Well, here we are, finally up and running with our new web page. We hope you like it. We had it designed to be clean, and easy to navigate. and hope you find you way through all the information we hope to put on these pages. You will note that we now have links to both Teamsters Canada and the International web sites, and suggest you check them out at your leisure.
During the week of March 22nd, the International Teamster’s Women Caucus hosted the 2002 International Women’s Conference in Chicago. Michelle Henderson, a flight attendant for Air Canada Regional, and a long time member of Local 362, attended the Conference, along with Brothers Finley and Eichel. Following is Sister Henderson’s report on that Conference: I was fortunate enough to attend as a representative for Local 362. The agenda for the conference was built around the premise of "Teamster Women Working, Helping, Educating, and Achieving Together" There was a choice of eight workshops from which each participant selected three to attend. As knowledgeable speakers hosted each workshop, it was disappointing that each participant could register for a maximum of three workshops. Some workshops dealt with issue that we face in the workplaces, such as Workplace Violence, Issues of Diversity, and Member to Member Conflict. Other workshops such as Building Union Power, and Teamster Women Building Strength through Organizing, centered on Teamster Women and their participation within the Union.
The highlight of the Conference took place on March 22nd, as close to 1,000 Teamsters gathered to witness the inauguration of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Executive Board. Brother James P. Hoffa, General President and Brother Thomas Keegel, General Secretary-Treasurer addressed the assembly. To hear these two strong speakers talk about their vision of Unity, Pride and Strength was awe-inspiring to say the least.
The experience of attending the 2002 International Women’s Conference is one that I will remember for a long time to come. I am proud to be a Teamsters, and prouder still to be a Teamster Woman!
Thanks to Michelle for her report and for her willingness to take part in the Conference. She did a great job of representing this Local.
We would like to welcome our new Brothers and Sisters, employed at Universal Reel and Recycle. These members became part of the Local Union by way of a voluntary recognition rather than an organizing drive. They are employed in the Crowsnest Pass area of south western Alberta/south eastern BC, and Brother Wallace will be the Business Agent representing them. Their first collective agreement is signed and runs through December 31/04..
Several Collective agreement are open for negotiation at this time, keeping our Business Agents busy all across the province. BURNCO Rock Products – Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks and Edmonton are all open, as well as Northern Industrial Carrier Owner Operators, Wackenhut of Canada, Medicine Hat, Premay and PeBen along with nine other heavy haul carriers are currently in negotiation for new contracts. Lafarge and Inland mixers and pipe plants in Calgary are close to securing new agreements. Grimshaw will be voting their memorandum of settlement shortly. Byers Clerical agreement has been signed and runs to DTL Strathcona have a new agreement which expires in Dec 2004. Canadian Freightways contract was signed and returned to our office in early March and will be in effect until December 31/04. The books were distributed by the Company to the employees. Gray Line of Banff (Laidlaw Buses) have a signed agreement through to February 28/04. A meeting was held with the membership in Banff to discuss implementation of the Dispatch Rules. Lafarge and Inland mixer drivers’ agreements were ratified and signed and run into the spring of 2004. Clarke Transport, Calgary and Edmonton, have new agreements in effect until December 31/04. Inland Pipe Plant in Calgary, and mixer drivers in Camrose both have new agreements excpiring in early 2004. Consolidated Fastfrate signed a five year agreement, which will expire in 2006. Besides these agreements which are comleted, there are approximately 24 others which are currently in some step of the negotiation process. The boys have been busy, and it certainly doesn't look like there is any rest in sight for them.
The dues office in Calgary recently went on a new computer system, put out by the International Union. That will account for any delays which you may have experienced this Spring, in receiving replies or receipts from our Calgary office. The training took place early in April, but I am sure you can appreciate it will take a little while of actual use to get back to feeling comfortable with it. The girls are doing a great job and working hard to catch up the backlog that occurred during the training period. It is amazing how much piles up over just one week.
The summer was of course a little slower, with members and Union Reps taking their vacations with their families, but September is here and we will be in full swing now. Agreements which will be open for negotiation over the next few months include - Ft. McKay Trucking, Inland Concrete Edmonton and Leduc, Lafarge Edmonton (ACP) and Ft. Saskatchewan, MacCosham Cartage, MacCosham Commissioned Operators, NIC Company Drivers, Town of Millet, Wood Wyant, Peace Wapiti School Division, Matthews Equipment, DTL Industrial, Grimshaw Trucking Clerical Agreement. Employees of these companies, watch your bulletin boards for notices of proposal meetings. As you can see, the Business Agents have a busy Fall season ahead of them. We still have all the Heavy Haul agreements open. Brother Bennett will be working with those employers to attempt to get a new Master Agreement in place for those members.
Brothers Finley, Eichel, Wallace, Bennett and Krawchenko are currently attending the Alberta Building Trades Council Convention in Canmore, AB. Our Local Union takes an active part in the Building Trades Council, and work very hard through the Council on behalf of our members who are employed in the construction sector.
We have recently had some pipeline work in the Cremona, WaterValley area, as well as further south around Pincher Creek, which has kept Brother Bennett on the road, and busy for the past few months. Construction members are still kept busy in the Fort MacMurray area.
The Motion Picture Division has had a great summer. We have been looking for drivers and wranglers to fill our dispatches. Several westerns were produced in the Calgary and Southern Alberta region - Open Range, Monte Walsh, Dreamkeeper, and Shanghai Knight were all filmed over the summer. As well, Mentors, a TV series has returned to the Edmonton area for the fourth season, and Tom Stone, also a TV series is filming year two in Calgary. Two new productions are getting set to shoot in Alberta - The Incredible Mrs Ritchie and X-Men will keep our movie members busy through the fall and hopefully into winter.
That is about it for now. We have made a comittment to keep this page updated at least once per month, now that we have our new format, which is much easier to manage. Be sure to check out the section on our truck, and watch for it at charitable functions across the province. We will also have interesting articles on members activities during the course of the year Please note that we have links to our Calgary and Edmonton office e-mail in the "How to Contact Us" pages. Please take a moment and let us know what you think about the site, and what you would like to see more of, or less of, in future updates. We appreciate your comments, as this site is designed to keep you, the members, informed as to what is happening in your Local.