Message from the President

October, 2009

A Union that is not prepared to Organize will die!

There was a period during my time whereby the doors were closed and locked to new members and Organizing was something that didn’t exist. That backward position and attitude taken by District Council and Local Union leaders was the very method to an ongoing loss of membership that lead us to the daily fight we have in gaining market share today.

In 1973, upon joining this Union, I was allowed in because I knew someone on the executive board of Local 1151, in Saint John, New Brunswick. Had I not known that person I would have been given a competency test. There were two tests, one that someone in the trade for a couple of years could easily pass and there was a second test that had questions a Master at the trade could not answer…it was definitely a fix and a “country club” attitude. At the 30^th IUPAT General Convention a resolution was passed to not permit such testing ever again in our Union.

In 1993 the IUPAT was looking at either merging with another building trades Union or making a decision to ORGANIZE. I am greatful the decision to organize was taken. Training was the key and Construction Organizing Membership Education Training (COMET) was borne. I attended my first Train-the-Trainer program with other leaders at Cornell University in Westchester, N.Y. and came back to Toronto to train the membership. Over a 4 year period I trained over 200 classes across Canada starting in District Council 46 every Tuesday and Thursday nights for 3 years. Other leaders in other locals in Canada and the United States also received the training that put our Union as one of the most progressive organizing Unions for years to come.

COMET was about why Unions needed to Organize, analyze how our membership declined, respect and allow non-union workers into our Union, and most important understand market share and why organizing is so important. COMET II came later that provided options of bottom-up and top-down organizing technics.

Today we have in Ontario the most progressive Union in the building trades that puts organizing as a priority. The IUPAT representatives everywhere get on the job each day to find and set the stage for organizing. Organizing is a team effort that Union representatives, members and contractors can play a role. Action by the membership to infiltrate non union employers through the guidance of a Union representative is called SALTING. This action is legal and the most honorable activity a Union member can provide. The Ontario Council of Painters makes SALTING worthwhile to any member that cares to participate. If you want to participate speak to your local union representative.   

Important is market share, ask yourself:

What is better, the majority of union contractors with employees earning wages and benefits over $50.00 per hour and doing the majority of work in the city, or, the majority of non union contractors earning wages and no benefits at $25.00 per hour doing the majority of work in the city?

We all know the answer…the key point is to organize the majority of non union contractors, make them union, and have those workers earning wages and benefits and be properly trained to the level of our membership.

From the desk of the President

Bill Nichols