The Official Website of Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada
LOCAL No. 9
PPWC Local 9 NEWS
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Oct 27, 2011 Greetings. Just a quick update on whats happening around our worksites. Our Pacific Bio members are having a strike vote on Oct 31 and Nov 1 after turning down the companies last contract proposal. We may be looking for help in manning the line and showing support and solidarity to our union brothers and sisters. Our Ainsworth members are going through curtailments the next 3 months. Never a good thing and hopefully this will result in an increase in board prices soon to get our members working back at normal schedules soon. Good job done by our plant committee members during a time of great stress. Our Lieu day arbitration is still scheduled for Feb 16,17 2012. Canfor Pulp is just about to put out an instrumentation apprenticeship. Make sure you watch for it on the boards if you are interested. We will also be going to arbitration Dec 12 on our Holiday manning grievance. Still waiting to hear back on a new arbitrator and dates on our ADO grievance. A reminder that at our November General Membership Meeting is last call for table officers. If you are interested in running for a position please show up at this meeting, or have a letter in to Julie stating you will accept the nomination. Good Luck to all who let their names stand. Chuck
Sept 20, 2011 Brothers and Sisters,
June 9 2011 Good morning everyone. I hope all the Canuck fans are all ok this morning. Just remember its now a best of 3 series with home ice advantage. There must of been a lot of members watching the game with the poor turnout at last nights general meeting. For those at Canfor Pulp the ADO arbitration has been rescheduled for Sept 26,27,28. We are actively working on this thru our lawyer and the company's lawyer with an eye to a resolve. The 9th annual golf tournament info is out and hope that many of our members can attend this fun day of golf and festivities. As summer holidays near remember to be safe and enjoy time with your families!! Chuck
May 25,2011 Good afternoon everyone. Here is a quick update on whats happening around the local. We are currently in talks with Pacific Bio and conifer. The negotiating committee met with the company on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Talks are also scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of next week. So far talks have progressed well and we remain optimistic that we will arrive at a negotiated settlement for our Pacific Bio members. Stay tuned for more news on this front. Chemtrade is back up and producing which is good news for all concerned. There plant and safety committees have worked hard and have had a direct influence on what has gone on out there since the cell explosion. Esther's has some grievance issues that John and the shop stewards are working on. Ainsworth members recently elected new member to their plant committee. Welcome to Joe Jmaeff. Steve Wares has also stepped into the position of plant chair. I was down in 100 Mile last week for a 4th step grievance meeting. We dealt with 2 grievances and await the responses from the company. At Canfor Pulp the company is just about ready to roll out the employee satisfaction surveys done a bit ago. I won't steal their thunder so will give them some time to get the info out. Our safety reps were at the annual safety conference last week and I look forward to hearing there thoughts and ideas. The conference was also attended by members from Chemtrade, Ainsworth and Pacific Bio. Keep informed by attending your respective general meetings. Chuck
May 16, 2011 Hello to the members of Local 9. I thought I would write a quick note to you to let you know what is upcoming in the weeks ahead. I will be in 100 Mile at Ainsworth for a 4th step meeting on Tuesday afternoon. This grievance stems from our last set of negotiations. Jon Ball and Steve Wares will also be present and hopefully we can resolve this without having to go to arbitration. For CPLP the ADO arbitration was postponed because of the company switching lawyers. I know its frustrating but stay positive and patient. New dates are being set for September. We did talk to the company last week and had a very good meeting. We'll see if we can get this resolved, its been a long road for everyone. Chemtrade is back up and running after their explosion in the cell line at Chlorate 4. Luckily no one was hurt in the explosion but 2 of our members are off with the after effects. Last week we had another member get hurt ( sprained knee ) so they have had a rough week to say the least. Remember to keep your mind focussed on the job at hand so we dont have any of our other members being hurt. Pacific Bio negotiations restart on May 24. We have exchanged agendas with them on April 21. The company agenda is short but contains items that go against our union principles. Namely the doing away with vacation statutory minimums. They seem to think its in our members best interest to work straight through the year with no time off, if they so choose. Interesting way of looking at whats best for their employees. At Esthers there are some grievances and issues that John is working through.Hopefully they can get these solved with a satisfactory outcome to our members. The shop steward training was well received and attended. We will try to offer another one in the fall so if you are interested in getting trained give your name to Joe Gaon or Julie at the office. Thanks and have a great week Chuck
May 2, 2011 Hello to everyone in the local. Just thought that I would let everyone know that we have a new addition to the office at local 9. Please join me in welcoming our new office secretary Julie Ross. Julie is happy and eager to meet each of you as she transitions into her role with us. Susan is still here to guide Julie in her new role for the next few weeks. Please be patient while Julie becomes acqainted with the office and all of our differing certifications. Thanks Chuck
April 26, 2011 Hello to everyone and I hope everyone enjoyed their long Easter weekend. There are two upcoming elections in the near future. I hope everyone takes the time to get out and vote both in the Federal election and the Union National elections. Remember it is your democratic duty to get out and let your voice be heard. On the National front there are three members vying for your vote. Gerald De Jong the current 2nd vice, Mike Broadbent from Local 18 in Mackenzie, and Mike Scott from Local 15 in Skookumchuck. Read their bios that are posted in your respective workplaces. The pulp groups are also voting on Health and Welfare and Pension trustees. Their bios are also posted at CPLP and Chemtrade. Thanks to all who have let their names stand and to those who are helping out at our certs on the voting days. We entered into negotiations with management from Pacific Bio-Energy on Thursday April 21. Both sides presented their agendas and clarified their positions. The company is looking at holidays, how the shift workers take them as well as doing away with statutoey minimums. Neither of which do we have any interest in. They also are proposing a 5 year deal . We are scheduled to get back with them the week of May 24th. We are still looking for one member to join the Aensworth plant committee. If you or someone you know is interested please contact myself or Steve Wares in 100 Mile to let your name stand at the next general meeting in 100 Mile on May 16, 2011. Thats all for now. Enjoy the sunshine. Chuck
March 17,2011 Hello to all members of Local 9. I am currently down in Nanaimo at the 49th Annual convention of the PPWC. All is well down here but it sure rains a lot. Convention is going along nicely and we will have a full report at our next membership meetings. During our lunch break today we had the pleasure of walking the picket line with the faculty union representing some 500 workers at the Vancouver Island University. It was a great exercise for a lot of us that have never had to be on strike before. They have been out a week and spirits are still high. They are out not on monetary issues but job security, mostly surrounding how the university management decides who will be layed off and then management assuming those job tasks. All that we talked to were passionate about their school and hope management gets back to the table and bargains in a constructive manner. Just a reminder that John and Frank will be in 100 Mile House to conduct shop steward training next week. The following week I will be down there to sit in on the pension info meetings. Hopefully the news is not as bad as many of us fear. Shop Steward training will also be going on in PG in May. This training will be put on by John with help from Brett McPherson. Let Susan know if you would like to attend. On April 21 we will be sitting down with Pacific Bio management along with Conifer to bargain a new collective agreement. We will have the agenda down by early April for our members to approve. I am on vacation next week but would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a good spring break. Rember stay involved as you are the union! In Solidarity
January 12 , 2011
Chuck LeBlanc
November 17, 2010 I've just come back from 100 Mile after spending the day with our brothers and sisters at the Ainsworth OSB plant. The plant recently under went some upgrading and last Wednesday part of the new dryer system blew up. It is a miracle that no one was physically hurt. I took part in a debriefing session and I know that there were several people that probably went to church last Sunday. The plant should be back running next week at half capacity as it will take a month or so to repair the damage. Management will have to come up with a good plan to reassure our members there that it will be safe to be in that plant. Hopefully the management there will involve our members and their union in that process as so far they haven't. I'm hoping that it will be recognized that to survive companies need the full support and input of their unionized employees. If you haven't heard the Local will have a new President next year (Chuck Leblanc) and I will be the second Vice. There will be an election for some positions in early December so make sure you read the poster to see who is running. I learned last year at the Leadership Training session the Local put on that integrity is the most valued characteristic of a Leader, so please keep that in mind. Also thank you for those members who have served this year and won't be around next year. Also thank you to those members who have let their name stand for next years officers. There will be more elections coming. Please get involved as your union is the people you work with. If I don't get another chance to update this blog, best wishes to you all for the new year. In Solidarity John A. Ball President
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July 30, 2010 I'm pleased that our members at Esther's Inn have a new collective agreement and I look forward with working with them in the future. The contract was signed July 20th and I think it's a good start. Next week I'm going to 100 Mile to attend a meeting with their bargaining committee and management. Hopefully we'll be able to bring something back to the membership to vote on or be serving strike notice before the snow flies. I heard Pacific Bio will be getting a new manager. Apparently when the old one left the fibre supply got very low and the mills almost got shut down. Hopefully it doesn't happen again. I've also heard some good news from Chemtrade. With the restarting of the Mackenzie Pulp Mill. Chemtrade will be able to restart Chlorate III and that's good for our members at that plant. When a mill goes down it affects everyone. I went on vacation for 2 weeks and one of the things I did was visit Elk Falls. I went out to the mill site and the falls. I'm thankful I'm not one of the people affected by the closure of the mill because I could have been and my heart hurts because of the way it all went down. The management there split the saw mill from the pulp and paper and that was the beginning of end. The NDP allowed the exporting of raw logs and the Campbell Liberals allowed the trickle of logs to become a torrent of logs. When the saw mill owners figured out that they could make more money selling logs than making lumber they shut down the saw mill. The Elk Falls mill was designed to make pulp from saw dust. With that saw mill closure the layoffs started. The saw mill owners are now the largest owner of Timber on Vancouver Island and they don't operate a single saw mill. The wood and jobs are going to China, Korea, and the US and that company has the largest quarterly profit in three years. If it's okay to put tariffs on our lumber why not copy the Russians and tax those raw logs for the benefit of the people of this province and keep jobs here? This week your executive has been working very hard on changing the By-Laws of this Local to reflect our multiple certifications. These By-Laws are the rules and guides that ensure the Local functions well in providing membership services to all our members from 100 Mile House to Prince George. This process will continue for some time and I urge all of you to attend the General Meetings so that you can take part in these changes. This is the members Union and as President my job is to make sure it stays that way. In Solidarity John A. Ball June 28, 2010 Esther’s Negotiations Update Your Negotiation Committee met with Esther’s Management Friday June 25th. We met with them 3 times and at the end of the day, reached a tentative agreement. We will have Special Meetings to explain the contract and have the Esther’s members vote on the agreement. The meetings will be held at the Union Hall on 3rd Avenue (across from Dairy Queen) July 6th and July 7th. The Meetings will start at 10am and 4pm, the new contract will be fully explained starting at these times. Every one please vote. In Solidarity John A. Ball Contract Special Meeting Place: PPWC Local 9 Union Hall When: July 6th & 7th Times: 10am & 4pm
June 18, 2010 Last night I got back from conducting a Strike Vote at the Ainsworth OSB plant in 100 Mile. 109 members voted with 64 voting in favour of a Strike and 45 not. The Strike Vote was approved by 58.7% of the membership. The majority have spoken and I hope for our members working at Ainsworth, they learn to stick together now and get that contract they need. In Solidarity, John A. Ball President PPWC Local 9
May 27, 2010 Last week there was a special Standing Committee meeting to deal with the Relief Staff Positions. After a thorough discussion of the issues the company was given this letter. I have also co-endorsed a letter of support for CPLP Green projects for our mills on behalf of the Local. I grew up in a mill town and personally believe that the Pulp and Paper industry has done much for the development of this Province and Prince George in particularly. This week we had an Executive meeting and it was well attended. Today Ken and Myself meet with the Company to discuss the ADO issues at a 4th Step Meeting.
In Solidarity,
John A. Ball
President Local 9 PPWC
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Hello. Hope everyone's holidays went well. This is my first entry of many so stay tuned as I keep everyone informed.