seven-o-seven seven-o-seven REPORTER - CAW Local 707

I hope everybody had a fantastic summer – clear skies, little
rain, and plenty of sunshine.
Life at Voith has not been without some surprises. For example,
it does not seem to be able to keep its supervisors. Voith
has gone through three supervisors in the month of July alone.
What does this say about management? Something is very, very
wrong. It behoves one to think we are entering into contract
negotiations with this sort
of uncertainty. Where is the
stability that is very much
required to get a fair and just
agreement? Your guess is as
good as mine!
We, the union committee,
are having a terrible time
with Voith management in
Cincinnati. It is becoming
more and more involved in
the day to day operations in
Canada. The only problem is it does not understand Canadian
laws. What may be legal in the U.S. does not automatically
translate as law in Canada. Nice try Voith Cincinnati! It does
not agree with our COLA calculations, so they have been held
up since the start of July. It is the feeling of the committee that
this is a ploy being played out by Voith to set the tone of negotiations.
We are still in a ridiculous discussion regarding our
accrued vacation pay due this year. It does not want to pay it
out in full because it may lose money. How can that be the case
when both sides have known what is due for the year? How is
it possible to pay more? Another ploy of Voith Cincinnati is to
upset the membership. It should be noted that management in
Canada agreed to pay the full vacation suggesting that it is not
really running the show.
Our Bargaining Committee in Oakville has met with our
Windsor Bargaining Committee along with the National Representatives
to iron out master proposals and side issues for each
location. Both Windsor and Oakville are on the same page regarding
the issues with good solid ideas from both sides. We
will have another meeting in September to clean up any “surprise”
issues.
Local 707 – Unit 2 (Voith) membership will hold a strike
vote on September 18th after the Local 707 general membership
meeting. At this meeting we will elect a committeeperson
to replace Gabe who is ill in the hospital and not expected back
Page 12 – July – September 2011
Voith Plant Chairperson’s Report
By Edward Gopsill
Negotiations
Your input is critical as you
cannot go running around complaining
after negotiations have been concluded
that the Bargaining Committee
did not do its job.
at work any time soon. We wish it
could be otherwise, but the prognosis
for him does not look good right
now. We send him our prayers for a
speedy and complete recover. A strike date vote will also be
held and we will discuss the proposals we intend to offer Voith.
The attendance of all Voith members is imperative. Your input
is critical as you cannot go
running around complaining
after negotiations have been
concluded that the Bargaining
Committee did not
do its job. Consensus by the
membership is very much
necessitated as we must
stand together to get the desired
agreement that is fair
to the membership.
In Solidarity,
Edward Gopsill
Plant Chair/ Unit 2 – Voith Industrial Services Inc.
CAW Local 707