News, Developments and Information

As a result of Brother Mike Smith withdrawing from the race for Chief Shop Steward Tubular. We welcome Brother Ryan Mackenzie as the new Chief Shop Steward of the Tubular Division.

In Solidarity!

Vice President – Scott Mackie

Financial Secretary – Tory Sand

Chief Shop Steward Tubular – Ryan Mackenzie

Chief Shop Steward O&T – Kim Roberts

Trustees – Nick Little, Doug Massier, Kurt Chernishenko

Congratulations!

To all the members that ran for positions in the local, the election committee and volunteers. Thank you.

In Solidarity!

BURNABY, BC, April 1, 2015 – The United Steelworkers today launched a petition demanding Premier Christy Clark call a public inquiry into the explosions of the Babine and Lakeland sawmills. Continue reading Steelworkers Launch Petition Calling For Public Inquiry into Sawmill Explosions

We are happy to announce that seven members of our local along with members from USW 5917 and USW 6717 recently completed training in Mental Health First Aid. This course was held over two days in Regina and was instructed by representatives from the Canadian Mental Health Association.

These members now have the required training to recognize and identify the signs and symptoms in co-workers, family, friends and even strangers who may be or are developing a mental health problem or suffering a mental health crisis. Just as physical first aid is administered to an injured person, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is given until appropriate treatment is found or until the crisis is resolved.

These members are not trained to diagnose individuals. Instead they are trained to recognize the symptoms, assess risk, listen, give reassurance, information and to encourage and assist the individual to get the appropriate professional help and continued support they require.

They are here to help! All discussions will be kept private and in the strictest of confidence when speaking to one of the following MHFA trained members in our local.

Vasco D’Almeida
Kim Roberts
Ryan McGillis
Jasmin Imeri
Rob Desnomie
Tim Kachaluba
Corey Liebrecht

The local is in the process of planning more MHFA training and is currently accepting names of members who would have an interest in this course. There are 25 spots with 19 already filled. Please contact Corey Liebrecht at 306.530.6658 or by email c.liebrecht@usw5890.com if you would like to participate in the next class.

In Solidarity!

It’s a time-honored phrase that not only describes the relationship between Enbridge and EVRAZ North America – but also captures our shared commitment to pipeline safety.

This morning, in Saskatchewan’s capital, steel manufacturing giant EVRAZ North America announced that it’s investing $200 million over the next two years in its Regina operations.

Today’s investment announcement, the biggest in EVRAZ North America history, will pave the way for:

the installation of a two-step, large-diameter pipe mill, enabling the production of thicker-walled pipe;
state-of-the-art steelmaking and rolling mill upgrades;
and the ability to manufacture 100-per-cent, made-in-Canada pipe through industry-leading technology.

Al Monaco, our president and CEO, and Byron Neiles, our senior vice president of Major Projects and Safety and Operational Reliability, attended today’s announcement, which also drew Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall and Regina mayor Michael Fougere.
Prentice Jones Creek for blog ALSO SEE: Enbridge’s new North American pipeline pathway hailed by Rickford, Prentice.

Enbridge has purchased more than two million tons of carbon-steel pipe from EVRAZ since 2006 – that’s more than 6,000 kilometres’ worth – and nearly all of the large-diameter pipe we’ll be using for our company’s large slate of energy infrastructure growth projects in the near future, including the proposed Line 3 Replacement Program, will come from EVRAZ.

“We’re delighted to be part of today’s announcement, and to be part of a Saskatchewan success story,” Mr. Monaco told media and dignitaries during today’s event announcement. “EVRAZ is a proven partner, and we’ve built a long-term relationship on our shared commitment to making safety and quality the highest priorities.”

From an economic impact standpoint, EVRAZ:

employs more than 1,000 people in Regina; contributes about $30-million a year in payroll, property, and corporate income tax at the provincial and federal levels; and creates massive indirect value – about $600 million a year – from regional economic spinoffs, including purchase of goods and services, raw materials, and contractor services.

Enbridge is an integral part of that economic picture – we purchased 86 per cent of the line pipe made by EVRAZ in Regina in 2014.

We’re even more proud of our partnership with EVRAZ for our shared commitment to pipeline safety and operational reliability. For example:

Enbridge’s specifications exceed industry demands – we look for higher-quality pipe that undergoes more rigorous and more frequent testing – and our inspectors have unlimited access to EVRAZ facilities through the manufacturing process;

An estimated 96 per cent of EVRAZ steel is made of recycled content, and fortified with raw iron ore and alloys such as manganese and chrome.

Safety was also on today’s agenda, as EVRAZ and Enbridge announced that the two companies will partner on a joint research and development program to enhance pipeline performance.

Along with industry and academic institutions, EVRAZ and Enbridge will help to drive continuous improvements – with the ultimate aim of optimizing industry-wide safety and reliability.

Enbridge

Recognizing our long positive history with Enbridge, the 900 members of the local United Steelworkers who work at EVRAZ in Regina would like to express our thanks to Enbridge for continuing to be a valued customer and supporting jobs in our community. Our members take extreme pride in providing quality steel and tubular products required by your company and we look forward to the opportunity to continue supplying you through R&D and production of specified infrastructure that Embridge requires in important energy projects for our country.

United Steelworkers LU 5890

Nomination Results:

President– Mike Day wins by acclamation

*Vice President- There will be an election between Corey Liebrecht and Scott Mackie

Recording Secretary- Courtland Klein wins by acclamation

*Financial Secretary- There will be an election between Dave McAlpin and Tory Sand

Treasurer– Dana Faul wins by acclamation

Guide– Vasco D’Almeida wins by acclamation

Outside Guard– Andrew Polishak win by acclamation

Inside Guard– Trent Gegner wins by acclamation

*Trustees– For the 3 positions… There will be an election between; Scott Trenaman, Kurt Chernishenko, Nick Little, Ryan Sande and Doug Massier

Chief Steward Steel- John Forster wins by acclamation

*Chief Steward Pipe- There will be an election between Mike Smith and Ryan McKenzie

*Chief Steward O&T– There will be an election between Paul Euteneier and Kim Roberts

Notice of Election
Date: Friday April 10, 2015
Location: Change Room Building (Hilton)
Time : 5:00 am to 7:30 PM

The following positions will be on the ballot:
Vice-President
Financial Secretary
3 Trustee Positions
Chief Shop Steward Pipe
Chief Shop Steward O&T

Please contact the office for advanced polling, which will run from
April 1st-8th. Or contact one of the following elections committeeman;

Aaron Fisher, Craig CoXford, Brad Lazorko

Advance polling will be available, with a valid reason, for not being able to attend on April 10th.

This is your Union !!
Come out and vote

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