Unifor Local 780G · By Alex Charles, President Unifor Local 780G I n early April, 136 delegates...

Unifor Local 780G

REPRESENTING WORKING PEOPLE SINCE 1901 ISSUE #2, JULY 2017

inside this issue...Bargaining Updates Presidents Message: CLC Report Upcoming Events Cumberland Miner’s Memorial Canada’s Proud Labour History

Earl Kinney Memorial Award scholarship deadline is August 1stA $1,000 award is offered annually by Unifor Local 780G, in honour of the union’s past president Brother Earl Kinney, to students entering the second or higher year of a full academic program of studies at any University, College or other post-sec-ondary institution in the provinces of British Columbia or Alberta.

To be eligible, an applicant must be a member, legal ward or the son/grandson, daughter/granddaughter of a member in good standing and must enclose a letter from the Union at-testing to their eligibility. The award will be made to the most accom-plished applicant as determined by the University of British Columbia.

Visit your Unifor Local 780G website for the link to the online application form - or visit directly at https://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/finances/awards-scholarships-bursar-ies/affiliation-scholarships. Deadline for submission is August 1, 2017. U

Wishing everyone a great summer!

Unifor’s Prairie Regional Council meets in EdmontonBy Alex Charles, President Unifor Local 780G

In early April, 136 delegates from Unifor Locals representing members in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba travelled to Edmonton to attend our

union’s Prairie Regional Council meeting, a three-day gathering to discuss im-portant items of business, hear about the work being done on health & safety issues, and hold elections for Council positions.

Unifor’s Prairie Regional Council is one of the five Regional Councils estab-lished in our union’s Constitution. As our Local represents members working in Alberta and in British Columbia, Local 780G participates at the Prairie Regional Council as well as at the British Columbia Council.

After a day of meetings of Local Union presidents, proceedings got under-way with National President Jerry Dias welcoming delegates with a rousing speech, congratulating and thanking all for their hard work and commitment to effectively representing their memberships. He gave a brief update on his ac-tivities across the country, including Unifor’s role in a complicated and difficult situation that evolved with the Amalgamated Transit Union in Toronto where Unifor’s assistance was sought by concerned members of ATU to help find a suc-cessful resolution to a complex matter. Further information is available for those who are interested by contacting your Local 780G office. (cont’d on page 4)

From left, Brother Ray Wade, vice president Unifor Local 780G, Brother Jerry Dias, president of Unifor and Brother Alex Charles, president Unifor Local 780G at the Prairie Region Council meeting.

Unifor780G_NEWSletter_July2017.indd 1 2017-07-04 1:58 AM

Northern Sentinel Press: Negotiations with Black Press in Kitimat remain difficult as the company continues to seek concessions. Members had been waiting for the dust to settle around a few changes including the hiring of a new editor at the paper. Bargaining Committee Rep and Shop Steward Sister Sarah Campbell has given notice of her departure as she and her family are moving from Kitimat. On behalf of all of us in Local 780G we extend a big thank you and every future success to Sister Campbell who will be missed

by everyone. No dates have been set to resume negotiations at this time.ABC Press (1979) Ltd.: Bargaining for a renewal col-lective agreement has been delayed as the employer has informed us of a downturn in business over the past year that has squeezed their margins at this Edmonton plant. This news was not unexpected as we had seen the workflow change. Combined with the usually slow summer season the employer was seriously considering layoffs but they were

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

BARGAINING uPDATES

Early May saw delegates from unions affiliated to the Canadian Labour Congress gather with social and

labour activists from around the world to discuss and share their experiences and efforts and to set the priorities for the Canadian Labour movement for the next three years.

Impressive speakers including Cindy Blackstock, Sheila Watt Cloutier, Candy Palmater, Angela Davis and Mary Walsh spoke to delegates. A common theme was the recognition that unions and their members, through the important work they do, provide many benefits to all workers and the communities they live in and, ultimately, to society as a whole. Unions play a significant role in challenging those who would wield the levers of power

for their own gain as we are seeing an increase in right-to-work legislation in the USA along with redrafting NAFTA and the threats to jobs here in Canada. The gap between rich and poor is growing steadily, and with the abuse of workers and our environment at a tipping point, unions will need to continue to work together more than ever before to succeed.

We saw heartfelt videos acknowledging the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Westray Mine disaster and the ongoing crisis of our missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. There were also videos recognizing the work of outgoing CLC Secretary-Treasurer Barb Byers as she retires, and a celebration of former CLC President Bob White who recently passed away.

This convention demonstrated how far unions have come on Indigenous rights, racism, social justice, queer or trans rights, mental health, environmental justice and understanding the situation with refugees and in Pales-tine. Delegates made passionate appeals to support these and other important struggles.

Many resolutions were debated and passed and elections saw Brother Hassan Yussuff acclaimed as CLC President, Sister Marie Clarke Walker elected as Secretary-Treasurer and Brothers Donald LaFleur and Larry Rous-seau elected as Vice-Presidents.

Organizing remains key for unions across the coun-try and those attending the CLC convention reinforced their commitments to continue to make organizing a priority. Improving both national and provincial Labour Codes, increasing the minimum wage, establishing a liv-ing wage, protecting public healthcare, public services and pensions, saving the environment and creating jobs were all topics at convention and actions to improve and move the people’s agenda forward were resolved on them all. U

Delegates gather for the 28th Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress

On the fourth day of CLC Convention delegates took a walk along King and Bay streets in Toronto, the heart of Canada’s financial district, and held a lunchtime street party demanding a “fair future”.


LOCAL uNION NEWS

BARGAINING uPDATESalso seeking an alternative solution to what is likely a tempo-rary situation. The company asked if we would consider a “Work Share Program” – a tripartite addendum to the collec-tive agreement between Local 780G, ABC Press and Employ-ment Insurance which members voted to accept. This 6-month program maintains all terms and conditions of the current collective agreement except for hours of work with members guaranteed three days per week with Employment Insurance making up some of wages lost on days where there is no

work. Negotiations will resume when the program is com-pleted or when work returns to regular volumes – whichever comes first.Printcraft and Westkey: Members at Printcraft are close to completing proposals and moving on to bargaining as soon as dates are set. Meanwhile, at Westkey, Shop Stew-ards are distributing surveys to members for confirmation of bargaining proposals as we proceed forward to negotia-tions. No dates have been set at this time. U

Members working at Queen’s Printer meet to discuss issuesMembers working at Queen’s Printer in Victoria held a membership meeting on May 26th.

There has been a lot of work at the Queen’s Printer and members see a potential for more of it. Under the Lib-eral government there has been ideology and a concerted effort to close the Queen’s Printer and send the work to Liberal donors. Members often find themselves scrabbling for deadlines with large workloads and limited resources. The government all the while watching and waiting, look-ing for an excuse to marginalize the Queen’s Printer and send the work away.

With a fresh look from a new government there should be positive mood at the Queen’s Printer. Local 780G members have been providing quality services to the BC legislature and value to British Columbia’s taxpay-ers for many, many years.

Members at this workplace will be meeting with sisters and brothers of Unifor Local 2000 who also work at the Queen’s Printer to discuss what improvements can be made to help the legislature function more smoothly. Unifor Locals 780G and 2000 have a Joint Council at the Queen’s Printer. U

Attention all Health and Safety Committee membersPlease be aware that important changes were made by the Workers Compensation Board to Occupational Health & Safety Regulations earlier this year. Changes include amendments to mandatory minimum training require-ments, mandatory annual evaluation of joint committee effectiveness and clarification of involvement in incident investigations.

The BC Federation of Labour has excellent training available for H&S Committee members that can be struc-tured to fit your shop and can be carried out on-site or at your Local 780G’s Union Hall. Contact Tony Lopes at the union hall for more information. U

Thank you to new Shop Stewards for stepping forwardBrother Tony Lopes, Unifor 780G Union Rep, reports that two new Shop Stewards from Transcontinental Printing on Annacis Island in Delta BC, Brothers Amerjit Johal and Justin Singh, attended a three day training course hosted by the national in Gibsons earlier this year. They com-mented that the course was intense and very enlighten-ing and look forward to continuing their education in the future.

On behalf of your union brothers and sisters, thank you for stepping forward to serve as Shop Stewards in your workplace! U

Rain holds off for Local 780G Golf TournamentWith the wet spring weather happening in the Lower Mainland, golfers were pretty happy the rain held off for the Local 780G Annual Golf Tournament that took place on Saturday, May 13th.

Teeing off at 11:00 a.m. at the Fort Langley Golf Club, it was a smaller turnout this year but a great day of golf followed by dinner and prizes in the clubhouse.

Many thanks to everyone who participated, including those who organized the event, and congratulations to the following winners:Divisional Champs:

Bob Mitchell (gross 82/net 73)Graham Chapman (gross 117/net 74)Bill Husband (gross 108/net 75)

Closest to the Pin (Par 3 holes):Ken Cochrane (3rd)Jack Huck (5th)Edsel Osea (8th)Rudy Cervantes (15th)And special congratulations goes to Danny Singh

who was our Longest Drive winner with a mammoth drive on the second hole.

Hope to see you all again next year! U


Unifor 780G NEWSletter July 2017

As the leader of Canada’s largest union representing over 310,000 members working in every major sector of the Canadian economy, Brother Dias reminded delegates of the important work that lies ahead as austerity measures are being pushed by provincial governments in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and international trade agreements are on the verge of renegotiation. “Progressive governments do progressive things when pushed by progressive organiza-tions,” he said.

During his time at the meeting, Brother Dias visited at the Local 780G information table and met with Brother

Scott Nocholette who works at Garage Rock in Edmon-ton. Brother Scott was showcasing the promotional items manufactured at Garage Rock who also supplied the com-memorative t-shirts for the meeting.

It’s always good to hear from Brother Wally Ewanicke, our National Organizer for Alberta and a tire-less advocate for workers, who reported on the work done by the Committee struck by the Alberta NDP govern-ment as they undertook a review of that province’s Labour Code, Employment Standards and Health and Safety Legislation. The Committee was comprised of representa-tives from all sides – private and public employers and employees – and was tasked with updating legislation, regulations and rules that haven’t been considered in a modern way since 1985.

Many thanks go to Brother Ewanicke who served as Chair of the Committee that recently submitted their “rec-ommendations for change” to the provincial government. (see article p.5)

With a big focus on Health & Safety at this meeting, Council delegates heard many informative and worthwhile reports and presentations, including about mental health in the workplace. We also heard an inspiring and very moving story told by a young worker who, at 18 years of age and new on the job, survived a life-changing work-place injury.

His story reminded us that safety at work is the num-ber one priority and is something we must all remember and respect. If your gut instinct tells you something is not right, pay attention and never be afraid to speak up and let your co-workers and your employer know your concerns. Everybody needs to go home after work in as good a shape as when they came in and it is a responsibility each and every one of us, including our employers, shares. U

Unifor’s Prairie Regional Council meets in Edmonton(cont’d from front page)

From left, Brother Alex Charles, president Unifor Local 780G, Brother Ray Wade, vice president Unifor Local 780G and Brother Scott Nocholette, a Local 780G member working at Garage Rock in Edmonton.

JOB POSTINGOn June 29, 2017, Unifor Local 780-G has been advised of the following job opportunities:

XML EditorXML Editors are needed to fill two (2) temporary positions of 3 months duration in Victoria, BC.

This position requires a typesetter/compositor with experience in processing materials for websites or a combination of education, experience and training. Proficient using Beyond Compare, MS Office,

InDesign, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat, FTP and Sharepoint.Please contact the union office for more information.

Phone: 604-372-0029; toll free: 1-800-876-5171; email: [email protected]



This afternoon the Alberta Government tabled Bill 17: the Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act which

includes a number of amendments to both the decades old Labour Relations Code and Employment Standards Code.

“Generations of right-wing governments in Alberta stacked the deck against working people in our province, leaving us with one-sided workplace rules that favoured employers at the expense of employees”, said Gil Mc-Gowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour. “30 years without change was too long, today’s legislation was more than overdue. It will bring Alberta’s workplace legislation in to the 21st century and bring us another step closer to the Canadian mainstream.”

The Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act will reform the union certification process, strengthen the right to collectively bargain, improve enforcement of our Employment Standards Code with a ticketing system, and guarantee job protected leaves for workers who are sick, caring for a family member or fleeing domestic violence.

“Today, the NDP government has taken steps towards unstacking the deck by announcing meaningful workplace law reform”, said McGowan. “Bill 17 will give working Albertans an updated Employment Standards Code with some real teeth for enforcement, and a Labour Relations Code that further allows people to exercise their constitu-tional right to join unions and bargain collectively.”

The new union certification process borrows from the Manitoba Labour Code, which uses a hybrid of card check and ballot votes. Under the Manitoba model, a union that demonstrates it has 65 per cent support from the bargaining unit will be certified. Should the union demon-strate lower levels of support but still higher than 40 per cent, the decision will be resolved by a vote. This model will better protect workers from employer intimidation during certification drives, although not as effectively as a more straight-forward card check system.

“We are happy that the government has acknow-ledged that the current system for union certification is flawed and tips the scale against workers who try right to join a union”, said McGowan. “While this legislation doesn’t bring in a more democratic model of automatic card check certification at a 50% threshold, it does imple-ment a hybrid model that allows for automatic certification in some instances.”

“While this legislation makes many positive changes to Alberta’s workplace legislation, we are disappointed that the government didn’t put a stop to employers in the construction sector using shell companies to shirk their responsibilities under legally binding agreements with their workers; a practice commonly referred to as ‘double-breasting’.” U

New Legislation shows Alberta’s NDP government is focused on making life better for workers and their familiesNews release from the Alberta Federation of Labour, May 24, 2017

In a news release from the Canadian Labour Congress, President Hassan Yussuff said, “Our affiliates and labour activists across the country have organized and cam-paigned against these bills from the beginning, and this is their victory to celebrate. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised that, if elected, he would repeal these bills and we are happy he has kept that promise”.

The former Conservative government first introduced Bill C-377 in 2011 and argued it was about union trans-parency, but experts from across the spectrum opposed the contentious bill and agreed it was really about red tape that would have forced unions, their suppliers, and other businesses they work with to spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours producing and processing expense

reports to be reviewed and filed – all at taxpayer expense.The Harper Conservatives used their Senate majority

to pass the bill on June 30, 2015.Bill C-525 would have made it more difficult for

workers in federally-regulated workplaces to join a union. It was opposed by labour relations experts, but was none-theless passed into law by the Conservatives in December 2014.

“By passing Bill C-4 (legislation that repeals C-377 and C-525), the federal government has demonstrated it understands the importance of fair labour relations, and the critical role unions play advancing rights for all Can-adian workers,” said Yussuff. U

Bill C-4 is passed by the Senate on June 14, 2017

Anti-union Bills C-377 and C-525 now officially “dead”



Upcoming Events!Unifor 780G Open House & Retirement Celebration for Bill Husband

When: Saturday, July 29, 2017, from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pmWhere: Unifor Local 780G Union Hall #102 - 5783 176A Street Cloverdale, BC

The Open House will feature a special presentation and recogni-tion for Bill Husband – Local 780G accountant and office manager – who is retiring after more than 30 years of serving our membership at the Local.

3rd Annual Cloverdale Country Festival Hot Rod Sunday

When: Sunday, July 16, 2017, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pmWhere: 58th Avenue & 176th Street (near the Unifor 780G office) Cloverdale, BCSponsored by: BC Hot Rod Association

This is a free public event (vehicle participant registration fee of $20) featuring 50/50 raffles, door prizes, music and vendors. For more details visit www.bchra.ca.

Celebrating Labour Day in Surrey, BC

When: Monday, September 4, 2017, from 11:30 am to 2:30 pmWhere: Holland Park 13428 Old Yale Road Surrey, BC

Sponsored by: New Westminster & District Labour CouncilFeaturing fun, food, music and kid’s activities.

Celebrating Labour Day in Abbotsford, BC

When: Monday, September 4, 2017, from 11:30 am to 2:30 pmWhere: Mill Lake Park 13428 Old Yale Road Abbotsford, BC (location to be confirmed)Sponsored by: Fraser Valley Labour CouncilJoin with labour activists, community members and their families at this popular Labour Day event, now in it’s 8th year! Lots of activities for kids and featuring unions serving beverages, corn on the cob, hot dogs and snacks.



Goodwin’s body was placed in a white casket and after the funeral ser-vice in town, the casket was passed from miner’s hand to miner’s hand for more than a mile to the cemetery. His death sparked the first general strike in B.C.’s his-tory as unionized labour all over the province downed tools and mourned the loss of a union organizer who many, to this day, believe was killed because of his strong leader-ship in trying to make change for the good for workers.

It would be nice to be able to end his story by say-ing that Brother Goodwin’s death gave rise to great changes in safety regulations and their enforcement for not just the coal miners, but for all workers, but sadly it wouldn’t be true. Indeed – the contrary is closer to the truth.

Today, as we approach the 100th anniversary of Broth-er Goodwin’s death, workers, including our sisters and brothers in Unifor Locals employed by mining companies, continue to suffer injury and get killed on the job. The sad-dest truth of all is that no employer has ever been crimin-ally charged and gone to jail for the death of a worker, and that has to change.

It is shameful that employers have not done enough to address the issues of worker safety; and more shameful still that governments have done so little to make them address those issues. It raises the question – in a very direct way - about whose interests are being served by government? And we should all be loudly demanding an answer.

That’s why unions like ours support occasions like the Miners Memorial Weekend – to make sure that our voices are widely heard and our demands for safety and justice cannot be excluded from today’s public discourse.

I thank my sisters and brothers for having afforded me the opportunity to represent them at this event and I hope that many will consider attending next year for the centen-nial. It will be a special event indeed, and is an opportunity to stand up and be counted in a meaningful way, and to take your place in B.C.’s labour history. U

First organized 32 years ago, the Miners Memorial Weekend takes place in Cumberland BC on Vancou-

ver Island and commemorates fallen workers, highlighting historical struggles and contemporary labour issues. I have had the honour to represent our Local Union at this 3-day event for what turns out to be quite a long time now. Some things about this gathering have changed radically over the years; other things not so much. Some of the old timers we talk about today were there to speak for themselves when I started attending, and there are some younger faces in the crowd these days, although not nearly enough.

The spirit of this gathering of hundreds of workers and labour activists, joined by a wide range of commun-ity supporters, can’t really be called a celebration. Although those in attendance generally enjoy themselves, the Miners Memorial Weekend is an observance and a reflection that reinforces and preserves the legacy of the central stories of our own past and the enormous price paid by those who came before us. The historical accounts of the struggles to achieve much-needed improvements to working conditions, wages and benefits through the collective action of trade unionism laid the foundation for what we have today.

The gains workers have made over the years are not “gifts” from benevolent employers who want us to do better. History shows brave workers fought for, bled for and died to achieve many important rights for workers. The sombre historical reflection of our past reinforces today’s reality that we must continue that fight to keep those gains as we are forever under pressure from unprincipled employers to give it back. At the very least, we owe that to our children and future generations.

Another central focus of Miners Memorial Weekend is the recognition of Ginger Goodwin. Brother Goodwin was an anti-war pacifist, a trade union activist and worked as an organizer for the United Mine Workers in the early 1910s. Working conditions for miners on Vancouver Island at the time were not only brutal and dangerous, too many miners suffered life-altering injuries and there were many deaths. Goodwin, in his capacity as an organizer, led the fight for union recognition for the miners in an effort to make improvements in their workplaces. He was shot and killed in July 1918 by a disgraced police constable hired by the local police force, the result of a focused hunt for so-called “draft dodgers”. To this day, many believe he was killed on orders from the mining company.

Delegate Report: Miners Memorial WeekendBy Peter Reid, retired union organizer, former editor of your union newsletter


A union publication for members of Unifor Local 780G who work in British Columbia & Alberta

Representing working people for more than 100 years

Publisher: Unifor Local 780G Editor: Alex Charles, President, Unifor Local 780G Layout & Design: Leopard Print Communications Inc., Proprietor Member, Unifor Local 780G Printed at: Thunderbird Press, Richmond, BC

Contact us:Unifor Local 780G Suite #102 - 5783 176A Street Cloverdale, British Columbia V3S 6S6Phone: 604-372-0029; Toll Free: 1-800-876-5171 Email: [email protected] Website: www.unifor780g.org

Imagine working at least ten or more hours a day every day of the week. Without overtime pay. That’s what many of Toronto’s print workers’ daily lives looked like in 1872, when the Toronto Typographical Union demanded a nine-hour

workday from the city’s publishers. Employers refused, and the printers walked off the job on March 25, 1872. Publishers hired replacement workers - SCABS - but the strikers earned widespread support from other workers in

Toronto and surrounding communities.The result: a crowd of 10,000 supporters showed up for a rally at Queen’s Park on April 15, 1872.

In those days, union activity was considered criminal, and Toronto Globe publisher and Reform politician George Brown had many workers arrested for criminal conspiracy. The community protested in support of those arrested. A few days

later Prime Minister John A. Macdonald introduced the Trade Union Act on April 18, 1872, legalizing and protecting unions, that eventually became law.

Politics always plays a role in gaining improvements for working people. Nothing we have ever gained – or lost – has come about without politics. Even though workers’ movements had begun to develop as early as the 1850’s,

it was this issue – the need for a shorter work week that became known as the “Nine-Hour Movement”– that galvanized and convinced more workers that joining unions would change their lives for the better.

A sketch of workers demonstrating in 1872 in support of the “Nine-Hour Movement” in Hamilton, Ontario (scanned from An Illustrated History of Canadian Labour).

Canada’s Proud Labour History


Unifor Local 780G · By Alex Charles, President Unifor Local 780G I n early April, 136 delegates...

Documents

Transcript of Unifor Local 780G · By Alex Charles, President Unifor Local 780G I n early April, 136 delegates...