Bulletins

November Newspaper

Grievance Article - Brian Onyschak Well, now that the dust has settled time to get back to our regular business. It is that time of year when we post our Shop Steward nomination form around the property. I encourage everyone to consider signing up before the deadline of December 2nd. You will find the forms posted in your Plants. Please remember, if you were a Shop Steward last year, it is necessary for you to re-sign to indicate that you are still interested in remaining on the Grievance Committee. The role of a Shop Steward is very important. You are the eyes and ears of the Union. Without you, it would be impossible to keep abreast of all the situations that happen across the property. There have been quite a few enquiries about a Shop Steward School. We are looking at putting on a school early in the new year. Once we have dates confirmed, we will be contacting everyone. We are still dealing with a few issues concerning bargaining. As of the writing of this article, the meal ticket problem is still outstanding. We have had discussions with the Company and are cautiously optimistic that we can come to an agreement. If we are unable to resolve this issue, we will proceed to arbitration. Another concern is the Company’s scheduling of different shifts across the property. We thought we had an understanding in bargaining, but that doesn’t seem to be the case now. We have filed a grievance on this issue and hope to have discussions with the Company in the near future. Contracting Out is still an issue with our Union and there are a lot of rumours out there. At our next Executive meeting, we will be discussing the whole issue of contracting out and how to police it. The last issue I want to touch on is the discipline for alleged actions during the strike. The Company has sent us a list of the proposed discipline. We have requested that they supply us with all the evidence they considered when determining what level of discipline they believed was appropriate. Once we are in receipt of the evidence, we will be contacting all members affected to discuss their situation. In closing, I ask everyone to be patient while we try to get these issues resolved. Again, thank you for all the support you have given us solidarity works! In solidarity, Brian

November Newspaper

SAFETY COORDINATORS - Steve / Larry

Proper Use of Field Level Risk Assessment

As the results of several accident investigations over the last year, issues have been identified concerning how Field Level Risk Assessments (FLRA) are possibly being used in the Plants. It appears that there is a common confusion with some members and supervisors about how FLRA should be used to help improve safety in the workplace.

The FLRA is to be used as a tool to enable workers to quickly assess their workplace prior to starting work. This assessment is to ensure that are no unnecessary or unusual hazards in the workplace that will increase the risk of injury while work is being carried out.

FLRA’s are not to be used to come up with different ways of carrying out tasks for which job procedures, control documents, or regulations already exist or instead of developing formal procedures. They cannot be used to make up your own procedures or shortcut any existing procedures to make the job easier – that could jeopardize safety.

Some examples of correct uses for FLRA:

1. To ensure that known hazards are being properly controlled as per the existing job procedure. Eg. Ventilation system is working properly prior to creating dust or fume. Make sure lockouts are in place prior to starting work.
2. To ensure that controlled hazards have been identified and resolved prior to starting work. Eg. Tripping hazards created by hoses lying in walkway and moving them prior to starting work.
3. To ensure that new or abnormal hazards are not present for which the normal control methods would not apply. Eg. Operating new equipment without being trained or handling new chemicals without reviewing MSDS.
4. Checking to make sure you have proper protective equipment to do the job. Eg. Eye protection, body protection, respiratory protection, hearing protection.

These are only a few examples. Remember an FLRA is only a tool and, used in the proper way, will confirm existing controls are in place and working well to keep us safe. If you have any questions on FLRA, please feel free to call the Union Hall.

November Newspaper

Entertainment Article - Armindo deMedeiros

It is that time of year again! Christmas is just around the corner and once again we have our Annual Extended Care Christmas Dinner planned for the residents of the area extended care units. This year, we have the dinner planned for December 1^st at the Royal Canadian Legion, Trail Branch. Everyone agrees that this is one of the most enjoyable events of the year. If you are able to give us a hand, we can certainly use some volunteers. Phone me at the Union Hall or leave your name and number with Cheryl and we’ll get back to you

Thank You

Since our last newspaper, we are continuing to receive strike pay from some of our members who left town during the strike. Thank you to the following additional members who have contributed to our strike pay account:

Stu Burwash

Tim Teindl

Harvey Kabatoff

Dick Gademans

Tom Bruce

Howard Regnier

November Newspaper

Grievance Article - Brian Onyschak

Well, now that the dust has settled time to get back to our regular business. It is that time of year when we post our Shop Steward nomination form around the property. I encourage everyone to consider signing up before the deadline of December 2^nd. You will find the forms posted in your Plants. Please remember, if you were a Shop Steward last year, it is necessary for you to re-sign to indicate that you are still interested in remaining on the Grievance Committee.

The role of a Shop Steward is very important. You are the eyes and ears of the Union. Without you, it would be impossible to keep abreast of all the situations that happen across the property.

There have been quite a few enquiries about a Shop Steward School. We are looking at putting on a school early in the new year. Once we have dates confirmed, we will be contacting everyone.

We are still dealing with a few issues concerning bargaining. As of the writing of this article, the meal ticket problem is still outstanding. We have had discussions with the Company and are cautiously optimistic that we can come to an agreement. If we are unable to resolve this issue, we will proceed to arbitration.

Another concern is the Company

=s scheduling of different shifts across the property. We thought we had an understanding in bargaining, but that doesn=

t seem to be the case now. We have filed a grievance on this issue and hope to have discussions with the Company in the near future.

Contracting Out is still an issue with our Union and there are a lot of rumours out there. At our next Executive meeting, we will be discussing the whole issue of contracting out and how to police it.

The last issue I want to touch on is the discipline for alleged actions during the strike. The Company has sent us a list of the proposed discipline. We have requested that they supply us with all the evidence they considered when determining what level of discipline they believed was appropriate. Once we are in receipt of the evidence, we will be contacting all members affected to discuss their situation.

In closing, I ask everyone to be patient while we try to get these issues resolved. Again, thank you for all the support you have given us

B

solidarity works!

In solidarity, Brian

Just Thinking Out Loud - Ken Schroeder

Now that things are settled

And we’ve all had time for thought,

Some might say we have gained some

While others think we’ve not.

Bargaining was ruthless,

Their intentions cruel and cold.

But all of this would quickly change

When power sales were sold.

Concessions stay, wages - not,

Our hopeful thoughts turn sober.

But all of this will only last

‘Til the middle of October.

They fooled us not – they soiled themselves,

They know not how they’ve pained:

For what they’ve lost in morality

Is not worth what they’ve gained!

IMPORTANT

Everyone who works at your Union Hall also has a backlog of vacations to use this year. If you call the Hall and no one answers, please leave a message on the answering machine and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience!

REMINDER

Randy McCallum and Derm Jackman did a lot of great work for us during the summer getting our blogsite and website up and running. We will be posting our newspapers and bulletins on both sites. Please make sure to visit the sites, we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Website: www.uswa480.com

Blogsite: www.uswlocal480.blogs.com

November Newspaper

November Newspaper

Letter to the Editor

Brothers & Sisters:

Now that the strike is over and we are back to work, as a member of your Bargaining Committee, I would like to thank you all for the strong support we received during this round of negotiations. It was a slow and tough process, but with your solidarity, we were able to achieve what I believe is a good contract.

The gains we made on our main issues, wages and basic pensions, are very respectable and are among the best increases in industry at this time. Unfortunately, we weren’t as with some of our other issues. In particular, early retirement and a form of indexing, but these issues can be back on the table next time if the membership chooses to go in that direction. It is the membership that decides where the priorities lie.

In 2008, which isn’t very far away, we will be going into another bargaining sessions and I urge all our members to start getting ready now. Work overtime, pay off your debts, open a savings account and start putting aside a small amount from each pay cheque just in case we have to go through this again. $50.00 per cheque would amount to over $3000 during this contract. Just remember that we may call on you for your support at any time and expect you will show the same strength and solidarity when asked.

For those of you who decided to go and look for work elsewhere, we all appreciate the sacrifice you made in leaving the area and I thank you for the financial donations that were sent sent back to help support the members who remained on the lines. Every little bit helped. You money was used to increase the strike pay handed out weekly to our members. If you haven’t yet contributed, consider the fact that the wages and benefits you are receiving today were hard-fought for by the members who remained behind with a great loss of income and family stress. For some, there is the continued threat of discipline from the Company and the courts. They fought for themselves and for you. You should do the right thing for them!

In solidarity, Bob Wishneski

November Newspaper

President’s Article - Doug Jones

We have received a lot of compliments on our latest Agreement from other Locals which is sure great to hear. As Teck moves into negotiations with Elkview Coal, we now see how important it was for us to stand our ground and avoid those major concessions. We find now that not a lot of other Locals have post-retirement benefits to the degree that we have. From a monetary perspective, this last Collective Agreement is the second largest in our history which it should be, given the position Teck was in.

We have resolved the issue of vacation scheduling for 2005. Employees now have options as to how they deal with the unpaid portion of holidays. We have been told the supervisors will all be brought up to date on this issue.

I had a conversation with Richard Boyce, the President of the Highland Valley Copper Local), who sits on the Provincial Apprenticeship Committee. He said when they reviewed each area of the province, Teck in Trail seems to be one of the only companies that does not have any apprentices to speak of. If this Company is trying to repair the relationship with us, why don’t they start by looking after simple issues like apprenticeships and general manpower. It would seem to me to be a good place to start. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss apprenticeships for our members at any time!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Glenn Scaia for his many years of service to the Union in various capacities. Glenn did a tremendous amount of research for us as a Chief Shop Steward. Glenn has decided to step down as Recording Secretary for personal reasons and we wish him all the best.

We have asked Derm Jackman to fill the position of Recording Secretary until the election in May ‘06. Welcome aboard, Derm!

Our "Strike Appreciation" Dinner last Saturday was a huge success – an awesome meal, good guest speakers, and special guests from the community. Renegade provided great music and kept everyone dancing into the morning hours. Ken Neumann, our National Director from Toronto was able to attend, as was Angela Schira the Secretary Treasurer of the BC Federation of Labour. Keith Turcotte and Steve Dewell were also able to attend so we could show our appreciation for a job well done.

Presentations were made to Mayor Bogs from the City of Trail, Danny Ferraro on behalf of Ferraro Foods, Dan Ashman from AM Ford, Jack Balfour (Balfour & Sons), Brian LeRose (B/W Terra Nova) Gord Trotter, representing both Canada Safeway and UFCW and Randy McCallum. Each of these special guests were of great assistance during our strike and deserve our appreciation.

We also presented a 40 minute Power Point show that Derm Jackman and Rick Georgetti collaborated on. This presentation gives a pictorial history of our strike and has recorded "union" music playing in the background. Hopefully, we will have a limited number of these for sale soon.

I heard a number of people say we haven’t had a party like that in our Union Hall for a long time and we need to do it more often.

While we are saying our "thank you’s", a big round of applause to Armindo deMedeiros for all of his hard work in organizing our social functions throughout the strike and for the dinner and dance. Both Army and Pat Zanier were instrumental in organizing our barbeques this summer which were enjoyed by everyone!

We owe a big debt of gratitude too to all the Picket Coordinators and Captains, Strike Coordinators and Financial Officers, and to our Strategic Planning Committee for their work on the power sale issue. All of these members certainly donated more that their required hours to make this strike a success.

And last, but certainly not least, a big pat on the back to all of you for your continued support throughout this time. Without the solidarity of our membership, our fight for a fair collective agreement would have been much harder to achieve. We all learned that "solidarity works!" As your President, you have all made me very proud!

In solidarity, Doug.

November Newspaper

Benefits Article - Armindo deMedeiros

The past month has been a very busy time at your Union Hall as your Executive works diligently to put out many fires. Your Executive has been putting in many long hours to clear up some of the misunderstandings related to past bargaining. Mainly, I’m speaking of meal vouchers, vacations and 1-day sick leave benefits when hospitalized.

For me, taking over as the Benefits Coordinator has been a real challenge. There is a lot to learn and comes with a big learning curve. Sometimes I wondered if I’d ever get the hang of it or is it too late to teach an old dog new tricks. At times, I wished I was back in the Melting Plant pouring jumbos.

This month, I’d like to touch on some of the interesting cases that keep popping up. When you are injured on the job, why don’t people report it to First Aid? Many employees usually brush off little incidents, aches or pains and then a week later, when it was still a problem, they would go and report it. This practice causes a great deal of grief in the end. From what I’m finding out, these late claims are generally denied by the WCB and in the end, you end up fighting them through numerous and lengthy appeals.

I know the Company likes to have a low first aid report number, but too bad! It is your right to report these incidents, after all, it is your body and ultimately you will be the one who suffers loss. WCB benefits are paid by the Company through the WCB and I’m beginning to think that the WCB’s mandate is to deny all claims if there is a slight doubt to the injury. I urge our members that no matter how slight the injury seems at the time, report it to First Aid immediately, not to your supervisor because sometimes they too forget what was reported to them.

Another misconception is the filing for Basic Sick Leave (WI). When you get sick and go off on sick leave, see your doctor immediately and file the necessary forms as soon as possible. Do not wait a week or so to file your forms as this could cause you some problems.

Our CBA, under Add. "E" - Basic Sick Leave states you have 5 working days to file for sick leave, but why wait to the last minute. We have been successful in a few cases to argue this point and get benefits for some members after the 5 days, but as usual, it turns out to be a big hassle for everyone. File right away and save yourself some grief.

Sick leave forms are available at the Union Hall and I’ll be more than willing to help you fill them out. On the question of the one day sick leave that we bargained, you would have to have a surgical procedure in the hospital or clinic and be unable to return to work later in the day in order to qualify for pay.

On a nicer note. Dennis Barker, an employee for 32 years is retiring out of the Melting Plant. It was a pleasure working with Dennis and he will be missed (I’m sure someone will claim his chair instantly.) Happy Retirement! Way to go Dennis – all the best!.

Retirements for 2005!

On behalf of the membership and Executive of Local 480, our Best Wishes for a long, healthy retirement!

Alan (Taffy) Lloyd Jan. 2^nd

Chuck Radtke "

Rick Lewis Jan. 13

Eric Sampson Jan. 15

Eugenio Piasentin Jan. 16

Mirio Bronca Jan. 20

Jimmy McIntyre Jan. 28

George Neigel Feb. 1

Larry Hill Feb. 28

Harvey Bruggencate Mar. 1

Ken Doucette Mar. 4

Dave Pistak Mar 22

Karl Steck Mar. 30

Doug Stuckless Apr. 1

Graham Parkes May 28

Terry Watson "

Ron Walker "

Miguel Sosa May 31

Bob Johnson "

Allan Gallamore "

Bob Freeman "

Terry Hopkins June 1

Vern Nault "

Robert McBride "

Robert Vliet "

Jim Peters "

Ken Kozlowski July 19

Wally Caron "

Ron Hanson "

Edward Sallis "

Stan Harding Aug. 1

Richard Wilmot Sept. 1

Eric Harry Oct. 8

Dennis Barker Oct. 25

Glen Moore Oct 27

Dave Orlando Nov. 2