Council news - Carpenters Union BC

Volume 1 Issue 4
Council news
Some of the best dam builders in the world
In trades terms, the workers who make
up Local 2300 are known as carpenters
and millwrights. But the magnitude of
the jobs they’re a part of tells the real truth
– they’re unsung
heroes of the
north capable of
building dams
that power our
province, country
and neighbours to
the south.
Many of the
280 members in
Local 2300 work
behind the scenes
to create landmark
projects that
have gained them a
reputation as some of the best dam builders
in the world.
In fact, a Kieways Magazine from
about a decade ago quotes Greg Dixon, a
Kiewit project manager who said, “ The
quality of work here is extremely high. The
carpenters in this valley are the best tradesmen
that I’ve worked with.”
There’s no doubt the quality of work
has evolved even more since the time of
that article, and so has the workforce.
What was once a local of men only,
now has more than 12 women.
One of them is Rhonda Theobald, a
15 year member and one of the local’s first
female carpenters. She’s now a foreman for
Chinook Scaffolding at Teck Cominco in
Trail.
“We have five women in my crew
alone, “she says. “When I started as an
apprentice, it was just me. Back then, a
woman didn’t belong on a worksite.”
Theobald’s initial challenge was to try
to prove herself. “I needed to show that I
belonged and that I could do the job.” Today
she says that most workers accept female
Local 2300 members working on the Brilliant Dam
carpenters. “In fact, now some guys even
say they’d rather work with me, because of
the work I do.”
Dam workers also pride themselves in
being able to pass the
torch and knowledge
of their trade to the
next generation.
Long-time members
say that they are
working along side
and training young
apprentices so that
they will be able to
continue the local’s
steller reputation.
Local 2300 business
representative
Paul Nedelec says that
the industry is growing. “The economy is
good. We’re currently seeing three times
the usual number of apprentices because
there are jobs out there.”
In a 30-mile radius, there are six dams
that have been built and expanded in B.C.
over the years. Local 2300’s latest project has
been the Brilliant Dam, located in Castlegar,
B.C. Workers are now putting the finishing
details on the project and then they’re on to
their next project – the Waneta Dam, just
south of Trail. The Waneta will be receiving a
second power house. (Plans include initiatives
to avoid potential environmental impacts
on the fish habitat in the Columbia/Pend
d’Oreille confluence area.)
In addition to building and retrofitting
dams, Local 2300 members also work on
commercial and residential projects – an
ongoing employer is mining and metal company,
Teck Cominco,
No matter what job Local 2300 is tackling,
the work is performed by their men, women
and apprentices who work together in solidarity
to continue our reputation for having
some of the best trades in the world.
3
3
3
3
Winter 2007
12-year old Naomi
names CMAW newsletter
CMAW newsletter named The Write
Angle. See page 5 for details.
Inside this issue
President’s Report – Pg 3
CMAW’s break from UBCJA
makes headlines – Pg 5
Secretary– Treasurer’s Report – Pg 6
Allied Hydro Council win – Pg 7
3 CMAW’s 1st annual convention – Pg 8

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President’s report
At our first CMAW convention in
October, I was elected to be your
president for the next three-year
term. I’d like to extend sincere thanks to all
members for your vote of confidence. I am
truly looking forward to serving our new
all-Canadian union to the best of my ability.
I’d also like to congratulate the members
who took the time and interest to run
for convention delegate positions as well
as those directly elected at our convention.
And, I want to acknowledge those who took
the time and interest to come out to meetings
held in each membership area to discuss
details of our settlement with our former
international union. It is only through
your participation and support that we will
build a strong, democratic and united union.
Thanks for your participation.
CMAW’s mandate is very clear – our
members have overwhelmingly told our
officers, CMAW Executive Board and
convention delegates that it’s time to get on
with the task of building our union. And, as
I told convention delegates in my opening
speech, we will do this knowing that there
is no issue that CMAW could possibly face
that cannot be solved by CMAW!
Yes, we have many challenges and a
great deal to do, but I believe that if we
remain focused and work together we will
succeed. Our first challenge and where we
need to work together is to stave off our former
international union, the United Brotherhood
of Carpenters and Joiners of America,
(UBCJA) during our raiding period.
UBCJA is once again sending their
unelected representatives to our job sites in
a vain attempt to sweet talk you out of your
democratic rights and the union you have
worked so hard to maintain. UBCJA continues
to peddle their nonsense. But here’s
the truth – the truth that they’ll never
tell you:
1) UBCJA has never succeeded in
organizing any one of the major nonunion
contractors in B.C. They really
just focus on raiding our membership.
2) UBCJA signed a wall-to-wall
collective agreement in B.C. for a
portion of Vancouver’s Canada Line
project – an agreement that was below our
negotiated agreement.
3) UBCJA spent a fortune of your
union dollars in an attempt to undermine the
democratic rights of the membership of the
Carpenters Union in B.C.
Jan Noster
4) UBCJA supported tariffs on Canadian
softwood lumber, which put Canadians, our
members in B.C. and the people in your
hometown, out of work. They had a choice
to support jobs in Canada or jobs in the U.S.
They chose the U.S.
5) UBCJA membership has been in
decline for many years, partly due to the
fact that they refuse to change with the
times.
6) Most U.S. labour leaders have called
the Bush administration the most anti-union,
anti-worker presidency ever. But UBCJA’s
president called George Bush a “friend.” In
fact he endorsed his brother, Jeb Bush, for
governor of Florida. And, UBCJA donated
more than half a million dollars to other
Republican candidates and associations.
7) UBCJA’s president earns more per
year than the
Prime Minister of
Canada.
8) An astounding
number
of UBCJA officials
have been arrested
on corruption
charges. Visit
www.nlpc.org/artindx.asp#ubc where you
can see for yourself.
Let’s tell UBCJA to take a hike
For all of these reasons and more,
we need to tell UBCJA to take a hike if
they’re ever seen on our job sites!
I want to advise you that UBCJA will
be around and competing against CMAW
through the B.C. Provincial Council of
Carpenters (BCPCC). We must remain
vigilant and aware of their presence when
they approach on our sites.
We are sending our organizers out
into the field to fend off raiding attacks
from the Canadian Association of Skilled
Trade (CAST) and other competing
unions, but we also need your cooperation.
It’s imperative that members advise
CMAW local business reps immediately
when UBCJA organizers approach a job
site.
Unfair labour practise charge filed
This fall, our Thompson-Okanagan
representative Tony Heisterkamp and I attended
a pre-job meeting for the construction
of the Revelstoke Unit 5 project. (See
CMAW wins right to sit on Allied Hydro
Council on page 7.) At these meetings the
contractor pulls out the blueprints, and
together with the construction trades assigns
on-the-job jurisdictions, ie. We find
out what project work CMAW will be
performing.
To my great surprise and dismay,
the meeting was also attended by our
former international, represented by Gina
O’Rourke (former office secretary of our
Kelowna local). Mark Derton (former
head of the Pile Driver’s Local) was also
there. And while neither are carpenters,
they were purporting to represent your
interests. CMAW has since filed an unfair
labour practise charge over the whole Allied
Hydro dispatch issue and a hearing is
scheduled for Dec. 11. (Hopefully by the
time you read this, the matter will have
been resolved in our favour.)
BCTC opposes CMAW
The Building and Construction
Trades Council (BCTC) is the umbrella
council for some of the international construction
unions in British Columbia. They
have opposed virtually every BC Labour
Relations Board application CMAW has
made in the past three years.
Why they are so preoccupied with us
is a bit of a mystery to me – I don’t see
. . . continued on page 4
3

4
President’s report
continued from page 3
what difference it makes to any other trade
whether carpenters who are members of
CMAW are represented by CMAW on the
jobsite. The building trades just do not want
us to participate in issues like collective
bargaining.
With unionized construction now below
20 per cent of the marketshare in B.C., one
would think that the other construction
unions would want to focus on regaining
the substantial non-union construction
market, yet BCTC is obsessively focused
on CMAW, which leads me to suspect that
their real fear is that we will be successful
in attracting construction workers from
other international unions.
The latest situation they’re opposing is
a CMAW application for certification of a
group of carpenters who work at the Spectra
Energy plant where they are employed by
MYCO Construction. These carpenters are
members of our Dawson Creek Local 1237.
What we are requesting in our application
is simply a name change from the British
Columbia Provincial Council of Carpenters
to our new union name, CMAW. Certification
would enable us to transfer MYCO
Construction over to CMAW.
Local union mergers
After many years of discussion with
our Vancouver Island locals, we are pleased
to announce that our CMAW Executive
Board has granted a charter to
the newly merged Local 1989
North Island, Local 2068 Powell
River, and Local 1812 Duncan.
The new local’s number is 2020
to reflect their 20/20 vision in
being able to see the benefits of
merging.
The merger will enable the locals to
centralize administration, including dispatching
and member services. The jurisdiction
includes North Island, Eastern midisland,
including Nanaimo, and south to
Victoria. The new executive of the local will
combine representation from all three locals
until their elections are held in 2009.
Port Alberni Local 513 and elements
of CMAW Local 470 are also considering
merging with Local 2020. And, Local 2300
Castlegar and Local 1719 Cranbrook are
also well on their way to completing their
own merger.
I think we all agree that these mergers
will benefit the membership in the long
term.
Construction Strategy Committee
At the end of October, secretary treasurer
Pat Haggarty and I attended our third
Construction Strategy Committee meeting,
this time in Montreal.
The committee meets quarterly and has
a mandate to increase our power at the
bargaining table and to ultimately establish
a more powerful union. At this time, the
committee is working on the following initiatives:
• Developing a comprehensive
bargaining power strategy
• Creating a plan to increase our number
of construction agreements with major
companies across Canada
• Examining ways to increase
cooperation with other construction
unions in Quebec and across Canada
• Establishing ways to share and develop
better training programs
I’m pleased to report that the committee
is making measurable gains and has already
increased CMAW’s membership. The
creation of Local 777c, which now has a
membership of 400, is a direct result of the
committee’s work.
Website
We continue to update and improve our
CMAW website. Check out the useful links
where members can easily
find information on frequently
asked questions, as
well as information on collective
agreements, benefits
and pension information,
24 hours a day. Visit us at
www.cmaw.ca
I’d like to extend warm wishes
to you and your families for the
holiday season. I know
2008 is going to be a
great year for CMAW.
Happy New Year everyone!
Bye for now and work
safe.
Jan
President
Newsletter
named The Write Angle
After reviewing 18 entries, our
CMAW Executive Board selected
The Write Angle to be the
name of our newsletter.
Our contest
winner is 12year-old
Naomi
Kowal from
Prince Rupert.
Naomi is
the daughter
of Local 1735
president and
carpenter
member Peter
Kowal.
Naomi
received $300 for her winning entry and
says that this is the first money she’s
earned, apart from babysitting money.
Thank you for your winning contribution,
Naomi! And, many thanks to
everyone who submitted a suggestion.
Our new newsletter name will be
launched with a new look in our Spring
2008 issue. The decision has also been
made to go full colour as the cost difference
between black-and-white and
colour is now insignificant. Watch for
The Write Angle, coming in March.
A Politically
Correct Christmas Story
Twas the night before Christmas and Santa’s a wreck.
How to live in a world that’s politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to “Elves”.
“Vertically Challenged” they were calling
themselves.
And labour conditions at the North Pole
were said by the union to stifle the soul.
Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,
Released to the wilds by the Humane
Society.
And equal employment had made it
quite clear
That Santa had better not use just
reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid
Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you
know that looked stupid!
The runners had been removed from his sleigh;
Continued on page 10

CMAW’s break from UBCJA makes headlines
Following CMAW members’ official decision to
break from UBCJA, news agencies across the
country began to report the
good news. Here are two articles
that appeared in The Vancouver
Sun and the Journal of Commerce.
Carpenters hammer out plan for new union
Journal of Commerce – Labour reporter Richard Gilbert
British Columbia carpenters have voted to establish a new Canadian construction union
and break away from their U.S.-based international union.
The Construction, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (CMAW) announced on Oct.
31 that its 5,000 members have voted by a margin of 76 per cent to separate from the United
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (UBCJ).
The CMAW, which represents the majority of unionized carpenters in B.C., voted
to approve a B.C. Labour Board report on the terms of separation from the UBCJ, who have
their headquarters in Washington DC.
“This brings a long struggle for Canadian unionism in construction to a conclusion,”
said Jan Noster, president of the CMAW.
“We have gained our freedom at great cost, but it is absolutely worth it to have a democratic
union in our own hands. Construction workers need a Canadian union on an industrial
model, and now they have CMAW, as that union.”
Another union president agreed.
“This settlement is historic for Canadian construction workers,” said Dave Coles,
national president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP).
“B.C. carpenters as of today are a Canadian union with a model of all-employee
organizing that we believe is the way of the future for workers in the Canadian construction
industry.”
The BCLRB recommendations that allow CMAW members to break their ties with the
international union also require the B.C. carpenters to pay the UBCJ $6 million.
Noster said that he believes the payment is a small price to pay for independence. Both
CMAW and UBCJ will have the right to represent carpenters in B.C., although more than 95
per cent of carpenter certifications in B.C. are held by CMAW.
The CMAW also represents industrial shop workers and shipyard workers in the Lower
Mainland and school board workers in the B.C. Interior.
The union is affiliated with the 150,000-member CEP. Several years ago, the CMAW
entered into a reciprocity agreement that would allow B.C. and Quebec members to work in
the other province.
The CMAW has been able to recruit and supply a significant amount of workers from
the FTQ (roughly translated as the Workers Federation of Quebec), who are skilled and
trained.
Noster said that a lot has happened in the last few years to reach this point, so it is
important to clarify who they are and what they are planning to do.
“We are the old B.C. carpenters and we are affiliated with the CEP. We are independent
with our own constitution and rules. We have a relationship with the FTQ-Construction.
These guys are all formerly international building trade affiliates, who broke away and have
their own union in Quebec,” Noster said. “We are not going after other building trades. Our
plan is to go after the 80 per cent of the industry that is non-union. The plan is to organize
carpenters and supply trades on a wall to wall basis.”
The outgoing president of the B.C. Provincial Council of Carpenters said his organization’s
focus is changing.
“Now we can turn our attention to building our Canadian union,” said Tony Heisterkamp.
B.C. carpenters end epic struggle
Vancouver Sun, Nov. 2, 2007 – Brian Morton
B.C. carpenters have voted in favour of a settlement
allowing them to break from their U.S.-based union in
favour of a newer Canadian union.Approximately 5,000
members of the Construction, Maintenance and Allied
Workers Union [CMAW], representing the majority of
unionized carpenters in B.C., voted 76 per cent in favour
of the terms of a B.C. Labour Relations Board report
allowing separation from the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners [UBCJ] based in Washington,
D.C., a news release said on Thursday.
“We’re the first construction union to successfully
break away from the international parent outside of Quebec,”
CMAW president Jan Noster said in an interview Thursday.
“We’ve been in this epic struggle for the last
11 years. We want to control our own destiny in B.C. and
not have decisions on construction sites made in Washington,
D.C.”
Despite that, Noster noted that the Labour Relations
Board decision also means CMAW will have to pay the
UBCJ $6 million. The CMAW and UBCJ will also both
have the right to represent carpenters in B.C. But Noster
maintained that the $6 million was a small price to pay
for independence. He also said that 95 per cent of carpenters
are represented by the CMAW, which was formed
in 2005. “Only a handful of employers will remain with
the UBCJ,” he said. Noster said the break was necessary
because members felt the U.S.-based union was undemocratic
and wasn’t responding to workers’ needs. “Mandatory
bylaws were imposed. They refused to change with
the times.” Noster said the decision will mean better
relations with B.C. employers and give new union the
opportunity to recruit non-union workers, including those
from other trades.
“We’ll be able to deal with the employers in a much
more responsive way, [because] we don’t see ourselves
as having a type of adversarial relationship. We want
to build on that.” Noster said that union membership
in the trades has been dropping steadily over the years,
including during the current construction boom, but
that it’s a trend he hopes to change. He said unionized
carpenters make between $37 and $41 an hour, compared
to non-union carpenters who make $35 to $40 an hour.
“It’s comparable and some non-union [contractors] pay
more, but they lack pensions and benefits packages. “Just
20 per cent of the construction industry in B.C. is now
unionized. In the early 1980s, it was 85 per cent. There is
no doubt in my mind that this will have a positive impact
on being able to reverse the trend.”
According to the release, CMAW also represents
industrial shop workers and shipyard workers in
the Lower Mainland and school board workers in the
B.C. interior. It is affiliated with the 150,000-member
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of
Canada [CEP]. “Our plan is to represent trades people on
a wall-to-wall basis,” said Noster. “We’re going after that
huge non-union workforce. We [also] have 150 electrician
members right now.”
Meanwhile, Tony Heisterkamp, outgoing president
of the B.C. Provincial Council of Carpenters [the UBCJ’s
local entity], said the decision means that “finally we
can control our own destiny without having to go to the
international parent body.
5

6
Secretary – Treasurer’s report
B.C. carpenters vote
for Canadian autonomy
On Oct. 29, our CMAW
a p pointed independent
balloting committee announced
that 76 per cent of members
who voted were in favour of the
Labour Relations Board (LRB) recommendation
to end an 11-year legal
battle to separate from UBCJA.
Earlier this year, the former
British Columbia Provincial Council of
Carpenters (BCPCC) and our CMAW
Executive Board met to consider the
LRB recommendation and voted 17
to one in favour. (Both councils were
required to participate in the decision
as funds required to settle the dispute
will come from both areas.)
The committee to help negotiate
a settlement comprised BCPCC
president Tony Heisterkamp, CMAW
secretary-treasurer Pat Haggarty and
president Jan Noster, along with UB-
CJA representatives. After 14 months,
the committee could not come to an
agreement and as a result, LRB vicechair
Michael Fleming, established a
final settlement recommendation.
Prior to our Oct. 29 membership
vote, brother Noster and brother
Haggarty, accompanied by brother
Heisterkamp, toured the province to
meet with members to discuss the
settlement recommendation. At these
meetings, they emphasized that while
on many levels it might not seem like
the best agreement, it’s the best agreement
CMAW is going to get under the
circumstances.
The group answered member
questions and gave details about the
recommendation. Haggarty clarified
what the 11-year dispute was costing
our union, and explained that the
settlement would be paid over a threeyear
term.
The agreement, which calls for the
resignation of all BCPCC union local
and district council executive board
members, officers and agents, also
Pat Haggarty
requires BCPCC to relinquish the books,
records, seals and charters to the UBCJA.
BCPCC and CMAW will finalize the terms
of the settlement in a timely manner.
Does this mean UBCJA is no longer in B.C.?
Unfortunately, legally, UBCJA is
not required to leave B.C., so we need
members’ help to keep them away. In fact
the separation agreement recognizes that
BCPCC is a charted body of our former
international, and as such UBCJA can restructure
their local union anywhere and any
way they like. They will also be permitted
to share the carpentry craft jurisdiction in
B.C. This means that any craft certifications
in construction currently held by BCPCC,
the Canadian Association of Skilled Trades
(CAST – a UBCJA subordinate body) or
Local 1598 Victoria can remain with the
UBCJA.
All other craft carpentry certifications
that our union holds will remain with
CMAW.
Included in the agreement is a No
Raiding Policy. This means that no party is
permitted to raid each other’s craft certifications.
However, All-Employee Certifications
are up for grabs by either party.
Union dues
increase effective Feb. 1
Our convention finance committee
presented their new financial structure
recommendation that includes
a construction membership dues increase,
effective Feb. 1.
Dues have not increased in 13 years
and our union has fallen to one of the lowest
dues structures in all building trades unions.
Our CMAW Executive Board has
approved the modest increase and urges
members to recognize that not unlike other
services around us that have had to increase
costs in the last decade, our union also faces
rising costs to administer a union.
In addition to this, CMAW now faces a
pending settlement with our former international
union, and our old financial structure
can no longer support our programs, or our
locals. CMAW must now work to rebuild
finances to ensure we continue to provide
necessary services to members.
On Feb. 1, dues will increase to 83
cents per hour (from 52 cents) of our carpenter
journeyperson rate. The increase will
also be local union remuneration-based on
hours worked, as opposed to membership
numbers.
Members are reminded that union dues
are tax deductible.
I’d like to extend warm wishes
to you and
your families
for the holiday
season,and to
wish you all
a very Happy
New Year!
In solidarity,
Pat Haggarty
Secretary-Treasurer

CMAW wins right to sit on Allied Hydro Council
UBCJA appears not to notice
CMAW has won another major victory at the BC Labour Relations Board, but our
former international carpenters’ union out of Washington, D.C. appears not to have
noticed.
On Oct. 16, a Labour Relations Board panel ruled that CMAW could replace the BC
Provincial Council of Carpenters on the Allied Hydro Council, the group of unions which
negotiate a poly-party collective agreement for all construction on BC Hydro facilities.
This decision in effect reversed an earlier LRB decision which went against CMAW.
Representatives of the international carpenters union have apparently been telling
employers and others that CMAW was denied the right to participate in the Allied Hydro
Council, contrary to the board’s
recent decision.
When CMAW applied to
replace the Provincial Council
of Carpenters on the Council last
March, the board turned them
down after other unions claimed
that CMAW would destabilize the
Council.
CMAW appealed that decision
in October, and after hearing
extensive arguments from lawyers
for all sides the panel noted
that the unionized sector of the
construction industry was losing
market share, and that CMAW’s structure was an attempt to regain that work by organizing
on an industrial model.
“Constituent members of a polyparty
union are not required to like one
another or to agree with one another’s
views on all topics; they are required to
work together in a way which is ultimately
not self-defeating but rather is for
the greater good – that is for the good of
the employees which they collectively
represent,” the panel said. The panel also
noted that CMAW had participated fully
with BCBCBTU in the successful negotiations
for a new collective agreement
with CLRA.
The panel observed that the Allied
Hydro Council decision would also be applicable to collective agreements negotiated by
councils of unions at SFU, Vancouver School Board and Vancouver Shipyard.
A copy of the BC Labour Relations Board decision is available on CMAW’s website at
www.cmaw.ca
Brother Palmer dead at 55
It was with great sadness that members
of Local 1735 received news of
the unexpected passing of brother
Greg Palmer, age 55. He was the local’s
vice president and also served as president
from 2003 to 2006.
Brother Palmer brought honesty,
modesty, integrity and patience to all
endeavors.
He put his
heart into the
task at hand,
whether it was
serving as local
president,
instructing a
course, acting
as mentor to
an apprentice,
teaching his
Greg Palmer
sons guitar, or
even orga-
nizing weekend stag parties on remote
North Coast islands. Our brother also
loved music, and excelled at many
sports – skiing and windsurfing were his
favourites.
Palmer grew up on a farm in
Markinch, Saskatchewan and graduated
from Prince Albert Technical in 1970.
A job as head lifeguard first brought
him to Prince Rupert in 1981, where he
met co-owner of Rupert Acoustics Ltd.,
Ken Rothenberger who convinced him
to become a drywaller. He eventually
became holder of TQ’s in Drywall Finishing,
Lather/ISM and Carpentry and
later formed Palmers Drywall Ltd. which
he ran until deciding to go to work for
Rupert Wood N’ Steel in 2001.
Palmer had recently been hired
by Northwest Community College to
instruct a high school pre-apprenticeship
course in Houston, B.C. He was known
to students as simply Greg – the school
has established a $1000 trades bursary
for outstanding trades, in his memory.
Brother Palmer will be sadly missed
by all who knew him. He leaves his wife
Beth of 35 years and sons Jake, Jesse
and Brook who, like their father, went
into the trades. Two sons are carpenters
and members of 1735 Prince Rupert and
1325 Edmonton, and one is a stonemason
in Vancouver.
On behalf of all members, CMAW
extends heartfelt condolences to the
Palmer family.
7

CMAW president Jan Noster opened
the convention with a heartfelt speech about
the people who comprise our union and
where our union is headed. Brother Noster
acknowledged CMAW’s significant accomplishments,
particularly during the past
18 months, emphasizing the approval of
our made-in-B.C. CMAW Constitution, the
opening of our first convention, and the vote
on the recommended settlement with our
former international union that, at the time,
was before members.
Brother Noster also spoke about the
upcoming proposed new financial structure
for CMAW that would be debated and
decided upon by all delegates present at the
convention.
CEP president Dave Coles also addressed
the group. He recognized CMAW’s
accomplishments and committed CEP’s
continued support. He praised former BC
Provincial Council of Carpenters president,
Len Embree, noting the blood, sweat and
tears it took to guide BCPCC into CMAW
and to take on UBCJA through the courts,
labour boards and streets. The convention
gave a standing ovation as brother Coles
presented Brother Embree with a CEP token
of appreciation for having the tenacity to
fight for democratic rights, independence
and Canadian autonomy.
Other convention guest speakers were
president/CEO of Concert Properties, David
Podmore, and Fraternité Nationale Local
2366 president/director, Yves Ouelett.
Guest speakers were presented with
talking sticks, handcrafted by First Nations
artist and Local 1081 Kitimat member
Eugene Stewart.
Weighted vote – a lengthy process
The rules of the convention allowed
a weighted vote to be called for all resolutions
– not just for the election of resident
officers. The process was new to us and
consumed an unreasonable amount of time.
8
CMAW’s first annual convention
Our first CMAW annual convention was held at the Coast Plaza Hotel in Vancouver, Oct. 16 and 17.
Ninety-nine delegates, representing locals and district councils, gathered to elect officers and to debate
and vote on close to 100 resolutions. Here is a snapshot of events:
At this convention, at any time during
the debate of a resolution, a delegate could
call for a secret ballot vote to determine if
30 per cent of delegates were in favour of a
weighted vote.
While many of the resolutions were
voted on by a show of hands, significant
delays were caused if a weighted vote was
requested.
While frustrating at times, it was a
learning experience and our next convention
will provide a smoother and speedier
process – we will consider distributing
ballots to delegates at registration so that no
time is spent distributing ballots each time
a weighted vote is called. Other ideas to improve
the process are also being considered.
The venue, the Coast Plaza Hotel,
was perhaps a little more costly than in the
past, but the hotel location and facilities
were top-notch. Many delegates complimented
our selection and everyone admired
the great Vancouver view at the wine and
cheese gathering.
See page 9 for convention election results.
Brother Eugene Stewart
Brothers Noster (left) and brother Haggarty
celebrate their win
Local 1928’s Don Pengilly debates a
resolution
Brother Noster presents brother Coles with
talking stick.

CMAW vice-president Mike Fenton
opened nominations on day one of
our convention.
Congratulations to all candidates. Our
new expanded board will no doubt generate
more ideas and assume new initiatives
at upcoming CMAW Executive Board
meetings. Here is a list of those nominated,
presented in alphabetical order. Winners are
featured in bold.
Nominated for CMAW president:
• Jan Noster, Local 1995 Vancouver-New
Westminster
• Edward White, Local 1995 Vancouver
Nominated for secretary-treasurer:
• Steve Borho - Local 1719 Cranbrook
• Pat Haggarty – Local 1928 New Westminster
Nominated and elected by acclamation
for regional construction vice presidents:
• Ron Kneller – Central, B.C.
• Tony Heisterkamp – Thompson Okanagan
• Ken Lippett – North-West B.C.
• Paul Nedelec – Kootenays
Nominated for three regional
construction vice president positions:
• Bill Holliday – Lower Mainland
• Lucio Sernaggia – Lower Mainland
• Randy Smith – Lower Mainland
• Apolo Suarez – Lower Mainland
Nominated for regional constructioon
Vancouver Island vice president:
• Phil Cockayne – Local 470
• Fred Kuhn – Local 470
Nominated for female vice president:
• Karen Anderson – 1998 Prince George
• Noreen Hall – 1995 Vancouver
CMAW convention election results
Nominated for lather vice president and
elected by acclamation
• Randy Freeman – 1995 Vancouver-New
Westminster
Convention delegates
• CEP vice president: Mike Fenton
• CEP local 470 vice president:
Angelo Marchetto
Nominated for two industrial vice
presidents and elected by acclamation:
• John Colbourne – Local 2511 Penticton
• Don Pengilly – Local 1928 New Westminster
Nominated for Marine & ShipBuilders
vice president
• Bob Eaton
Nominated and elected by acclamation
for school board vice president:
• Sandra Backer – Local 2545 Quesnel
Nominated and elected by acclamation
for three CMAW trustees
• Massimo Bergamo – Local 1995 Vancouver
• Colin Cusworth – Local 1346 Vernon-Kamloops
• Allan Hughes – Local 506 Shipbuilders
• Mike Lang – Local 513 Port Alberni
• Mitch Nowak – Local 1995 Vancouver
• Bill White – Local 1995 Vancouver
Nominated for first vice president
• Ken Lippett – Local 1735 Prince Rupert
• Bob Eaton – Local 506 Shipbuilders
The ballot committee
Female vice president Karen
Anderson (centre)
CMAW office staff
Isabel Esteves (left)
and Robbi Bowden.
The ladies made
conference and election
arrangements. This was
Isabel’s 27th and Robbi’s
42nd convention!

Putting fairness back into Canada’s tax system
by Marc Lee/CCPA/CALM
Earler this year, Warren Buffett, one of
the richest people on the planet, remarked
that his secretary, who makes a lot less
money than her boss, actually pays a higher
rate of tax. Buffett went so far as to call on
the U.S. congress to stop giving major tax
breaks to rich people like him.
It would be easy to dismiss this as just
another example of the follies of the Bush
administration. But a closer look at tax rates
in Canada reveals a strikingly similar story.
Calculating the overall tax bill means
looking at all the different kinds of income
Canadians bring in (what we earn from
our jobs, inheritances, employer-provided
benefits, the stock market and other investments),
as well as all the different taxes that
get paid (including income, sales, payroll,
property and corporate taxes).
In 1990, Canada’s overall tax system
was more progressive, meaning families
with higher income contributed relatively
more through higher tax rates, to help pay
for the things that benefit all of us: health
care, education, roads, buses and subways.
Truth be told, things flattened out from
the middle of the income distribution to the
top—families at the top paid about the same
share of their income in taxes as families in
the middle.
But by 2005, the system had become
far less progressive at the bottom of the distribution,
and at the very top it became regressive.
Staggeringly, the top one per cent
pay total tax rates as much as six percentage
points lower than families in the middle.
As a number of studies have found, the
richest one per cent of Canadians are getting
the lion’s share of market income gains
from a decade of remarkable economic
growth. Yet, astonishingly, the richest one
per cent of families also now pay a lower
tax rate than the poorest 10 per cent.
A key reason why the most affluent
Canadians are getting off the hook so easily
is that more of their income tends to come
from sources that are not taxed at all (such
as inheritances) or only lightly taxed (such
as the capital gain from selling stocks).
Historically, income taxes have been
an important tool for making sure those at
the top pay a fair share, due to brackets that
tax income at progressively higher rates.
But Canadian politicians’ mania for
tax cuts is a big part of the problem. Rather
than leaning against greater inequality, the
tax system is now reinforcing the growing
10
gap between the rich and the rest of us.
Tax cuts have been unleashed into the
system at exactly the time when pre-tax
incomes surged for the richest 10 per cent
of Canadian families.
It’s a question of fairness. Most tax
cuts have been aimed at income taxes, the
progressive part of the overall tax system.
Cutting income taxes reduces the progressive
nature of the tax system, unless tax
cuts are deliberately targeted to those with
low and modest incomes—and they have
not been.
Moves to a flat income tax, as
advanced by right-wing commentators,
would inevitably lead to a system that is
fully regressive when all taxes are considered.
Low-income families would pay
higher total tax rates than families further
up the income ladder.
That would be wholly unfair, and
completely unsustainable. So what do we
do?
First, we should acknowledge that
there is scope for raising income taxes at
the top of Canada’s income distribution,
so that our tax system once again passes
the test of fairness. Canada is nowhere
close to hitting tax rates that would have
adverse economic consequences.
Second, Canada’s preferential treatment
of capital gains is unwarranted, and
they should be taxed fully as any other
form of income. As Bay Street accountant
Kenneth Carter
commented
after holding a
Royal Commission
on taxation
in the late
1960s, “a buck
is a buck is a
buck.”
These
basic measures
would go a long
way towards restoring
fairness
to Canada’s tax system. They would also
address growing income inequalities.
Don’t just take my word for it—listen
to one of the world’s wealthiest men.
His warning is well worth heeding, no
matter which side of the border you live on.
• Marc Lee is a senior economist with the B.C.
office of the CCPA and chair of the Progressive
Economics Forum.
A Christmas story
. . . continued from page 4
The ruts were termed dangerous by the Enviro Canada
And people had started to call for the cops
When they heard sled noises on their rooftops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his
workers quite frightened.
His fur trimmed red suit was called
“Unenlightened.”
And to show you the strangeness of life’s ebbs
and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose
And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,
Demanding millions in over-due
compensation.
So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,
Who suddenly said she’d enough of this life,
Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,
Demanding from now on her title was Ms.
And as for the gifts, why, he’d never had a notion
That making a choice could cause such commotion
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,
Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.
Nothing that might be construed to pollute.
Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot.
Nothing that clamoured or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls, or just for the boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.
Nothing that’s warlike or non-pacifistic.
No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.
And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,
Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.
For they raised the hackles of those psychological
Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.
No baseball, no football...someone could get hurt;
Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe;
And Nintendo would rot your entire brain
away. So Santa just stood there, disheveled,
perplexed; He just could not figure out what to
do next.
He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,
But you’ve got to be careful with that word
today. His sack was quite empty, limp to the
ground; Nothing fully acceptable was to be
found. Something special was needed, a gift
he might Give to all without angering the left
or the right. A gift that would satisfy, with no
indecision, Each group of people, every religion;
Every ethnicity, every hue,
Everyone, everywhere...even you.
So here is that gift, it’s price beyond worth
May you and your loved ones, enjoy peace on
Earth.

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Virtual strike, virtual world, real dispute
CAW/CALM
Members of the Italian union Rappresentenza Sindacale Unitaria (RSU) along with the
Union Network International (UNI) have made history by staging the world’s first virtual
strike in the online world of Second Life.
RSU members (in the real world) have been locked in a bitter contract dispute with
IBM for months. Workers have refused to accept a wage concession proposal and decided
to take their fight to the streets of Second Life (a virtual cyber-world).
Second Life is a large, sophisticated computer software program that provides users
a virtual 3D landscape to create an alternative world, much like our own. Participants can
buy virtual land upon which they can construct virtual buildings that they can furnish with
virtual sofas and chairs.
The Second Life homepage has a complete list of economic statistics that deals with
everything from currency exchange rates to population demographics.
With more than 9.5 million “residents” in this virtual world, a number of multi-national
corporations (including IBM and HP) are investing tens of millions of dollars to scoop up
virtual market share, tapping into this vast consumer marketplace.
“There is definitely a growing market for companies looking to sell their virtual goods
and services online”, says Second Life resident and CAW online correspondent Dexter
Teichmann (a pseudonym). “An online strike could definitely have real world consequences
on a company’s bottom line. This is much more than just a video game.”
UNI has sent a call to its international networks, encouraging activists to take part in
this initiative, which could spur a new form of activism. After setting up an online character
(or avatar), participants are asked to attend UNI’s virtual headquarters on Commonwealth
Island (a virtual island) to receive their strike resource kit.
www.uniglobalunion.org/SecondLife
This newsletter is published quarterly for the 5,750 members of the
Construction, Maintenance & Allied Workers Bargaining Council.
President: Jan Noster
Secretary -Treasurer: Pat Haggarty
Construction Maintenance & Allied Workers Bargaining Council
Address: 305 – 2806 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC V5R 5T5
Telephone: 604 - 437-0471
Fax: 604 - 437-1110
Newsletter editor: Marian Zadra Email: cmawnewsletter@shaw.ca