressed their opposition to supporting Klein, the union officers attempted remove their union membership. About five years ago in BM local 146, under the former business manager, at a membership meeting, Jerry Donnelly, along with several other members, started selling memberships to the Alberta Liberal Party, at a time when the federal Liberal Party was as corrupt as the Conservatives. WHEN THE UNION BEGINS SUPPORTING ANY POLITICAL PARTIES, IT IS THE END OF THE UNION! This has been proven by history around the world. EVERY UNION MEMBER HAS THE RIGHT TO BELONG TO THE POLITICAL PARTY OF HIS OR HER CHOICE. Union members dues should not be used to support political parties.<o:p></o:p>
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The Alberta Inflation Rate of 6.3% is nearly triple that of the Canadian Inflation rate. To assess inflation, the Bank of Canada uses the "core CPI," which excludes fruit, vegetables, gasoline, fuel oil, natural gas, mortgage interest, intercity transportation, and tobacco products. Tradesmen cannot afford to accept a collective agreement longer than two years. (Edmonton Sun, July 18, 2007). EDMONTON HOUSE PRICES HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED SINCE JANUARY 2005! (Edmonton Real Estate Board – April 16 2007). A mortgage of $392,813.00 at 6.6000% over 35 years will cost you over one million dollars! We work as hard as Americans and earn 20% less (Macleans, 27 Nov. 2006). Over the past four years, the average Alberta Building Trades member lost over $19,000.00 in income. Inflation Grew By 22.2% from 1994-2004, while incomes lagged behind, increasing by just 14.7%. (Edmonton Journal Jan 23, 2007). Under these conditions, workers are subsidizing the contractors, and workers cannot afford to do so any longer. In order to maintain their standard of living, Canadians give more of their waking hours to their employers than workers in most OECD countries, and Canadians are not paid enough for the hours they work.<o:p></o:p>
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ACCORDING TO THE CANADIAN CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES, CANADIAN WORKERS HAVE NOT HAD A REAL PAY INCREASE IN 30 YEARS, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE 50% MORE PRODUCTIVE. IF WORKERS WERE PAID FOR THEIR INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY, THEY WOULD ON AVERAGE BE EARNING $10,000 PER YEAR MORE. (Edmonton Journal, June 28, 2007)<o:p></o:p>
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WE WORKERS ARE HELPING TO CREATE HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF WEALTH FOR THE OIL COMPANIES AND CONTRACTORS. WE HAVE THE GREATEST CONSTRUCTION BOOM IN THE HISTORY OF CANADA. IT IS OUR LAST CHANCE TO GET WHAT WE DESERVE! DON’T THROW IT AWAY BY ACCEPTING A FOUR-YEAR AGREEMENT. WITH THE HIGHEST INFLATION RATE IN CANADA, WE MUST NOT ACCEPT AN AGREEMENT THAT IS LONGER THAN TWO YEARS. WE MUST RETURN TO UNION PRINCIPLES AND TRANSFORM OUR HIRING HALLS INTO REAL UNIONS!

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ALBERTA ELECTED AND APPOINTED UNION OFFICERS ARE PAID FOREMAN’S RATES, GENERAL FOREMAN’S RATES, AND TIME AND A HALF AND TIME AND THREE-QUARTERS OF THE JOURNEYMAN’S RATES. ALL ALBERTA UNION OFFICERS HAVE NO FREE ZONE, AND THE MEMBERSHIP PAYS ALL OF THEIR EXPENSES. HAVE THEY FORGOT WHO PAYS THEM?<o:p></o:p>
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FOR THIRTY YEARS, THE ALBERTA NEGOTIATING COMMITTEES HAVE SHOWN UP AT THE BARGAINING TABLE WITH A MINIMUM SET OF DEMANDS FOR THE MEMBERS. ALBERTA UNION MEMBERS HAVE TO WAKE UP THE OFFICERS, ESPECIALLY THE NEGOTIATION COMMITTEE, AND GET THEM TO BRING A DECENT SET OF DEMANDS TO THE BARGAINING TABLE. WE DON’T NEED ANY MORE “YES MEN” ON THE NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE, say members who have responded to the IMPACT newsletter.<o:p></o:p>
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IMPACT PUBLISHERS SUGGEST THAT MEMBERS OF THE UNION HAVE TO REDUCE THE OFFICERS’ INCOME AND EXPENSES UNTIL THEY WAKE UP AND DO THEIR JOBS PROPERLY<o:p></o:p>
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LACK OF TIMELY AND RELEVANT INFORMATION IS CREATING ANGER AMONG THE MEMBERSHIP. WITHOUT A PROPER SET OF BARGAINING PROPOSALS, IT MAY BE DIFFICULT TO AVOID A WILDCAT GENERAL STRIKE.<o:p></o:p>
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A List of Minimum Collective Bargaining Demands from the Membership is on the back of this page…<o:p></o:p>

A List of Minimum Collective Bargaining Demands from the Membership:<o:p></o:p>
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1. Voting must be carried out only after presentation of the memorandum and a discussion so that it is an INFORMED VOTE! - NO MAIL IN BALLOTING! People voting by mail-in ballots are limited to one-sided information.<o:p></o:p>
2. A collective agreement of no more than two years. <o:p></o:p>
3. A 25 per cent wage increase retroactive to May 1, 2007!<o:p></o:p>
4. A return to DOUBLE TIME FOR ALL OVERTIME! with a clause asserting that all overtime is voluntary!<o:p></o:p>
5. Pre-access drug screening and CSTS must be paid by the employer or by the union. Who introduced this?<o:p></o:p>
6. Automatic deposit of pay cheque only if the member wants it.<o:p></o:p>
7. Turnarounds to be reduced from the current 35 days to 28 days. <o:p></o:p>
8. Projects north of Boyle:<o:p></o:p>
a. Flights from all major centres across Canada including Edmonton delivering building trades members as close as possible to the projects concerned. However, for workers working within the jurisdiction of an Alberta local union, flights are to be in effect for returns home every the workers have scheduled days off. <o:p></o:p>
b. A 5 per cent premium above the total wage package to be paid as an incentive to encourage members to service these projects. <o:p></o:p>
c. A work format of 9.5 shifts times 10 hours and four days off. The intent of this clause is to give our members time for travel home during daylight hours and reduce the competition with moose and other drivers, it has worked very well at both the Surmont and Opti-Nexen sites. Furthermore, if it is not in our collective agreements, it can as easily be taken away from us as it was given to us. This is a SAFETY ISSUE; let's see CONCRETE ACTION on it, NOT JUST LIP SERVICE!<o:p></o:p>
9. Because transportation to and from the jobsite can take more than four hours daily, round trip bus travel from the workers’ accommodation to the job site must be paid.<o:p></o:p>
10. Eliminate all free travel zones due to the high cost of fuel and vehicle maintenance, which has been predicted to continue rising significantly this year. All union officers are paid for their travel time, why aren’t we?<o:p></o:p>
11. Full pay for the cost of work clothing, and safety foot ware. Worn out clothing and foot ware pose a safety hazard.<o:p></o:p>
12. Increase pension contributions from $4.83 per 100 hours to over $7.00 per 100 hours.<o:p></o:p>
13. Job Stewards shall be responsible for processing grievances. Job Stewards must be elected by the membership.<o:p></o:p>
14. The collective agreement must contain disciplinary action wording that is based upon well-established case law, for example, 3 verbal warnings, followed by 3 written warnings, along with assistance from the employer to help the employee to correct the problem. In most wrongful termination cases, these "union brothers" who are wrongfully dismissing working members are friends with the union officers, who at best give no assistance to the wrongfully terminated members, and at worst, create documentation of all kinds of falsehoods which causes further harm to the unjustly fired worker's career and reputation.<o:p></o:p>
15. The language around the compressed work week needs to be corrected so that if any member works more than 40 hours in a seven-day pay period, he shall no longer considered to be on a compressed work week, and shall be paid at the overtime rate for all hours worked in excess of eight for the two hours worked each day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.<o:p></o:p>
16. There shall be no “scheduled” overtime. All overtime shall be voluntary, and the employer must give the employee a minimum of 24 hours notice when requesting the worker to work overtime.<o:p></o:p>
17. No employee shall be discriminated against in any way for exercising his right to refuse overtime.<o:p></o:p>
18. No employee shall be discriminated against for taking time off during normal working hours in order to conduct legitimate personal business. An example of the current problem is when the employers deny the employee his right to work overtime, as punishment for taking time of during the normal workweek.<o:p></o:p>
19. Lay-offs shall be by seniority on the project. The first person hired shall be the last to be laid off, and the last person hired shall be the first person to be laid off.<o:p></o:p>
20. The employer must recall laid-off workers, before hiring new workers, as long as the project exists.<o:p></o:p>
21. The employer shall permit a company-paid jobsite union meeting for two hours each month.<o:p></o:p>
22. Laid-off workers shall be given a minimum of four hours notice, and shall be paid for four hours pack up time.<o:p></o:p>
23. Increase the night-shift premium to five dollars per hour above the regular rate of pay.<o:p></o:p>
24. Only supervisory staff shall be name-hired.<o:p></o:p>
PLEASE CONTRIBUTE YOUR ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS.<o:p></o:p>
WE WORKERS ARE HELPING TO CREATE THE HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF WEALTH FOR THE OIL COMPANIES.<o:p></o:p>

WE HAVE THE GREATEST CONSTRUCTION BOOM IN THE HISTORY OF CANADA. IT IS OUR LAST CHANCE TO GET WHAT WE DESERVE! DON’T THROW IT AWAY BY ACCEPTING A FOUR-YEAR AGREEMENT. WITH THE HIGHEST INFLATION RATE IN CANADA, WE MUST NOT ACCEPT AN AGREEMENT THAT IS LONGER THAN TWO YEARS. WE MUST RETURN TO UNION PRINCIPLES AND TRANSFORM OUR HIRING HALLS INTO REAL UNIONS!<o:p></o:p>
WILL YOU PAY YOUR MORTGAGE AND EXPENSES SOONER WITH A REAL WAGE INCREASE, OR WITH WHAT HAS BEEN OFFERED???<o:p></o:p>
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A GOOD-FAITH AGREEMENT IS 25% OVER TWO YEARS AND DOUBLE TIME FOR ALL OVERTIME!<o:p></o:p>