To the Membership,
Welcome to Spring, 2017, if we can call it that. The snow pack hasn’t been this high in years, and the temperature definitely doesn’t feel like spring, but it’s amazing to think that last year this time, over 240 houses were lost to fire in Fort Mac. Feast or famine it seems. That leads us to Highland Valley Copper. We have never seen such a disaster at HVC in the whole history of the mine, and nothing seems to be changing. Every day, I have discussions with employees who are not only frustrated with the way things are being managed, but so disappointed there is such a lack of respect for the people who work here. But watch out, if you talk out of turn, speak out to try to make things better, they will discipline you, fire you or just move you to another department. All they want is whipping boys and girls to do their dirty work, with no regard’s on how that affects the working class. Since Jan 9th and 10th, 2017, when we sat with Mr. Ready and the Company in mediation, the Company and the Union have not met. Instead, the Company has started a chain of trying to back door our language any way possible. Things have gone from bad, to worse. Work that we have always done at HVC has started to become work not normally performed, with the latest being the physical upstream portion of the LL dam, work specifically written into the collective agreement. Not only is this work historically done by HVC members, the Company dissolved the dam crew last year, did not hire the employees to replace the ones who have retired, and sold off the equipment needed to do the job. All to claim that there is a lack of manpower and equipment. It is the worst case of trying to manipulate the collective language that we have seen to date, and they look at you with straight faces and tell you it’s within their rights. This is just the start. We HAVE the language to deal with issues like this, and we are moving forward with grievances to deal with this problem, but I can’t stress enough that without the language in 3.07, they would be able to shave the workforce down to nothing, eliminate almost all the jobs, and replace you with casual or contract workers. Nothing would be in their way, just the way they want it. In 1989, the membership took on a fight to create the language that they don’t like and the Company would love nothing more than to get rid of it. The membership went on strike for 106 days to show the Company they meant business. In 1999, the Company laid off the entire membership, except for 60 members, for 109 days, to try to take the same language away again. Both times, the membership stood up and fought for their rights. Even between those fights, the Company has come to the table and tried to take away that language, and every time we have been successful in keeping it, ensuring that you have job security and that your family is provided for with those benefits, wages and pensions. This time, it’s even more severe. Not only do they want to take away our contracting out language, they want to eliminate seniority, choose who gets the next job posting, give apprenticeships to whoever they feel like, bring in casual employees to replace you on vacation (sorry, no more OT), decimate your copper bonus, two tier your pension and have permanent discipline on your file. On top of all this, they want all the Pit Operations to show up at 7:15 for no extra pay, make it mandatory to work all overtime, and kick you out of the Long Term Disability Program after 2 years. These are all rights that we have fought for, to ensure that you, as a worker, retire with dignity. That you, as a worker, use seniority to gain the better jobs, the better rate of pay, the better job security. All things they want to strip away from you. These are things we do know. The Company does not care about you or your family, they only care about the bottom line. Over and over, it’s about how much they made, not how much they hurt people to get there. The Company does not care about your future, only how many more capital projects they can build with our pension money and how much they can show their shareholders they made. They don’t care about how long you work there, only how “good” of an employee you are. This fight is not over, in reality, it’s not even started. We will not back down, and it seems that they will not either. With this in mind, we have decided to sit down with the Union Bargaining committee on May 17th and 18th to consider our next steps. There are so many moving parts, it cannot be drafted into an email, or even be explained in a short conversation. The history this local has, the contract we have created and the membership that has stood up to fight time and time again. It’s the story of people standing up to protect their rights and their future, and our story is just beginning. It’s called the Power of Unity. It's where the word Union comes from and where we are stronger together. A Union is not made up of those on the top, it is made up of all those who work inside it. From the top to the bottom, we look out for each other, we protect each other and we stand together. We are all in. Many of you, nearly 700, have never seen the strength of a local working together, or gone through any type of dispute in the past. The Company has hired all of you for a reason; they expect all of you to roll over when the times get tough, and give up everything when we hit the first wall. But we know better. Our strength comes from our diversity, our history and our comradery. We work together, play together and grow old together. When the times get tough, we get tougher. It’s our solidarity that scares them. Our membership meeting is in Kamloops on Tuesday of next week, the same day as the elections, I can only express that people take one thing into mind, use your right to vote. We celebrated the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge this year, where soldiers from across the world fought and died for our right to have a free and democratic society, yet a massive percentage of people still don’t exercise the right to vote. You can’t complain if you don’t vote, and if you don’t vote, you won’t be part of any change. Expect the next update after we meet with the Committee, but for now, enjoy the sunny weather while it’s still around. May the 4th be with you, Kyle Wolff United Steelworker President, Local 7619 Comments are closed.
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August 2021
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