UNION MEMBERS INFORMATION

DATE: August 24, 2005

NOTES FOR STEELWORKER PICKETERS

Great News -- Local Businesses Offer Discounts

The following businesses have offered discounts to strikers:

• Shoppers Drug Mart - 15% off regular price for school supplies
• Zellers - 10% off back-to-school supplies and school clothes
• True Value Hardware - 10% off
• Jones & Company Hair Studio – discount for hair cuts
• Mark’s Work Warehouse - 10% discount

Note: You may be required to show your picket or membership card. Our sincere thanks go out to these businesses for their support! Your assistance is very much appreciated.

Strike Paycheque Pick-Up

Every Thursday, your strike paycheques are available for pick-up at the Union Hall from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. We ask that everyone make the effort to pick them up on this day. Arrangements can be made for a family member, close friend or your Picket Captain to pick them up on your behalf, provided they sign for them.

We understand that this policy can be a hardship and in an effort to address this hardship and under extenuating circumstances, the cheques will be available through the Health & Welfare office (upstairs) from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the other weekdays.

Membership Communication

We want everyone to realize that communication works two ways! Do not be shy to contact the Union Hall to see what is happening. In an effort to increase communication between the picket line and the Union Hall, your Strategic Planning Committee has asked the Picket Captains to record questions they receive. We will do our best to answer these questions in the following Thursday’s bulletin.

Your Strategic Planning Committee is working with your Strike Committee to contact the Picket Captains if anything is happening and they, in turn, will do a phone fan-out. Please make every effort to make sure your Picket Captain has your phone number and try to show up when asked to.

Barbecue – Thursday, August 25th

When you come to pick up your cheque this Thursday, stay and enjoy our barbecue. Ken Neumann, our National Director; Steve Hunt, Director of District 3, and Jim Sinclair, President of the BC Federation of Labour will all be in attendance and will have a few words to say starting at about 12:00.

Photo - Union Picnic 1

A 9705 member (who wishes to remain anonymous) has very generously offered to pay up to $5000 for todays’ barbecue. On behalf of the memberships and executives of Locals 480 and 9705 – A GREAT BIG THANK YOU!!!

Photo - Union Picnic 2

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New Web Sites and Union Weblog Now Online

We have had several offers of help to update the Local 480 website. Derm Jackman has been working with our computer tech, Jason Taylor, Chair, School of Digital Media, Music and Information Technology - Selkirk College Campus, Nelson, B.C. to revise and update our current website www.uswa480.com and we appreciate their efforts and we would like to get your feedback on the new web site.

As well, Randy McCallum has very generously volunteered his technical experience to build a Local Union President managed weblog site for 9705/.480 which invites you to submit your input. You can visit this site at www.uswlocal480.blogs.com and we appreciate your comments and feedback.We invite you to visit this site and submit your comments.

Randy – your many hours of work at setting up and training us on this new Union President managed easy-to-use powerful Weblog publishing system to keep our union members and community updated on a regular basis, as well as your valued knowledge, expertise and input are very gratefully appreciated! You are a home-town technolgy software design hero and we appreciate that you remember your hometown roots and former days as a Local 480 Union member.

Thank You

First and foremost, we would like to that the membership of both 480 and 9705 for the outstanding support and solidarity that they have shown throughout this labour dispute. Solidarity does work! We have known for a long time and now the public is seeing that this is not the same old Cominco we once knew. Teck does not care about the citizens of this area, the other businesses in the area or the employees and their families. We are witnessing corporate greed in its purest form.

We have been overwhelmed by the generous support of both citizens and businesses alike! Donations of food, money, technical and moral support continue to pour in to our Hall. At the end of our strike, we will be recognizing the support of everyone, but for now --- a HUGE THANK YOU! You have all helped to make a very difficult time a little easier for everyone!

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHTER

On another note, we are still hearing that people are buying into Teck’s argument on Union hours. They would love us to equate this to the size of the membership. These hours, like everything else in our Collective Agreement, were hard fought for and won. These hours were bargained so that we are available to this membership 5 days a week, 8 hours a day and enable this Union to represent you when you need it. Just because we have fewer members, it does not mean that we should not be available when needed. This is not the time to be thinking about any concessions. If we are willing to take concessions now, what will we accept when profits go down because we all know this will happen. If the memberships who came before us did that, we would not be enjoying the pensions, benefits and wages we all have come to take for granted. We have to remain strong and resolve that we will not go backwards.

Remember, this is a tactic commonly utilized by Teck to splinter and weaken the resolve of our membership. Don’t buy into this Company’s manipulation. United, we stand strong!

W.K Labour Day Picnic -- Monday, September 5th at Birchbank Picnic Grounds

Al Graham, President, West Kootenay Labour Council needs volunteers. Call the Union Hall if you can give a couple of hours of your time – let’s help make this a huge success!

In solidarity,

Your Bargaining Committees Locals 480 and 9705, USW

Comments

[Ed]

Hey,brothers and sisters!!! Now we are starting to see what Teck is really all about!!! >>>THEMSELVES<<< They care nothing about their employees or our communities!!! Stay Strong...and United!!! Ed

[Holly LePage]

To my brothers and sisters
on strike with teck-cominco
My heart is with you.
Stay strong!!
It's your turn!!!
In solidarity
Holly xxx

[Ed]

mmm, was sitting down by the river today where Waneta Dam goes into the Mighty Columbia and i swear i seen dollar signs floating by......mmmm ...think I'm gonna give Cheryl a call and get on that bus!!!....these are this country's resourses floating away....does anyone care out there??? I Damn Well do!!!!...Be Strong, and United!!!!...your union brother...Ed.....Derm, Jason, Randy...you guys are doing an "Awesome Job"...:}

[Holly LePage]

Congratulations you did it!!
You stood united and fought hard!
No wonder I'm so proud to say I was a
Past member of local 480.
Have a well deserved Happy Thanksgiving!
Miss you
Holly

[Holly LePage]

Congratulations you did it!!
You stood united and fought hard!
No wonder I'm so proud to say I was a
Past member of local 480.
Have a well deserved Happy Thanksgiving!
Miss you
Holly