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| Steel Gauntlet November 2009 | |
| The Steel Gauntlet, November 2009 Edition is available for download, This can be printed on 11" x 8 1/2" paper. Steel_Gauntlet_November_2009.pdf  USW 6166 Local President, Murray Nychyporuk and Raise Bore Driller, Brent Flood.
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President's Report
You will notice when reading this edition of the Gauntlet it has increased in content. The Gauntlet Committee held a meeting a few weeks ago and decided changes had to be made. These changes include bringing more Union culture to the publication and more articles pertaining to everyday issues both on the Floor and at the Union Hall. Our Labour Day event was a huge success. For the first time we had a live band. This year's festivity included supporting our Sisters and Brothers, who are still locked in a labour dispute in Sudbury and Port Colborne, ON as well as Voisey's Bay, NL. "Kicking A## for the Working Class" Steelworker T-Shirts were handed out to the general public for a donation to assist with their Strike.
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ASK A STEWARD
What is a Grievance? A Grievance is where one party's action or lack of action caused a violation of the rights of an individual or group, as provided in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, a law or other established practice. The key words here are: "A violation of."
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Divisional Health and Safety Report
There have been a few major incidents in the last couple of months. Many of these could have easily been fatalities. My main concern (other than the actual incident) is some management representatives do not recognize the seriousness of these incidents or choose to downplay them. A quote from a supervisor after a recent serious incident was that if I make this an "A", then we will have a bunch of people here investigating. If an incident is not investigated properly, the root cause(s) cannot be identified and a re-occurrence is almost certain. | |
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Union Activist
Jonathon Bailey
A.K.A “Solo”
International rally in Sudbury on September 19, 2009, for our brothers and sisters who are on strike. Jack and Solo are talking about the political direction of the NDP. Growing up in Jamaica, Jon’s first job was working for the Fuller Brush Company. This was Jon’s introduction to a Unionized workforce. In 1974, at the tender age of 25, a young Jonathon Bailey stepped onto a flight from Kingston, Jamaica to Toronto, Ontario. As a young boy growing up in Jamaica, he had always dreamed of traveling the world and Canada was his first stop. A young Jon arrived in Canada and after going through immigration, walked outside the Toronto Airport and hailed a cab. Jon got in the cab and the driver asked him what address he was going to, Jon pulled out his book and said “Please take me to #8-157 Nickel Road, Thompson, Manitoba. The cab driver broke out laughing and told Jon Thompson, was over 2,000 miles away and it would be a lot cheaper to take a plane. Jon flew to Winnipeg and on to Thompson. When he first arrived in Thompson, he was shocked by the culture. Jon was amazed that women wore cowboy boots and everyone spoke English. After being in Thompson for 2 weeks, Jon was hired on at Inco Limited. His first day of work at Inco was washing the floor and chipping the stairs in the Refinery. One day, Jon’s boss approached him and reprimanded him for not following a proper operating procedure. Later that same day, Jon was in the Copper Building and witnessed the same Supervisor committing an unsafe act. Jon asked himself, “How can I let this Supervisor know what he was doing was wrong?” That is when Jonathon Bailey joined the Refinery Health & Safety Committee. Now, 35 years later, Jonathon is still in the Refinery and is a Carbonate Operator in Purification. Jon is contemplating retirement soon and he hopes his time spent on Safety and Health has made a difference. We, of course, wish Jon every success! cl/cope 342
Our Retirees! What Are They Doing Now? Dave Bedford A.K.A. "Bugsy" Born: St. Catherines, ON Dave started with Inco Limited in 1975 in Operations, but was hired originally for maintenance and spent his first 2 months in the Mill as a Conveyor Man. He then spent 3 months in the Smelter as a Smelter Converter Helper and from there went into the Apprenticeship program for Millwright. While he was in the Apprenticeship he worked at Pipe Lake, T-3 Mine, Birchtree Mine, Smelter, Refinery, Utilities and T-1 Mine. After he finished his Apprenticeship, he worked at T-1 Mine for 14 years. From there, Dave went to the Construction Crew for 2 years until it was disbanded. He finished his career in different Millwright capacities in Central Shops. Dave retired from Inco Limited in January 2006 and is currently employed with Calm Air International in Thompson. cl/cope 342
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"Tag Out" unsafe equipment!
T-1 Mine The conversation around operating unsafe equipment really ticks me off! I hear concerns, complaints and beefs about equipment not being repaired, fixed or replaced and of course, "the Supervisor told me to operate it anyway!". I would hope if your car did not have brakes, your horn did not work, an extension cord was cracked or your 2 year old was not wearing a life jacket in the boat, you would have the mind set to make ONLY 1 decision. If the situation could not be corrected immediately, you would not operate or perform the task. So, why would you put yourself or anyone else in harms way and do it at work? | |
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Stop the BS
During the Shutdown this summer, I had the privilege of attending the USW International Health and Safety Conference in Houston, Texas. It was a huge conference and big name guest speakers spoke daily. Many hot topics and contentious issues were discussed. It was a truly humbling experience and it put into perspective the struggles every workplace has when addressing health and safety. Rather than bore you with the details of my trip, I thought I would write about one issue that stood out in my mind. That issue is Behavioural Safety (BS for short). | |
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Contracting Out Report
It has been well over a month since being appointed to the role of the Contracting Out Coordinator. When I talked to Murray about training for the role, he basically stated for the next little while, the COC was under construction. (Sorry! No contractors needed here.) | |
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A Little Safety Story
It is Monday, October 12th at 5:11am and I sit here in # 2 Furnace Skim Shack. I look up and I notice slag splashing over the side of the Skim chute. I leave the shack, put on my Personal Protective Equipment and proceed to adjust the Rosebud until the slag stops spilling over the side. I then remove my P.P.E. and sit down in the old wooden shack. | |
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For More Stories
Download The November Edition of the Steel Gauntlet Here in PDF Printable Format
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