e In late October I.W.A. CANADA National Union President Dave Haggard joined others in celebrating the official opening of Local 306’s new office.

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Union opens organizing office in New Brunswick

he Industrial, Wood and
Allied Workers of Canada
held an official opening of
its new office in the city of
Miramichi, New
Brunswick on October 30. Present
were the union’s national president
Dave Haggard, national fifth vice
resident Wilt McIntyre, national
ourth vice president Norman
Rivard, local union president Terry
Vickery, local union board member
Pat Hogan, local union members and
Bob Navarretta, national director of
arbitration services.

Also present was Miramichi
deputy mayor Frankie Trevor,
Miramichi and District Labour
Council president Danny King,
regional CLC representative
Bertrand Begin, federal NDP provin-
cial member of parliament Debby
McGraw and others.

Brother Haggard and Mr. Trevor
cut the official ribbon.

Haggard, said the office is a sign of
the commitment that the I.W.A. has
given to the Miramichi and the work-
ing people of the province.

Mr. Trevor spoke highly of the
union setting up the office and
wished the I.W.A. luck in the future.

“We, as a national organization,
are very pleased to establish an ongo-
ing presence here in this province,”
says Brother McIntyre. “The I.W.A.
is very excited about the possibilities
of joining with the people of New
Brunswick to actively contribute to
their families and communities by
seeking better wages, benefits and
working conditions.”

Local union president Terry Vick-
ery told the Lumberworker that
interest in the I.W.A. in the commu-
nity is starting to rise.

“The new office is sending a clear
signal to working people in the
Miramichi and the rest of New
Brunswick that we are around to
help them out,” he said. “There are a
lot of people in the province that need
unions and just don’t get the oppor-
tunity tojoin. We are changing that.”

“People are coming in off the street
to ask questions or just talk and we
are here to answer their questions,”

he added.

Local 306 executive board member
Pat Hogan, who works with Brother

Vickery at the Nelson Forest Prod-
ucts plywood mill in town said that
the members in the mill and nearby
Repap stud mill are happy that the
national union is providing resources
to help the local get established with
a solid membership base.

“It’s encouraging,” he said. “Every-
body in the mills thinks it is good that
we once again have an office in the
Miramichi region.” Local 306 had an
office that closed in the early 1990’s
when the former Burchill plywood
plant (now Nelson Forest Products)
closed down.

“We want to build the local up so
we can be self-sufficient again,”
added Hogan. He said that other
unions, like the CEP, the Ironwork-
ers and the Steelworkers are glad to
see the I.W.A. making. its presence
known.

Brother Rivard said that the move
to open up the office is a positive step
on the way to organizing in New
Brunswick and he is confident it will
help the union in the province. He
said the I.W.A. is also working on
contacts in Quebec and other
provinces in eastern Canada.

“It is important to have an office
there as things develop and happen.
Before the members always related

to a representative from Toronto who
would be there for a few days when a
problem came up and then return to
Ontario,” added Rivard. “With this

new office we'll still offer the New
Brunswick membership all the sup-

The new office is
sending a clear sig-
nal to working peo-

ple in the Miramichi
and the rest of New
Brunswick that we
are around to help
them out.
- Terry Vickery,
President, Local 306

port we can and still help out in nego-
tiations.”

Bob Navarretta, who works out of
the union’s national office in Toronto,
has been to New Brunswick count-

° Local union organizer Darren McFarlane, an employee from Nelson For-
est Products, is the union’s full-time organizer in New Brunswick.

less times over the past 15 years,
fighting grievances and assisting in
negotiations.

“We were there over the years try-
e to do. everything shin mgreley id

and our presence in the province was
badly needed,” he said. “Now that
there is a more visible I.W.A. pres-
ence in the province, I think the
employers will be less likely to mis-
treat the workers in the operations
we already represent.”

“Believe me it’s a good feeling to
see an I.W.A. office in the province
that is so visible,” he added. “I look at
New Brunswick as a place where
there’s a lot of possibilities and I
think we’re headed in the right direc-
tion.”

In September the union first began
to move into its current office space
at 323 Pleasant Street in downtown
Miramichi. Since then, Darren
McFarlane, an I.W.A. CANADA
Local 306 member and employee at
the Nelson Forest Products plywood
play has been contacted by fellow

ew Brunswickers who have
expressed an interest in growing the
presence of the union in Miramichi
and neighboring communities
throughout the province.

“People are phoning up and coming
in to talk to us and want to know how
they can improve their working
lives,” says McFarlane. “We say to
them that they can join our union
which is here to help them get a bet-
ter deal and help people flourish in
their communities.

“When working people have strong
representation they can make
progress,” says McIntyre. “The
LW.A. is just the kind of organization
that makes strong commitments to
working people at the grass-roots
level. We want the people of
Miramichi and New Brunswick to
know that we are here and to help us
build the trust that is neces:
us to be a vital part of their lives.”

National organizing coordinator
Mike Hunter, who will be joining
with McIntyre and others to assist

McFarlane when necessary, points
out that the LW.A. isa sae eae

organization.
“Our union believes that people in
all walks of life deserve the opportu-

Continued on page nine

8/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1999