One Day Longer
It’s a simple thought, “One day longer, one day stronger.” It’s a slogan, a motto, a chant. It’s a cheer that thousands of Steelworkers have repeated over and over all over the world; when insatiable employers have locked out workers over cut backs, or when Steelworkers went on strike to protect the rights of their fellow Brothers and Sisters health and safety. It’s been chanted on the front lawns of multinational corporations, such as Vale and Rio-Tinto, streets in New York, London and Montreal, and repeated on the steps of businesses all over the world, when Steelworkers have fought for what they believed in. As we await Mediator Vince Ready’s call to return to the bargaining table, I’m asking all of us to think about what one day longer means for us, members of USW 7619. What is it that we believe in—the dignity of workers. It’s the simple premise of an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work and the ability to come home from the job in the same condition we left. At HVC our jobs are part of the social contract all British Columbians should insist on. Yes, companies can develop our natural resources, but we expect family supporting jobs for our communities in return. As a Union, we look to create better schools, healthier communities, tougher laws and more comfortable lives. We fight for laws to protect the environment - the water, the air, the ground that we all walk on. We look to protect all of us with rules that employers have to follow, to ensure that you get to the future that you planned on looking forward to. Teck HVC wants to rip up the fundamentals of not only our collective agreement, but that social contract too. Instead of secure local jobs they want the unrestricted ability to contract out. They treat our pensions like some gift they want back instead of recognizing that it our deferred wages we negotiated for retirement. They care about their own bottom line but not ours. It wasn’t always like this. Once, we didn’t have to battle for every ounce of ground we have. Once, it was a simple promise. You worked hard, did your job, put in your time, looked forward to a better tomorrow, and retired with dignity. What happened along the way? Greed. We live in the one of the richest countries in the world. Our CEO makes $5000 per hour; that’s $91 a minute - 116 times more an hour than our top wage, and they talk about cut backs. Our Company makes hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and they want to take away your pension. Don smiles openly and rubs his hands together, gloating over the tremendous amount of money they will all make, but we won’t even see a dime. This fight is not over finances or benefits. This fight is about the fundamental rights of our Union, the very same rights our Brothers and Sisters fought for in 1989. They stood in the cold for 107 days, with no wages, no income, and no benefits. They stood on the line with signs and with each other, and they chanted those same words heard on the streets of New York: “One day longer, one day stronger.” They believed in something. They believed in each other, they believed in a greater idea, a greater goal. They fought to protect their rights, and they fought to protect their jobs; in turn, now our jobs. They spent 107 days on the line to achieve the very language that has given all of us the opportunity to work at HVC today. When they tried to break us, we worked to stick together. They have tried to outsmart us, outspend us, even outsource us, but they have never been able to outwork us. They are lacking something that makes them fundamentally different. They will never have what we have, we have each other. Whether it’s this company or the ones that came before, we are, and always have been stronger together. Being tough isn’t always about a fight, swinging first, or who’s bigger, it’s about finding the courage to have faith, the guts to have hope, and the power to dream. Our fighting spirit means we never back down, and never give up. Whatever it takes, we will do. We will fight back so we can have a good life, a safe life, a future. Something we can take pride in. This is now our fight. This is now our future. The decisions we make now will affect us for the rest of our lives. Our Brothers and Sisters who stood on the line in 89’ are all mostly retired, and it’s up to all of us to dictate what happens next. Are you ready to cower, to sit back and let them take away your pension? Are you going to sit idle and let them contract out your job? Sit back and watch as a casual employee takes all your overtime and covers your holidays? Wait around until you get sick so they can fire you after two years? I’m not. I will never back down. I will never let them take those things from you, from me, from us. I will not bend over and take it as they expect us to do. I will not break. I’m going to fight. With every ounce of energy, every single day, I will fight to ensure that we all have those same rights. People are scared because they don’t know what’s next, but what we do know is that if we don’t stand up, we know exactly what’s next. Uncertainty can feed fears, but certainty of what could happen should be our real fear. Back down now, things will only get worse, things will only go further downhill. Back down now, they win, and they will continue to take forever. They will take until there is nothing left to give, then they will ask for more. Greed is a hungry animal. Uncertainty can be frustrating, but remember our sisters and brother in the Elk Valley took their time, kept up pressure on Teck, negotiated decent wage and benefit increases and turned back any concessions. Stand beside your Brothers and Sisters, and not behind them. Resist the rumors, stand together as one group, one body, one Union. We are stronger than them because we believe in what we are fighting for. We are fighting for our future. Together we will always be here one day longer. In Solidarity, Kyle Wolff United Steel Workers, Local 7619 The Union met with the Company over the last two days, in an attempt to move the Company off of their position in gutting the Collective Agreement. Specifically we talked about Article 3.07 and the Letters of Understanding that pertain to Contracting Out in the CBA. The Company’s position over the last few days has not changed; they seek to eliminate all contracting out provisions in the Collective Agreement. Our position is clear, we have fought for 25 years to ensure that employees of Local 7619 have opportunities to work, train, and to prosper through our Collective Agreement. We carefully explained to the Company our position, and the position of third parties who have ruled and decided in favor of the Union. Our position is clear, members of our local union will continue to work and to have opportunities at all times, rather than giving away those opportunities and work to a contractor. Mediator Ready has adjourned the talks, and will advise the parties on when talks will resume. We have scheduled the postponed membership meetings for this Thursday, Jan 12th, at the regular times at the Kamloops Union Hall. Please attend, and we can discuss more. Remember, Solidarity Lives On With USW Your Bargaining Committee --- Bargaining Heats Up in 1989 - Remember what was fought for. --- |
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August 2021
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