WORKING TOGEATHER IS KEY TO FUTURE SUCCESS

Since this is my first article in the OshaWorker I would again like to thank the membership for their support and overwhelmingly electing me as your new chairperson at Armada Tool Works. I will do my very best to represent every single member without prejudice.

Let me first start out by reminding each and every one of you that you are the union and you have a voice. The union doesn’t just consist of a chairperson, 2committee people, and 6 shop stewards. We are all in this together and we areall members of local 222 unit 34 at Armada Tool Works in Lindsay On. The more people that understand this the better off and stronger we will be as a union.We must stick together and fight management on important issues. On a side note the arguing amongst brothers and sisters must stop. I know brothers and sisters do fight but as I am your leader I am asking you to stop the bickering amongst each other and save it for management.

So far the company has showed signs that they would like to work with us and not against us. While throwing us a barbecue in recognition of our hard work and then mandating Saturday overtime it shows unfortunately that we are not totally on the same page. But I assure you they are trying and I believe there could be some more positive changes down the road. The company says the mandated overtime was necessary due to increased customer demand. As I write this we are being mandated for our 5th Saturday after management assured us it would only be for 3 weeks.

The management has decided that they could create new positions in plastics called production assistants which would replace the line leader position. This job would not be a posted position according to management. This means that they would be able to pick and choose whom every they wish without any regard for the job posting procedure or seniority. In the committees view this is a clear and direct violation of article 12 of our collective agreement. I have evidence of past arbitration cases that are similar to ours that management was wrong by not posting the jobs and the arbitrator awarded the decision to the union. We have filed a policy grievance on this issue but I urge all employees with seniority to file a personnel individual grievance as well if you feel you have been passed up for this position.

In the mean time we must ensure that we all continue to follow all orders of management regardless of whether we agree with them or not. The only time we can refuse a direct order is when it clearly endangers ones self or someone else. Keep this in mind before you tell your supervisor NO! I will not do this or that. The only thing we can legally refuse is unsafe work. If it is aviolation of the collective agreement do it first and contact your steward to file a grievance after.

In Solidarity

Tom Worsley