Attendance Management Program.
The AMP has taken up a considerable amount of our time in the last year. What it involves is the company trying to 'manage' your sick time in a seven-level program which you can climb as your sick leave increases over time. You may not even know that you are on the program until you hit the third level, which is where Human Resources gets involved in an interview with you. At the seventh level, the company can claim 'Frustration of Contract' and actually fire you. Or so they believe, or want us to believe. The fact is, they have tried similar programs at other Federated Co-op sites, been taken to arbitration and lost each time.
While we would never condone an abuse of sick leave, there is no way we would ever stand back and let the company punish someone for innocent absenteeism. We have negotiated a very good sick leave plan over the years, and for the company to try to discipline someone for using it is an affront to the contract.
Though this issue is not settled, anyone who has worries about it should talk to their Vice-President or me about their concerns. If you are ever asked for an interview with your supervisor and/or HR, remember- it is always your right to have a Union representative present.
Maintenance Postings.
It is possible that by the time this report hits the Web page and bulletin boards, the new maintenance jobs, promised for over a year and a half, will have been posted. While we welcome any addition to the complement, we don't feel that the hirings go far enough. The six-to-eight positions rumoured to be added will hardly replace the 30-40 'temporary' staff we have been running with for much of the last three years.
In addition to the postings being short in numbers, the company also wants to post certain positions as Trades I positions, where the contract clearly stipulates that they should be posted at the Helper II level. During the last round of bargaining, we managed to get the loose 'handshake' agreement of alternating hirings with Helper II/ Trades I in writing. As it was agreed upon at negotiations, when a position comes open in the trades, the deciding factor of what level it would be posted at would be determined by the hiring history over the previous four years in the shop concerned (Letter of Understanding #4, Paragraph D, Point 7). If, in the last four years, there were more Helpers than Tradespersons hired, the company had the right to hire at the Trades level. If there were more Tradespersons than Helpers hired in the last four years, they would have to hire at the Helper II level, with the principle being that over any four year scrolling period, there would be a 1:1 ratio of hiring in each shop.
This is not what they want to do in the Electrical shop and Building Maintenance shop. In the Electrical shop, there are two vacancies and one addition to complement for a total of three postings. In the last four years, there have been three Trades I and one Helper II hired there. Simple arithmetic makes it obvious that at least two of those spots should be at the Helper II level, but the company wants to hire two Trades I and one Helper II. Their reasoning? The contract only goes back to February 1, 2004. At no time when negotiating this clause did anyone say that this date would be the starting point for the four year period and in fact it was mentioned at the table that it would not, as it was known then that these new maintenance jobs were coming in the 'near' future. The same is true in Building Maintenance, where in the last four years, there have been two Trades I and one Helper II posting. At the time, the company managed to make the progression for the Helper II into an eight-year progression to get to the Trades I rate so the incumbent bid out of the position. There hasn't been a Helper II finish an apprenticeship in that shop for many, many years, but now the progression gets a person to the Trades I rate after four years.
Should the company stick with this plan, we will have no choice but to grieve it. There are many people in the plant who have been waiting a long time to get into a trade, and these jobs are the only way that will happen. I also know that there are competent trades people already in our construction section paying dues just like the rest of us, who would like to be hired permanently (being in the electrical shop I'm reminded several times a day, actually). I am of the opinion that we have to look after our own permanent members and the importance of the contract first. We are not asking the company to do anything extraordinary except honour the contract they negotiated with us.
I believe the company really needs to look to the future of labour in Saskatchewan and start hiring and training people before all the best talent moves to Alberta. To keep good people here, they will need to be provided with some security, and the 'construction section' is not secure. If the fallback plan is to staff the plant with more contractors in the future, I think they will still have trouble finding quality workers in the quantity needed.
As anyone who works in maintenance knows, we would have to hire a lot of people before the plant would be overstaffed. The huge number of potential retirements in the next ten years would guarantee that layoffs of permanent people would be a highly unlikely scenario if for some reason we did find ourselves overstaffed.
When these jobs are finally posted, I would urge all Construction Section Labourers to bid on the Maintenance Relief Pool positions if you ever want to get a permanent position. Though there is no bidding rights in your seniority, this is a way of making it known to HR that you are interested in permanent employment.
Part-time Benefits.
For any temporary people (with the exception of Summer Help) such as Construction Section or Office Temps, hang on to your medical receipts. Although the contract does not give you the medical plan that permanent employees have, we have found a section in Labour Standards which should support our contention that at the minimum, you should be on the drug plan. We may not be able to get the full-blown medical plan, but the drug plan should soon be part of your benefit package. We'll keep you posted.
On Call?
For maintenance workers, if you are asked to stick by the phone on the weekend, beware. A few times this year, workers have been asked to come in to work at an 'approximate' time and would get a phone call when the exact time was known. This is fair if you don't mind sticking by the phone, but what has happened to some workers is they have waited and waited and waited and never got the call. One worker had arranged for his in-laws to come in from far out of the city to baby-sit and never got the call. I had been asked in these cases if they were entitled to four hours pay (minimum call-in time) for this inconvenience, but there is nothing in the contract that allows for this. So if your Supervisor asks you to do this, remember-if you don't get the call, you won't get paid.
Four Day Work Week.
On August 3, Tim Reimer, Dan Josephson and I met with Ed Greenawalt, Tim Lux, and Gord Corscadden to discuss the possibility of going to a four-day work week with extended hours in the day. This idea was part of our proposal package at the last round of bargaining and it was at that time agreed to talk about it during the life of the contract.
The company has many fears about this idea and does not welcome it. Their biggest problem with it seems to be the extra workload they perceive there would be on the shop supervisors, but likely one less day of maintenance staff on hand every two weeks has a lot to do with it, too. We presented many different options and possibilities for their consideration, including ways that would guarantee the availability of staff on weekends, an improvement over the present situation, but to no avail. We consider this issue in a deep state of hibernation at least until the next round of bargaining.
Occupational Health and Safety Committee.
I would like to commend all past and present members of this committee for the work they have done to make our plant a safer place. This is one of the few committees I have never served on in my 27 years in the plant, but now, as president, I can see that it is probably the most important one we have.
This is the committee that brings forward our concerns and keeps the company honest in its safety policies and practices. When you have a safety or health concern that you feel is not being addressed properly by the company, this is your avenue. It is not unusual to bring up a concern and have it demeaned by a supervisor as unimportant or so unlikely to happen that it needn't be worried about. You should never be made to feel your concerns are small, but if it happens, your next course is the OH&S committee. After serious investigation, if they feel a concern is warranted it will be brought up at the next meeting and entered into the minutes, a copy of which is sent to the OH&S branch of the Labour Department. Concerns brought up here cannot be ignored. We have the clout of the government behind us when it comes to safety, and the company's own assurance that they will make the workplace safe. It is up to us to hold them to that promise.
Money should be of minor concern where lives are at stake, but it always is a factor. All companies are going to look for inexpensive solutions to problems, but we must make sure that no matter how much money is spent, the solution works, and works well.
Training.
At our Company-Union meeting in July (next one October 4th) the subject of training was brought up. It was indicated that if any employee finds a course that would be a valid contribution to the company and their career, it would be seriously considered. The company wants competent employees, and regular upgrading and constant training are ways to ensure we are all kept up-to-date in our jobs and the technology that affects them. So if you find a valid course, present it to your supervisor and make your intent known.
Tank Car Loading.
There has been some unusual staffing going on out of the Pumping & Blending department since Section IV has been making so much Asphalt. Tank car loading of asphalt has been carried out by summer help on day shift and 'Part-time Process' workers on night shift. With summer help going this week, a new posting for 'Part-time Process' has gone up to replace them. We feel the company needs to do something a little more permanent to fill these positions, and will soon have more serious talks with them about it. This is a job that is not going away, even when Suncor comes back on line and Section IV has better feedstock.
DFR
Our Union has been hit with a Duty of Fair Representation charge by a former construction section employee. What this means is that he feels we didn't do our job in representing him in a Company-Union matter and is taking us to court to answer for it. I feel his complaint is totally without basis and that we will win the case. Though it goes back more than ten years, we have good records of the events at the time and a thorough investigation which was done by Ray Limacher about 5 years ago to use in our defense.
Future Union Reps.
Coming up in October, we will be sending anyone interested in becoming more active in the Union on courses to educate them on how to fulfill elected positions in our local. These courses are very valuable tools for people wanting to get more involved, and of course, our executive is always looking for new, fresh faces. Watch for posters soon on how to sign up for these courses and let one of the executive members know your intentions.
Finally…..
Finally, as this is the first actual President's Report I have made, (the CLC convention report doesn't count) I would like to thank everyone who voted for me in the June election. My opponent, Tim Reimer has become the Maintenance V-P and is doing a fine job.
I can't thank my predecessor, Ray Limacher, enough for the guidance he has given me over the last three years. Ray's service to this Local has been invaluable in our growth and in the wages and benefits we all currently enjoy. His will be a tough act to follow.
Ray's predecessor, Tom Keith, also deserves a thank you for encouraging me to get involved at a higher level in the first place.
If you have concerns, please don't hesitate to call me at 536-8864. If that number doesn't work, try 525-2228 or on weekends 332-3910. Sooner or later you'll find me.
In Solidarity,
Rick McConnell