Voting Results

I am pleased to say that Local 592 voted in favour of the Memorandum of Agreement. As far as the Catalyst locals as a group, 4 of the 5 locals voted in favour.

I don't have any further information at this time but will keep you all informed . We had an extraordinary turn out for voting and I would like to thank all our members for attending our Special meeting.

Thank You

Jim

Results to be released Friday evening.

The polls for our vote have closed. The results will be released Friday night after all locals have voted.

Thanks for your patience.

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

Important Notice!

We will be holding three special meetings at Hansen Hall.

Information Meeting: December 27 @ 7:00 P.M.

Votes Meetings: December 29 @ 2:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M.

All members of Local 592 are strongly urged to attend.

UPDATE ON CONTINUING DISCUSSIONS WITH CATALYST PAPER

December 15, 2011

UPDATE ON CONTINUING DISCUSSIONS WITH CATALYST PAPER


As reported in the last update on December 13th, discussions between Catalyst Paper, CEP Local Unions and legal counsels concerning CCAA / Bankruptcy process, restructuring of the bondholder debt and possible outcomes have been ongoing over the past three days.

During this period an Independent Forensic Accountant has been reviewing the financial records of the employer to determine the accuracy of their reports to the local unions and this morning will be reporting back to the Locals. In preliminary discussions, he has reported that all the information and data substantiates Catalyst’s information that it requires immediate relief from the bondholders in the form of a reduction in the bond debt and therefore the interest payments that are associated to it.

As indicated in the press release this morning from Catalyst, they are deferring payment on the $21 million US dollar interest payment due on December 15, 2011 and will be taking advantage of the thirty (30) day grace period and delayed interest payment in a move to restructure their bond debt.

Catalyst has assured the Local Unions in a meeting held last evening that the mills will continue to operate during the deferral period in a manner that will see them meet the delivery of the product to their customers and this action will not impact our members’ day-to - day lives.

The Local Unions’ will continue to meet today to discuss the options that are available to them up to and including entering into early negotiations for a renewal of the 2008 – 2012 Labour Agreement. Entering into these discussions is made with the undertaking that any agreement would be contingent upon an agreement being reached with the bondholders to reduce Catalyst’s debt and a standard agreement being reached throughout the three mills.

As was stated by the Catalyst Locals on the conference call – once they enter into the process of bargaining a renewed collective agreement, they will forward a letter stating they are withdrawing from caucus.

The 2012 Executive

Now that the executive elections are done, here is a list of the 2012 CEP Local 592 Executive.

Jim Vandusen - President
Travis Goodyear - Vice President
Owen Paxton - Vice President
Ian Nicholson - Vice President
Adam Currey - Recording Secretary
Brent Hamelin - Financial Secretary
Randy Teichman - Trustee
Andy Bos - Trustee
Dan Rogers - Safety Officer/Trustee

Wage Delegates: Jim Vandusen, Travis Goodyear, Brent Hamelin. Alternate: Adam Currey

In Solidarity,

Adam Currey

Result of the Special Meeting Vote

The result of the vote from today's special meetings was in favor of the Wage Delegates talking with the company. We will keep the local as informed as we can.

In Solidarity

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

RESULTS OF THE VOTE

The results of the election are in:

Vice President (2 positions, 2 year term)

Doug Chisholm
Ian Nicholson - ELECTED
Owen Paxton - ELECTED


Safety Officer/Trustee (1 position, 1 year term)

Simon Fox
Joan Race
Dan Rogers - ELECTED

Congratulations to those who won, and a sincere thank you to those who put their names forward.

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

No Forward Look for this Month

Due to recent developments, we will be busy with other work and will not be putting out a Forward Look for December. The purpose of the Forward Look is to keep our members up-to-date with what has happened over the course of the month. As things happen over the next couple of weeks we will keep you informed with this blog, posters in the mill and Jim's e-mail list. If you would like to be added to Jim's list e-mail him at jvandusen592@gmail.com.

And a reminder, the special meetings will be at 2pm and 7pm on Thursday, December 8th.

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

Special Meetings

There will two special meetings on Thursday, December 8th, at 2:00pm and 7:00pm at Hansen Hall to discuss some very important issues. All members are strongly urged to attend.

In Solidarity

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary.

Local 592 Elections

Local 592 will be holding elections for two positions this month. Elections will be held at the gate November 23rd and November 26th from 4:00am - 8:00am and 4:00pm to 6:00pm. The union hall will be open for voting on November 23rd from 9:00am - Noon and from 1:00pm - 4:30pm.

The nominees are:

Vice President (2 positions, 2 year term)

Doug Chisholm
Ian Nicholson
Owen Paxton


Safety Officer/Trustee (1 position, 1 year term)

Simon Fox
Joan Race
Dan Rogers

At the voting booth we will be handing out Contract Negotiation questionnaires. The Wage Delegates would like your input on which Main Wage issues are important to you so that we can prioritize them to bring to Pre-Wage in February. There will be a ballot box at the guard house or you can drop them off at the hall, if no one is there just drop them off in the mail slot. All questionnaires should be dropped off by December 5th.

In Solidarity

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary
Wage Delegate

The November Forward Look

The November Forward Look is now online. View it by clicking here.

Just a reminder that the next general meeting is on Monday the 21st. We will be nominating for executive positions.

In Solidarity

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

The October Forward Look

The October Forward Look is now online. View it by clicking here.

Also, a reminder that the meeting is on Monday, the 17th.

Statement from the B.C. Federation of Labour on Occupy Wall Street

Global economic uncertainty is shining a bright light on the rapidly growing gap between rich and poor in North America and around the world. In the United States, the consequences have been widespread and severe. Real unemployment is approaching 20 per cent. People are losing their homes to foreclosures. And, for the first time in generations, few young Americans believe their lives will be as prosperous and secure as their parents.

Here, well paying jobs, fair taxation and strong public services built the Canada we know and love. For 20 years across Canada, however, real wages have stagnated, the richest Canadians and corporations have avoided billions in taxes, and successive governments have weakened public services. This has created a gap between rich and poor not seen in generations, and the gap is widening.

The Conference Board of Canada has identified that Canada had the second largest rate of income inequality growth among peer nations from the mid-1990’s to the mid-2000’s. Clearly, the same conditions that have lead to Wall Street exist in Canada as well.

In British Columbia, a decade of tax cuts for the richest British Columbians and corporations combined with stagnant wages for average income earners have left British Columbia families struggling to make ends meet and nervous about their futures. As the cost of living has increased, household debt has piled up and savings eroded. This has got to stop.

The Occupy Wall Street movement expresses an underlying desire for fairness and equality in the economy and our society. The B.C. Federation of Labour stands in solidarity with that desire, as part of the 99 percent, and calls on the governments of British Columbia and Canada to act swiftly and decisively to narrow the gap. The BC Fed will support an ongoing peaceful occupation in Vancouver on these important issues.

Members of the B.C. Federation of Labour will gather Saturday October 15th at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 12:00 p.m. in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement's call for good jobs, fair taxes and strong public services.

For more information visit http://act.bcfed.ca/solidaritywithoccupywallstreet/

No Forward Look for September

I did not receive any Forward Look articles, so I will not be putting out an issue this month. If anything happens Jim will contact those on his email list. With summer ending we should have a lot more to report in the coming months. Jim, Doug and I will be going to the Western Region conference and there is an upcoming Wage Caucus meeting in Vancouver on the 1st of October.

I would like to remind everyone that the general meeting will be on Monday, September the 19th at 7pm. On the agenda will be the notice of motion about the strike dues from the last round of negotiations. Jim and Doug will report on the President's council meeting. We will also have updates on what has been going on with Standing Committee, financial reports, etc. throughout the summer.

In solidarity,

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

Brent Hamelin Stepping Down as Vice President

Brent Hamelin has decided to step down from his position as Vice President of Local 592 for personal reasons. I would like to thank Brent for his contributions to the local as a member of the executive over the last several years. I learned much from him and look forward to working with him as a fellow wage delegate.

In the short term, I will be taking on Brent's responsibilities until we have an election to fill the position permanently.

In Solidarity,

Adam Currey

Recording Secretary

Forward Look for August

The August Forward Look is now online. View it by clicking here.

In Solidarity,

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

No Forward Look this month

As we had no columns for the month and little to report, we have canceled the Forward Look for July. We will publish one for August to keep everyone up to date in the absence of an August general meeting.

Any pressing information will be put on the blog or will be sent out on Jim's email list.

In solidarity

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

Notice of Motion Withdrawn

The Notice of Motion:

“That the strike assistance funds from 2007 and 2008 negotiations be put in a separate strike assistance account to only be used if needed for strike assistance for the 2012 negotiations.”

This motion was withdrawn by the executive to add some clarification. We will bring a new motion at a later date.

In Solidarity

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

The June Edition of the Forward Look

The June edition of the Forward Look is now online. View it by clicking here.

In Solidarity

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

Notice of Motion

“That the strike assistance funds from 2007 and 2008 negotiations be put in a separate strike assistance account to only be used if needed for strike assistance for the 2012 negotiations.”

This motion will be voted on at the June 20th General meeting.

In solidarity,

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

New Forward Look

The May edition of the Forward Look is now online. View it by clicking here.

In Solidarity

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary

The April Forward Look Is Now Online...

As of April 4th I am officially back in the mill after a few months of parental leave which included a trip south and lots of time with my family.

Back to business. The April Forward Look is now online. View it by clicking here.

In Solidarity,

Adam Currey
Recording Secretary
CEP Local 592

CEP scholarships available

The CEP National have announced two scholarships.

The first is for members in good standing, their children or the children of retired or deceased members who were in good standing. Three scholarships of $2000 each will be rewarded.

The second scholarship is for women who are members in good standing, their children or the children of retired or deceased members. Applicants must be entering or undertaking study at a college, university, CEGEP or technological institute for the 2011/2012 session in male dominated fields such as trades, technology, operations and blue collar work. This scholarship is also for $2000.

All applications must be in by April 15, 2011.

For more details or to get an application get in contact with Roger Haggerty.

In solidarity

Adam Currey