A long-time Hudbay employee is leading a petition drive that aims to merge the company’s seven unions into a single entity.
Alan Chatfield, a miner who does not speak on behalf of any union executive, believes one union would be best for workers and the community.
“We really do have to stand together, especially with what’s going on in the zinc plant,” he said.
“The company is saying that the zinc plant may not be viable to continue to operate. Well, we have to stand up and we have to say, ‘That’s part of business. To keep the zinc plant running and to keep Lalor running, that’s part of business. And somehow you make it work, because we’re not going to give up…more jobs in Flin Flon. And the voice has got to be one voice and the company has got to listen to the one voice.”
Chatfield was referring to Hudbay’s plan to operate the Flin Flon zinc plant beyond 2019 or 2020 only if it can find $15 million in annual savings. The zinc would come from Lalor mine. This would save 300 to 400 jobs in Flin Flon, according to company estimates.
Chatfield said the current setup of seven unions can be confusing for workers, who may hear differing accounts from different union negotiators. He said it’s likely also confusing for Hudbay “as to who was speaking for who.”
While Chatfield’s petition would not by itself compel a mass union merger, it could conceivably motivate union leaders to seriously discuss amalgamations or consider membership votes on the concept.
The notion of a single union at Hudbay is not new. Chatfield, who in the 1990s spent three years as head of Hudbay’s largest union, USW Local 7106, said union members have discussed the idea within the last decade, but nothing materialized.
There was more talk of a single union, at least informally, during IAM Local 1848’s four-month strike in 2015.
During the strike, an executive member of one company union told The Reminder he favoured a single union but that smaller unions resisted the idea out of fear they would lose bargaining power.
Chatfield believes many tradespeople would be concerned about losing their identity in a single union, but he proposes that each trade be given a seat on the executive.
He launched his petition drive in late February and as of this week estimated he had 100 signatures. He hopes to collect signatures from at least 80 per cent of Hudbay’s unionized workers – about 800 people, according to a Reminder estimate.
Chatfield plans to collect signatures until May. He said workers interested in signing the petition need only ask around their workplace, as copies have been distributed to union members.
If he receives enough signatures, Chatfield plans to forward the petition to the provincial minister who oversees labour issues, hoping the minister will help get the ball rolling on a potential merger.
Chatfield said he would not care which union would represent Hudbay workers.
“I just know that somehow we have to end up with one voice for the company to take us seriously,” he said.
