Please be advised that all Local 793 offices across the province will be closed on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018 for Family Day. Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. Please have a safe and enjoyable long weekend.
Please be advised that all Local 793 offices across the province will be closed on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018 for Family Day.
Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018.
Please have a safe and enjoyable long weekend.
As of Thursday, February 21, 2019, Local 793 members will be able to go online to the union website and download their 2018 tax receipts for union dues and T4A’s issued by Global Benefits. Originals are automatically sent out to members’ home addresses, as per usual. The online feature was established by Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher to allow members to download their receipts and file their tax returns early, if they choose to do so. Following are step-by-step instructions on how to go online and download the 2018 […]
As of Thursday, February 21, 2019, Local 793 members will be able to go online to the union website and download their 2018 tax receipts for union dues and T4A’s issued by Global Benefits.
Originals are automatically sent out to members’ home addresses, as per usual.
The online feature was established by Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher to allow members to download their receipts and file their tax returns early, if they choose to do so.
Following are step-by-step instructions on how to go online and download the 2018 receipts online:
> Go to the union website at iuoelocal793.org.
Log in to the member section of the IUOE Local 793 website. If you do not currently have an account, you must create one first.
Log in with your credentials
Once logged in to your member account profile, scroll to the bottom of the page and select view documents beside the downloadable tax forms description.
> Click on the available forms Dues (Union Dues Receipt) and T4A Form. This will download a printable PDF form.
Following is a letter to the editor from Pat Dillon, business manager of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, that was published in Daily Commercial News on Feb. 14, 2018. Earlier, Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher had also written a letter to the editor on the same issue at https://iuoelocal793.org/letter-to-the-editor/. As business manager of the Provincial Building Trades Council, I am deeply troubled by the ongoing push by Sault Ste. Marie City Council to pursue a change in the city’s status as a “construction employer.” In my view, […]
Following is a letter to the editor from Pat Dillon, business manager of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, that was published in Daily Commercial News on Feb. 14, 2018. Earlier, Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher had also written a letter to the editor on the same issue at https://iuoelocal793.org/letter-to-the-editor/.
As business manager of the Provincial Building Trades Council, I am deeply troubled by the ongoing push by Sault Ste. Marie City Council to pursue a change in the city’s status as a “construction employer.”
In my view, this move was made based on misinformation and without any substantive reasoning. If successful, such a move would consume huge legal costs shouldered by the citizens of that community, but more importantly, would denigrate the fair wages, job security, safety and training standards that construction workers in the Sault have fought to achieve over the course of generations.
The city is a construction employer because it had decided it was cheaper to hire carpenters and labourers directly and cut out the contractors those workers traditionally worked for. Those workers then decided to apply to certify the city so they would have the same wages and benefits as if they were working for their construction contractors, doing the very same work.
Thus, the City of Sault Ste. Marie became a construction employer. Sounds fair to me.
Now, the city is deciding, based on misinformation on potential savings, that it wants to try and avoid its legal obligations to the Sault Ste. Marie workers.
At a time when the general public is realizing that government can be a force for improving the quality of people’s work experience as evidenced by recent provincial labour law reforms and an increase to the minimum wage to help keep up with increased costs of living, the municipal government in the Sault appears to have chosen a path of weakening workers by increasing, instead of mitigating, their precariousness.
The real driving force behind city council’s decision is the pursuit of profits at the expense of worker training, wages and pensions.
If successful, a change in status would improve only one thing: the bottom line for certain contractors who don’t want to pay their workers fair wages and/or don’t want to compete with legitimate contractors on a level playing field.
Insofar as the City of Sault Ste. Marie chooses to perform construction work, it should remain designated as a construction employer.
Over the years, workers active on projects who built the community have chosen to be represented by the Carpenters’ and Labourers’ unions whose collective agreements include prevailing wages and benefits that were negotiated by those unions with contractors, including the City of Sault Ste. Marie, to support those workers and their families.
To all of a sudden have unscrupulous employers and their associations warn of “labour monopolies” and a “lack of competition” in the Sault’s construction industry in order to tear down obligations to workers, is nothing new. Such efforts demonstrate an eagerness by some contractors to test out what they can get away with.
Changing Sault Ste. Marie’s status as a construction employer to then be able to hire non-union contractors does nothing to save taxpayers’ money and everything to enhance those contractors’ profits.
This would not only negatively impact workers, but legitimate contractors as well; ones who do pay fair wages and who help pay for skills training which produces better health and safety outcomes.
Those like Ms. Karen Renkema, of the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada, who are pushing the decertification campaign, would have the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie believe that if the city becomes a non-construction employer, this would somehow spur increased construction employment among local residents. Yet, a recent electrical/mechanical contract at a major hospital project in Brockville, won by an employer from Ms. Renkema’s organization, will have that employer bringing crews from out of town to perform the work, thereby totally ignoring the qualified but unemployed local tradespeople.
Pursuing a change in the Sault’s status as a construction employer may unleash an ugly race-to-the-bottom in that city’s construction industry, and given Ontario’s strengthening economy, the citizens of this province are expecting shared prosperity, not more inequality.
I am hopeful that the city leadership in Sault Ste. Marie will take the broader interests of construction workers into account when looking into this matter, and not merely rely on a narrative that wants to deregulate local government tendering to improve profits over people.
Local 793 is preparing for the union’s 100th anniversary year in 2019. One of the approved activities is a photo contest for members. Prizes will be awarded for best photos of Local 793 members and activities in several categories: 1919 – 1920 1921 – 1929 1930 – 1939 1940 – 1949 1950 – 1959 1960 – 1969 1970 – 1979 1980 – 1989 1990 – 1999 2000 – 2009 2010 – Present Deadline for submissions is Friday, July 26, 2019. A winner will be announced at the general membership meeting […]
Local 793 is preparing for the union’s 100th anniversary year in 2019.
One of the approved activities is a photo contest for members.
Prizes will be awarded for best photos of Local 793 members and activities in several categories:
Deadline for submissions is Friday, July 26, 2019. A winner will be announced at the general membership meeting on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019.
Some of the photos may be used in a special commemorative book being published to coincide with the 100th anniversary year.
The photos will be judged by a three-member committee.
Here are the rules:
Photo(s) can be sent via email to gcameron@iuoelocal793.org or mailed to Grant Cameron, director of communications, IUOE Local 793, 2245 Speers Road, Oakville, Ontario, L6L 6X8.
If you have any questions, please call me directly at 905-469-9299, ext. 2276.
Following is a report from Brian Alexander, assistant director of training and apprenticeship at the OETIO, who since March 2013 has chaired the hoisting engineers trade board of the Ontario College of Trades. It has been a privilege and honour to serve for almost five years as chair of the hoisting engineers trade board of the Ontario College of Trades. The board has been very active and much has been accomplished in the six years I have been on the board. I was first appointed to the hoisting engineers trade […]
Following is a report from Brian Alexander, assistant director of training and apprenticeship at the OETIO, who since March 2013 has chaired the hoisting engineers trade board of the Ontario College of Trades.
It has been a privilege and honour to serve for almost five years as chair of the hoisting engineers trade board of the Ontario College of Trades.
The board has been very active and much has been accomplished in the six years I have been on the board.
I was first appointed to the hoisting engineers trade board in February 2012, a little over a year before OCOT first began accepting members. Prior to that, I served a two-year appointment on the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities provincial advisory committee for the hoisting engineers trades. I was selected as chair of the OCOT hoisting engineers trade board on March, 26, 2013 and re-appointed to the board for a second term in 2015.
My current term on the board expires Feb, 14, 2018. Per the terms of the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, trade board members are not eligible to serve more than six consecutive years.
It is important for Local 793 to be represented on the trade board because it ensures the union is at the forefront of any decisions made that affect the hoisting trades. We can make sure that the concerns of our members are heard and work to ensure that the trades are protected and enhanced.
Business manager Mike Gallagher has always supported proactive involvement in trade-related training and health and safety committees. He supports the Ontario College of Trades because it places decision-making in the hands of those who understand the issues and feel the impact of those decisions. It also provides a path whereby a voluntary trade can become a compulsory trade.
I appreciate this approach, as it is much better to be at the table and engaged.
My time on the hoisting engineers trade board has been amongst the most fulfilling of any committee I’m involved with. It’s been great to have developed a rapport with OCOT staff to a point where they feel comfortable they can call you any time for advice and when they are struggling with an issue.
Since the inception of OCOT, the board has been very active dealing with all aspects of the hoisting trades. The trade board has issued three information notes geared to inform OCOT enforcement officers about issues relating to hoisting which impact health and safety for workers and the public, including:
It’s interesting to note that OCOT enforcement officers laid charges in at least two separate instances where automotive wreckers were found being used as mobile cranes to perform work other than clearing wrecks and hauling vehicles. Operators did not have a Certificate of Qualification as a Hoisting Engineer and were subsequently charged. Not only is this practice incredibly unsafe, but it also takes work away from those who are properly qualified by having successfully completed an apprenticeship. Increased enforcement is one of the big benefits of the College.
OCOT policy personnel were also very supportive of the trade board’s position throughout the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship’s (CCDA) national harmonization project to not lower Ontario’s standard for mobile and tower crane apprenticeship training just for the sake of harmonizing with other provinces. Employer stakeholders who work nationally advised that, generally speaking, the best trained and safest crane operators are those who complete their apprenticeships in Ontario. OCOT never once suggested it would be best to lower the total number of apprenticeship hours for the hoisting trades for the sake of achieving the goals that CCDA had set for harmonizing the apprenticeship training requirements.
2018 is shaping up to be another busy year for the hoisting engineers trade board.
This year, the trade board plans to:
To help continue the positive momentum of the past six years, I would encourage members who have a C of Q and a passion for the hoisting trades to apply for a position on the hoisting engineers trade board. All appointments to the College’s governing structure are handled through the Appointments Council. The link to the Council’s website is www.cot-appointments.ca.
If any member has a question about the College or the application process, feel free to call me at 905-469-9299 or send an email to balexander@oetio.com.
Two Local 793 apprentices from Sudbury, Alain Pellerin and Stephane Charron, received recognition recently for their hard work and dedication as crane apprentices. They were presented with the Harold Martin/Michael Quinn Scholarship, which offers financial assistance to an apprentice Operating Engineer in order to promote training in the construction industry. In the photo above are (L to R) Sudbury business rep Eric Giroux, apprentices Alain Pellerin and Stephane Charron, former Northeastern Ontario area supervisor Michael Quinn and Northeastern Ontario area supervisor/financial secretary Robert Turpin.
Two Local 793 apprentices from Sudbury, Alain Pellerin and Stephane Charron, received recognition recently for their hard work and dedication as crane apprentices.
They were presented with the Harold Martin/Michael Quinn Scholarship, which offers financial assistance to an apprentice Operating Engineer in order to promote training in the construction industry.
In the photo above are (L to R) Sudbury business rep Eric Giroux, apprentices Alain Pellerin and Stephane Charron, former Northeastern Ontario area supervisor Michael Quinn and Northeastern Ontario area supervisor/financial secretary Robert Turpin.
The Hamilton Spectator recently ran a story about longtime Local 793 member Elwood Cook of Hamilton. The 85-year-old retiree was a grader operator and worked on many projects in the area. By Jeff Mahoney The Hamilton Spectator The long and winding road that leads to his door (Elwood Cook’s) will never disappear. (Hey, I like that sentence. Someone oughta make it a song. McCartney maybe? Nah.) The long and winding roads and the countless others that Elwood smoothed the way for in this city, might get potholed (they sure might […]
The Hamilton Spectator recently ran a story about longtime Local 793 member Elwood Cook of Hamilton. The 85-year-old retiree was a grader operator and worked on many projects in the area.
By Jeff Mahoney
The Hamilton Spectator
The long and winding road that leads to his door (Elwood Cook’s) will never disappear.
(Hey, I like that sentence. Someone oughta make it a song. McCartney maybe? Nah.)
The long and winding roads and the countless others that Elwood smoothed the way for in this city, might get potholed (they sure might — have you driven out there this month?); they might get patched up, diverted, rerouted, resurfaced and altered.
But they’ll always be there, leading figuratively to his door, because he dug, loaded, bulldozed and graded the surfaces of so many streets in Hamilton, even as they were being born. He was a big-machine operator here for 44 years. There’s his old union cap on the shelf in his basement.
Click here to continue reading.
Following is a letter to the editor from Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher that was published in Daily Commercial News on Jan. 18, 2018. To The Editor: I would like to respond to a letter to the editor entitled “Allow Sault Ste. Marie to procure projects openly now, says CLAC,” that was in the Jan. 4, 2018 edition of the DCN. As business manager of Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), which represents nearly 15,000 crane and heavy equipment operators across the province, I find […]
Following is a letter to the editor from Local 793 business manager Mike Gallagher that was published in Daily Commercial News on Jan. 18, 2018.
To The Editor:
I would like to respond to a letter to the editor entitled “Allow Sault Ste. Marie to procure projects openly now, says CLAC,” that was in the Jan. 4, 2018 edition of the DCN.
As business manager of Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), which represents nearly 15,000 crane and heavy equipment operators across the province, I find the letter offensive as it contains inaccuracies and doesn’t provide a true picture of the value-added benefits provided by building trades unions like ours.
The letter was highly critical of the tendering process in Sault Ste. Marie and contains misleading statements that need to be corrected.
The author of the letter implies only companies that have contracts with the Labourers’ or Carpenters’ are allowed to bid on city projects, but that is simply not the case. We do not have an agreement with the city, but companies that are signatory to Local 793 have bid on, and been successful in winning, municipal contracts.
The assertion that unionized construction is more costly is also absurd. The information came from Cardus, a think-tank co-founded by a former representative of CLAC. The fact of the matter is that unionized construction sites are much safer than non-union construction sites, therefore leading to fewer lost-time injuries and claims.
In 2015, a study done by the Institute for Work & Health that was funded by the Ontario Construction Secretariat found workers in unionized workplaces have 23 per cent less lost-time claims resulting in time off work than their non-union counterparts. Unionized workers were also almost 30 per cent less likely to suffer critical injuries. The reason is unions do a better job of educating workers through apprenticeship skills training and have more effective health and safety programs and practices. The safety and efficiency benefits of using well-trained building trades unions may not appear on the balance sheet, but are financial benefits that can not be discounted.
Unions also bring value-added benefits to workers and communities. Provincial building trades unions like ours place a huge emphasis on educating and training members. Local 793, for example, has centres in Oakville and Morrisburg that provide top-notch training to apprentices and members. This training pays off in the form of safer and more efficient workers, which translates into lower accident rates. Having such training centres also helps address the issue of significant skills shortages in construction.
We also provide excellent pension and health benefits. The benefits are not for the unions themselves, but are for the members who are citizens of the Sault Ste. Marie community. More than two-thirds of Ontarians do not have a workplace pension. We take pension planning seriously and make sure we negotiate collective agreements that provide for our members in retirement. Presently, our pension plan assets are more than $2.5 billion.
Under the Ontario Labour Relations Act, the City of Sault Ste. Marie is deemed a construction employer. However, the author of the letter suggests that be changed. The City of Toronto crossed the same bridge in 2008 and their own staff report indicated there would be a mere 1.7-per-cent savings to the city at most if they were deemed a non-construction employer and it was recommended it not be pursued at the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
Sault Ste. Marie should not attempt to change its status as a construction employer, as has been suggested in the letter. The city is a construction employer and it should stay that way, plain and simple.
Instead of spending tax dollars trying to get rid of building trades unions, the city perhaps should consider the real benefits of creating a level playing field in competitions for city work and follow the example of the province, federal government, Toronto, Hamilton, Oshawa, London and Thunder Bay in adopting its own Fair Wage Policy.
Sincerely,
Mike Gallagher
Business Manager
IUOE Local 793
Please be reminded that Local 793 members can sign up for a direct deposit option to receive reimbursements for health and benefit claims electronically. To set up the payments, an Electronic Claims Payment Reimbursement Form must be filled out and returned to the Global Benefits Claims Department with a void cheque for the bank account to which the payments will be deposited. The form can be found in the members section of the union website at www.iuoelocal793.org. The form can be mailed with a void cheque to: Global Benefits Claims […]
Please be reminded that Local 793 members can sign up for a direct deposit option to receive reimbursements for health and benefit claims electronically.
To set up the payments, an Electronic Claims Payment Reimbursement Form must be filled out and returned to the Global Benefits Claims Department with a void cheque for the bank account to which the payments will be deposited.
The form can be found in the members section of the union website at www.iuoelocal793.org.
The form can be mailed with a void cheque to:
Global Benefits Claims Department
88 St. Regis Crescent South
Toronto, Ont.
M3J 1Y8
Any member who has questions can call 416-635-6000.
On behalf of the officers, executive board and staff of Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, I would like to wish all union members and families a Happy New Year. As one year draws to a close and another begins, it’s time to take stock, reflect and plan for the future. Looking back, 2017 was a very successful year for our local. We continue to grow and now have more than 14,500 members, making us the biggest Operating Engineers local in Canada. Financially, the union is doing […]
On behalf of the officers, executive board and staff of Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, I would like to wish all union members and families a Happy New Year.
As one year draws to a close and another begins, it’s time to take stock, reflect and plan for the future.
Looking back, 2017 was a very successful year for our local. We continue to grow and now have more than 14,500 members, making us the biggest Operating Engineers local in Canada.
Financially, the union is doing well. Our pension plan continues to grow and now has assets of more than $2.6 billion. The year-to-date unaudited gross return to Nov. 30, 2017 was about 8.8 per cent – well ahead of the six-per-cent needed for the plan to stay healthy.
The life and health benefits plan remains on solid footing and we introduced a health spending account of $400 which members can use to top-up current benefits.
Our organizers, meanwhile, were busy in 2017. As of Dec. 12, we’d signed 98 voluntary recognition agreements, bringing in 233 new bargaining unit employees. We also received 13 certificates from the Ontario Labour Relations Board, representing another 92 workers.
We continue to make organizing inroads with Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. in Nunavut. Our organizers have been meeting with employees of Baffinland and officials from the company have requested that some of their workers be trained at the OETIO in Morrisburg.
We signed a couple of important agreements in 2017 – one being a Mutual Co-operation Agreement with Local 183 of the Labourers’ International Union of North America. Based on reports from our business reps and area supervisors, the agreement has been working and our unions are working collaboratively on organizing and other activities.
We also signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Aecon Group Inc., which is being purchased by CCCC International (CCCCI) Holding Ltd. of China. The agreement confirms that our collective agreements will be honoured and our relationship with Aecon will not change.
Like all good organizations, however, we are not content to rest on our laurels and are looking to the future. 2018 will be an equally exciting year for us, as we have a lot of irons in the fire.
We’re discussing plans for the 6.14 acres of property next to head office in Oakville that we purchased in the summer, and in the spring will begin expansion of the OE Banquet Hall in Oakville. When completed, it will be 70 per cent larger with capacity for 1,000 people.
We also intend build a student residence on our property in Oakville to accommodate apprentices and members who train at the OETIO. Presently, they must stay at area hotels.
In an effort to provide better service to our members, trustees of the Pension and Life & Health Benefits trust funds have agreed to move forward on an ambitious plan to self-administer the funds. This isn’t a reflection in any way on the staff at Global Benefits whom we have worked with, and received excellent service from, for so many years. Rather, it is reflective of our growth and the desire to have all the services of pension and benefits at our head office property in Oakville. I expect it will take about two years to implement this ambitious changeover and details will be provided as they become available.
On the political front, a provincial election will be held in the spring. We have worked co-operatively with the Liberals on issues like mandatory training for drill rig operators and ensuring renewable energy projects remain part of the plan going forward. In the run-up to the election, we will be working to make Local 793 members aware of the facts so they are not swayed by misinformation.
In the coming year, we will also be preparing for the 100th anniversary of our union in 2019. We intend to hold picnics and events in various districts and will be selling special anniversary items such as pocket watches, rings, key chains, lapel pins and belt buckles on our website.
So yes, 2018 should be an exciting year.
I would like to thank all members for their support over the last year and wish you all the best in the New Year.
The officers and I intend to keep Local 793 growing so that we can continue to better the lives of our members and their families
I look forward to reporting on the progress of our union and plans at future monthly and general membership meetings.
Fraternally Yours,
Mike Gallagher
Business Manager
IUOE Local 793
