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By Fred Kirby    September 29, 2004 

Westario employees have been on strike since August 20^th. The major issue is the Letter of Understanding which guaranteed any contracting out would not result in job loss or reduction of hours for any employee. At the beginning of contract negotiations management made no mention of the Letter. It was introduced by management well into the negotiations with no relationship to the matter being negotiated at the time. This, knowing the position of the workers with regard to the Understanding, was to invite a strike. 

On September 21^st the union again sat down with management to consider a further management offer. What management had to offer was a new Letter of Understanding which, if accepted then the pensions of long-serving employees and the jobs of less senior employees would be under constant threat. The work place atmosphere would become a poisonous, thanks to CEO Cluff and Westario’s Board on which Mayor Sutton sits.  

Who are these employees? Before the strike Mark Kraemer, Board Chair, said these employees, through their hard work and dedication, allowed the company to pay its dividend months in advance. They are the ordinary folk who form the backbone of any industry and, indeed, any country. They are not numbers on a ledger. They have husbands and wives, mothers and fathers; they raise children who are the most precious investment they will ever make. These are the workers who buy houses and cars, shop in our stores, coach kids’ teams, pay taxes, volunteer, and make a community thrive. 

This is not a fight with CUPE. It is an assault on employees whom the Board think are vulnerable because of their numbers. Every worker in the community, whether or not in a union, should be standing beside the Westario employees. Their fight is every worker’s fight in this race to the bottom. Every job loss is a loss to the municipality. Every wage loss is money lost to the municipality. Every bit of dignity and respect that is stripped away from the employees of Westario is stripped away from all of us. 

Management’s offer can be seen below:

LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING

Presented by management September 21, 2004 

When management determines or the regulator (OEB) requires that current bargaining unit work of the Corporation should be subject to a competitive bidding process that may result in bargaining unit employees being declared surplus, the parties agree to the following: 

1. A meeting with the Union to share the current cost/benefit and business case information will occur 

2. Based on the above meeting and discussion any required revisions to the cost/benefit and business case will be made. 

3. Request for Proposals (RFP) to do the above work will be requested using the current RFP process

Note: in order for work to become subject to a bidding process the minimum cost of the current work must be $100,000 or more. 

4. If any tender is ten (10) percent less than the current cost of doing the above work the parties will have up to three (3) months to examine the opportunities that may create an internal competitive cost and service situation 

5. Voluntary Severance Package: 

If a competitive cost and service situation cannot be created, the above work will be contracted out and any surplus employee(s) affected, starting with the most senior employee may choose to be paid a severance package equal to three (3) week of pay for each full year of service (including service with predecessor utilities) to a maximum of seventy (70) weeks pay. 

6. Mandatory Severance Package: 

Where, based on seniority, employee(s) do not choose to be paid the severance package then those surplus employee(s), based least seniority, will be paid the severance package and their employment terminated. 

Note: During the term of this agreement the number of employees impacted by item 6 above will not exceed fifty (50) percent of the current bargaining unit employees on payroll as of October 1, 2004. 

The above process becomes effective May 1, 2005 and is offered provided the current contracting out letter is withdrawn and the corporation guarantees no employee will be declared surplus during the first year of the collective agreement.

CITIZENS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE 

Citizens for Social Justice have two principle concerns: fairness in the workplace and transparency in government.  

The strike at Westario raises both concerns. Prior to the start of the strike on August 20^th, Mark Kraemer, Mayor of Saugeen Shores and Chair of the Westario Board of Directors said that because of the hard work and dedication of Westario employees, the company was able to pay its dividend to shareholders months in advance. Mark Kraemer now says in September that the company has made the same employees a “fair and reasonable”. It is an offer that can see 50% of the employees laid off during the three years of the contract, an offer that threatens the pensions of long term employees and the jobs of those further away from retiring. 

That is not “fair and reasonable”. It is a direct attack on the same workers who earlier were described as hard working and dedicated employees. Mark Kraemer, Glenn Sutton, and the other area politicians sitting on the Board have the responsibility and should have the decency to explain to the public why they think those hard working and dedicated employees should now be thrown to the wolves. Westario is 90% owned by the participating municipalities. Board members who also hold elected office are answerable to the citizens of the municipalities. These citizens have a right to know. 

The Board, led by Kraemer, is neither fair to the employees in the manner in which they have overseen the negotiations nor transparent in their dealing with their constituents. That is their shame. 

It was John Paul II who said unions are an indispensable element of social life, a mouthpiece for the struggle for social justice. This is a time when all fair-minded citizens must take up this fight; a time when we must seek justice for the employees of Westario and transparency from the politicians. 

Please stand for what is fair and just. Speak, write, email your councillors and Board members and tell them to cease attacking the ordinary workers of their communities. Tell them this is not the third world.