The IBEW Wants You Back! Join the Local 353 (IBEW) Line Sector Unit We’re An Independent Line Unit affiliated with Local 353 IBEW and Part of the Largest Electrical Workers Union in North America and the World (“the IBEW”) CUSW members keep telling us they are tired of unemployment, part-time work, shrinking CUSW membership base, no pension plan, inferior wages and benefits, loss of jurisdiction, and the inability to work with other line and utility contractors throughout Ontario, Canada and the USA. If you have these concerns, then you’re not alone. If you want – • • • • • • Higher Wages Better Benefits A Pension Plan Instead of RSP Increased Work Opportunities More expense money for Room & Board And more Mileage money Then the time for CHANGE is Now! Inside this leaflet you will find important information explaining what the IBEW is offering. If you want more information and want to sign with the IBEW, please contact our organizer and representative, Brother Bill Finnerty @ (416) 522-0028 Joe Fashion Bill Finnerty Business Manager/Financial Secretary Business Representative / Organizer THE IBEW WANTS YOU BACK The IBEW Wants You Back Becoming one unit of LU 353 gives us more bargaining power so we can close up the gap in the trade and demand what we want. We recognize that under the old system in place after the 1788 split, the guys were dispersed to other locals throughout Ontario. Most sat at home, got frustrated and went to CUSW. However, things have changed. What’s Different Compared to 2005 In one word plenty. Phil Flemming the IBEW 1st District International Vice President has given Local 353 authorization to create a separate and distinct unit for all line sector members. This jurisdiction will enable Local 353 to reach throughout the Province of Ontario. What Are The Issues This Time Around • Concern with the room and board. • Concern that apprentices not receiving well rounded training opportunities. They don’t get distribution experience, only transmission. • Too much unemployment, no work opportunities • Wage and benefits • No Pension Plan • Erosion of work jurisdiction to other unions • Local 353 wants to take back our jurisdiction with Hydro One (Lines & Stations). We want it all bargained through IBEW LU 353. • If CUSW members vote for the IBEW, you will automatically become members of the Local 353 Line sector unit. What Does The IBEW Offer The IBEW can offer work to CUSW members who are not working with Hydro One. Simply, you can work with our IBEW line contractors who are doing substation work and switching yards. Wherever our IBEW contractors are working, CUSW members can work. Once we have bargaining rights for CUSW members, we will then serve notice and negotiate a separate Hydro One agreement. JOIN THE LOCAL 353 (IBEW) LINE SECTOR UNIT Local 353 Line Sector Unit Problems at CUSW With the creation of a separate Local 353 Line Sector Unit, we will conduct our own bargaining with Hydro One and IBEW Contractors. It is common knowledge that the guys are not getting adequate representation by CUSW. Your leaders at CUSW have given away too much work to the Labourer’s, Ironworkers and Operating Engineers. When you don’t have much of a pie to begin with, any loss of work only compounds the problem. Line Sector members will also have the right to run for and vote for Executive Officers of the Line Sector Unit, as well as the officers of Local 353. While the Local 353 Line Sector Unit is an autonomous unit, you will have your own Executive Board and representatives. While CUSW members are sitting at home with no work, CUSW gave your work away to other unions. Remember, CUSW is affiliated with the LIUNA and Harold Bartlett, so is Mulhall going to bite the hand that feeds him? The choice you have to make is simple. Do you want to remain a unit of the Labourers, or become a unit of the IBEW, which is the largest electrical union in North America? Autonomy & Strength to Bargain with Hydro If you join the IBEW, you will have an autonomous Line sector unit with the right to run for office in your Line sector unit. More importantly, when CUSW members are working for IBEW contractors you will receive the same wages and benefits as our ICI members working under the yellow pages of our Principal Agreement. We believe things have changed dramatically with the creation of our LU 353 Line Sector Unit which is strictly for the outside workers. Anyone that does substations, tower lines, pole lines, switching yards, capacitor stations, which includes electricians, has a brighter future because there are work opportunities. Don’t worry about Hydro One, because the IBEW has the ability and experience to negotiate an agreement with Hydro. But we think Hydro One likes the situation the way it is. Without market share, work opportunities and a constantly shrinking pie, CUSW has little bargaining power and Hydro One knows that and doesn’t want things to change. Why would they. However, CUSW members have the choice to change the landscape by voting to join the IBEW. THE IBEW WANTS YOU BACK Here’s the IBEW Pledge Opportunity for Work Local 353 is going to negotiate improved out-of-town expenses and pensions the next round of bargaining. Look around, it’s no secret that there is high unemployment and too many CUSW members are on the books. Now look at what’s happened over the past few years. That’s right, more work is being contracted out to IBEW contractors. Local 353 will address issues such as seniority, job security, and negotiate language to minimize abuses where the older guys sit at home while younger guys get the work. Local 353 will maintain an independent hiring hall. Presently CUSW has an agreement with the Power Workers Union where any work over 50 kva goes to CUSW. Anything under 50 kva goes to PWU. Veteran IBEW members will remember that 1788 never brokered away work. We used to do all the rural assistance work. Since Joe Mulhall made these agreements, CUSW members don’t get any rural assistance work. All this work goes through the Power Workers Hiring Hall, and they bring back a lot of their retiree guys. That means guys who want to build tower lines and become power line man, can never obtain the distribution experience to become a well rounded power line man. Hydro One has succeeded in fragmenting the labour force between the PWU and CUSW, and the losers are the men. If you look at what’s going on in the industry, Hydro One gets what they want. Look around. PWU has no stroke. CUSW has no stroke. While Hydro One sits in the corner hanging a carrot telling CUSW/PWU "Go ahead, go on strike. We will hire IBEW contractors." If we become one unit, with the contractors and the construction guys at Hydro One, the IBEW will have the bargaining power. Who will Hydro One give the work to now? That’s right, the IBEW, because they can’t play one union off against the other any more. The IBEW has the contracts at Clareville, Portlands and Goreway, with more Co-Gens coming our way. We’re also doing the 500 lines coming out of the Bruce to Milton and this work is going to IBEW contractors. The real benefit to CUSW members is when we have storms, IBEW members can be dispatched and sent to other parts of Canada and disaster areas in the USA. CUSW members that come over to the IBEW have the best of both worlds. You’ll have work at Hydro One and all the other employment that’s available through our LU 353 contractors. You will also have access to an open market in Ontario, Canada and the USA. JOIN THE LOCAL 353 (IBEW) LINE SECTOR UNIT Better Work Experience for Apprentices This is good news for apprentices because in addition to EUSA training, you will have access to our IBEW and Contractor training. Visit our website at www.ibew353.org. Local 353 has two Training Centres and line sector training is scheduled for both our eastend and west-end facility on Orlando Drive. The real advantage to apprentices and the young guys coming up is they’ll receive the necessary distribution experience. Working for K-Line or Black & McDonald you’re going to get the rubber glove work, transformers, bare hand work, particularly the young guys that have never done transmission work. Being a member of Local 353, you can go to our contractors and learn towers and transmission, because IBEW members do both. If you come with the IBEW, the older members can go to work in the USA during the winter where it’s warmer, or go oversea’s. If you join Local 353, you will not be restricted or bound to one employer (Hydro One), and can go to work wherever YOU want. You will have the freedom to travel, with better room, board and travel allowances. The biggest problem for CUSW members is you are limited in the scope and type of work you are allowed to do. To be a well-rounded and marketable power line man, you need exposure to all types of work. Remember, IBEW LU 353 was started by Linemen, and now LU 353 is returning to its roots. When we lost Local 1788, Mulhall promised you the sun and the moon. The guys were told one thing, but ten years later, it’s not working. CUSW has 450-500 members in Ontario, and 160-170 on the out of work list. We have many CUSW members who want to join the IBEW. And the reason is obvious: • • • • • High Unemployment Inferior health and welfare benefits Inferior room and board allowances Apprentices Receive Limited Exposure to Distribution No Pension Plan (9% RSP) Reasons for Joining Local 353 are Simple • • • • IBEW wants you to have an hourly pension plan IBEW has an excellent health and welfare and pension plan IBEW has a collective agreement for Line and Utility Local 353 members are getting $3.40 hr raise on May 1st, 2008. See the wage schedule in this leaflet and what IBEW contractors are paying. Ask yourself why aren’t you receiving these wage increases? Once the IBEW agreement takes effect on May 1st, 2008, IBEW members will make approximately $3 more per hour compared to CUSW members, with a great pension, benefits, room and board and travel expenses. THE IBEW WANTS YOU BACK Room, Board and Travel Expenses For instance, the Local 353 contract pays $91.65 per/day for out-of-town work. The CUSW rate is $70.82 per/day. The IBEW mileage rage is .44 cts per/km, the CUSW mileage rate is .33 cts per/km The Local 353 collective agreement is based where your office is located, not where you live. We also don’t have stand-off where they give you just Board money. The IBEW wants to negotiate a Lines and Station agreement with Hydro One on your behalf. If we all become one unit, we will have the manpower and contractors. Who is going to do the work if the IBEW has the manpower and contractors? The answer is very simple. CUSW Message Offers No Hope or Prosperity You join a union because there is work, good wages, pension and benefits. Yet the entire CUSW message is a history lesson citing those early days when you were being told that everything was possible with your new organization. Yes, those were heady days for your leadership, embarking on un-chartered waters with the golden sunset so plainly in view. But somehow, the horizon was never reached. CUSW has been drifting without the growth that was promised. How many years has it been, and how many members have you lost? How many are unemployed? We know the numbers and it’s not impressive. The reasons WHY are very clear: • No significant contractor was signed nor is there likely to be one in the future. Who would want to limit themselves to one sector? • OPGI appears to enjoy seeing CUSW/IBEW fight one another and give us every opportunity to do so. • OPGI and Bruce Power subcontract their electrical work to IBEW contractors, even at their nuclear facilities. • Recruiting quality trades people is difficult under the LIUNA flag. • CUSW has three customers: OPGI, Bruce Power and Hydro One (HO) JOIN THE LOCAL 353 (IBEW) LINE SECTOR UNIT LINE SECTOR - WAGES & FRINGE BENEFITS - L.U. 353 TORONTO MAY 1, 2008 THE IBEW WANTS YOU BACK Road To The Future Is With IBEW Most people when they drive their car spend most of their time looking through the windshield to see the road ahead. So does business. OPGI and HO are businesses with an eye to the future. They’re indicating a preference for minimizing their exposure to the risks by contracting out “turnkey” operations to IBEW contractors. If the CUSW message is an indicator, it would appear that CUSW is careening down the road with their eyes firmly fixed on the rear view mirror. That’s no way to travel anywhere. The IBEW Solution - Owner Clients will have the following advantages: Unlimited Access to Manpower The IBEW currently has 14,500 members comprised of electricians, linemen and registered apprentices in Ontario. In addition we have approx 65,000 in Canada. Labour Harmony Conflict between competing unions will disappear, with all workers belonging to one organization. This would lead to increased productivity and reduced legal costs. Contract Negotiations Contract problems involving restrictive work security language based on competing organizations would be eliminated with one exclusive bargaining agent. JOIN THE LOCAL 353 (IBEW) LINE SECTOR UNIT IBEW Has Full Employment & Growing: No matter what union you belong to, it always boils down to employment and the availability of work. We took notice of the number of voters. You now have 450 or so eligible voters. In 2005 we noticed that 732 members were eligible to vote in that year. That’s a considerably lower number of members than the 1100 you had when you left the IBEW in 1998. In fact, CUSWs membership base has shrunk by 50%. Does that sound like a success story to you? Don’t you think 35% unemployment is too high? How about part-time work? Especially when the Lines and Stations (L&S) sector of your membership is experiencing the same trend. The IBEW certainly thinks so. Did you know that the IBEW has FULL EMPLOYMENT for line members and we’re looking for travellers on an ongoing basis to work all over North America? American utilities are constantly looking for manpower, and the IBEW is the union that gets the work. In Ontario, we’re having difficulty meeting the demand for L & S qualified workers right now and can put men to work. Now compare that to CUSWs current work picture. Most importantly, the IBEW has a Reciprocal Agreement between Linemen and ICI . That opens the door to employment opportunities that CUSW cannot provide. And when Hydro slows down, you have the right to work in the ICI and other IBEW locals and the USA. When you add it up, the IBEW has the work opportunities you were always promised and want. In our opinion the CUSW experiment has run it course. While Brother Mulhall’s original goal was lofty, he has been unable to deliver and instead has brokered and given away too much work to the Labourers. Since CUSW is affiliated with LIUNA, who do you think pulls his strings? Remember, the IBEW is the largest electrical union in North America. It’s not the Labourers. Isn’t it better to belong to the IBEW who has multiple employers and jurisdictions across North America? The IBEW is on the move and we want you to become a member of Local 353. This is a historical moment, and even Joe Mulhall has long been a fan of Local 353. The Choice Is Yours! THE IBEW WANTS YOU BACK
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