President’s Report
April 14, 2010
Kidd Creek
As of this Report we have received no information from the Company on the impact of the closure of the Kidd Creek Met Site in Timmins. We have heard that the negative affects on freight revenue could be as much as $8 to $10 Million a year, which is a significant loss in revenue and will no doubt have repercussions on the ONTC.
The fight back coalition that CAW Local 599 has been leading met with Premier McGuinty in Toronto on April 7th. The Coalition urged the Premier to use the government’s power to stop the closure and work out a solution with all stakeholders to keep the Timmins Smelter open.
A recent study done by the CAW estimates that the closure of the Timmins Smelter will cause the loss of up to 4,428 jobs in the Region and $152 Million in annual taxes.
We will keep you apprised as events unfold.
OVR
Unions at Ontario Northland were pleased to see the City of North Bay pass a motion on April 5th in support of the need for government action to retain the rail infrastructure in the Region. This includes the ONR and OVR of which CP Rail is threatening to abandon. The ONR is a natural fit if the McGuinty Government heeds North Bay Councils advice on the economic need to keep rail infrastructure open for the long term growth and prosperity of the entire North. This is a position the General Chairperson’s Association has been advocating as well.
Hopefully with North Bay City Council’s assistance and as other communities realize the importance of rail on the well being of the North the McGuinty Government will provide the mandate and necessary funding to allow the ONTC to be the solution to this crisis.
Economic and Social Impact Study
In March the ONTC released to its employees the contents of a third party Economic and Social Impact study done about the ONTC. Its findings are truly amazing and point to the continued importance of the ONTC on the entire Region. The report details the impact that Ontario Northland has on the Economy and Social well being of Northeastern Ontario and details the amount of jobs it creates a directly or indirectly in the Region. After reading this document no one in their right mind would not support the continued existence of Ontario Northland as a Crown Agency. One wonders why the ONTC mandate is not expanded to include all of the North so it could bring the same kind of economic and social prosperity to those areas as well.
Long Term Sustainability
The Provincial Budget came out on March 25th in all the Budget documents there was no mentioned of the ONTC or funding for the LTSP. This does mean that there is no funding forthcoming for the ONTC it could mean that any new funding for the ONTC is contained within the expanded budget for the Ministry Northern Development Mines and Forestry (MNDM). We assume we will here from the MNDM in the near future on this issue.
Refurbishment
The Shop Unit ratified changes to its collective agreement in February to help position the ONTC to successfully bid for the next GO Transit Refurbishment contract. Immediately after ratification the consulting firm of Deloitte was hired to begin the implementation of the Lean manufacturing process in the Division.
As part of the implementation process a kaizen event was held in a number of stations. This process involved a number of employees from both management and labour working together to catalogue all parts and job procedures in the stations to develop a process that sequence the materials and parts in an orderly fashion. This in turns will help reduce the amount of time a GO coach takes to moves through these stations, thereby reducing the cost of producing a refurbished product.
A second Request for Proposal (RFP) has been tendered seeking a consultant to continue the next section in the Lean Implementation process. This RFP closes April 23rd and it is hoped the contract will be awarded to the successful bidder shortly there after.
Negotiations
As you are aware the five collective agreements this Local has with the ONTC expires at the end of this year. Therefore we will begin shortly the process of negotiating new collective agreements.
The first phase is the election of two members in Agreement #12 to its bargaining committee. Next notices will be posted seeking resolutions from the membership on what our negotiations demands should be. After all resolutions have been received a Collective Bargaining Conference will be held where all members’ resolutions for contract changes will be presented, debated and voted upon.
In the fall of this year the Local will serve written notice to the ONTC that it wishes to enter negotiations. As per the Canada Labour Code the parties have to meet within 20 days after the Notice to bargain has been given.
At this first meeting the union on the membership’s behalf will present your contract demands and schedule future meeting dates.
As always the Committee will keep the membership apprised as negotiations unfold.
Arbitration
Two arbitration cases were presented before Arbitrator Michel Picher in North Bay on February 17th. These grievances dealt with seniority rights in the May of Way Maintainers group and the need for an Article 8 Notice when abolishing positions. Mr. Picher found for the Company in the first grievance and found for the union in the second.
Presidential Search
Have not heard anything official but it seems that the search committee will have a successor to Steve Carmichael by the end of the month. We wish current ONTC President Steve Carmichael well in his retirement. Mr. Carmichael is an honourable and forthright person. Though at times we disagreed with Mr. Carmichael on issues, no one could argue that he truly wanted the best for the organization and all its employees. Best of luck Steve.
Steelworkers Local 6500
As you are all no doubt aware Local 6500 in Sudbury and Port Colbourne have been on strike for over 8 months. It is the longest labour dispute in Sudbury history. This strike is compounded by the Harper Governments inaction to the implications of foreign ownership of our Natural Resources Companies.
Vale a Brazilian mining multi national picked this fight to further boost its profits. The Sudbury facilities are profitable by any measure but Vale wants more. Both levels of governments have sat idly by while the dispute tears at the very fabric of the community.
The interesting thing in all this is that the Brazilian government would not allow Vale to be bought out by foreigners for the exact reasons that plague us here in Canada. How come a country like Brazil which is in the early stages of democracy has the intestinal fortitude to look after its citizens? But the Harper Governments sits idly by while Vale and Xstrata are allowed to destroy Northern communities. When are governments going to stand up for people and communities and not multi national companies?
This Local sent a group of people to attend a rally in support of the people at 6500 in Sudbury in late March. We wish to commend all those who travelled to Sudbury and participated.
Recommendations
- Donate $500.00 to the Northern Coalition fighting to keep the Xstrata Met Site open.
In Solidarity,
Brian Kelly
President
Past Reports:
Mar 30/11 | Jan 26/11 | Oct 6/10 | Apr 14/10 | Jan 27/10 | Sep 16/09
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