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Oct 2008 |
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Machinist dies in
industrial accident! IAMAW |
The Ontario Disability Response Team
2008 Recipient Congratulations to Brother Dave Thompson! Our own
Local Lodge 905 President was presented the award by IAM Grand Lodge
Representative Bill Shipman. Dave received the award for his dedication
and commitment to improving the lives of disabled members. The 2008
recipient was selected by The Worker Health & Safety Centre in
cooperation with the Durham, Lindsay, Peterborough and Northumberland
District Labour Councils.
LL905 |
| Tinkerbell busted Peter Pan’s pal Tinkerbell was arrested in a demonstration outside Disneyland in California this summer. Cinderella, Snow White and several other popular fairytale figures were rounded up as well. The Disney characters were costumed union members fighting for a fair contract at three nearby Disney-owned hotels. Some 2,300 maids, bell hops, cooks and dishwashers were working under a contract that expired three months earlier. In all, Tink and 31 others were handcuffed, frisked and forced into two police vans at the end of an hour-long march as their fellow hotel workers cheered them on. They were cited for a series of misdemeanors and released pending court appearances. The hotel workers’ union, UNITE HERE, said management proposals would make health care unaffordable for hundreds of workers and create an unfair two-tier wage system. UCS/CALM |
| Wage protection program welcome news, but… Two years of political advocacy work and lobbying by labour groups culminated in some good news for workers whose plants are facing bankruptcy. The federal minister of labour, Jean-Pierre Blackburn, announced in July that Canada’s new Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP) is now up and running. But, when an employer has declared bankruptcy or is subject to receivership, workers seeking to recover lost earnings will still receive only part of their lost wage and vacation pay entitlements —up to $3,162. Workers will not receive compensation for severance and other benefits entitled to them under law. The government estimates that between 10,000 and 20,000 workers apply for unpaid wage claims every year in Canada. CAW/CALM |
Phony union |
| No laughing matter In 2004, Michelle Courtemanche, a Parks Canada senior guide-interpreter at Fort Chambly in Quebec, posted on her locker a famous quote from Voltaire, “I should like to see, and this will be the last and most ardent of my desires, to see the last king strangled with the guts of the last priest.” Her supervisors, learned of the Voltaire quote and read it as a “hateful message against authority.” They also thought the quote to be “violent” and claimed to have felt threatened. They called Courtemanche to a meeting. Courtemanche said it was a joke and she regularly put up quotes on her locker. They suspended Courtemanche for one day, her first disciplinary suspension. Immediately after, Courtemanche was transferred out of the fort to another Parks Canada site in Montreal. At hearing, the supervisor said she thought the quote had just been put up and was posted in response to a recent spate of grievances. It turned out that Cpourtemanche had posted the Voltaire quote 10 years earlier. Over the years, she had been sticking other quotes on top of it. Before the end of the year, Coutemanche had decided to start fresh and she removed the more recent quotes, exposing the Voltaire quote, was more firmly fixed, She had planned to remove it later. In 2007, the adjudicator upheld the worker’s position. He found there was no reason for discipline. Clearly, an historical reference in an historical site was not a reference to present-day management. Regarding the transfer, the adjudicator held that the “real reasons for that decision are found outside the alleged concern for the grievor’s well-being.” He rescinded the one-day suspension and ordered Courtemanche returned to her former position at Fort Chambly with reimbursement for financial losses suffered because of the transfer. In the end, we have unions to prevent managers or supervisors, who think they carry the mantle of authority, to simply transfer problem subjects—oops, workers. Today, Courtemanche is on academic leave from Parks Canada, completing a doctorate in anthropology. Mikael Swayze/CALM |
| Just the facts Here are some quick facts on unions from Stats Canada’s annual Perspectives on Labour and Income. The average unionized worker is paid $23.58 an hour while the average non-union worker is paid $18.98. The majority of union members are now women, which has been the case since 2006. The unionization rate for women (30 per cent) exceeds men’s (28.7 per cent)—2.15 million women and 2.07 million men are union members. Unionized women are closer to achieving pay equity than non-unionized women. Women in unionized full-time jobs average 94 per cent of union full-time men’s average ($23.36 versus $24.83). The wage gap is much bigger for non-unionized full-time women who earn only 81 per cent of non-union full-time men’s average ($18.16 versus $22.50). A full-time union workers’ average wage is $24.15. Full-time non-union workers average only $20.55. A part-time union workers’ average wage is $19.99. Part-time non-union workers earn dramatically lower pay of $12.56. Statistics Canada/CALM |
| Talks to Resume at Boeing Talks between the IAM and Boeing are scheduled to resume. “After 45 days on the line, your solidarity brought Boeing back to the bargaining table. Since talks adjourned last Monday, we have kept the lines of communication open and have agreed to pursue additional talks through the federal mediator. At the direction of the federal mediator, new talks will be held in Washington, D.C., beginning Thursday, October 23rd,” IAM leaders announced in a bulletin to members. The strike continues to draw support from area unions in the four states with IAM members on the picket lines. Airline pilots and Sheet Metal Workers joined picket lines in Washington this week, while members at Edwards Air Force Base in California reported strong local support at a picket line event there. Also last week, the IAM amended its Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge to include charges related to attempts by Boeing to restrain and interfere with our members' rights to act collectively. The IAM also charged that Boeing failed to bargain in good faith when it terminated bargaining early and refused to continue negotiating up until the expiration of the contract, something the parties had agreed to do. iMail |
| Tackle climate change: Create millions of
jobs Global efforts to avert dangerous climate change are already generating new jobs, and could produce millions of new employment opportunities, according to a new study by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE). “Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World,” is the first comprehensive study on the emergence of a green economy and its impact on the world of work. It includes new data that shows a changing pattern of employment in which green jobs are being generated in many sectors and economies around the world as a result of measures to tackle climate change and to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Efforts to deal with climate change have also led to changing patterns of investment flows into areas such as renewable energy and energy efficiency at the household and industrial level. Within current policy frameworks, only a fraction of the potential benefits for jobs and development is forthcoming. The report makes a series of policy recommendations for the international community in the lead-up to the UN Climate Convention meeting in Copenhagen in late 2009. A main point of interest will be improved access to investment for developing countries, and boosting energy efficiency in buildings and industry worldwide. The report also calls for financial support for countries to develop productive but low-emission agriculture and to manage forests to increase carbon absorption potential and to generate green jobs in the forestry sector in the tropics. In addition the report highlights the importance of active labour market policies, social dialogue and broad social protections to ensure a fair and just transition for workers and their communities. ILO/CALM |
| POLITICALLY CORRECT!! While walking down the street one day a 'Member of Parliament' is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. 'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter. 'Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.' 'No problem, just let me in,' says the man. 'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.' 'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the MP. 'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.' And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly & nice guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises... The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him. 'Now it's time to visit heaven.' So, 24 hours pass with the MP joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns. 'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.' The MP reflects for a minute, then he answers: 'Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.' So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above. The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. 'I don't understand,' stammers the MP. 'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and ' clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?' The devil looks at him, smiles and says, 'Yesterday we were campaigning... Today you voted. Internet |
| B.C. mushroom farm fatalities UFCW Canada has called for an inquiry following the deaths of three workers and the hospitalization of three others when the workers were overcome by fumes at a Langley, B.C., mushroom growing facility. UFCW Canada in association with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) operates eight agriculture worker support and counselling centres across Canada. “Workers who come to our AWA Centres regularly report dangerous working and living conditions,” says Stan Raper, who heads the AWA program, “and having to handle chemicals and compounds they know nothing about, packaged in containers they can’t read.” One of the AWA centres is in Abbotsford, B.C., 25 kilometres east of the Farm Fresh Mushroom facility where the workers were struck down in September. Since its launch in April 2008 the AWA has signed up thousands of domestic, migrant and temporary agriculture workers as members and the AWA membership continues to grow. “They’re concerned but they are also afraid to complain because many of them are temporary or migrant workers. If they raise any concerns with their employer and don’t have a union, that can mean getting fired on the spot,” said Raper, “or sent back on a plane to where they came from.” On average, in Canada there are about 115 agriculture workplace-related fatalities annually as well as more than 1500 workers seriously injured. UFCW/CALM |
| CELEBRATING YEARS
OF SERVICE IN 905 DURING SEPTEMBER 12 Years Beryl Windrem |
| CELEBRATING YEARS OF SERVICE IN 905 DURING
OCTOBER 23 Years Doris Duck 16 Years Romulo Munarriz 15 Years James Devries 14 Years Pauline Reilly 14 Years Guy Belanger 14 Years Dabinder Beesla 14 Years Thani Nagalingam 14 Years Michael Mckelvey 14 Years Krzysztof Socha 14 Years John Janowski 14 Years Phong Vongprachanh 13 Years Randy Crawford 11 Years Dean Biernacki 11 Years Leonard Green 11 Years Choonde Mwanag’onze 10 Years Larry MacArthur 8 Years Loraine Runciman 8 Years Michael Blazek 6 Years Karen Johnson 5 Years Rodney Newell 4 Years Gary Cooper 4 Years Matthew Cevela 4 Years Timothy Heyman 4 Years John Hufton 4 Years Robert Robinson 4 Years Michael White 3 Years Darryl Colquhoun 3 Years Robert Johnston 3 Years Ian Kimball 3 Years Larry Muskratt 2 Years Edgardo Alon 2 Years Julie Collingham 2 Years Susan Geboers 2 Years Reynaldo Jimenez 2 Years Allan Macdonald 2 Years Bill MacDonald 2 Years Sean Robinson 1 Year Pamela Darnbrough 1 Year Ruth Hurren 1 Year Karl Li 1 Year Elie Sloukji 1 Year Jeffery Tainsh LL905 |
| Get Well Soon Mike Bennie Tony Jordi |
