To The Membership,
Respect. Seems like a simple request, or a simple idea. It’s not much to ask, not much to provide, doesn’t take any money, or real effort to do. In my opinion, it’s what the leadership at HVC lacks. They don’t respect anything, anyone, or any process, now including bargaining. In the next few days, you will receive a letter from HVC at your home address - or most likely already have. In it, the Company whines and complains about the poor decisions they have made in their business/mine plan, and asks you directly to give up all your hard earned benefits and language to acquire more “additional savings”. We have been very cautious to allow people to engage in the process if they wanted to, and have never forced anyone to read, subscribe or do anything they didn't want to. It should always be your choice. To send a letter like this to your house, to your family, and in it claim that they are looking out for those very same people, is downright terrible. Then to force you to attend something under the direct threat of discipline… if they have to force you to listen, they have already lost. All this because we have a mine manager that has decided that money in his pocket is more important than your child’s post-high school education, paying for critical medication, your retirement, your mental health, or even the future of all employees at HVC. This, at a time where the Company is making record profits. Yet, we are still pumping 40% of our copper down the tails line for a week, and maintaining equipment so poorly that the downtime is now a daily occurrence and at record highs. We have gone from preventative maintenance, to emergency call out teams, wrapping slicker jackets around pipes until they fail completely. The hard reality at HVC is that we have never been in such disrepair, yet the blindfolds just get thicker. So here is the ultimate truth: The Company has planned for all this to happen, right down to the amount of people who are currently working at HVC. Over the last 3 years, we have cut over 200 jobs, putting more stress on each employee, ensuring they are overworked; all in a long term plan to get the language they are proposing right now. It all comes back to respect. They do not respect you, or the work you do. They do not respect the effort that we have all put into trying to maintain a plant that has been slowly and literally imploding (Dome) from the “cost savings” that have been initiated. They do not respect the historical work we have done, or the collective language that we live under. Most recently, we have found out that after collapsing the conveyor crew, which was a direct and spiteful attack on those employees for refusing overtime, they have had a contractor doing those very same checks. When the Company was questioned on it, they answered - we (Union) have never done that work- an outright lie. This latest letter, which is unprecedented at HVC, calls into question the Company’s true intent at the bargaining table. We can all see that they already think they have the language they have proposed, as we see more of our regular work disappear to contractors, and we move more grievances to arbitration. They have already made moves to hire non-union contractors and put them on top of the dam, work specifically outlined as work performed by HVC employees, and regularly do not follow any collective language they believe they have already secured during the bargaining process. They have made no attempt to hire employees in any work group, and have fallen back to overtime to cover the loss of those employees. Some areas have lost 6-10 tradespersons, and we are now contracting out that work due to lack of manpower. Then they have the gall to say “no work will be lost due to contracting out with the new proposal”. How can you claim that, and in the same breath contract out huge breadths of our own jobs, which should have been done by Unionized HVC employees. The remaining proposals the Company has left on the table have not been discussed by either party in any great detail, as they will affect the entire future of your employment at HVC. They are extremely complicated, and at the moment, they are still exactly what they were in the beginning; proposals. Pieces of paper which have no meaning until they are agreed upon, or removed from the table. The Company intends to discuss those proposals with you at these meetings in the near future, and have made it mandatory for you to attend, under threat of discipline. We signed up for it as a bargaining team member, it’s not fair for you to be forced to listen to it. The Company now intends to bypass the bargaining committee, and bargain directly with each of you. Lack of respect for even bargaining. To me and the Union Bargaining Committee, the Company is now desperately trying to convince each and every one of you that this is all a good idea. That a lack of seniority, permanent discipline, the ability to hire apprentices off the street, contracting out at will, casual employees, and picked job postings, will somehow improve your working conditions at HVC? No one can predict the future of the mine, so stop preaching it, you don’t have a crystal ball. We have come up with a list of questions that I would like each and every one of you to ask in those meetings, to ensure you have the whole story. If they want to have a small group discussion with each employee to discuss the bargaining proposals, you might as well be armed with questions and answers that they will once again lie to you about. But, in order to keep the Company on their toes, and not let them prepare their answers, the Bargaining Team will have copies upon request, so that you can bring them with you to your scheduled Power Hour. In the meantime, please feel free to email Greg Brower [email protected] with any and all questions that you may have, as he has asked for you to do so. I know that several people already have, and I think it’s a great idea. Finally, please, take the high road, and stay calm. They want you to react. It's better to be informed, and have the ability to call out the BS when they tell you. It's not often you’re going to have a chance to see the man in person! Don't worry, I'm sure you will have a ton of questions for him. Sorry for the long post, lots to say. In solidarity, Kyle Wolff President, Local 7619 Working hard to Bargain you, your family and your future, a fair and reasonable contract. Comments are closed.
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August 2021
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