News, Developments and Information

BURNABY, B.C., 23 March 2015 – The United Steelworkers (USW) has announced that it is withdrawing from the Coroner’s Inquest into the explosion at Lakeland Mills in Prince George, B.C.

USW District 3 Director Stephen Hunt says the union has lost confidence that the inquest will answer the many outstanding questions that remain.

On April 14, 2014, Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe released a statement promising that the inquest would provide the families of workers who died, as well as injured workers and the entire community, with a thorough review of the causes and contributing factors of the explosion, including: how and why the explosion happened; the roles and responsibilities of those involved in mill safety and their policies and practices; and what steps can and should be taken to prevent this type of event from happening again.
“Over the past week, the inquest has heard how WorkSafeBC’s failure to carry out its mandate to ensure the health and safety of workers resulted in a complete mishandling of sawmill safety both before and after the explosion. Despite this tragic failure to do its job, the agency is not being held accountable,” Hunt says.

As a result of relying upon WorkSafeBC’s flawed investigation, the RCMP and B.C. Safety Authority also produced failed investigations.

“It is now clear that the inquest is not going to adequately answer any of the questions that demand to be answered. The employer’s withholding of crucial evidence would have made a difference as to how the USW conducted its case and we will not participate in an exercise that does such a disservice to the families who lost loved ones and to the larger community,” says Hunt.

The USW continues to join family members, First Nations and the larger community in calling for a public inquiry.

USW Communications

During Wednesdays Union management meeting your union representatives voiced our concerns about Korean coils being run in Spiral and how this could affect union jobs. Management’s response was this.

The spiral mill is currently running 10 Korean made coils that were originally to be run in Portland. Due to production demands in Portland, these coils have been brought to Regina for a trial run only. The pipe from these coils are being cut up and sent to Regina R&D in the hope to qualify Portland.

Management also said that when Steel is running at full capacity it can’t keep up with the demands of Evraz Tubular and at some point Tubular might need a separate supplier to keep up with these demands.

In Solidarity!

NOMINATIONS FOR THE ELECTION OF THE FOLLOWING LOCAL UNION EXECUTIVE POSITIONS WILL BE AS FOLLOWS:

 President
 Vice President
 Recording Secretary
 Financial Secretary
 Treasurer
 Trustee’s (3)
 Guide
 Inside Guard
 Outside Guard
 Chief Shop Steward (Steel)
 Chief Shop Steward (Pipe)
 Chief Shop Steward (O&T)

AS PER THE RECENT APPROVED LU BYLAW CHANGES, THE BARGAINING COMMITTEE SHALL CONSIST OF THE PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, RECORDING SECRETARY, CHIEF SHOP STEWARD (PIPE), CHIEF SHOP STEWARD (STEEL) AND CHIEF SHOP STEWARD (O&T).

IF YOU ARE NOMINATING AN INDIVIDUAL WHO WILL BE UNABLE TO ATTEND THE NOMINATION MEETING, NOMINATION FORMS CAN BE OBTAINED FROM DENISE AT THE UNION OFFICE 569-9663 OR EMAIL HER AT DMANZ@USW.CA. PLEASE RETURN THE FORM TO DENISE AND IT WILL BE TAKEN TO THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING AS SCHEDULED BELOW. PLEASE ONLY SUBMIT “ONE” NOMINATION PER PERSON.

NOMINATIONS WILL CLOSE AT THE MEMBERSHIP MEETING, WHICH WILL BE HELD AS FOLLOWS. PRIOR TO CLOSING THE NOMINATIONS, NOMINATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM THE FLOOR:

DATE: Monday, March 16, 2015

TIME: 7:30 pm

LOCATION: Regina Union Centre, 2709 12th Avenue Regina (lower level)

ONLY ELIGIBLE USW MEMBERS ARE ENTITLED TO CONTEST FOR A POSITION. IN THE EVENT THAT THERE ARE NO ELIGIBLE MEMBERS WHO ACCEPT NOMINATION, NON-ELIGIBLE MEMBERS ARE ENTITLED TO BE NOMINATED AND RUN FOR THE POSITION.

IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE, A MEMBER MUST HAVE ATTENDED 1/3 (ROUNDED OFF TO THE NEXT HIGHEST WHOLE NUMBER) OF THE REGULAR MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS HELD IN THE LAST 24 MONTHS. THE NUMBER OF MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS IS REDUCED BY ANY EXCUSED ABSENCES DUE TO WORK, ILLNESS THAT CONFINES, ARMED SERVICES, JURY DUTY, BEREAVEMENT LEAVE AND UNION BUSINESS.

Congratulations to Leonas Labenskas of Regina who was the grand prize winner in this mornings Steelworkers “Raising The Roof” raffle draw. Thanks to everyone who bought a ticket and helped raise over $6000.00 for the Habitat Steelworker Home.

Pension Trustee (2) positions.

Steel Division Shift & Seniority Committee (2) positions.

Please contact Corey Liebrecht if you would like to put your name forward.

National Directors Update (January 2015) – Ken Neumann and Western Canada Director Stephen Hunt came away from a meeting with RCMP’s Director of National Criminal Investigations with a commitment for further follow up on ways to work with the force on better enforcement of the Westray Law.

“We felt that Chief Superintendent Eric Stubbs understood our campaign and would be prepared to take steps on delivering the message of enforcement,” said Neumann. “Among other things, we stressed the need for better coordination among police, regulatory agencies and Crown attorneys.”

Through Stubbs commitment to follow up on Westray enforcement is encouraging, we need more agencies to sign on and commit to Stop The Killing.

USPA

Sisters & Brothers,

Your bargaining committee is pleased to announce that it has been confirmed by the company that the negotiated lump sum payment will be deposited into our members account on Friday January 30, 2015. It was also confirmed that the payment of our COLA from last quarter will be calculated retroactive and also deposited on Friday January 30, 2015.

Solidarity Forever!

Current retiree’s or surviving spouses can expect their bonus payment to be paid on the following dates. March 1st, 2015 and January 2016.

The tentative agree between local 5890 and Evraz has been ratified with 56% approval. Local 6673 Calgary has also accepted the tentative agreement.

Date: Friday January 16th, 2015
Location: Evraz Operations Building
Time: 5am – 8pm

* All bargaining unit members currently covered under the collective bargaining agreement (including probationary employees) are eligible to vote with the exception of temporary supervisors.

Your voice, your future, your vote.

Solidarity!

Sisters and Brothers

As you may be aware, on December 19, 2014 your bargaining committee reached a tentative agreement with the company. We understand that our members are eager to know what is in the tentative agreement. In order to keep all information accurate for the members and to avoid rumors and false information. It is in the best interest for all of us, that particulars of the agreement NOT be released prior to the bargaining committee being able to present it to the membership as a whole in the early new year.

Shortly, the bargaining committee will be receiving a copy from the company containing all of the agreed to proposals that are in the tentative agreement. When the committee receives these agreed to proposals. They will need to be reviewed it for there accuracy. Once that is completed, the committee will then put the agreed to proposals into a handout and a PowerPoint presentation for our members to view at a ratification membership meeting. This process will take time, especially with the holidays upon us.

Your bargaining committee anticipates the ratification membership meeting to be held in early January 2015, with a location yet to be determined. At that time, the tentative agreement will be presented to the members in the form described above. They will then have the opportunity to vote on the tentative agreement at a time and location also yet to be determined. This process Sisters and Brothers allows our membership to receive the correct information as well as giving them the opportunity to ask questions directly to their bargaining committee before voting.

Please note: If you are a probationary employee, you are eligible to vote and you are encouraged to attend all meetings including the ratification meeting.

We would like to close by expressing our sincere thanks to the membership for their patience and outstanding support though out bargaining.

In Solidarity
USW Local 5890
Bargaining Committee

Local 5890/6673

Sisters & Brothers

Since the last meeting that was held on December 16, 2014 your bargaining committee has had further communication with the company. We are pleased to announce to our members that we have reached a Tentative Agreement.
In the meantime, necessary paperwork needs to be completed by both bargaining committees throughout the holiday season.

We anticipate a membership meeting being called early in the New Year.

You’re bargaining committee would like to wish our members and their families a

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season.

Solidarity Forever!

Bargaining Committee
USW 5890 / 6673

Local 5890/6673

CHAIN BARGAINING UPDATE

Sisters & Brothers,

On December 16, 2014 your bargaining committee met with the company to negotiate in Regina. Although some positive gains were made, at the end of the day your bargaining committee was not satisfied that the company’s offer reflected the best interests of our membership and an agreement could not be reached.
Your bargaining committee is committed in bringing back to our member’s the best contract possible. Currently there are no further dates set for negotiating. We will continue to inform the membership with further information as it becomes available.

Our Solidarity Works!

Support Your Bargaining Committee

In Solidarity

Bargaining Committee
USW 5890 / 6673

Tickets can be purchased at the United Steelworkers office located at 26-395 Park St. between 8am- 4pm Monday – Friday.

A reminder that the monthly membership meeting will take place tonight Monday November 24th, 7:30 pm sharp. Regina Union Center, 2709 12th Ave. downstairs. Please use the south side entrance.

Agenda:

Initiation of new members
Staff Rep. Report
Grievance Reports
Financial Reports
Committee’s Reports
Communications
Unfinished/New Business

Stay informed, stay involved in your local.

Brothers & Sisters

Your bargaining committee has completed 3 days of bargaining. During the process, the employer tabled a document outlining what a new agreement looks like for them;

• They still want – annual cash bonus with no wage increases
• They still want – to discontinue annual bonuses for all our pensioners and their surviving spouses
• They still want – Upon ratification, implement a “Defined Contribution” Pension Plan for new members
• They still want – mandatory overtime
• They now want – no increase to our current Defined Benefit Pension Plan

The union has proposals on each of these issues, we are focused on a new collective agreement without concessions.

We had three days scheduled for next week and the Union has had to reschedule these days. We have further days scheduled in December and we are working towards bringing back to you a tentative agreement. Everyone must remember, bargaining is not a race, we have had many meetings and we will continue to meet as long as we are making progress.

To date we have achieved many positive changes in the language and we have to invest the time on the money side of these discussions.

We are scheduling meetings with each Local Union’s CAT – Team, to provide them with as much detail as we can.

Remember Solidarity Works!

“We are Stronger Together”

In Solidarity

Bargaining Committee
USW 5890 / 6673

Note: Due to the union’s lead negotiator being called away to other union business next week. Bargaining for November 17th, 18th & 19th has been cancelled. More bargaining date for December 2nd, 3rd & 4th have been scheduled.