Members from your local Bargaining Committee were in Calgary on Nov 9th &10th to meet with the Calgary Bargaining team{usw 6673} and Evraz management. The 9th was our first chain meeting between the 2 locals. It was good to get the 2 locals together and put together a rough timeline of all the work that we will need to complete to be fully prepared for bargaining. We talked about what was effective and what needed improvement through the bargaining process and have identified some things we hope to change.
The second day had us in meetings with Evraz management to discuss Long Term Capitol Investment/Corporate Contracting Out. Management talked about the ongoing expansion in both Regina Steel and Tubular divisions. It was good to hear them say they look at the investment in the Steel division as a 25 year investment. On the downside to that though they are predicting a lower output but hope to be running full by Jan 2017. For the Tubular division, orders look good for large diameter. The 2 inch mill will still be at a high level of uncertainty. The company is still fighting the reduction on Imports and the ability for us to make the steel is advantageous for us.
Discussion then moved on to the Contracting out and the issues around that. Though some issues between Calgary and Regina were similar the biggest common concern was the Apprenticeship Program and the fact that no new employee’s have been joining the program.We also laid out issues we have with the new Mill 5 expansion,Finishing 2 project, Dj expansion and maintenance contracting out. All of the talks seemed to fall on receptive ears from the company and hopefully they will give us responses to the issues in a timely matter.
In Solidarity