The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.39           November 2, 1998 
 
 
Canada Paper Strikers Win Right To Bargain Jointly  

BY JOANNE PRITCHARD
SHAWINIGAN, Québec - In mid-September, after more than three months on strike, 4,500 workers at 10 Abitibi- Consolidated paper mills in Quebec, Ontario, and Newfoundland forced the company to agree to negotiate a central contract. They walked out on June 15 after the company demanded that contracts for each mill be negotiated separately.

"Everybody's happy. This is what we wanted. It was the number one goal of the strike," said Réjean Chevalier, an operator at the Abitibi-Consolidated mill in Beaupré, Quebec.

Now workers are maintaining their picket lines until they have a contract. Negotiation of local issues began in September; talks on the central contract started October 16.

Maurice Gauvin, who replaces cloth used to strain pulp at the Belgo Division plant here in Shawinigan, explained that workers had been forced to put in excessive amounts of overtime and that one of their local demands was to hire more people for his department. Gauvin said that the priorities for the new contract, such as a retirement age of 55 and more vacation time, were also aimed at creating more jobs.

At the Grand Mere, Quebec, picket line, Réjean Cossette commented, "We've been giving things up for the last 10 years in the name of saving jobs. Its time to stop retreating and start advancing." The contract negotiated at Abitibi- Consolidated is expected to set the pattern for 20,000 other paperworkers in eastern Canada.

"It's our impression that the company wanted us to walk out," said André Marchand, a paper machine operator, adding that the company had paper stockpiled and that other companies have sold paper to Abitibi so that it can meet its orders.

Abitibi-Consolidated is the biggest newsprint producer in the world, but faces falling prices for its products. There is also less demand for paper because of the economic crisis in Asia. In order to stay on top of its competitors, the company wants workers to work faster under worse conditions. For example, Gauvin explained that the company had wanted to extend bonus payments for productivity. Workers rejected this because it is "poisoned money," he said.

Joe Young and Annette Kouri, members of the United Steelworkers of America, contributed to this article.

 
 
 
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