The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has ordered a consolidation vote for all unlicensed employees at Seaspan. This means that all members of the S.I.U. and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 400 get to vote on which Union they want to represent them in collective bargaining. As every SIU member is aware, our current collective agreement is the envy of the Marine Industry and we feel very strongly that the outcome of this vote will favour S.I.U. representation.

We have assembled a strong team of S.I.U. officials from across the country to pass along information and answer all questions that both S.I.U. and ILWU members may have. We will be at each dock and hold general information and open forum meetings, with invitations extended to all ILWU members, to give the facts about the S.I.U. and what the S.I.U. can offer ILWU members.

We also ask for our members to stand tall, be proud of what they have fought for and promote the S.I.U. to all ILWU members. The S.I.U. welcomes all ILWU members to join us in our continuing efforts to better the lives of Seafarers on the West Coast.

The S.I.U. is a strong National Union with approximately 3000 mem - bers coast to coast. We f ight for our members’ rights and give each and every one the best representation possible. With our members by our side, we negotiate strong contracts with wages and benefits that profit our members and their families.

Ballots have gone out to all employees who are eligible to vote by the Canada Industrial Rela - tions Board. Included with the ballot, you will find specific instructions on how to place your vote on the ballot. Ballots have to be sent back to the Canada Industrial Relations Board no later than June 30th. We ask all unlicensed sailors working for Seaspan to Vote S.I.U. as soon as they receive their ballot and get it in the mail with no delay. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the Vancouver office at 604-687-6699 – 24 hours a day / 7 days a week.

SMIT Marine

The S.I.U. and SMIT entered into a training program earlier this year and we are pleased to announce that recently four members have enrolled into the program and they are now taking shifts at SMIT. We extend congratulations to those members who have put in their time and effort to be trained at SMIT. As the program continues and business at SMIT picks up, we will look for interested members from the hall to begin training shortly. Any member registered in the Vancouver Hall should contact us as soon as possible so we can pass along your marine certificates and information to SMIT Marine.

Lafarge

As reported in the previous edition of the Canadian Sailor, Lafarge has gained the contract with Richmond Cement. We anticipated this contract was going to bring more work to Lafarge and our members; actually, now that the contract is in effect, we have been informed that the workload will be even greater than first thought. This is good news for our members at Lafarge and they can expect business will be booming in the coming months and years ahead.

The S.I.U. and Lafarge will soon begin contract negotiations and we ask all members to forward their contract proposals to us in the Vancouver office or to Michel Morin, crew member at Lafarge. A negotiating committee will be established by members working at Lafarge in the next month and we will work together to negotiate and conclude a new collective agreement beneficial to our members at Lafarge.

Jones Marine

We have spoken with our delegates at Jones and they are ready to begin contract talks with the Company. They have been communicating with members and have many ideas for what is needed at Jones in the coming years. We ask all members at Jones to continue submitting their proposals and any new ideas to Kelly McDonnell, Vaughn Richardson and Chas Silvey or directly to the Vancouver office.

We believe that by print time a meeting will have taken place between our members and Jones to begin initial discussions.

Harken Towing

Another contract will be negotiated this summer with Harken Towing. Members at Harken should be compiling contract proposals and forwarding them into the Union office in Vancouver. We will be making contacts at the dock to gather proposals as well in the coming months. We will be taking nominations for a negotiating committee and moving forward we will set up dates to make initial contact with the Company.

Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL)

Another season in the Arctic has begun andcrews were eager to get back. They were not so eager to hear it was extremely difficult to hold contracts talks and make significant progress during the winter months. The S.I.U. representative and two West Coast members working at NTCL did meet for two days with Company officials. These talks were to be a starting point to give the Company and the Union a feel of what both sides may expect during negotiations. It took only one day of talks to realize the Company’s position. It was clear that the Company feels financially strapped because of recent developments at their parent Company, Norterra Inc.

The S.I.U. tried to extend an olive branch by offering to discuss the possibility of rolling the contract over for an extra year with a wage increase equal to industry standards. The S.I.U. took this stance thinking the Company would be more than happy to discuss this further. Unfortunately, they felt that our offer opened the door for negotiating while we felt strongly that was not the case. They attempted to make a counter offer which we rejected.

Both sides made an attempt to set up further meetings but the two of us could not come to an agreement on a schedule.

members that we will continue to try to communicate with the Company on a reasonable time frame for future meetings. This obviously may be very difficult due to the fact the shipping season has already started.

We will keep members informed of any further development and look forward to seeing crews at fit out.

Around the Port

We continue to ask all members to have their Union membership card available when they come to the Hall. If you need to change your address or get a replacement membership card, please contact us at the Hall.

We remind all members to be sure their Transport Canada Marine Medical Certificate and all other certificates are up to date. If you encounter any difficulty obtaining your marine medical certificate, do not hesitate to contact us.

Safe Sailing!