Eastern Region Report

This will be the first, of what will hopefully be a monthly newsletter sent out from my office, to as many members as possible in the Eastern Region. I will try to include as many of the facts and updated facts that center around the important happening in the Union business during each month.

The month of July has had many developments:

The TCRC/MWED has finished its first rank and file elections for all full time Officers. The results are as follows:

The Union is presently working on several issues pertaining to contracting out. This is not only happening on the main lines, but is a main focus on the short lines as well. The ACR railway, out of Sault Saint Marie, is having several problems with Contractors and with the help of Local Steward Bruce Firlotte we hopefully will make the company understand that the Union will not put up with this and to let our members perform this work and to not hire outside help. All other issues on the main line have been grieved and if there is any we missed please contact me ASAP.

The OVR (Ottawa Valley Railway) is out of North Bay and has just under gone a Major Reorganization. Myself and Andre Foisy (local Steward) have devoted several days into straightening out this mess. I believe it is now under control with just a few little structural problems left to deal with.

In NOSA the Low Density tie Crew had a little scare with the possible outbreak of “Shingles” on the crew. Several members expressed concerns of working around this problem and some even decided to not report to work at all. The problem was resolved with the isolation of infected members and the complete disinfecting of the entire work area and boarding cars. We also made the company

aware that they were unprepared for a contagious out break and that their emergency contact numbers were lacking and some were out of date.

I have received several calls pertaining to wrong rates of pay, annual vacation discrepancies, pension problems, and several calls from members to find out how their grievances were coming along. On average, the number of calls to come into my office daily are 20 to 35.

I am very proud to report, that all your grievances have been submitted and rolling along through the grievance process. My next grievance resolution meeting will be in the later part of September for the SOSA crews. No meetings in August due to the company officers will be taking their annual vacation during this period.

I traveled out to see several crews in the SOSA. Some were seen at regular scheduled safety meeting and some while they worked on site. My sincere thanks goes out to Brother Bill Poirier (Health and Safety Representative) for chauffeuring me around to see everyone. I am hoping to get out more often to see the crews and meet all members. The final tally for this tour was 3 (three) pages of members concerns. More than half of these were resolved immediately after receiving them and the last few I am still trying to resolve. I am also hoping to see the NOSA crews later this week or early next week.

So that’s about it for this month. The short lines are still taking up a lot of my time. However, I believe things are starting to go smoother on these small railways now. So, if you have any comments or suggestions on what you would like to see in these letters, or how to improve on them, please call me or E-mail me.

Take Care Brothers and Sisters, work safe and remember that you are all members of the most powerful transportation Union in the world. You are all, “Teamsters, Proud, United and Strong”.

Fraternally,

J.J. Spikula
Director, Eastern Region
TCRC/MWED
Toll Free: 1-800-896-2912
Cell: 1-705-662-1428
E-mail: jspikula@teamstersrail.ca