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| Steel Gauntlet March 2010 |
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The Steel Gauntlet, March 2010 Edition is available for download,
This can be printed on 8 1/2" x 11" paper.
Just click on link below
Steel Gauntlet March 2010
Murray Nychyporuk, President, presenting Ron Brown with the USW Local 6166 Merit Award
at the annual Activist Banquet on Friday March 12th at the Juniper Center.
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President's Report
By Murray Nychyporuk, President
Greetings Brothers and Sisters,
It seems as though Spring may have arrived early this year! I urge all members to play it safe when dealing with outside hobbies and chores. First up, is the contentious issue of the Staff Performance Bonus. This bonus is derived from compliance, production and safety initiative and is paid on a percentage of annual income. How does the Staff Bonus affect our members you might ask? Well, basically, it left our Membership pissed off, frustrated and upset because Vale Inco is paying a bonus after reporting a $36 Million loss in the 4th Quarter. Many of our members feel they have been cheated out of their Nickel Bonus payments and quite frankly - I don’t blame them. Management has never tried to explain the business case of the non entitlement of Bonus. Instead, they have left the Membership speculating why it has not been paid.
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Divisional Health, Safety & Environment Report
Who Holds the Employer Accountable?
By Murray Pappin, Chair, Health, Safety & Environment
There have been many examples of a worker being held accountable when failing to follow safety procedures and it is dealt with by the employers, through the discipline system. They state, this is a tool to change behaviours. Let’s say I agree with that. (For the record, I do not!).
There has also been many examples of where an employer has failed to provide a safe and healthy workplace. They usually say to an injured worker "You should have assessed the risk!". This does not change the unsafe condition, it only forces workers to figure out how to work "unsafely" safely. Behaviour based safety is only an excuse for an employer not to provide the proper tools, equipment and training necessary for the worker to work safely. So, who holds the employer accountable?
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Conflict Resolution Coordinator Report
Only in the land of OZ
By Scott Clements, Conflict Resolution Coordinator
The land of OZ is very funny place. Where the streets are paved with gold and nobody ever grows old. Oh, yeah! Nickel Bonus actually pays when it is supposed to there. Now, we know there is no nickel bonus in Oz or at least I haven’t heard of one, but if there was a bonus, I’m sure the Wizard would pay it.
Unfortunately, for us, we don’t live in OZ and we do have a nickel bonus that has not paid a dime since we signed the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Isn’t that convenient! We don’t lose a dime up to that point and told nickel bonus will go unchanged... we know the rest of the story...... NO BONUS FOR YOU!!! I do not know about everyone else, but I find it difficult to understand.
We all know about the global market meltdown. We watched it on CNN. We’ve seen it on our Sun Life statements and we all took a hit on our investments. Let’s be honest, we all know the feeling when we are seemingly being taken advantage of. We have that feeling right now.
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Joint Problem Solving Coordinator Report
Getting hurt at work and at home
By Dan Dnistransky
Getting hurt at work or at home is something no employee wants to have happen. When this does happen, it is not just the employee who is affected. It also affects their spouse, children and the company they work for.
There are a few different scenarios that could happen. Let’s start with getting hurt on the job. As an example, an employee hurts his hand while working. He should report it to his supervisor and get treated at First Aid. If it is serious enough to warrant a hospital visit, the company will supply transportation to the hospital to get the injury looked after. It is the responsibility of the employee to get a FAF (Functional Abilities Form) filled out by a doctor, if there are any restrictions...
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Ask a Steward
"Deemed Qualified"
By Scott Clements, Conflict Resolution Coordinator
The above term is one of the most misunderstood clauses in our current C.B.A., not only because of how it is used, but how it is being applied by the company. The current C.B.A defines the term "Deemed Qualified" as;
"The employee is considered to have the ability, knowledge and the skill to fill the normal requirements of the job, subject to him successfully completing the training to obtain such ability, knowledge and skill."
The company contends the term "Deemed Qualified" will only be applied when a Training Bid has both an "awarded" senior applicant and an "assigned" senior applicant or new hire. (AND THAT’S IT!!!!!)
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Our Retirees! What Are They Doing Now?
Where are they now?
Richard, Zack Whiteway was born in Pembroke, Ontario. He started with Inco Ltd. on September 22nd, 1975. Zack worked as a Labourer in the Smelter before moving to the furnaces as: Dragman, Pumpman and Matteman. In the early eighties, Zack bid on a furnace helper job, but was denied the posting. Zack immediately called upon his Union and Fred McGee successfully obtained him the posting. Zack’s was placed on the "Mike Werbiski" Shift, which evolved into "C-Shift".
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When Is A Policy Unfair And Unreasonable? Part 2
By Dave McBride
The Manitoba Division is certainly lacking consistency on this issue. On one hand we are told it's the law to be clean shaven, on the other hand, the Environment and Health Department is issuing Memos making exception to the rules, thus confirming the intent of the regulations. We have had employees allowed to grow full beards in the short term for religious reasons and were told that was okay, as long as he wore a Racal in the workplace. We were told it was okay for visitors to the Mine to retain their facial hair as long as they didn’t perform any work and wore a Racal, even though they were standing in the same environment as the Vale Inco employees, etc.
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Contracting Out Report
The Attrition Effect
By Paul Bentley, Contract Out Chair
Sounds like a movie title! I can only wish it was! At least, then, we might stand a chance at a happy ending. We have all heard talk of this word…but do we truly understand it? I will attempt to shed some light on the value of "Attrition" and its impact on collective agreements.
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Safety Share
By Doug Korman, WSR, T-1 Mine
Water, pot holes and changing lanes. Be aware of your surroundings and don't take for granted things are what they seem.
Are things getting better or worse? The other day, I had a conversation with a worker who is pissed about the Company and rightfully so. The conversation was about where we were yester year and where we are headed. We talked about the "Ole' Mother Inco," which we are far from. How things used to be. How it was fun coming to work. I can honestly say if I didn't have the time invested "25+ years", I would be gone in a heart beat.
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USW 6166 Activist
Ted Sentner
Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Ted was 8 years old when his father got a job in Sudbury, Ontario, working for Inco Limited. Ted received his education at Pine Crest Elementary School in the Valley and Federation High school, just outside of Sudbury.
In 1976, at the tender age of 18, Ted Sentner was hired at the Froud Mine for Inco Ltd, Sudbury. During the next few years, Ted was laid off a couple of times and had earned only 3.4 years of service in 6 years.
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