Unifor Road Transport Council Blog: 2012-10-21

October 2012

Meeting after our 2012 CAW/ITF Campaign - These are some of the comments and suggestions to move forward on in the future.

Taxi Drivers:

We should revamp the CAW “We Make It Move” pamphlet to include a Taxi on it.

The overall “Taxi Survey Pamphlet” was a great tool this year and the color format was good also.

Look at getting some of the documents in other languages.

Look at having a card to hand out that has the website to visit during the ITF Campaign that could have translated languages as an option as the ITF website has.

Have some activists that can speak different languages working on our campaigns.

The Taxi Open House was a great idea, more work needs to be done to get more taxi Drivers out to speak about their issues in the Taxi Industry.

The Airport was a great place to go and hand out the information, this location should have been done a couple of days before the Taxi Open House.

If we are serious about trying to organize the Taxi Drivers, then we should have an active organizing campaign throughout the year, not just once a year during the ITF Action week.

Make sure in a month or so after we receive the surveys back that we go back into the communities to talk to the Taxi Drivers again.

This Taxi Drivers Campaign is very important to all who participated as it is clear that this sector has poor working conditions, no Health & Welfare Benefits, no standard privileges or rights under Employment Standards relating to hours of work or Statutory Holidays, and no say in how licenses and permits are handed out.

Road Transport:

We need to look at a “catch phrase” to bolster our Campaign.

The same campaign year after year we need to have a specific theme to generate more interest.

Like: “Are fuel prices to high?”, “Are Rest Stops meeting your needs?”, “Should Class 1 Licences be a Trade Licence?”, “Training in the Road Transport Industry?”

Doing some different things next year; planning a rally at Government Offices, Going to speak to the Transportation Minister, placing information at truck stops throughout the campaign and throughout the year. Lobby the Government to address the issue of Training and course material for getting licenses, including things as load securement, chain-up procedures and other safety issues.

Targeting specific companies to organize during the ITF Week of Action.

Our local Organizing Committee needs to be more active and planning events.

The CAW Organizing Department needs to continue in its efforts to organize non-union workplaces. It’s crucial being pro-active locally by utilizing local organizing committees and giving them guidance and encouragement to get them out and speaking to non-union workers and planning for organizing drives within our communities. We have so many unionized units in one or two Provinces and not necessarily in other Provinces, we need to look at Province to Province organizing with like units and companies.

Overall ITF Week:

This week of action is a great avenue to get out and speak to Road Transport Workers. Working with other locals on their individual campaigns is a great way to get more activists out in each campaign and brings about a better understanding of the different campaigns that Locals do during the ITF Week of Action.

Breaking the week up into sub-sector campaigns (Taxi, Organizing, Commercial Road Transport, Public Transit, Rail, and Waterways) is a great way to do a lot of different campaigns and keep the week exciting and interesting.

Special thank you to all of our ITF Campaign Activists this year: Don McIver, Eric Phillips, Morteza Maleki, Jim Sadlemyer, Mario Santos, Maurice Mills and Greg Gates.

I want to also thank Peter Kennedy CAW National Secretary Treasurer, Bob Orr CAW Assistant to the National President, John Aman CAW Director of Organizing, Harry Ghadban CAW Area Director of Eastern Ontario and Murray Gore CAW National Representative out of the New Westminster office for all of their support and assistance to make this year’s 2012 CAW/ITF Campaign a success.

From our CAW Constitution – Statement of Principles

“Organizing is a new priority for the union. It is an act of solidarity, a way to give back and build strength in the union and within the working class. Organizing is a critical first step in mobilizing workers. Through organizing, individual workers go beyond the limits of individualism and assert their right to change the terms and conditions of their employment. In collective action they join a movement for social and economic justice.”

Bill Gaucher

CAW Local 114 Secretary Treasurer; CAW Road Transport Council President and

Co-ordinator and Contact Person for the 2012 Annual ITF Campaign

Individual Reports: These are comments by individual members not from the CAW or Road Transport Council.

Don McIver

ITF Campaign

On Thursday October 4^th and Friday October 5^th.

Our ITF Campaign centered around getting out to speak to Taxi Drivers about their issues and concerns and asking them to complete the Taxi Survey.

We headed out to Taxi Stands, Pick up and Drop off locations down town and in the suburbs.

Most Taxi Drivers have major issues around the licencing and plates that are issued by each Municipality and City. Most drivers we spoke to talked about how corrupt the licencing process is in Vancouver and in the Lower Mainland.

October 9^th – Taxi Drivers Open House

On Tuesday October 9^th we headed out to the Vancouver Airport to the holding area of Taxi Drivers. We were accompanied by some activists from CAW Local 111 who came out to assist us in handing out our material to as many Taxi Drivers as possible. We probably handed out over 300 pamphlets in this one location.

The Open House did not bring a lot of Taxi Drivers in, however those who did attend were there to report back to co-workers on what a union could do for them.

October 10^th – Road Transport

We headed out to Chilliwack (Fraser Valley) to Card Lock and Fueling Stations to distribute Fliers and Surveys to Road Transport Drivers. The Drivers were very receptive to our conversations and agreed that the Industry need some changes.

October 11^th – Transforce and More Buses Now! Campaign

At 6:00 am in the morning we headed out to a Transforce Company called ATS that is non-union to distribute an Information Flyer on other Transforce Companies that are unionized. Got into some good conversations with employees and talked about what Transforce is doing as a Company buying up a lot of the Delivery Companies in Canada.

Then in the afternoon we went to support our brothers and sisters who work at Translink (CAW Local 111, and 2200 Transit Bus) in their attempt to get more buses on the road. We greeted commuters at the Surrey Sky Train and handed out an information flyer about the “More Buses Now!” Campaign.

October 12^th – Discussion at Union Hall about our Campaign this year.

We were wanting to go and hand out some flyers about the CAW VIA Rail Campaign down at the Train Station in Vancouver, however we could not get anyone from Local 100 (VIA Rail) to give us the authorization to do so on such short notice. Maybe next year.

Our ITF Activists meet at the Union Office to go over our campaign this year and talk about what worked and what to change for next year.

Overall the material that was prepared was good, the Surveys were well drafted and presented. Maybe next year we could look at having some translation done in different languages for some of the material that we use.

I really liked the idea of doing different campaigns throughout the week as opposed to doing the same campaign each day of the Action Week. Don McIver CAW 114

Jim Sadlemyer

On Tuesday I joined the team in continuing the campaign and we spent the day talking with taxi cab

drivers all over the lower mainland. We particularly had success in getting the information out at the airport staging area. We had brothers from CAW Local 111 join us on this leg of the campaign.

Upon our arrival at the staging area, we fully expected to be asked to leave; we quickly spread out and went up and down the lines without being harassed by airport authorities. We even had time for another team to re-supply us. We spent over an hour and made contact with nearly every driver there. We later learned that coincidentally, taxi managers from the B.C. Lower mainland were meeting with airport management. So that meant while they kept each other busy discussing ways to make taxi workers

’ lives more difficult, we were free to converse with the very workers about issues in their industry. The timing could not have been better.

After the airport we continued our conversations with drivers at various taxi stands around the lower mainland. We received several surveys back on the spot and are optimistic that many more will be mailed in. After the all day blitz I hung around the hall for the open house for the taxi drivers. Although the numbers were not staggering those that did show up were there on behalf of a number of other drivers. Representatives from our National CAW organizing department were on hand and there was an honest and frank discussion on the issues surrounding this industry. In order to solve these issues it was apparent that the drivers themselves have to realize that if united, their collective voice would be heard.

There was not a driver who could not list off a number of serious issues that affect them daily but

without coordination, their individual voices get drowned out. Unionizing any one company will not

work. Competing companies will drive them out of business. Political action could be effective but for a driver here and a driver there to complain to city hall is simply not going to work. To achieve success politically, one unified voice needs to speak for the majority to be heard. Actions such as this ITF week have started the conversation. Taxi drivers need to continue these conversations between themselves.

Organizers have to be ready to provide logistical and communications support and re-engage drivers to keep the conversations alive and moving in the right direction. Union members, their friends and family should be encouraged to drop the union hint each time they are in a taxi. Business cards, leaflets or other material should be supplied.

We spent a couple of days speaking to truck drivers at truck stops all over the lower mainland. We

engaged many drivers and handed out even more material than I expected. The problems in this

industry remain the same as reported from previous campaigns. A couple of more troubling issues have emerged though. Racism is starting to rear its ugly head more often as drivers work longer hours for less compensation are looking at groups as a target to vent and hold responsible. Instead of coming together, they are succumbing to the divisive/systemic race to the bottom. The second problem is the

“training” new drivers are receiving through private schools. They are teaching to the test. Rookie drivers are being released onto the roads with training that can cost thousands of dollars yet does little to provide the necessary skills to operate safely on our public roadways.

As a member of a National union and a member of the ITF, I think it has to fall to organized labour to be more vocal and begin or intensify lobbying efforts to start bringing about a change on behalf of this industry. The workers are so scattered locally, provincially, nationally and internationally that the model of organizing one company here and there will not work. Getting the drivers to come together is impossible. If we can lobby and implement improvements on behalf of the entire industry perhaps then we can get the buy-in of the majority of drivers and then become successful into getting them organized into unions.

We spent a few hours outside a non-union company belonging to Transforce as did other members of the CAW across the country. This is sure to send a message to not only the workers but to the company who has publicly been buying up courier and freight companies with a supposed plan of bringing them together under one roof with job loss and most likely reductions in wages and benefits. The CAW will not sit idle while its members are suffering.

We also supported our brothers from CAW Local 111 in their campaign to educate and mobilize the

public as the transit system experiences empty buses sitting in the bus-yards while fares and wait times increase for their passengers. We leafleted hundreds of bus commuters at the major bus loop in Surrey.

While travelling between locations on one of the days of action, there was a story on the radio that

announced Vancouver as #2 for having the worst traffic congestion in North America. Combine that

with excessive hours, bad pay, little to no health and safety, bad management, poor or non-existent

government policies, bad drivers, inattentive pedestrians &cyclists, that I was hardly surprised when one worker summed up the entire road industry situation with a comment that as a former taxi driver in New York City, he finds working in this area far more stressful than performing the same job on the streets of New York.

We have to do better. Jim Sadlemyer CAW 114

Morteza Maleki

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

It was a privilege for me to be a part of the ITF campaign after having been absent from the CAW Local

114 Executive. I would like to start my ITF campaign with a quote from Tomas Jefferson: "information is

the currency of democracy".

Our campaign, ITF action, is to promote awareness and take action on October 4'h_12'h with a coalition

made up of our national representative, Brother John Ahman, the CAW director and Harry Ghadban,

CAW organizer along with our local activists and local organizers, Jim Sadlemeyer, Morteza Maleki,

Maurice Mills, Eric Philips and Greg Gates.

We were out in the community distributing CAW pamphlets and materials throughout different

locations in the lower mainland to different taxi and truck drivers. We have the opportunity to make

important changes to the road and transportation industries, and to finally tackle their current practices.

Operations involving health and safety, working conditions and benefits of the employees must be

changed as it is an unsafe and unfair working environment for the workers. Union intervention is crucial

to ensure that the rights of these workers are maintained. It is our duty as a union to prOVide education

to the workers and to the public to raise awareness of these issues on a local, national, and international

scale. All of these issues have brought to our attention from previous campaigns as well as personal

account from the professional drivers from their respective workplaces.

In solidarity,

Morteza Maleki CAW Local; 114

Executive Member-at-Large

Human Rights{Visible Minorities

Maurice Mills

A good experience. The taxi drivers Thursday, Friday and Tuesday were very receptive. A suggestion to do the airport blitz the day before the open house meeting to allow time for discussion among drivers and better attendance at the meeting. One suggestion was to have a picture of a taxi on the brochure. Another idea was some Punjabi notes on the taxi brochure.

The truck drivers were again receptive. The major cardlock in Chilliwack was one of the best places for a concentration of drivers. Usually the opportunity was short, because they want to fuel up and get back on the road.

The opportunity to organize ATS was awesome. We should change our executive format so we go out and leaflet an employer once a month as part of our meeting.

Overall an opportunity I enjoyed and would be happy to do again.

Maurice Mills

Eric Phillips

Thursday Oct. 05,2012 Locations of Taxi Campaign.

Canada Place - Four Seasons Hotel- 6

th & 6th New West.

Friday Oct. 06,2012 Locations ofTaxi campaign.

Surrey Central Station - Newton Bus Loop- Cascade Casino- Langley Bus

loop- Colossus Theatre- Meadow town Pitt Meadows.

Tuesday Oct 09, 2012 Locations ofTaxi Campaign.

Vancouver Airport Holding Location- Ladner bus loop- 8

th Street Sky train New

West.

The locations at Canada Place and Vancouver Airport were the most active

locations with the 8

th street sky train being the third most active and the 6th &

th being the fourth most active. Trying to get information to the taxi drivers

was comparable to trying to corral loose chickens they don't stay in one spot

to long. Their most common complaint was the costs of doing business such

as the fees paid to YVR. For access. Also there appears to be a type of

favouritism towards some cabs by YVR staffwho call up the cabs from

holding. Another complaint was the cost of a cab to the drivers. I found it

very hard to tell who were the owner operators and who were the lease's as

they do not identify themselves and I felt the information was wasted on the

owner operators due to the fact they were not interested in what the problems

were ofthe lassies were. One ofthe drivers said that they felt that the material

being presented to them such as the brochure showing

all the trucks and not

the taxis. Fuel costs were also a concern. There was also some conflict

between the driver with some ofthe different cultures that were driving. The

ethnic differences. Some were very scared ofthe union idea and some were

interested but

if this campaign is to do with work conditions or safety there

needs to be more identification ofthe ITF message instead ofthe union

orgaruzmg message.

Recommendations : Change brochure to include a picture of a Taxi.
If the

purpose is to Organize the taxi a different campaign is needed as I felt that

with the number of kits given to the driver compared to the number who

showed up for the open house says that they are not interested in organizing.

There was a very small number of taxis at most of the location we went to

and it is also the slow time of the year for daytime activity for them.

Wednesday Oct. 10,2012 Locations of Truck Transport Campaign.
Flying J Truck Card lock on Hwy 11 in Abbotsford.
Chevron Truck Card Lock on Hwy. 11 in Abbotsford.
Thursday Oct. 11,2012 Locations ofTruck Transport Campaign.
Flying J Truck Card Lock on Hwy. 11 in Abbotsford.
Chevron Truck Card Lock on Hwy 11 in Abbotsford.
Esso Card lock on Lickman Rd. Chilliwack.
Flying J Card Lock Lickman Rd, Chiiliwack.
Chevron Card Lock on Lickman Rd, Chilliwack.
Talked to many drivers from several provinces and location around the lower
mainland . Their main complaint was the fuel costs. They also mention that ifJ Truck Card lock on Hwy 11 in Abbotsford.
Chevron Truck Card Lock on Hwy. 11 in Abbotsford.
Thursday Oct. 11,2012 Locations ofTruck Transport Campaign.
Flying J Truck Card Lock on Hwy. 11 in Abbotsford.
Chevron Truck Card Lock on Hwy 11 in Abbotsford.
Esso Card lock on Lickman Rd. Chilliwack.
Flying J Card Lock Lickman Rd, Chiiliwack.
Chevron Card Lock on Lickman Rd, Chilliwack.
Talked to many drivers from several provinces and location around the lower
mainland . Their main complaint was the fuel costs. They also mention that if11 in Abbotsford.
Thursday Oct. 11,2012 Locations ofTruck Transport Campaign.
Flying J Truck Card Lock on Hwy. 11 in Abbotsford.
Chevron Truck Card Lock on Hwy 11 in Abbotsford.
Esso Card lock on Lickman Rd. Chilliwack.
Flying J Card Lock Lickman Rd, Chiiliwack.
Chevron Card Lock on Lickman Rd, Chilliwack.
Talked to many drivers from several provinces and location around the lower
mainland . Their main complaint was the fuel costs. They also mention that ifJ Truck Card Lock on Hwy. 11 in Abbotsford.
Chevron Truck Card Lock on Hwy 11 in Abbotsford.
Esso Card lock on Lickman Rd. Chilliwack.
Flying J Card Lock Lickman Rd, Chiiliwack.
Chevron Card Lock on Lickman Rd, Chilliwack.
Talked to many drivers from several provinces and location around the lower
mainland . Their main complaint was the fuel costs. They also mention that ifJ Card Lock Lickman Rd, Chiiliwack.
Chevron Card Lock on Lickman Rd, Chilliwack.
Talked to many drivers from several provinces and location around the lower
mainland . Their main complaint was the fuel costs. They also mention that ifif
it was a ITF Campaign why there was not more identification ofthe ITF
instead ofthe high visibility ofthe caw. Other concerns were the poor training
of some ofthe drivers on the road, the driving habits of some ofthe drivers
such as ones that travel to fast for road conditions and traffic congestion.
Some were concerned about their working conditions at their specific
employer. The conditions oftheir trucks. They were also concerned about
over zealous CVSE who would shut them down on the road for very minute
mechanical problems that could be fixed within a period oftime instead of
costing them thousands ofdollars to get back on the road. They were
concerned about the constant changing regulation that were not clearly
presented to them, the ethnic comment came up a few times but they seem to
apply to the issuing ofhcences . They were also concerned about their work
being given to cheaper operators by their dispatcher without them being
notified about it and it costing them money by having to deadhead from
location to location empty to only fine they have been under cut by another
trucker or trucking company., they are also concerned about being in the
middle of the conflicts between unions trying to organize them at their
expense. I found that the transport driver as a whole were not as friendly as
they were on the past. They were also concerned about the route scheduling
that did not allow them to be able to get the proper rest they needed and also
be able to make a living without running all the time .Scales were another
concern ie: the lack ofthem. Proper training in regards to all safety measures
need to properly transport items because the schools only teach the drivers on
how to past the driving test and nothing else. I found most were in too much
of a hurry to talk and only wanted to fuel up and get back on the road. They
were also concerned about the cars that cut them off and also the poor
transport driver that do the same.in regards to all safety measures
need to properly transport items because the schools only teach the drivers on
how to past the driving test and nothing else. I found most were in too much
of a hurry to talk and only wanted to fuel up and get back on the road. They
were also concerned about the cars that cut them off and also the poor
transport driver that do the same.in too much
of a hurry to talk and only wanted to fuel up and get back on the road. They
were also concerned about the cars that cut them off and also the poor
transport driver that do the same.fuel up and get back on the road. They
were also concerned about the cars that cut them off and also the poor
transport driver that do the same. Eric Phillips Retiree CAW Local 114

Greg Gates CAW Local 114

I would like to say right off the top how much I enjoyed campaigning this year, unfortunately I missed the e-mail for the Thursday, instead of Friday update. I managed to talk to a wide variety or folks this time round, young and old, male and female, a variety of ethnic/cultural backgrounds, couriers, long and short haul, owner operators, hourly, part time and as one fellow said, too much time. I will list the common issues/concerns and observations in no particular order.

- log book, although the electronic log book after initial push back seemed to be more accepted than last year, apparently it could help the trucker explain his wait times.

- Training was a repeated complaint, it seems people are being trained to pass the test, not the necessary skill sets needed to drive competently, as well as companies are taking these questionably trained individuals and throwing them right onto routes that are probably too much for their competency level.

- Rest stops, lack of them, and they tend to lack proper upkeep. Drivers who are picking up in Richmond having to drive back to Chilliwack, Lickman Rd. and wait until there load is ready.

- As far as wages went most say inadequate, met several drivers with 25 plus years in the seat and all said making a living at it is far more difficult now than when they started, main reason they felt, deregulation leading to corporate abuse/exploitation of the drivers.

- Personal observation, tell the boys the ITF campaign must be making a difference, several times as I approached drivers and mentioned about the campaign they replied that they had already heard about the surveys and not only did they want one, they requested extras. There seemed to genuine interest from several that organizing may be the necessary way to go, I gave as much info as I could so they could pursue this.

Anyways there was more but the key points were little changed from the past couple of years. I would say this year was quite enjoyable, perhaps it was the weather but every single person I approached was friendly and some were indeed quite the conversationalists.

If it is okay with you I have some material left, so I thought I would head to Flood/Hope and finish off there, I did have some luck there yesterday, I really would prefer not to cross the bridge today.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Taxi war erupts after arrival of app-based cab company

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Greyhound Cuts: CAW Local 114: Submission by CAW economist, Jim Stanford

CAW Road Transport Council - Next Meeting December 6th in Toronto

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Reports from the ITF Action Week

Individual Reports: These are comments by individual members not from the CAW or Road Transport Council.

Don McIver

Jim Sadlemyer

Morteza Maleki

Maurice Mills

Eric Phillips

Greg Gates CAW Local 114

- log book, although the electronic log book after initial push back seemed to be more accepted than last year, apparently it could help the trucker explain his wait times.

- Rest stops, lack of them, and they tend to lack proper upkeep. Drivers who are picking up in Richmond having to drive back to Chilliwack, Lickman Rd. and wait until there load is ready.

- As far as wages went most say inadequate, met several drivers with 25 plus years in the seat and all said making a living at it is far more difficult now than when they started, main reason they felt, deregulation leading to corporate abuse/exploitation of the drivers.

Anyways there was more but the key points were little changed from the past couple of years. I would say this year was quite enjoyable, perhaps it was the weather but every single person I approached was friendly and some were indeed quite the conversationalists.

If it is okay with you I have some material left, so I thought I would head to Flood/Hope and finish off there, I did have some luck there yesterday, I really would prefer not to cross the bridge today.

I will make sure the vest finds its way back to the local and thank you again for the opportunity to make a difference.

Greg Gates – CAW Local 114