NEGOTIATIONS

Local 2228—NavCanada Interest Arbitration Decision Rendered

Finally, after 1328 days without a collective agreement, an arbitrator, Mr. Ken Swan, delivered his decision in the matter of interest arbitration for a collective agreement between NavCan and Local 2228 IBEW.

Following are the increases:
September 1/2000 2.5%
September 1/2001 2.5%
September 1/2003 2.75%
September 1/2004 3%

It is important to note that this decision is a majority decision and not a unanimous one. The arbitrator, Mr. Ken Swan, was able to obtain a majority decision with the agreement of the Employer nominee, Mary Gleason. The Local’s nominee, Mr. Jim Wolfgang wrote a letter of dissent on the decision.

It is incomprehensible why in one situation, the Employer’s nominee supports an extra percentage increase above the pattern agreement settlement for one bargaining unit within the Company and this same Employer’s nominee does not support any increase above the pattern agreement for this bargaining unit—L.U. 2228, IBEW.

It is abundantly clear that NavCan does not comprehend the importance and value of the work done by the members of L.U. 2228, IBEW for this Company. If the vision of NavCan is to be the “world’s most respected air navigation service”, it has to start respecting its own employees.

Local 1620 has ratified the Craft Collective Agreement with Newfoundland Power. The agreement was accepted by a margin of 171 – 66, with 72% of the ballots cast for acceptance. This concludes negotiations with Newfoundland Power as the Clerical Agreement was ratified on February 6, 2004.

In Ontario, the members, contractors and owner clients are all carrying on business as normal since an agreement was reached in February, 2004 giving the electricians $3.40 per hour increase over three years. In the meantime, other trades are in the process of taking strike votes, and are at a very tense stage of negotiations. This leaves their members and the industry with nothing but uncertainty as they try to get what the IBEW got at the table, without a strike and without even having to use the final offer selector.

Local 424 is still in Bargaining.

Locals 254 and 424 have just completed COMET Train the Trainer with 17 new instructors completing the School. This will broaden the scope of member’s access to the COMET Schools, and Local 424 has already held classes since the Train the Trainer was held.

Meanwhile in Saskatchewan, Local 2067 is having trouble getting a new agreement with SaskPower. They have been in a legal strike position, but the Local couldn’t even get a mediator. So, earlier in April, the workers set up a picket line outside each door of the legislature so that every government MLA would have had to cross the line in order to vote in favour of the budget and avoid another election.

It took only 20 minutes outside the provincial legislature to get Local 2067 SaskPower workers what they have wanted for the past six weeks. The Government is bringing in an out-of-Province mediator to help with negotiations. The union says there will not be any job action in the meantime.

ELECTIONS

A number of Locals have elections this year, and it is very important that all the correct information is included with notices. You should refer to the Local Union Election Guide and make sure the Election Judge has a copy. Also, if the Business Manager and or President is an automatic delegate to the International Convention by virtue of the office, this information must be included on the ballot. If there are any questions, or grey areas, please contact your servicing International Representative for assistance.

PUBLIC SECTOR STRIKES

Almost at the same time as Public Sector Workers in Newfoundland were being legislated back to work, 40,000 British Columbia Health Care Workers hit the picket line in a legal strike. At issue is the layoff of 2,500 employees since January, and a demand for concessions. In BC, IBEW members from Local 230 are involved where the craft workers are part of the “Association of Unions”. Now the BC Government has legislated these workers back, but at the time of this writing, the Hospital Employees Union has refused to return to work. A number of members from other unions are showing support because they have decided to show their displeasure with the right wing government that has attacked unions in almost every conceivable way.

PRIME MINISTER’S TASK FORCE ON SEASONAL WORK

The Canadian Office of the Building and Construction Trades Department has produced an excellent submission to this task force on Seasonal Work, with the goal of educating the Government on the nature of construction work and the needs of the construction worker. Some of the issues highlighted are:

Promotion of the Red Seal Program
Mobility Assistance for Construction Workers
Use of Temporary Foreign Workers – i.e. there are an abundance of skilled Canadian workers ready to work in their trade, and it is not necessary to import labour, especially at unfair wages.

Meetings regarding this have already been held in Atlantic Canada. If you wish to participate in meetings of this committee, ensure that your request is forwarded to the Task Force at the following location:

The Chair Brent St-Denis, MP
Room 584 Confederation Building

House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Phone: 613-996-5376
Fax: 613-995-6661

CONSTRUCTION SECTOR COUNCIL

This Construction Sector Council is introducing some initiatives, and more details will come later as they are developed. One initiative is the Smart Card Technology for tracking worker skills to make it an effective human resource tool for the construction industry.

HRSD is providing the Council with $662,892 for its “E-Gold Seal” project, a Distance Learning Engine that will provide the construction industry with a standard learning platform to develop, deploy and manage e-learning through the Internet or CD-ROM, allowing users to access construction education.

GENERAL PRESIDENTS’ MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE/NATIONAL MAINTENANCE COUNCIL FOR CANADA

Maintenance work opportunities continue to grow with over 12, 000,000 hours recorded in 2003. The IBEW is a key trade on industrial maintenance with electricians and instrument techs and is represented on this committee by International Representative Tom McGreevy.

In order to further the communication process, the committee meets each year with local unions in most areas where maintenance agreements are in place. Also this year, in order to keep in touch with clients, the committee will host two events involving maintenance industry client representatives, local union reps and maintenance employers. These events give the unions a vehicle to present the benefits of unionized contract maintenance to customers.

The first event will be held in Edmonton in June 2004 and the other event will be in October 2004 in Halifax. Local union representatives in those areas will be receiving invitations to these events in due course.

Information on the operation of the maintenance industry and copies of most maintenance agreements can be found on the committee web site www.gpmccanada.com.

ARTICLES TO THE JOURNAL

Once again thanks to the Canadian Locals for contributing an article and in some cases a picture to the IBEW Journal. For recent journals, appreciation goes out to Locals 254, 424, 62

INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE DECEASED

The First District Office sadly announces the passing of retired International Representative John Platt on Sunday, April 18, 2004. Brother Platt was appointed as an International Representative servicing the Railroad Sector on October 1, 1990 in the 10th District. He served there until May 1, 1997 when he was transferred to the IBEW First District where he served until his retirement on October 1, 2003.

John will always be remembered as a gentleman and it is sad that he did not get to enjoy more of his retirement.

DATES TO REMEMBER IN 2004

Comet Train the Trainer, Winnipeg
May 17 – 20

Organizing Conference, Kelowna
June 1 – 4

Organizing Conference, Ottawa
June 14 – 17

IBEW MS Golf Tournament, May 27

Canadian Apprenticeship Forum Apprenticeship Conference, Halifax
June 6 – 8

Railroad Conference, California
August 11 – 13

First District Progress Meeting, Calgary
August 24 – 26

Legislative Conference, Ottawa
September 20 – 21

IBEW Membership Development Conference, Pittsburgh
September 27 – 29

IBEW/NECA Employee Benefits Conference, Orlando
December 2 – 3

Once again, for the membership to access the Coast to Coast Update, visit the web site at www.ibew1st.org.

In conclusion, as we think about our agenda for the Progress Meeting, where the goal is to focus on the direction we are taking in the next ten years, let us reflect on a quotation from Albert Einstein. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results”.