In June 1956 the new Local 5328 received a charter from the United
Steelworkers of America.
The new plant "Parkdale Works," was intended to be the showpiece of
"The Steel Company of Canada" the largest Canadian fully integrated
steel producer.
The new plant would process steel rod into wire of different grades
and sizes.
The green-rod coils coming from the Rod Mill and Bar Mill and
weighing from 400 (the first few years) to 1600 pounds (some years
later) would be stored in the Rod Shed or in the Yard until needed.
It would then go trough the Cleaning Line where it would be freed of
dirt and rust and coated with phosphate and/or various amounts of lime
depending on the ultimate finish or coating of the wire.
Once cleaned, the rod would be transported to the various Wire Drawing
frames where it would be cold drawn trough a carbide die, after passing
trough a lubricating soap box, to achieve the desired size and finish .
In 1956 Stelco had several other plants unionized by the Steelworkers
in the city of Hamilton, across Ontario, in Quebec and in Alberta
involved in the making of steel (Basic Steel) and the
processing of steel (Fabricators): Hilton Works, Canada Works, Frost
Works, Canadian Drawn Works, Brantford Works, Swansea Works, Gananoque
Works, St.Henry Works, McMaster Works, Dominion Works, Edmonton Works
and Camrose Works.
All the plants totaled a workforce of about 18,000 people.
Eventually two new plants were added: Lake Erie Works and Burlington
Works and later on many of the plants were sold or permanently
closed.
Originally the new "Parkdale Works" was crewed up mainly with workers
from Canada Works, Frost Works and from other works transferred to the
new plant.
The first president of the local was Alex Sharpe (1956-1961),
followed by Cliff Ormerod (1961-1967), Bill Stetson (1967-1970)John
Stevenson (1970-1982), Doug McPherson (1982-1985), Danny Baird
(1985-1988) and Joe Crugnale (1988-2001), Scott Duvall (2001...2007),
Darren Green (2007...)
From a starting unionized workforce of approximately 180, it grew to
a high of 510 in 1989, to the present 380.
Negotiations were conducted on a chain wide basis with all the Local
Unions representing the various Works meeting the Company at a common
location.
There was a Central Negotiating Committee, composed of the full
negotiating committee of Local 1005 and representatives of the other
Locals, that dealt with common issues like wages, vacations, holidays,
pension, group insurance and contract language that affected all the
plant.
Various Local Committees dealt with issues specific to the particular
plants.
This pattern of Chain bargaining ended in 1990.
The division was more definitive with the formation of several separate
companies in 1993 and the subsequent splitting of the common Pension
Fund achieved with the blessing of the Pension Commission of Ontario.
Work Stoppages at Parkdale.
In 1966 there was the so called "lemonade strike".
The Membership of Local 1005 walked out when the Company refused to give
the employees some relief in the Summer by making lemonade
available in the Iron-Making and Steel Making divisions of Hilton Works.
Eventually groups went to the various Stelco plants in Hamilton
and took the unionized employees out on a wild-cat strike. Eventually
the brothers at Hilton Works got lemons in coolers spread trough the
plant.
The first legal strike took place in August 1st 1969 with a
settlement reached at the beginning of November.
In October 1976 approximately one hundred and thirty Parkdale Works
employees participated in the day of protest against the price and wages
control program enacted by the then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
The Company sued the Union and the redress sought was part of the
settlement of the next contract.
In 1978 all the Stelco plants ratified the terms of a new collective
agreement except Parkdale Works.
The President, at the time John Stevenson, and the Committee had a
hard time convincing the workers that the agreement reached was a fair
one and that there was nothing more to be gained by a strike.
At the third ballot, the contract was ratified by a slim margin.
In 1981, with tempers flaring under the incitement of Cec Taylor,
president of Local 1005, all the plants struck Stelco on August 1st.
Lake Erie Works, Canada Works, the fastener division of Burlington
Works, Swansea Works and some of the other plants reached an agreement
on August 24 and went back to work.
The remaining plants, including Parkdale Works, remained on strike till
the last week of October.
In 1990 the majority of the Locals had new leaders, elected in 1988
and a confrontation with the Company was inevitable in view of the
intransigent position of Fred Telmer, President, and Bob Melbourne,
C.E.O.
It almost bankrupted the Company.
In late October Local 1005 at Hilton Works reached a settlement. Most
of the other works settled in early November and Lake Erie Works in mid
November. That would be the last time that all the Locals representing
the Stelco plants negotiated together.
In 1996 Local 5328 struck Stelwire-Parkdale Works to the astonishment
of the Company that underestimated the resolve of the Membership of the
Local. The strike was of short duration and, gains aside, a strong point
was made with the Company.
A settlement was reached on August 12 and by the end of the month
everybody was back to work.
Stelco's changes.
Throughout the years The Steel Company of Canada Ltd. became Stelco
Inc.
Stelco Wire Products was a division of Stelco and included Parkdale,
Burlington and Frost Works.
The Name was later changed to Stelwire, Stelco Inc.
In 1993 incorporated subsidiary companies, fully owned by Stelco, were
formed and Stelwire Ltd. comprising Parkdale Works and Burlington Works
became one of them.
In September 1999 , in view of the community of interests of their
Members and the interaction of the two plants Parkdale Works' Local 5328
and Burlington Works' Local 8460 amalgamated.
On January 29, 2004 Stelco announced they were seeking court
protection under CCAA (Comapnies' Creditors arrangement Act). The
protection would affect Stelco Inc. and its subsidiaries Stelpipe,
Stelwire, CHT Steel and the previously closed Welland pipe. Other
subsidiaries , including Alta Steel, Norambar, and Stelfil were not
included in this protection.
The Negotiating Committee (Scott Duvall, Darren Green, Tony
Ciaramella) of Local 5328 worked along with the committees from Local
1005 and 8782 in challenging Stelco's need for this protection. There
were many court challenges by us and the Steelworkers and a year
later after meeting with several companies we started to negotiate with
Mittal Canada. On December 1, 2005 a memorandum of agreement was signed
by the parties and the deal was struck.
Mittal Canada purchased Stelwire (Parkdale and Burlington), Norambar
and Stelfil. They took over on February 1, 2006. Since that
time the Burlington facility was closed and under an early retirement
agreement many of the members from both plants retired.
The Surface furnace and the Holcroft furnace were brought to the
Hamilton facility and are today in full production.
