Category: Uncategorized

National Day Of Mourning

In recognition of Canadian workers who were killed, injured or disabled on the
job during the past year.

Every year, more than 1,000 Canadian workers are killed on the job. Thousands more are permanently disabled. Hundreds of thousands are injured. Thousands of others die from cancer, lung disease and other ailments caused by exposure to toxic substances at their workplaces. On April 28th the United Steelworkers mourn with the rest of the nation and pay our respects for these victims of workplace accidents and disease. It is a day to remember the supreme sacrifice they and their family have been forced to make in order to earn a living.

These deaths and injuries should not be in vain. We should use this day as a day to review the pressure we are putting on governments for tougher occupational health and safety standards. A day to rededicate ourselves to the goal of making Canada’s workplaces safer.

Please join us in a service to remember these workers that will be held on Monday April 28th in front of the Regina City Hall, Queen Elizabeth II Court at 5pm.

Steelworker Humanity Fund Helped In Calgary Flood Relief

April 4, 2014
COREY LIEBRECHT
USW Local 5890
395 Park St, Unit 26
Regina, SK S4N 5B2

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Re: 2013 Western Canada Flood Relief Appeal

It has been almost nine months since heavy rains caused catastrophic flooding in southern Alberta and parts of British Colombia. Over 100,000 people were displaced from their homes, and damage is reported to have been $5 billion. Last week, it was reported that last June’s watery disaster ranked third highest in the world in disaster insurance claims in 2013.

Steelworker members and their communities were among those affected. The Steelworkers responded with a local union appeal and with a pledge of support from the Steelworkers Humanity Fund. The contribution from your local to the Steelworkers Humanity Support Fund, together with other local unions across the country, and with the individual on-going contributions of thousands of individual Steelworker members to the Humanity Fund, enabled the Steelworkers Humanity Fund to contribute $58,000 to flood relief. Thank you to your local union, SOAR chapter and its members for responding to the Flood Appeal and for your contribution of $1,000.

Steelworkers’ solidarity with individuals and families affected by flooding was shown by:

Support for families and individuals – 20 individuals applied for and received
cheques or gift cards valued at $1,500. One individual received $1,000 for a total
of $ 31,000.

Support for the community – Bowwest Community Support Services Society
received a cheque for $22,000. Bowwest was part of a coalition of community
organizations that monitored the flood and coordinated relief assistance,
directing funding to areas where it would be most effective.

Additional food bank contributions – Because the most vulnerable in our
communities are least resilient and have the hardest time recovering, additional
food bank contributions were made in Calgary and Elkford for a total of $5,000.
Thank you again for your support and solidarity in providing much needed assistance to our members and their communities in a time of need.

In Solidarity,

Ken Neumann, National Director for Canada
Steve Hunt, Director for District 3

Quarter Century Club Dinner

The company is once again hosting the Quarter Century Dinner to be held on May 23, 2014 at the Turvey Center. This years dinner is in recognition of all employees and retirees that have reached their 25 years of service as of December 31, 2013. If you have not received your invitation for you and a guest, contact Nicole Brown at 306.924.7700 or email Regina.Switchboard@evrazna.com by May 5, 2014.

To all the Brother & Sisters that have achieved this milestone, congratulations!

Corey Liebrecht, President

Recent Habitat For Humanity Donations

A special thanks to the following for their support of the Habitat for Humanity “Steelworker House”.

Saskatchewan Joint Board of RWDSU Regina – $1000.00

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3967 Regina – $500.00

CUPE Local 8443 Saskatoon – $100.00

United Steelworkers C/O Randy Rudachek – $100.00

United Steelworkers Local 189 Saskatoon – $250.00

United Steelworkers Local 5917 Regina – $4500.00

United Steelworkers South Sask Area Council – $5000.00

“Steelworker House” Steak Night Fundraiser

Date: May 24th, 2014

Location: The Last Straw Brew Pub 127 Albert St. N.

Time: 4pm to 11pm

Price: $20.00 per ticket

Door Prizes: Throughout the evening

Tickets are available now at the Local 5890 office located at 26-395 Park St. Regina between 8am – 4pm Mon – Friday or by contacting Corey Liebrecht, Vasco D’Almeida, Mike Smith or Dave McAlpin.

Please come out and support this great project!

Membership Survey & Meetings

On behalf of the Executive and Bargaining Committee, I wish to thank the Sisters and Brothers who participated in the membership survey that was recently distributed and those who attended one of the three meetings that were held. We received a lot of important feedback and are currently in the process of going through all the information our members supplied to us in regards to bargaining later this year.

As we move into this process, I would like to say how proud I am of this local and it’s members. Along with your bargaining committee, I know we will work tirelessly in an effort to bring to our membership a contract that you can be proud of. What will be of key importance in obtaining that, is for the membership to continue to stay involved and participate in what is essentially your future. You are the ones that will make the changes that you have asked for. The bargaining process is about you Sister and it’s about you Brother. Whether your a probationary employee, senior employee nearing retirement or anywhere in between, bargaining a strong collective agreement is about us standing together as one.

Solidarity Forever!

Corey Liebrecht, President

 

 

 

Steelworker House Donation

A huge thank you to the members of the Rocanville Potash Employees Association who recently made a $5000.00 donation in support of the Habitat for Humanity “Steelworker House”. Outstanding!

Union Meeting

Reminder to all Brothers & Sisters,

Monthly union meeting tonight at 7:30pm sharp, Regina Union Center 2709 12th Ave. Downstairs using south side entrance. 

Agenda:

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


Stay informed and be involved in your local.

Possible Layoffs Coming In Tubular Division

A conference call was held this morning with the local at the request of Amit Baghel, general manager of the Tubular division. Our discussion centered around the rumor of pending layoffs in the division. Here is what we have learned.

Shaw pipe that is coating and shipping the current spiral order is having difficultly obtaining rail cars. The apparent reason for this delay is that the rails cars are held up due to winter storms that have hit the eastern part of Canada and the United States. As a result, management is considering a couple of options. A three day layoff in the near future. The possibility of an even longer layoff later in the month or both. Depending on the length and timing of layoffs, this could effect approximately 80% of our members currently working in the Spiral and 24″ mill lines and finishing departments.

Mr. Baghel would not confirm or commit to us any further plans except to say that members can expect to receive a 14 day notice of a pending layoff some time in the coming week. He has told us that more information will be made available to the union and membership on Monday January 6th when management will begin meeting with all the crews.

Fact: There is currently 510 members working in the Tubular division.

Steelworkers House Donations

A HUGE thank you to…

USW Local 5917 Regina, SK – $500.00
USW Local 6717 Weyburn, SK – $500.00
USW Local 7458 Cory Mine, SK – $500.00
USW Local 7689 Allan Mine, SK – $500.00
Rocanville Potash Employees Association, SK – $500.00
USW Staff Rep. Sonny Rioux who challenges all other staff reps. Regina, SK – $100.00
USW 5890 VP Vasco D’Almeida who challenges all other VP’s. Regina, SK – $500.00
USW 5890 President Corey Liebrecht who challenges all other president’s. Regina SK – $250.00

We’re that much closer to the first ever Steelworkers House. Your donation supports the reality for a family to create the foundation that they can make their home from. As members, locals and a community, please give generously.

5890 Habitat for Humanity Committee

Solidarity Forever Brothers & Sisters in Calgary LU 6673

The issues we have been facing for some time now have been challenging for all our members to say the least, the adversities we have faced and continue to face makes me reflect on the lessons I learned when I played hockey as a youth. I recall it like it was yesterday when our team would be winning games and everything was going great, our morale was high, solidarity among my team mates was strong and everything seemed to work in our favor, life was good when we were winning. But when things didn’t go our way and nothing seemed to go right and everything seemed hopeless, the coach would always say to us in the locker room, “ We need to get back to the basics, keep it simple and don’t get to fancy, work together and do your job!”

This advice is a good one and is still used today, when the opposing team throws everything they have at you and tries to shake you off your game mentally and physically it can affect your team’s morale, solidarity and ultimately affect your performance. No question it’s easy to be part of a winning team when everything is going great, but during times when the chips are down and you’re losing. Well this is the time when the true character of any team and as a person is put to the test.

During those times is when we need to make choices, we can kneel and bow our heads as individuals and accept defeat, or we can stand up and fight back together as Steelworkers by continuing to apply relentless offense to anything that may jeopardize our way of life and our objective of Good Jobs, Strong Union. All the while never forgetting to defend and protect the goals we have already achieved.

I ask for all our members to look at ourselves and see that we are all brothers and sisters of our great union the United Steelworkers. Even though we all come from different walks of life and different parts of the globe, we all have one universal thing in common. We all as people aspire for a healthy and prosperous future for ourselves, our children and for our families. We come to work today to financially support our way of life and to secure our future, but let us never forget. We have the privilege as a union of being able to leave behind a bright future and legacy for the next generation of Steelworkers and their families that will follow behind us, and I believe that’s worth preserving and fighting for.

We have a great membership at USW Local 6673, we are battle hardened and strong. Let’s get back to basics and do what we do best by producing the best pipe and tubing in the world.

Solidarity Forever

Bryan Ross
President
United Steelworkers
Local 6673

Steelworkers House

We have successfully launched our campaign to raise $100,000 and are well on our way of reaching our goal of building a Steelworkers House in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Regina. This is a project that we, as Steelworkers, can all be proud of being a part of for many years to come. Making a donation is very simple and can be done securely by clicking on the Habitat link located on our webpage. Visiting www.canadahelps.org/dn/7932 or by filling out a donation sheet that will be available through any CAT member, USW Habitat committee member or from the Union mailbox located in the operation building. Every donation of $10 or more is tax deductible. A donation of $10, from every member per pay check over the next year would help us to reach our goal and allow us to begin the construction on a home for a family in our community. Please give generously to a great cause.

Sincerely,

Corey Liebrecht, President

Local 5890 Proudly Partners With Habitat

Brothers & Sisters,

Over the past years the local union and company have participated in a workplace campaign to support a well known charity. This year the local has decided to move in a different direction and on Monday October 7th, 2013 will be kicking off our own good works project in the community by proudly partnering with Habitat for Humanity. We welcome everyone to come and join us at the local union office located at 26 – 395 Park St. on the 7th between 11am – 2pm where a donation will buy a hamburger or hotdog and a drink. Representatives from Habitat, local dignitaries and the media, will be on hand to help us begin our campaign to raise $100,000.00 or more over the next year so that we, as Steelworkers, can assist in building a home for a family here in Regina.

Why, you may ask are we supporting Habitat? We believe this is about giving a hand up and not a hand out. All money raised goes directly to the building of a home. Any administrative costs are covered by profits from the Re-Store with any additional money from there also going directly to the fund. We are also encouraged that families participating in the program must be gainfully employed with a yearly annual income. A 30 year interest free mortgage is repaid and that money goes back into Habitat for other builds. Families must also participate in 500 hours of “sweat equity” were they are part of the build, work at the Re-Store or do administrative duties. As well, Habitat commits itself to assuring these families have the skills and a supportive process to assist them in continued responsible home ownership.

Please contact one of the listed sub-committee members if you would like to participate in one or more of the fund raising events that will be held over the next year.

Corey Liebrecht Union Office 306.569.9663 Cell 306.530.6658
Mike Smith Cell 306.533.9921
Vasco D’Almeida
Dana Faul
Dave McAlpin
Kim Roberts

We are very excited to be undertaking this as a local and are determined to reach our goal. To do that though, we need the support of the entire membership, our families, friends, the Communication Action Team (CAT), Women of Steel (WOS), Steelworkers Organization Of Active Retirees (SOAR) as well as other USW locals right here in Regina, across the province and throughout the country to make this a success. I urge you to get involved, stay involved and rally each other as members behind this great cause. Let’s make this a huge success and something that we, as Steelworkers, can be proud of for years to come.

Solidarity Forever!

Corey Liebrecht, President

*Please note that parking is limited at the office but alternate space is close.