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District 1
New members welcomed Members help bring Olympic venues to completion Making our case re. Temporary Worker Program Bargaining sessions wrap up (October 2007) New members from Atlas Copco Theissen and Ritchie-Smith welcomed By Lee Loftus, Member Representative Much time has been spent bargaining agreements for the industrial shops. Most have resulted in three-year agreements with 3% to 4% wage increases and enhancements to overtime, shift work, sick days, pension contributions and maintenance of tool and boot allowances. A number of new bargaining units have been added to my list of responsibilities and we are currently negotiating first collective agreements with them. Ritchie-Smith Feeds of Abbotsford provides grain feed to farms around the Fraser Valley. It is a pleasure working with such an excellent group of workers who care about their community, employer and each other. We also welcome the new members from Atlas Copco Theissen. The company manufactures drill shafts for the parent company Atlas Copco. The employees are long-term machine operators and machinist/millwright tradespeople. The collective agreement requires that all companies purchased by Atlas Copco automatically inherit the Operating Engineers agreement. I look forward to working with these new members and their employers.  Members help bring Olympic venues to completionBy Everett Cummings, Member Representative I would like to start off by thanking three new shop stewards who have taken an interest in getting involved and supporting our union. Brothers Dave Hancock, who works at Pacific Radiator; Mike Christie, working on the Blackcomb Slide Centre for Emil Anderson Construction; and Darren Feltren, working on the ski jump site in the Callahan Valley, also for Emil Anderson; all clearly understand the benefits of belonging to a great organization like ours. Emil Anderson is going to be finishing up the slide centre in November. The last pours for the track are coming up soon and then it’s clean-up work and testing the surface once ice is applied. On Nov. 1, the ski jump will be handed over to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Snow machines will be brought in to cover the area for an opening ceremony. Athletes will begin practising on it this winter. This has been another great year for work, but we must not be complacent. We all need to do our part to help our Local Union expand its market share. Don’t be happy with a sandwich—let’s eat the whole picnic. To do that, every member in the province needs to get involved. It is YOUR union. ORGANIZE. In closing, I would like to acknowledge our members who are also veterans. We will be thinking of you on November 11th.  Making our case re. Temporary Worker ProgramBy Craig McIntosh, Member Representative We recently met with representatives from Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) regarding the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and how it relates to construction workers. This program brings people from other countries for a two-year period. We raised a number of points: • Do these people have the necessary skills to do the work without further training? If training is required, why are we not training Canadians? • After two years, these workers go home, but Canada has not gained any skilled workers in the process. • Workers with limited understanding of English can face greater safety risks. • Foreign workers are often recruited by labour brokers in their home countries. They often have no idea what their living conditions and cost of living in B.C. will be like. • When HRSDC issues permits to a company allowing them to hire foreign workers, the workers must stay with that company. Workers who run into work site issues and problems cannot change companies during their two-year permit. There is little workers can do other than pay their own way home. This opens the door to abuse of workers’ rights. HRSDC told us that once it grants permits to companies to bring in foreign workers it does not have the resources to follow up to ensure all the terms of the program are being met. In addition, there is a gap between federal and provincial regulations. The labour movement will keep pressuring governments to acknowledge that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is shortsighted, and that training Canadians will bring longer lasting benefits to B.C. and Canada. Standards regarding concrete pumps The Canadian Standards Association Committee has met again to develop standards for the manufacture, operation, maintenance and inspection of concrete pumps. A draft copy should be ready next year. Working overtime to keep up In terms of work, the paving industry is very busy with many city contracts in the Lower Mainland. Canron is working two shifts seven days a week erecting structural steel at the new Vancouver Convention Centre. This work will go on until January 2008. On site are one tower crane, two 4100s, one 125-ton and one 55-ton mobile crane. Work safely.  Bargaining sessions wrap upBy Reese Evans Where has the year gone? It has been a good one for many members working in the construction and industrial sectors. The shops have a number of ongoing issues to deal with. Bargaining with Wajax Industries concluded with a final vote of 74% in favor of the proposed memorandum of agreement. Members will enjoy some well-deserved increases in many areas. I’m hopeful that bargaining will be successfully concluded with ITT Flygt, Inland Kenworth, Parker Pacific, Volvo and Mack Trucks. Notice to commence collective bargaining has been sent to Freightliner and request for proposals forms have been sent out to members working at the Surrey location. No matter which company we’re bargaining with, the issue of attracting and retaining more employees comes up. The days of service managers having a desk drawer full of applications from potential new employees are long gone. This is a reminder to members who have moved but not provided the Local Union with their updated addresses. Without this information, Dispatch can’t contact you and we can’t send out tax receipts or announcements. Just make a call to 604-291-8831 or toll free to 1-888-486-3115. Until next time, work safely. |
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