Please make an effort to vote at the polling station located in the Operations Building. The following positions will be on the ballot for election.
Vice- president, Treasurer, Chief Steward(Pipe) and P&M Bargaining Committee member.
Polls open at 5 am and close at 7:45 pm
Evraz Regina Steel has pleaded guilty to one count under The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHS) and was fined $60,000. The fine is the largest for an OHS violation in the 2011-12 year in Saskatchewan.
The company was charged after a January 20, 2009, incident at its Regina plant in which a worker was seriously injured when he became entangled in the motor drive shaft of a crane hoist.
Evraz pleaded guilty to failure to ensure there was an effective safeguard in place to prevent workers from contacting a dangerous moving part of a machine.
Another charge against the company was stayed in Regina Provincial Court.
OHS conducts about 4,500 worksite inspections annually to ensure standards are balanced, known and enforced.
For more information, contact:
Bill Stovin
Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Regina
Phone: 306-787-0926
* This article is posted at http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=6fc3525e-e1cd-4a77-88ed-65c1ef44fe95
CRAIG, Kenneth “Wylie” April 30, 1970 – March 28, 2012 With much sadness the family of Wylie Craig advise all who knew the “friendly giant” of his passing this week in Mexico. He was attending the wedding of close friends Adam and Cari Mussel, friends since Cari and Wylie were born one day apart in Richmond, BC. Wylie is survived by his mom Harolyn (Wayne) Long, brother Denton, his precious children, the loves of his life, Alexandra and Liam, and his grandma Helen Barefoot (94 years old). He will also be truly missed by his mass of amazing friends and brothers at USW Local 7226 Tenaris Steel. At Wylie’s request there will be no funeral. In lieu of flowers, we encourage donations to CJAY 92 Kids Fund. A celebration of his life is to be announced.
Wylie Craig was President of the Tenaris local in Calgary.
http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/calgaryherald/guestbook.aspx?n=wylie-craig&pid=156783372&cid=full
There will be an election April 18 2012 to be held at the Change Room buiding (Hilton). Polling times are yet to be determined.
President– Ian Gretchen wins by acclamation
Vice President– There will be an election between Roger Flahr and Corey Liebrecht
Recording Secretary– Court Klein wins by acclamation
Financial Secretary– Dave McAlpin wins by acclamation subject to a final review of eligibility of Scott Trenaman
Treasurer– There will be an election between Doug Massier and Marcus Zeigler
Guide– Tory Sand wins by acclamation
Outside Guard– Vacant
Inside Guard– Jim Cassano wins by acclamation
Trustees– Of the three positions two are filled by Carolyne Kryba and Chis Massier by acclamation leaving one vacant
Chief Steward Steel– John Forster wins by acclamation
Chief Steward Pipe– There will be an election between Mike Day and Tony Major subject to a final review of eligibility of both nominees.
Chief Steward O&T– Paul Euteneier wins by acclamation
Bargaining Committee (O&T)- Paul Euteneier wins by acclamation subject to a final review of eligibility of Kim Roberts
Bargaining Committee (P&M)- There will be an election between Chris Massier, Mike W. Smith and Kevin Snell subject to a final review of eligibility of all three nominees.
The final review will completed by Friday March 30. All nominees that have additional information regarding their eligibility please contact Tory Sand
Summer school this year will be held in Kimberly BC the week of June 17-22. Classes available are:
For more information please contact one of the Executive Committee Members, a Chief Shop Steward or a Health and Safety Representative
The Bargaining Committee representing workers at Degelmans have reached a tentative agreement. There will be a ratification vote on Saturday.
Nominations for the following Local Union Exectutive Positions will be held on March 19, 2012 at the Regina Union Center (2709 12th Avenue)
The Positions are :
If you are nominating an individual who will be unable to attend the nomination meeting. Nomination forms can be obtained from Denise a the Union office (569 9663) or email her at dmanz@usw.ca. Please ensure the form is returned to Denise prior to March 19 so it may be presented at the nomination meeting.
Nominations will close at the membership meeting.
Please only submit “one” nomination per person
James Nickerson was employed by Canadian Linen to look after the distribution of clothing at the Hilton. When a few of the 5890 members heard , just before Christmas, he was stricken with cancer they took it upon themselves to “pass the hard hat” amongst union and company employees alike to help him and his wife through this nightmare time.
They raised over $2000 which was passed on to James and his wife Wanda. Through this generosity, to a person who was not “one of their own”, Wanda was able to spend day and night with James through his hospital stay.
James passed away February 16 with his family by his side. Thank you one and all.
Bill Boomer (Retired Millwright)
The job evaluation committee has met 3 times and has evalutated eight of the jobs off the list agreed to at bargaining. The system we are now using is one that the union committee came up with and has simplified the process of evaluating a job.
We have went from using 12 factors to 6 and are not constrained by the rules of Cooperative Wage Study. The committe is working well and actually accomplishing a lot which didn’t really happen that much when Cws was used.
Of the jobs evaluated 5 received increases. Caster Helper increased from JC 10 to JC 12, Strand Operator increased from JC 22 to JC 24, Ladle Controller increased from JC 16 to JC 18, Oiler/Greaser increased from JC 8 to JC 11 and EAF Helper increased from JC 8 to JC 10.
Going forward the Company seems to like the system we came up with and I believe we will evaluate all the jobs we have with the new system so we will be back to having all jobs that we lost through bargaining over the years.
Reported by Steve Machuk
The Canada Pricing Index figure for January 2012 was released on February 17, 2012.
C.O.L.A will be going down 1¢ which will reduce the C.O.L.A addition on regular hours worked to 10¢/hr from 11¢/hr
The Company has announced 1.45 per eligable hour USW bargained profit sharing for the 4th quarter of 2011. Maximum pay out is 520 hrs. Evraz has stated they intend to transfer money into accounts on Friday March 2, 2012
There is a conference call scheduled with AON Hewitt and both locals (5890 and 6673) and the Company on Wednesday for further planning of the survey of trade and tech rates withing 400 km of Regina and Calgary. The parties plan on finalizing some of the details of the survey and dates for a meeting. Further details will be reported at the Membership Meeting on Monday February 27.
The firm selected to conduct the survey to determine the attraction and retention rate for Tradesmen and Techs is AON Hewitt.
As many may be aware for several months there has been TWO cell phone policies posted on “My Evraz”. One is apparantly from Corporate Evraz which states at one point that it applies to all facilities or something to that effect. It appeared on “My Evraz” sometime in October 2011. This policy talks about keeping your cell phone in your lunch box or locker.
The other policy is the one that has been in effect for several years. This policy is much more severe than the newer Corporate Evraz policy.
The Union has requested clarification several times including today from Evraz management regarding which policy is in fact the policy we are expected to follow but as of today they still are not sure which cell phone policy applies or why both policies are on “My Evraz”. So there is no answer to the all the questions about cell phones.
When Evraz Management does decide which policy applies the Union will request they remove the policy that doesnt apply from “My Evraz”and make an effort to inform everyone which one does apply to end all the confusion.
The Union and Company met today to listen to presentations from professional Human Resourse companies to select which company will conduct the wage surveys of Red Seal Tradesmen, Maint Technicians and Metalurgical Technicians. A selection was made and now the two parties are working to finalize the criteria that the survey will conducted under.
The Job Evaluation Pilot that was negotiated in bargaining has been started. The Union Committee for the new program reported today that there is an agreement with the Company Committee on a system to evaluate jobs. They also reported that there are already 4 jobs are completed and will be signed off at the next committee meeting. The four jobs completed are oiler/greaser, strand operator, ladle controller, caster helper.
The Committee also reported it was happy with the Companies cooperation with this new Committee and its wilingness to settle outstanding issues.
As everyone is aware there were some changes negotiated in the Melt Shop Line or Progression, namely it was split into two lines.
The Seniority Committee reported today that all the concerned members in the Melt Shop Line of Progresssion have been polled on which line they wish to be in after the split. The Seniority Committee also reported it will have a recommendation soon for the Executive Committee on how to move forward with the split and how it affects everyone in the future when there is movement in both “new’ lines of progression.
BURNABY, B.C., 24 January, 2012 – The United Steelworkers (USW) announced today the launch of a fundraising campaign and the creation of a trust account to provide support to the workers of Babine Forest Products and their families in the wake of an explosion at the Burns Lake, B.C. sawmill.
“Since the tragedy at Babine Forest Products, we have been inundated with offers of support and assistance from other unions and union members all over the province and right across the country. The labour movement is a family, and union members join all British Columbians in mourning the loss of life and injuries to our brothers and sisters in Burns Lake,” says Steve Hunt, USW Director for Western Canada.
Steelworkers have won a major victory against mining company Vale at the Ontario Labour Relations Board. During the union’s year-long strike in 2010, Vale banned USW Local 6500 Vice-President Patrick Veinot from its property, thereby denying members access to him on company property. In a stinging rebuke to the company, the OLRB found that Vale’s conduct was unlawful.
The board has ordered that the company cease and desist.
Continue reading VALE Flagged For ‘Cold And Hard’ Conduct During Sudbury Strike
There has been a lot of confusion regarding the seniority lists posted on “My Evraz”. They are incorrect for both Steel and Pipe division. After repeated requests from the Union that they be corrected they have not. Either Evraz cannot post the list correctly because of technical issues or they are not interested in making the lists correct on “My Evraz”.
Everyone who wants a correct list please contact your supervisor and ask for a seniority list with only names and start dates to be posted on your area bulletin boards. You are entitled to them under Article 12.07 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please do not tear them down if they are not behind glass.
U.S. Steel workers, pensioners and many others in Hamilton are rightfully feeling betrayed, once again, by the federal Conservative government.
The Conservatives’ decision to abandon the court case against U.S. Steel for violating federal law is scandalous, even by the Harper government’s dreadful standards. It represents an historic lost opportunity, the implications of which extend beyond Hamilton to working families and communities across the country.
Continue reading Steelworkers Betrayed by Harper Government…..Again
The following is a memo mailed out from Evraz that outlines the steps to get paid the recently negotiated Bonus paymet either through payroll or rolled into an RRSP
USW BONUS PAYMENT – 2011
On December 23, 2011, a bonus of $3,000 will be paid to all USW employees who have completed 750 hours of work in the previous twelve (12) calendar months. For those employees who have worked less than 750 hours in the twelve months prior to payment, the bonus will be pro-rated accordingly. You must still be an employee of the company to receive this bonus, actively working, collecting short term disability benefits, maternity/paternity leave or on lay-off status.
The Tentative agreement between Local 6673 and Evraz has been ratified with 86% approval
The Bargaining Committee would like to thank everyone for the great turnout yesterday at the Special Meeting held at the Eagles Club. It was great to see our solidarity at work!
Everyone should make every effort to cast their ballot tomorrow at lobby/security area of the change room building (Hilton). The voting stations will be open form 5 am to 8 pm.
For those members who were unable to attend the Special Meeting on December 7 there will be a paper copy of the overview of the tentative agreement available at the security desk today and tomorrow during the vote.
The date for Ratification Vote is confirmed. The vote will be held on Friday December 9th between 5 am and 8 pm at the security/lobby area of the change room(hilton). The results of the vote will be posted here as soon as the count is complete.
