IUOE News Winter 2013

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Feature Article Unions Across Canada A brief history of who we are the law that would minimize strikes, lockouts, and other work stoppages, and help establish productive and healthy workplaces. This is often referred to as the ‘post-war compromise’ between employers and workers. During the late 1940s and 1950s, workers in Canada’s steel, automotive, mining, forest products, freight transportation, and construction industries joined unions in record numbers. Two decades later, the federal and provincial governments adopted legislation that gave public sector workers the right to join unions. Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s federal, provincial, and municipal government employees, public school teachers, nurses and other health care workers, university and college professors, police officers, fire fighters, and social services workers began to form unions. The proportion of workers unionized in Canada grew rapidly during this time, and reached a peak in the early 1980s. What types of Unions exist in Canada? Today, three main types of unions exist in Canada. The first group represents workers employed in the private sector (businesses that provide goods and services for a profit). Some of the biggest private sector unions in Canada include the United Steelworkers (USW), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and UNIFOR, a new union formed by a merger of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP). These unions negotiate collective agreements in individual workplaces, although in many cases they work hard to ensure that wages and working conditions are similar across specific industries. The members of these unions carry out a wide variety of jobs and have an even wider variety of skills. The second group of unions represents workers employed in the public sector (government workers or workers employed by organizations that rely on government funding). Unlike the private sector, work in the public sector is geared towards providing important services for the public good, like schools, hospitals, and power plants. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) are two of the largest public sector unions in Canada. These unions often represent specific professions, like teachers, nurses, police officers, and fire fighters, or they may represent groups of workers employed by a specific branch of “Unions can be helpful in accessing work and training, ensuring that workers receive fair wages and benefits, and providing a voice for working peoples.” the government (like Revenue Canada or provincial Ministries of Transportation). Because funding for their employers comes primarily from taxes, and the services they provide are so important to the public, their relationships with their employers often make the news. These unions negotiate contracts directly with employers (e.g. school boards), but also play an important role in protecting and improving public services more broadly. The third group represents workers in a specific trade or occupation. They are often referred to as building and construction trade unions, and include electricians, elevator technicians, plumbers and pipefitters, and heavy equipment operators (such as the IUOE). The members of these unions are often found working on large construction projects, such as highways, airports, mines, and factories. They also perform maintenance and repair work on large buildings and important infrastructure. However, there are also several trade unions that represent workers outside of the construction industry, such as the actors’, musicians’, and screen writers’ associations. In addition to negotiating on behalf of their members, trade unions play an instrumental role in training workers (often through apprenticeships), ensuring that their members’ skills are up-to-date, and in working with employers to ensure that there are job opportunities for their members. Joining or becoming involved with a union is an important decision for young workers. Unions can be helpful in accessing work and training, ensuring workers receive fair wages and benefits, and providing a voice for working peoples. Many unions, particularly those working in northern resource and infrastructure projects, have also begun to develop relationships with local Aboriginal groups to help improve employment and training prospects and minimize the impact of development. For example, at one mine in Labrador, the union and employer negotiated clauses that made Inuit and Innu dialects official languages in the workplace and established National Aboriginal Day as a paid holiday. So don’t be afraid to ask questions or discuss these issues with co-workers and union representatives if given the opportunity. There are millions of Canadians who are happy that they did. 28 News December 2013
Accreditation proves your Training Centre is the best in B.C. Brad Randall, Training Administrator Hello again to all our members. Training Programs 2013 was another fantastic year for Operating Engineers. Currently we have over 480 apprentices and trainees, and are looking forward to another very busy year at our training site. Starting in January we will be providing our regular Plant Operator, Grader Operator, Asphalt Laydown Technician, Level 2 Mobile Crane, and our 12-week Heavy Equipment Operator course. We also have several grades and stakes courses planned for Prince George and Terrace, and will continue to provide on-the-job training for our members and contractors whenever it is needed. As you may have read and heard, the amount of trade work in the province continues to grow at a rapid rate. Not only have projects in the Greater Vancouver region put pressure on the supply of skilled crane operators, but large inland and northern B.C. projects will create even more demand for what is now a scarce and valued skill. Our training center simply cannot keep up with the demand for crane operators across the province. In fact, the IUOE Local 115 in the past have typically had around 50 to 60 crane Training Association apprentices on various jobs across B.C. at any one point in time—today, we have over 90 apprentices working full-time, with still more needed. To address this problem and ensure we continue to deliver quality training to all our students, the Local 115 Training Association has recently hired Mark McGregor as a full time Mobile Crane Instructor. Mark brings with him decades of crane operating and instructing experience, and has been a member of the Operating Engineers for over 30 years. Welcome to the team Mark, and we look forward to many successes for you and your students as part of the Local 115 Training Association. Our current instructor, Brother Rick Anderson, has also been off work due to an illness. We wish Rick well for a speedy recovery and look forward to his return to work. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Brother Gordon Lindberg for stepping in and instructing our Mobile Crane class while Rick has been off. Course Accreditation We are proud to say that the IUOE Local 115 Training Association’s (OETA) training center in Maple Ridge has, over many years, firmly established itself as the best heavy equipment training center in B.C. We are not the only ones who believe this; for the last five years the OETA has met the highest educational standards set by the Private Career Training Institutions Agency (PCTIA). Established in 2004, the PCTIA sets educational standards for registered private career training institutions in B.C. Any institution offering a career training program with tuition fees of $1,000 or more and lasting at least 40 hours in duration is required by law to register and adhere to their strict educa- A delegation of Training Directors from the Building Trades recently met with Minister of Advanced Education, Amrik Virk, to discuss improving the province’s training opportunities. Seen L-R are Dean Homewood, Derek Dinzey, Minister Amrik Virk, BCBT Executive Director Tom Sigurdson, OETA Administrator Brad Randall, Jim Paquette, and Andy Cleven. Brother Dean Bertlin being presented with his Mobile Crane Operator – Lattice Boom Friction BC Certificate of Qualification with Interprovincial Red Seal Endorsement by Brothers Brad Randall (Administrator) and Frank Carr (Members Representative). Dean served his apprenticeship with Fraser River Pile & Dredge. News December 2013 29
Page 1 and 2: News Operators look forward to a po
Page 3 and 4: There is much we can celebrate, and
Page 5 and 6: The “new kid on the block” is a
Page 7 and 8: Ups and downs in 2013, but a promis
Page 9 and 10: Work opportunities across B.C. cont
Page 11 and 12: It’s been a good year for us. Ste
Page 13 and 14: A successful year past, a busy one
Page 15 and 16: Operating Engineers have done thems
Page 17 and 18: Feature Article Right to Work Doing
Page 19 and 20: District Two continue to shift in t
Page 21 and 22: Everyone has had their fair share o
Page 23 and 24: 2013 has set the stage for large pr
Page 25 and 26: We should never stop appreciating o
Page 27 and 28: Benefits Plan Pharmacy Dispensing F
Page 29: Feature Article based on the law, t
Page 33 and 34: Training Association Making up our
Page 35 and 36: Member Profile Union Brothers - Lit
Page 37 and 38: “I bought this small property in
Page 39 and 40: Member Recognition Honouring our me
Page 41 and 42: Member Recognition Welcome to 285 n
Page 43 and 44: Contact Details Local 115 District

IUOE News Winter 2013

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