Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-11-05, Page 107ILO CHAMPION GSS/Wednesday, Nov 5, 1986 Local 1863 Over 40 years of harmony Champions were an integral component of the road building industry for over 50 years before the employees of the Goderich manufacturer became affiliated with an international union. But the company and its unionized employees, members of Local 1863 of i 4 sse,:i f i,_ 1 :Z E' ii, Tilt,-i'ii�1Levse�u Machinists and Aerospace workers, have enjoyed a healthy, strike -free relationship for over 40 years. Following World War I, the Good Roads Machinery Company was sold to a Canadian, T.H. Mitchell and renamed Dominion Road Machinery Ltd. It was under Mitchell's tenure that the first union was organized, the Machinist Union, Local Lodge 1238, but it disbanded in 1923, just four years after certification. Since 1944, unionized employees have been represented at the bargaining table by the IAMA, an international union which has its Canadian roots in Stratford. Today, the union represents more than 680 full-time hourly and salaried office employees of Champion. In 1976, Local 1863 president, Jim Kelly, became a full -lime employee, working on behalf of the unionized employees while being paid by the company. It was an ,unprecedented move that has worked/well for the company and union. The company has never been faced with a general strike over its four -decade association with the union and only two brief walkouts have blemished the record. Local 1863 president since 1982, Don'Goddard, said that while contracts have gone through the concilliation process the last decade, he believes the company -union relationship "is probably better than Iv most." Adds Don Johnston, former union president and now company personnel manager, "We'd like to think that relationship exists because we've both worked at it." That relationship resulted in the union granting concessions to the company during the recession of 1982, while management took serious steps to ensure the company's viability. Employees agreed to a 10 per cent cut in pay for six months and a six per cent increase stipulated in the contract was waived until the company was in a position to return the concessions in monthly increments the following year. Goddard, a 27 -year veteran of the company whose union involvement dates back to the 1960s says that today's employees are more knowledgable about contract language and the intricacies of bargaining. . "We generally settle on two-year contracts now which is, a Members of Local 1863 ex- ecutive and management par- ticipated in a mortgage -burning ceremony at Saltford Hall: Ken Mullins, Don Goddard, George Drennan, Bruce Sully and Don Johnston were on hand. Bruce Sully addressed the members at the special meeting. compromise between the union and the company. Today the employees are more aware of the contract and what goes on," he explained. "We enjoy as good a benefit and wage package as anybody, and four years ago we were high for related industry, but we also accepted concessions until the turnaround. And I think, today, we are quite reasonable with contracts." The union has spawned many fine presidents over the years, men whose leadership capabilities were later utilized by the company on the management side. Long-term employees like Bob Allen, Elgin Fisher, Ken Mullins, Jack Grace and Don Johnston, have moved on to work in management capacities ° after their tenure as union president. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the union local purchased a school property in Saltford and constructed its meeting hall adjacent to the old school house. Saltford Valley Hall is now a favorite banquet facility locally for wedding receptions, dances and banquets. Operated by a separate board comprised of union members, funds realized from the hall rental are turned back into community and union -related projects and to upgrade the facility. The executive of the local is elected annually and the current executive includes: Don Goddard, president; Clare Rodger, vice- president; Jim Mohring, secretary and K. Fitzsimons, financial secretary. Other executive members are Paul Hamilton, Mike Wilson, Joe Fritzley, Bob Straughan and Herb Armstrong.