Directions Newsletter Vol. II No. 4
Canada’s achievements at the recent Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City have been discussed, analysed, and chronicled at length, but there is still a warm feeling in the hearts of millions of Canadians who were able to follow the games. From the flag-bearing smile of gold-medal speed skater Catriona Lemay Doan … to the achievements of the most-decorated Canadian athlete, short-track star Marc Gagnon, and the first-ever Canadian winter-summer medallist, Clara Hughes … the absolute class demonstrated by figure skaters Jamie Salé and David Pelletier … the strength of spirit exhibited by our champion women’s and men’s hockey teams … Canadians had reason to shed tears of joy, and to celebrate in the streets as they did when a half-century of questing for gold came to an end on February 24th.
Just as we feel solidarity in the union movement, we bond together as Canadians at times like these. It’s not a matter of nationalist flag-waving at the successes of our athletes – rather we empathize with all the athletes in Salt Lake City, whether gold-medal winners, or those who, after years of hard work, came up short, disappointing themselves more than any fan. Our victories are to be savoured, and our failures taken to heart. But most importantly, we share them together. In solidarity, UFCW Canada Local 175 President Wayne Hanley is calling for a boycott of Thrifty Car Rentals after the employer illegally locked out 70 members on February 18, prior to the start of a strike later that day. The members, employed at Thrifty outlets at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, and the nearby Thrifty Indian Line facility, were locked out six hours before a legal strike deadline. Earlier in the day, company negotiators had walked out of mediation talks. Members voted unanimously days before to reject the company’s then-final offer. Important issues for members include hours of work, layoff language, and improvements to wages and benefits. More: Cheryl Mumford, UFCW Canada Local 175, www.ufcw175.com UFCW Canada Local 1400 members who work as bulk dairy drivers for Agrifoods Co-operative in Swift Current, Sask. ratified a new collective agreement recently. Members will receive a 9% wage increase over the life of the agreement along with an additional 2.5% increase in pension contributions. More: Greg Eyre, UFCW Canada Local 1400, www.ufcw1400.ca Application for Premier Peat workers UFCW Canada Local 401 has made an application to the Alberta labour relations board to represent 25 workers at the Premier Horticultural Peat Moss facility in Olds, Alta., just south of Red Deer. If successful in their pending vote, workers at Premier would join workers at Premier Peat Moss in Ste. Anne, Man., who are members of UFCW Canada Local 832. More: Doug O’Halloran, UFCW Canada Local 401; Shane Dawson, UFCW Canada UFCW Canada Local 864 has welcomed 70 new members after it was certified as the bargaining agent for workers at the Lawtons Drugs warehouse facility in Dartmouth, N.S. Hearings before the province’s labour relations board had been ongoing since September 2001, and the certification vote was finally counted on February 20. The Lawtons drug store chain is part of the Sobeys empire. Local 864 president Bruce Durno says negotiations with the employer will commence immediately. More: Mark Dobson, UFCW Canada Loblaws agreement ratified in Québec Members of UFCW Canada Local 500R employed at Loblaws stores in Montréal’s West Island area ratified a new collective agreement on February 25. The 1,800 members received significant improvements in the new agreement, including an increase in employer’s contributions to the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan (CCWIPP) from 30¢ to 50¢ per hour over the life of the agreement. Other highlights include an increase in the dental plan to 90% of the fee schedule, improvement in vacation time, increase in the night premium, a $1.00-per-hour premium for butchers with two years service, and a Christmas bonus of 1% of wages earned in the previous 53 weeks. Wages will increase across the board by 2% in the first year of the agreement. After the first year, members who are at maximum rate will receive a 10% wage increase over the life of the agreement, while others will receive a lump sum payment of 2% for hours worked in the second and third year, with their wage progression rate dropping from 600 to 500 hours over the term. In addition, the company has agreed to create 60 new full-time positions across the five stores in the West Island area. More: Tony Filato, UFCW Canada Local 500R UFCW Canada Local 175 members working at Great Lakes Elevator in Owen Sound, Ont. have ratified a new collective agreement. Members have won an across-the-board wage increase of $1.01 over the three-year agreement, along with a $300 signing bonus. Other improvements include more holidays, improved bereavement leave, better health-and-welfare benefits, and improved contract language regarding the grievance procedure and union security. More: Cheryl Mumford, UFCW Canada Local 175, www.ufcw175.com Province-wide security agreement UFCW Canada Local 1400 won a major breakthrough for members at Trojan Security throughout Saskatchewan in a new agreement ratified by members on February 17. Trojan Security becomes the first security company in the province to participate in Local 1400’s education fund, paying 4¢-per-paid-bargaining-unit-hour into the fund, which will be used to enhance security guard training. In Manitoba, UFCW Canada Local 832 was able to achieve education fund participation by the same employer in its last set of negotiations. Other highlights of the agreement include a 3% retroactive increase to January 13, and a wage increase of not less than 3% in each of the remaining two years of the three-year agreement, improvements in overtime pay to guards working at sites where overtime is earned after working 160 hours in a four-week period, a 5¢ increase in the kilometre allowance, and improvement to compassionate leave provisions from one or two days to now three days. More: Greg Eyre, UFCW Canada Local 1400, www.ufcw1400.ca U An experienced writer, editor, graphic artist, and photographer, Brother Freeman became a full-time staff member of UFCW Canada in 1988. He enjoys being able to use all his skills on UFCW Canada’s many award-winning publications, web presence, and other communications efforts. Mike is past-president of the Canadian Association of Labour Media (CALM). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In its annual ranking of the world’s richests people, Forbes magazine has included several Canadians, some of them employers of UFCW Canada members, amongst this planet’s top billionaires. None make the top-10, half of whom are heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune. Of the top-10, all are from the U.S., except the Albrechts from Germany.
Source: www.forbes.com |
It was that celebration that drew us together as Canadians, exhulting in the common expression of sheer elation for what our young athletes had accomplished. Canada’s best-ever Winter Olympics was about togetherness, and sharing in the victories of so many competitors.
FCW Canada Staff Snapshot: Mike Freeman