Joining the FFAW/CAW

Question:

Who is FFAW/CAW?

Answer:

Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW/CAW) is an affiliate of the Canadian AutoWorkers Union. Headed by Ken Lewenza, the CAW has more than 240,000 members across the country.

FFAW/CAW represents more than 20,000 workers throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, most of whom are employed in the fishing industry. In addition, FFAW/CAW represents workers in the brewing, manufacturing, metal fabrication, hotel, restaurant and retail sectors.

Question:

What is the main reason for joining a Union?

Answer:

Job security. In a unionized workplace, the longer you work there the more job security you have. You know that your years of service to the employer is worth something. In a non union workplace, your seniority counts for nothing. You can be replaced at any time, for any reason, by someone hired off the street.

Question:

What are other benefits of joining a Union?

Answer:

With a Union your rights and benefits as a worker are spelled out in black and white. You have an opportunity to share in the profits you helped create by negotiating your wages and benefits. You will have a grievance procedure to deal with complaints. Union representatives and staff can assist you with problems on the job and with workers' compensation appeals, unemployment insurance problems, pension information, etc.

By standing together as Union members, you and your co workers will be able to balance the power that is entirely in the hands of management.

Question:

How is your contract negotiated?

Answer:

The first step in negotiations involves putting together your proposals. Meetings are held open to all members where proposals are developed with the help of your full time Union representative. You must also elect a Union committee for your workplace. In many cases this committee helps the full time Union staff person to bargain the contract. Once negotiations begin, further meetings are held where you can vote on offers from the company. You have the final say on whether or not the proposed contract is accepted.

Question:

What about strikes?

Answer:

Over 95% of all collective agreements are negotiated without a strike or lock out. This is a record we are very proud of. Remember only you and your co workers can decide whether or not a strike is necessary. In the event of a strike, weekly benefits of $135 are paid after the first week and $185 per week after the fourth week of a strike. In addition, basic health care benefits you had with your employer are paid for from the CAW Strike Fund.

Question:

Who controls what happens once the Union is certified?

Answer:

You do through the democratic process. You decide what the priorities are in negotiations. You and your co workers elect your bargaining committee and shop stewards. Your Union representative is there to work with you.

Question:

What are the benefits of joining a Union?

Answer:

The major benefits from joining a union are that it gives workers a collective voice with which to deal with management as well as access to the provisions of a collective agreement. Unions give workers access to due process and to rights in the workplace making it a much more democratic setting than would otherwise be the case.

It should also be stressed that the role of unions extends far beyond the workplace. A successful union is one which wins better wages and working conditions, rights and standards for its members through argining, but knows that the gains which are achieved will be more secure if they are shared by all workers.

About one third of Canadian workers are unionized. In Newfoundland and Labrador, over 50% of workers belong to a Union. Jobs covered by collective agreements pay about 40% more on average than jobs not covered by collective agreements.

Question:

How do I join?

Answer:

STEP 1: Call a FFAW/CAW representative in your community. They'll answer your questions about how our Union works and what we can do for you.

STEP 2: Each province and the federal government have laws covering your rights to join a Union. To join you must sign a FFAW/CAW membership card. The Union Membership Card you sign is confidential. Only the Labour Board sees the cards. Your employer never sees the cards or a list of who has joined the Union.

STEP 3: A majority of the people in your workplace sign FFAW/CAW membership cards.

STEP 4: Once enough cards have been signed, the Union staff person will make an application to represent you with the Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Board.

STEP 5: The Labour Board reviews the application and will either order a vote or certify the Union automatically depending on the circumstances.

STEP 6: Once you are officially certified, you elect a Union committee for bargaining.

Question:

What does the Law say?

Answer:

The Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Relations Act says:

Section 5. (1) An employee has the right to belong to a trade union and participate in its activities.

Section 23. (1) An employer or employers' organization, and a person acting on behalf of an employer or employers' organization, shall not (a) participate in or interfere with the selection, formation or administration of a trade union.

Section 24. (1) An employer and a person acting on behalf of an employer shall not:

(a) refuse to employ or to continue to employ a person, or otherwise discriminate against a person in regard to employment because that person is a member of a trade union; or (b) impose conditions in a contract of employment seeking to restrain an employee from exercising his or her rights under this Act.

Section 25. (1) An employer and a person acting on behalf of an employer shall not seek by intimidation, threat of dismissal or other kind of threat, or by the imposition of a monetary or other penalty or by other means to compel a person to refrain from becoming or to stop being a member, officer or representative of a trade union.

Section 26. An employer and a person acting on behalf of an employer shall not in the source of a labour dispute threaten to shut down or move a plant or a part of a plant.

Question:

Why should a union matter to me?

Answer:

The reality is unless you belong to a union - you are at the mercy of your employer.

This is the case for nearly 70% of workers in Canada who do not have union protection.

All workers in Canada and around the globe are facing difficult times, but for non-unionized workers the impact is far worse.

Without the collective power of a union, non-unionized workers face job loss, infrequent work hours, low wages and little to no benefits, as well as health and safety violations alone.  It doesn't have to be this way.

Change begins with a phone call from a worker who is ready to organize.

One by one, that is how the CAW has become the strong diverse union it is today.

Do you know someone who is ready to make the call?

Let's talk.

Change begins with you.

Call Ben Baker at 709-576-7276 OR 709-743-5464 or by contacting us at president@ffaw.nfld.net

YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY IS ASSURED.