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Two-thirds of Canadian Office and Professional Employees Local 219 members voted last week to reject a company proposal to reopen their collective agreement six months ahead of schedule. The package, if accepted, would have resulted in deep pay cuts – similar to those plant workers agreed to take. On Nov. 6, about 60 per cent of the mill‘s 200 plant workers – represented by Steelworkers Local 548 – agreed to take wage cuts of 12.5 per cent plus benefit reductions. Local 219 said the situations can‘t be compared. “There are huge differences in our contracts, which is why we weren‘t prepared to accept the company‘s proposal,” 219 Local president Assunta Young said Monday. “It‘s not as if we are hard cases not willing to help the company out,” Young added. Local 219‘s current collective agreement with Marathon Pulp doesn‘t expire until May 1. It‘s not clear how the vote will affect the operation, which has been asking workers and managers to take pay and benefit cuts to help the plant remain viable. COPE‘s refusal has undoubtedly increased the tension level at a plant where nerves are already raw. “We were told by the company that one way or another, there would be (compensation) adjustments to all groups (including management),” said Steelworkers staff rep Herb Daniher. Some Steelworkers who voted against their reduction package said it made no sense to take less pay now when the plant might close some time in 2009. Marathon Pulp, one of the few Northern pulp plants to avoid downtime this fall, is jointly owned by Tembec and Kruger Inc. Local 219 also represents 10 clerical workers at Marathon town hall. This summer, the municipal workers received a pay increase of nine per cent following a two-month strike over cuts to their sick-leave plan. Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 8:22 am |