“When a worker operates the grader, for example, he’ll make sure he levels the bumps on the ramp which irritated him the week before when he was driving one of the haulage trucks,” Smith explains. “On the down side, the workers may not take as good care of their machines and there may be more wear and tear on the equipment, as there is no ownership of individual units. However, that is not significant when one considers employee satisfaction and high productivity.”
There have been two unsuccessful attempts by the United Steelworkers of America to unionize the workforce at the East Kemptville mine. But in 1987, when the mine was put up for sale by the banking group, the Canadian Auto Workers conducted a low-key sales pitch. According to one worker, that sales pitch went something like this: the banks could sell this mine tomorrow to some other company and all you guys would be on the street looking for another job. But if you were unionized and had a 2-to-3- year contract, then no matter who bought the mine, the company would have to honor that contract. i.e. you wouldn’t lose your jobs. That sold the majority, and the first contract was signed in January, 1989. One thing the union did not want to change, though, was the flexible work schedule. It’s that good.
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