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An organizing story with a twist By Leslie Dyson Organizing efforts are paying off and Local 115 is welcoming quite a number of new members this season. The story behind the organizing of RMW Mechanical in Chilliwack is particularly intriguing. The staff at RMW have been designing, fabricating and installing conveyor systems for the aggregate industry and sawmills for the past six years. The company started with a crew of two but now employs 22. Shop steward Derek Longmuir, a welder fabricator for three years, said the company has been good to work for and the wage rates matched industry standards. Owner Rick Weiler is an innovative thinker with a keen business sense. His company is growing and he’s assembled a strong and talented crew. “We needed to go to the bigger [gravel] pits to support the size of our crew,” he said, “but those are union sites…It was necessary for us to go union. The Operating Engineers are on those sites so it was the basic union of choice.” Weiler also knows very well that if you want to hold onto good staff in this economy you have to offer good wages and benefits. “It’s difficult attracting and keeping people. We offer competitive wages but we’ve not been able to provide a benefit package. We tried but none [of the private plans] were appealing enough.” So Weiler called dispatcher Malcolm Oliver to see what the union could do. Oliver put him in touch with Member Rep Frank Carr. Asked what the initial reaction of the union was, Weiler said, “They were a little shocked.” A deal was put together in under three weeks. “Now we can work in a lot more places,” he said. The OE benefits package means the company can “keep people happy and on board.” But Local 115 went one better. Carr learned that the company could use additional welders. That’s where the advantage of a dispatch system comes into play. “We gained five new tradespeople,” Weiler said. “Frank Carr’s been beating the bushes for guys. He’s done a great job.” One of those new members is Randall Mosser, a welder and strong union supporter. He tried to get his former company organized by Local 115. The attempt failed and he was fired for his efforts. Organizer Dave DeSousa called Mosser and told him he had “a scoop on a good job.” Mosser was hired shortly after and it’s been a good arrangement for both parties. Weiler said there are some additional costs to operating a union company and these have to be passed on to customers. “But I told them that we’ll be able to service their needs better. We’ll be able to meet their needs for consistency. We’ll have the same guys returning to jobs rather than bringing a new bunch of people each time.” It’s not often that a union gets a call from an employer asking for help organizing his own shop. Although when you consider the advantages to the company, you wonder why not. |
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