On March 10th, 2021 the employer gave the union 45 days notice to eliminate the pulping group operator position.
The following is our response:
March 10, 2021
Elimination of Pulping Group Operator
Safety is a major part of the PGO job; the PGO mentors the crew but is also a valuable resource for anyone who has to enter the pulping group, including contractors, staff, control room and field operators. They control the environment for evacuations and coordinate all maintenance and production procedures so that everyone remains safe to go home at the end of the shift.
In 1982 the Northwood pulp mill experienced a fatality of a 19-year-old worker who had been on the job for 7 months. He was fatally burned by hot liquor at the sand separator on B digester.
Following the investigation, the coroner provided the employer with some recommendations. One of these recommendations was for the employer keep track of training and experience.
In August of 1986, there was another near miss on B digester in which the vacuum breakers were left open on B digester delock. Three mill employees were involved. A 22-year-old with 3 years mill seniority, 19-year-old with 2 years mill service and 33 years old with 6 months of service.The 22-year-old was the senior most qualified person on the delock with 2 ½ years department seniority. Two of the employees involved in this incident bid out of the department within six months.
A near miss investigation took place and a mandate from the department superintendent Dennis Matson was that a PGO would be on all of the digester related lockouts to prevent another tragedy.
The mill had just been twinned in the early 1980s and the employees were moving fast through the jobs and up the line of progression with limited time to experience the full exposure to many production and safety situations.
The department is almost in the same situation as it was in 1982.
Due to the under manning the bottom field people are moving very quickly through the line of progression and not spending much time on the jobs, especially the digester field job.
Our senior field people have a maximum of six years’ service in the department, and they are trained up 4 jobs
In the past year three pulping group operators had relinquished their positions and safety was a factor in their decision to leave.
There are two statements on the coroner’s report from the 1982 incident which stood out for us:
The coroner was referencing the two valves that needed to be opened in sequence to dump the sand separator. He went on to write that it appeared that that there was some confusion among the supervisors and workers as to which procedure should be followed.
The coroner went on to say that while he had dumped the sand separator on previous occasions, without incident, and knew both valves were not to be opened at the same time, I am satisfied that he was not aware of the consequences of his actions.
PGOs today have signed off on all of the jobs in the line of progression, have a minimum 30 years seniority in the department and 100 years of experience combined. As stated above to have them there as a resource is invaluable.
Unifor Local 603 will not be complicit in this decision; We as a union have very serious concerns about the removal of a “lead hand” job (PGO) that has proven to be crucial to the safety of all mill employees, and especially the field operators in this department. We can only hope that another serious or fatal injury does not take place because of this decision.
Standing Committee
Norm Keeler
Paul Jurkovic
Darren Croy
Mark Lawrence
President Local 603
Tracy Ingham