1957
There was a long strike by the Pulp Sulfite workers in the winter of 57/58 but Crofton was not certified yet so the mill kept trying to run as it was in startup mode.
Unbleached pulp was first produced just before Christmas.
Imagine if you will, Crofton non-union, Pinhead’s dream! Apparently the workers were not happy about running while there was a strike because most if not all had come from other union mills. There was nothing to be done however with them not being certified.
1958
January 20th-- First bleached pulp comes off the Minton dryer.
1963
February 1st-- "Pulp & Paper Workers Of Canada" grant Charter to Local #2, Crofton, B.C.
May 1st-- PPWC Local 2 applies to the Labour Relations Board for certification.
1964
June 18th-- The first saleable newsprint comes off #1 paper machine.
1965
The second pulp machine starts up basically doubling pulp mill capacity.
1968
January-- #2 paper machine sucessfully starts up.
1970
This strike was a PPWC strike only and not all mills went out at the same time.
Strike notice was served for midnight June 30th.
July 24th-- Crofton goes out.
Sept 22nd-- The strike is over.
Sept 25th-- Contract is signed.
The mill was also effected by a tugboat strike and I believe these dates are only for the PPWC strike.
1973
October 15th-- At the General Membership Meeting it was decided we would "Work to Rule".
Booking off ended.
I'm now a member of the PPWC.
1975
July 11th-- The CPU & PPWC go on strike.
October 7th-- Tuesday, the B.C. government (NDP) passed a law ordering a "cooling off period".
October 10th--Friday, there was a Union meeting at the Odeon in Duncan at 10am and we decided we would return to work on 4-12 shift.
1977
July 14th-- PPWC Local 2 rejects company offer by 77% .
October?-- PPWC mills vote to accept new offer 75% overall.
December 12th-- Local 2 signs the contract: $.60 per hour increase plus $.12 per hour generated from last years "COLA" clause.
When the contract was signed it had to go in front of "The Anti-Inflation Board" for approval.
1979
June 28th-- PPWC vote 68% overall to reject the last Industry offer. Four locals however vote in favour to accept offer so it was decided there would be no strike on main agenda items.
July 10th-- pickets arrived from Mackenzie during our 4-12 shift so the mill shut down and we went home. I’m not sure exactly when the pickets came down but I went back to work on July 17th so I only missed 4 days work on the old 8 hour shift. I managed to get my house painted while I was off.
1980
February 24th-- Sunday, we started our trial run of the 12 hour shift. Some of the older guys didn’t like it at first but you know the rest.
1981
July 8th-- Wednesday, information pickets at mill, believe it was FITA (forest industry trades association). Mill shuts down but by evening pickets were gone and mill was calling people in to start up.
July 13th-- Monday, IWA pickets arrive at mill so down it goes again.
July 20th-- CPU (now CEP) and PPWC officially on strike.
August 21st-- Friday, the IWA signs their contract agreement.
August 22nd-- Saturday, mills Lockout pulp unions saying all pulp & paper mills start up or none do!
August 29th-- Saturday, Lockout ends and all employees are to report to work.
Mechanics adjustment $.40
1983
October 24th-- Monday, Lockout officially starts at 9:30 AM.
October 29th-- Lockout over with mills starting up Saturday. Contract never does get settled.
1984
February 2nd-- Thursday, the Company locks us out again. I still remember a foreman saying that the company would never lock us out. I guess he began to realize that even BCFP were not the sweethearts he thought they were.
March 6th-- I went to Vancouver for secondary picketing and stayed a week.
March 20th-- We lifted all secondary picketing ( I guess that is when the law changed and just when I was ready to go back to Vancouver for another week of picketing).
March 30th-- the lockout ended at 3 PM so we went on strike.
April 2nd-- Crofton votes 64% to stay out, overall it was 62% to stay out.
April 9th-- the strike is over and the mills are ready to start up at midnight.
July 1st-- We now keep the mill running on Canada's Birthday.
1986
July 23rd-- Wednesday, IWA pickets arrive from Youbou in the morning and the mill goes down. Pickets are gone sometime in the afternoon and the mill is starting up on night shift.
The IWA was on strike for about 4 months but could not picket us because of the law changing in 1984 regarding secondary picketing.
We gain 8 hours of stat holiday time on December 24th, 8 AM to 4PM and Boxing Day was given stat status. This is when I think the 24 hour floating stat disappeared that normally had been used on boxing day.
1987
January 1st-- The mill stays running for the first time.
April 20th (Easter)-- The mill runs, we give up yet another stat.
Looks like we go through 8 years of relative labour peace. No major problems from the spring of 1984 until the summer of 1992.
1992
The contract expiry date changes to April 30th.
June 3rd-- we voted on latest company offer and it was rejected by 90% (not sure whether it was overall or just Crofton).
June 14th-- Picket line goes up at 9 PM.
July 17th-- Vote is taken and company offer accepted, (70.2% overall to accept offer).
1994
Looks like we have finally lost Labour Day as the mill ran through it.
December 23rd-- Pickets go up at Noon.
1995
Brian Foley was the mediator appointed to help get the talks going and was successful in helping us reach an agreement.
February 6th-- We had a meeting with Company in the morning to get some things straight before the vote.
Grandpa Munster wanted to soften the impact of the strike.
He said we would only have to pay the company back $50 per pay (until all was paid back of course) for the benefits that FCC carried for us during the strike.
Also there was to be no discipline over any strike activities.
He gave a Bullshit spiel about the Relief workers. They finally agreed that the workers hired before 1994 would follow crews.
Crofton votes 75% to accept.
Overall was 71.5%.
February 7th-- Picket line comes down in time for N/S to go into the mill.
Mechanics adjustment $.30
February 23-- Company calls a meeting and announces jobs cuts in the Bleach Plants and Digester lines, 2 jobs in each line. (16 people)
For about 5 weeks the Kraft mill runs absolutely terrible!!!
March 29th-- The Company calls the Union to a meeting with reps from the Bleach & Digester lines. The Company spokesman starts the meeting rambling about safety and moral. Says that job cuts are absolutely necessary for the mill to compete. Our spokesman tells him to shit or get off the pot!
Company has a caucas.
The Company returns in a ½ hour or so and gets down to business. They say 3 of the jobs (12 people) will be put aside as a first step toward trust and cooperation. They need to see the mill run like it never has before.
April 24th-- We keep our end of the deal, records tumble!
All records are monthly except where noted as daily.
October 30th--Total pulp daily production...1180 ADT.
November 10th--#2 Kraft Machine daily production of 522 ADT.
December 8th--#1 Kraft Machine daily production of 750 ADT.
We were keeping our part of the deal!
1996
March Records
1997
February Record
May 29th -- Thursday...Talks move to 1 table for all FCC mills.
June 25th-- Wednesday...Members vote 96% for strike action overall. Crofton has an unprecedented 85% voter turnout and rejects deal by 98%!
July 2nd-- Wednesday...Talks resume after strike vote. Ten (10) days termination of contract is given to the company.
July 8th-- Tuesday...Union asks Company "Are we correct in our conclusion that no matter what moves we might make at this point in the bargain, that you are not prepared to agree on a contract with a flexibility agreement structured on the notion agreed to in 1994"?
One hour later the company responded, "You are correct". Talks break down and 72 hours strike notice is given to company.
July 14th-- Monday...Picket line up at 6 AM.
August 1st-- Friday...Letter from CEO, Doug Whitehead, #1.
August 29th-- Friday...Letter from Whitehead, #2.
October 6th-- Monday...Letter from Whitehead, #3.
October 21st-- Tuesday...Two foremen are killed while working in the Steam Plant.
October 24th-- Friday...Letter from Whitehead, #4.
October 28th-- Tuesday...1000 union members rally in Vancouver in front of the hotel for FCC Shareholders meeting.
November 7th-- Friday...Letter from Whitehead, #5.
November 17th-- Monday...Asst. Deputy Minister of Labour proposes meetings to explore avenues for resuming negotiations.
December 1st-- Monday...Meetings start in Vancouver with FCC and Don Cott.
December 10th-- Wednesday...Talks in Vancouver fail as FCC unwilling to make any moves.
1998
January 5th-- Monday...Joint Wage Caucas held in Vancouver. The NDP government appoints an Industrial Inquiry Commision (IIC) to bring an end to this dispute.
January 10th-- Saturday...Talks scheduled to begin but Mr. Vince Ready gets ill and lands in the hospital.
January 12th-- Monday...Again talks scheduled to begin but that too is postponed because of Mr. Ready's sickness.
January 22nd-- Thursday...Talks resume in Vancouver with Colin Taylor co-chairing the IIC.
January 25th-- Sunday...The Unions offered a "Mutual Assit" model of Flexibility but FCC wants the whole meal deal. Talks fail again as FCC is unwilling to bend at all. Colin Taylor declared that the mediation process was at an impasse and asked each side to make presentations to him.
January 27th-- Tuesday...The Unions made their presentations to the IIC.
February 9th-- Monday...The IIC report comes out and screws the unions. The report gives the company Full-Flex in maint. and ops, 365, 6 year term and reduces FCC pension contributions.
February 10th-- Tuesday...The Joint Wage Caucus unanimously recommends for the memberships to REJECT the IIC report.
February 19th-- Thursday...The PPWC & CEP reject the report by 93.2% overall. The PPWC is 91.1% to reject.
February 23th-- Monday...The IIC ask that the unions and company make a 2nd submission to them by February 27 to end the strike.
March 3rd-- Tuesday...The IIC says the 2nd submissions failed to provide them with specific proposals for settlement. The IIC ask that both sides give detailed and realistic proposals for settlement.
March 14th-- Saturday...The table officers and the 5 striking local's presidents meet with the IIC along with FCC but the company is still not willing to move. Today marks the start of month #9 of the strike that won't end.
April 13th-- Monday...The IIC calls the unions and the company to Vancouver to receive a second report, Vince Ready is optimistic that a settlement can be reached.
April 14th-- Tuesday...An agreement is finally reached that the Joint Wage Caucus feels it can recommend to the membership.
April 17th-- Crofton locals hold their vote, Local 2 votes 67% to accept.
April 18th-- The overall vote is released, 59.4% to accept the deal.
April 19th-- The picket line is down by Noon.
June 22nd--Fletcher Challenge announces cuts of 130 union jobs.
January Record
2003
August Record
