CEP Local 242 President in Corner Brook doesn’t appreciate Dave Coles’ comments
June 19th, 2012 | Posted in Labour Negotiations | 12 comments »
Bruce Randall, President of CEP’s Local 242 in Corner Brook said national president Dave Coles’ comments yesterday were unwanted and may actually harm the sensitive process mill workers are going through this week.
Yesterday Coles urged the workers to accept Kruger’s contract offer when they vote this week.
Randall said he would rather leave that decision to the workers. He also said he has been trying to talk to Coles for the last 4 months but Coles has not been in communication with him.
“Dave Coles has no credibility anymore — none,” Randell said. “All he’s doing is hurting our cause. We are trying to get a collective agreement here in Corner Brook that people can live with. That is the ultimate goal. We don’t need the criticism. Hopefully, he hasn’t hurt our objective of getting a tentative deal. I say, ‘hopefully,’ because my members are tired of the rhetoric.”
The CEP has encouraged workers at other mills to accept concessions, setting a pattern of collective agreements that Randell said Corner Brook Pulp and Paper’s employees are now expected to go along with without question. Every mill has it’s own factors to consider and Randell said Coles is out of touch when it comes to the situation in Corner Brook.
“If he wants to question my leadership, why doesn’t he pick up the phone and phone me?” asked Randell. “Or, better still, why doesn’t he get on a plane and fly down here and meet face-to-face with the local leadership that he questions, and have a better understanding of what’s going on … Did I get a phone call from Dave Coles? No. Do I need to talk to Dave Coles about certain issues? Yes. And I asked four months ago to get a hold of him.”
The Local Executive are hoping for a deal, but they are not telling their members to rubber stamp the offer in front of them this week.
Workers will be able to pick up their copy of the offer tomorrow. Meetings and voting will occur on Thursday.
All of the union locals at the mill will vote before Friday.
Sources:
Pressing discussions; Head of Local 242 says CEP national president doing more harm than good (The Western Star)
N.L. mill union leader rebukes national president for urging OK of deal (Cape Breton Post)
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Right on Bruce ! You need to call the boys down at Mersey and let them fill you in on all the help the National was through their time. They were part of that unholy pattern and it still wasn’t good enough. They to did not want to extend the pension funding to 10 years but got sold out by their National representation. Then in December they had to vote on a “new contract’ which was illegal and unconstituational. But yet supported by Atlantic Region Reps of the CEP. 50 years or more of bargaining down the drain and the destruction of Local leaderships credibilty. Now look at them, down for good !
Keep your head up Bruce, God knows what the CEP is doing behind your back. When they bring in that certain Rep from NS then you will know the Company will have what ever they want.
about time someone took Coles to task for the way he is destroying our union, where’s the democracy that the unions were formed on
the National Guy’s look out for themselves ….. Dave Coles is still making his big wages on the backs of the working man … almost as bad as the Fibrek Guy’s who voted themselves huge severance packages prior to Resolute taking them over . More pigs at a trough !!!!!
I wonder what Coles is getting paid for helping the companies
David Coles, Bernie Madoff, Richard Garneau….”all of these things are just like the other”.
they are connected at the hip, all one and same
In Port Hawkesbury, employees were given one month (July 2011) to vote for or against allowing NewPage to extend the pension amortization period from 5 to 10 years. And the HR Director made it known that the future of the mill was at stake. And it was done during the summer when people are on vacation and don’t even take the time or aren’t at home to read their mail. You had to mail your response back to the HR Director by July 31st if you were voting against it. If you didn’t respond, it was inferred by the HR Director/flunkie that you agreed to the change. So, Sept 22nd…exactly 22 days after the mill workers were scared into accepting the change, NewPage declared bankruptcy. You would have to be a fool to think that NewPage wasn’t in the stages of formalizing the bankruptcy announcement when they sought the extension to the pensio amortization period. It certainly appears that Newpage simply wanted to put this change in place before declaring bankruptcy, and the local HR flunkie sold it and got a big bonus for doing it. And then they proceeded to lie about it saying that the agreement was retroactive to January 01st, 2011.
My point to the workers in NFLD is that if you agree to the change in the pension amortization period, make sure that this change is tied into continued operation of the mill. If Kruger shuts down the mill in the next 10 years, then make certain that the deal is structured so that the change in pension amortization is returned to a 5 year period.
Hey Chopper thanks for the story and the advise but seeing that our vote is Thursday it would seem too late to make certain of anything.
The only thing for certain is that Kruger got the town turned against the mill workers. They sent us and the local paper a letter today outlining the fact that if we vote against the proposal we are voting against the future of the mill. Also “This is a tough choice that will have an impact on your livelihood, as well as on the entire community.”
This is the worst kind of negotiating that I have ever seen in any industry! And it’s this kind of actions that make me feel like saying, F%$k you Joe Kruger take your ball and go back to Montreal if you don’t get your own way you spoiled brat! Ever since Kruger took over the mill in ’83 there has been doom and gloom…even though he made millions upon millions of dollars. Money that he spent on his Quebec mills.
I just hope and pray that he looses Deer Lake Power when he do shut the mill!
Sounds like to me Coles should start hearing and listening to the brothers who help pay his wages rather than hearing and listening to himself talk. Instead of running his mouth and looking like a fool to organized labour and a golden boy to big company, Coles should understand that blue collar workers have a brain too! After all, if it were not for blue collar workers Coles would not have a CEP to be president of. Anyone mention to Coles that the G-20 is in Mexico shortly? He may want to waste more union dues to fly there and protest against something that is totally useless and cost more exspense to union dues paying brothers and sisters.
right on the money
David Coles is working for the companies not the cep members and should be fired.
The retirees in Fort Frances Ont. tried to get assistance from Coles to fight for our pensions and were told we were on our own. The cep national won’t help us but paid court and lawyer costs for 2 Quebec mills. Resolute a Quebec based company is refurbishing their Quebec mills and shutting doen their Ont. mills so the writing is on the wall. As far as I am concerned the cep national doesn’t represent me anymore. There is a group of White Birch retirees suing the cep national for misrepresentatation and I hope they win. The union I belonged to has died with the new leadership,sad.
The CEP spent about $2 million dollars dealing with the abitibi bankrupty and saving the abitibi pension plan which last i checked maintains pensions at 100% level and now i guy from fort is whining because the mills in the east took 40% hits to their pension and fort isnt getting enought attention!! Give me a break and leave – your dues will never pay the bill for the next 2 decades