Page 30 - A Visit with Winston Ruck, Steelworker

ISSUE : Issue 60

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1992/6/1

for people?) Of course, I did. That's my job. But I did it in conjunction with these other members of the grievance com? mittee. I didn't do it alone. We never op? erated alone. That was a principle. Two men must go in and deal with any issue. There must be two of you. So that would prevent shysters from going in making deals with the superintendent or the as? sistant superintendent or the general foreman. It had to be two people, and it had to be recorded. You went in as offi? cial meeting. And you've got to report what you did when you went in there. We go in and we meet with the superinten? dent, or the assistant superintendent. N;wEa.ing'p.r..;;rCo-op ArtisaHale Jlcadian iMeals de Cheticamp Ltee. Hand Hooked. I'Virgin Wool ProductsJ May 6th - October 15th • 224-2170 • Open Every Day to Welcome You We swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Our Service Bay Diagnostic System always tells the truth. SBDS hooks right up to your vehicle so that you and your mechanic both know exactly what's wrong. Quickly and accurately. SBDS also provides a detailed print-out of the problem. So all you find on your bill is the truth. But the truth doesn't have to hurt. WE SERVICE ANY FORD OR MERCURY CAR OR TRUCK. AND WE DO IT FASTER THAN ANYONE! WE MADE THIS $40,000.00 INVESTMENT SO THAT WE CAN FIX IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. PLAZA LINCOLN MERCURY SALES LTD. 33 TERMINAL ROAD SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA 567-1616 very often, who did most of the detailed work. And we'd go in in a formal manner. We'd have the seniority list to back us up. We're not going in there cold; we're going in there with information to support our contention. 'Cause you had to do your homework.... This is contract. "This is collective agreement stuff. We refer to the section that that applies to in the collective agreement. (The Grievance Committee was nice train? ing.) Oh, the very best. The very best. And it gave you an air of self- confidence. .. . And it gave you knowlege. You understand the workings of that col? lective agreement. You had to learn that; you had to know that. You had to, your? self, 'cause you didn't always have the senior people there with you. And if you were in doubt, you go to them and get their understanding of it. 'Cause the clauses of the collective agreement some? times are complex. It's not that simple. And it could be misread and misconstrued, and construed to use it different (for different) individuals. So you had to know your collective agreement-- that was fundamental. Any? body who wanted to be a good grievance man had to learn the collective agree? ment . And know what he was talking about. Know why that clause went in there. So once you knew that, no? body could trick you. But sometimes it's not always spelled out that clearly. But you, based on your knowledge and prior appli? cation of that particular clause or clauses, whatev? er, you begin to get expe? rience. Acquire that within you. You could perhaps re? fer to a particular section of the collective agreement without having actually have to see it. But you knew it--you knew section 7A1 dealt with seniority-- plants and seniority. And you knew section 7A2 dealt with sectional seniority. Department seniority--all the way down. By virtue of your having to apply it and study it from time to time. (So now, the next role that you took on....) I served on the vice-presidency. Martin Merner was president during that time. And I served in that capacity for three years, filling in oc? casionally, acquiring more knowledge, the inner work- WE HAVE A FLEET OF 12 LOAN VEHICLES THAT YOU CAN RESERVE FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.

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