Building a culture of wellness and active living

Most readers know that I’ve been a big champion of the key IBEW value of safety in the workplace. We’ve made tremendous strides in safety and now I think we must start to focus the same kind of energy and attention on wellness and healthy living. Although the damage of an unhealthy lifestyle isn’t as immediately obvious as the aftermath of a workplace accident, the truth is that far too many of our members end up suffering from poor health and a reduced quality of life.

The mission of Local 37 is “to work as a team to improve the lives of our members and their families”, and I believe that encouraging a growing focus on wellness and a healthy, active lifestyle is clearly within that mandate, in a number of ways.

The immediate benefit is direct improvement in health for our members. Study after study shows that an active, healthy, lifestyle boosts resistance to disease, lowers stress and improves or prevents many serious health problems (heart and stroke problems, diabetes, etc.). We want members to have a good quality of life, not only while working but also in retirement and one of the best ways to do that is encourage a culture of health, wellness and active living.

A secondary benefit relates to the savings we will see in the cost of our benefit programs. The prices we pay for our benefits are directly linked to the costs we incur as a group. The costs of drug coverage and health benefits are rising every year, and many of those cost drivers are related to preventable illnesses and risky health conditions that would benefit from an increased focus on an active healthy lifestyle. For example, every year we collectively pay hundreds of thousands in benefits premiums for cholesterol lowering medication like Lipitor. Obviously, there are some people who need this medication, but in a lot of cases, high cholesterol can be successfully treated through proper diet and exercise.

To support the above outcomes, Local 37 has already done a number of things to encourage our members to lead healthier, active lifestyles. As talked about in the last blog entry, we introduced a program to encourage member participation in community fundraising events that support healthcare and involve physical activity. We also have a program that can provide modest grants to groups of employees for workplace wellness activities. Earlier this year we also partnered with NB Power to encourage participation in the provincial walking challenge, and early reports are that it definitely has had a positive impact on the number of people participating in this summer long event.

I know it’s important to lead by example, and if I’m going to “talk the talk” on wellness and active lifestyles, I’d better “walk the walk”. My life is pretty busy and in the past that’s been my excuse for not finding time to be more active. But I’ve decided there will be no more excuses, I’m going to get moving, so I’ve recently started a running program. I’m taking it slow, as I build my fitness, but I’ve got a goal of running in a 5K event next year. That will be the topic of another blog entry though!

Involvement in great causes - Local 37 members who care about their communities

Local 37 members have a growing history of getting involved with community events, often in partnership with some of our employer friends. Yesterday was a great example of this, when Local 37 sponsored teams from Point Lepreau ("Positive Energy") and Coleson Cove ("The Generate-oars") competed in the 5th annual Saint John Dragon Boat Festival. Although the final amounts are yet to come in, it looks like the combined total raised for the St. Joseph's Hospital foundation by these teams was over $30,000!

This was the first year that Coleson Cove employees entered a team, and the third year that Point Lepreau employees had a team, which this year included a number of employees from AECL who are working on the refurbishment project.

The very first Point Lepreau Dragon Boat entry occurred three years ago, when I received a call from Keith Miller, who is a Manager at Point Lepreau. He had recently returned to work after an illness in which he had been treated at St. Joseph's hospital, and he wanted to give something back to the hospital that had treated him so well. He explained to me that he had registered a team and paid the $1000 registration fee, but the boat had to be named after a sponsoring organisation, and he wanted to know if it would be okay to call it an IBEW team, since most of the rowers would be IBEW members. I was honoured that he wanted to do this, and agreed immediately. To make a long story short, through Keith's generosity and the hard work of a team of volunteer employees, the first year's team was a great success.

In fact, it was such a great success, I wanted to find a way to encourage Local 37 members to get involved in similar activities in following years. As a result, I worked with the Local 37 Health, Wellness and Benefits Committee to develop a pilot project that provides financial support to teams of IBEW members wishing to participate in community, charitable fundraising activities related to health and wellness. The type of charitable events supported had to include physical activity by the participants (running, walking, paddling, etc.).

This program has been very successful, and to date we have sponsored "Run for the Cure" and "Relay for Life" teams in addition to the Dragon Boat teams. There is an application process, if you are interested in learning more about this program, the application form and more information can be found here.

Photos: (Top to Bottom): The IBEW Coleson Cove Generate-oars winning their second race, Keith Miller and IBEW Positive Energy Team Captain Steve Brown, the Positive Energy Team site, Positive Energy paddling out to the start line for their second race, and some members of the Generate-oars on stand-by for their next race.

Revisiting the Government's wage restraint policy

Lately I've been hearing a lot of questions about the impacts to Local 37 members of the New Brunswick Government's wage restraint policy. Although we have already posted some information about this on our website and I've written a previous blog entry about it, it's worth covering again.

To recap, the government announced a wage restraint policy that affects employees in all parts of the public service. Government is saying this action is necessary because of a projected deficit in their revenue, caused by the economic downturn and also a projected shortfall in the public service pension fund.

The government has said that all existing collective agreements will be honoured, however as existing contracts expire they will negotiate new two-year collective agreements. Under the new negotiating mandate, the new contracts will have a wage freeze, with no increases in wages for a two-year period. This will affect all employees in the public service, and the wage freeze has already started for non-union and management employees.

To be clear, I have been told that Local 37 members will receive all the scheduled increases which have been negotiated in the existing collective agreements. It is business as usual until the current contracts expire.

In addition, the government has said this policy will not affect step increases or progressions through a classification, (for example if someone were at step “c” they would still go to step “d”) and it will not affect the normal reclassification or promotion process.

The first Local 37 contract affected by this will be the Nuclear Contract in place for employees at Point Lepreau, which expires at the end of 2010.

Although I can’t predict exactly what will happen at negotiations, we will go to the table to bargain for each of our bargaining units when their contracts expire, and I’m sure we will be able to make gains. There are lot’s of other issues that can be discussed - vacation, RRSPs, paid family leave, overtime rates, etc., and in reality, some of those are pretty important to members.

Obviously, I'm not happy about any of this, however I do know that there are some really serious issues impacting the province, and we could be in far worse shape. At least this is happening at a time when the current yearly rate of inflation for the province is 0%.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about this,please feel free to contact the union office.

A key milestone reached in the Point Lepreau refurbishment project.

I received word yesterday that the final calandria tube has been successfully removed from Point Lepreau’s reactor core. The removal of the 380 calandria tubes marks the the last major job of dismantling the old reactor and now the work of rebuilding the reactor core begins. This is an important milestone in the completion of the Point Lepreau refurbishment project and I wanted to let you know that I am proud of everyone who has contributed to the refurbishment project so far.

A lot of the most difficult and challenging work has now been completed, safely, and it is due to the hard work and dedication of all Local 37 members who have helped to plan and execute this project and related activities, whether directly or in a supporting role, and also those who have worked as protection assistants to ensure that our partners in the building trades unions and AECL are able to work safely. This also includes our members working in all other NB Power companies who have kept the rest of NB Power's complex system running smoothly for the people of New Brunswick while Point Lepreau is off-line.

Speaking of safety, this first of its kind project has gone millions of hours worked without a lost time accident -- this is top performance that is never matched by industries and workplaces that don't have our culture of always putting public and worker safety first.

Local 37 members continually reflect the qualities that the IBEW is known for: the best skills, the highest quality and the strongest work ethic. As we move into the next phase of the project - putting the reactor back together and commissioning - I know that all Local 37 members will continue to shine, by remaining focused on those qualities and by working safely.

Grand lake employees' fantastic safety record!

Last week the employees of Grand Lake Generating Station (G.S.) celebrated a wonderful milestone of 10 years without a lost time accident. There have been a number of safety records reached by IBEW members within the NB Power group of companies and with our other employers; however the achievement of the Grand Lake employees is especially noteworthy.


Grand Lake G.S. is the oldest thermal plant in the NB Power system, and although it has been scheduled for closure, the final date (now set at June 2010) had been a moving target.

As a result, workers have had the multiple challenges of an aging plant that requires significant manual operation, reduced staffing levels as some workers were released for opportunities in other locations and significant uncertainty around the final timetable for plant closure. Despite these challenges, workers and management have shown their commitment to the principle that the most important thing is for workers to be able to go home safely to their families and loved ones at the end of each days labour. By working together cooperatively they have achieved this wonderful safety record, and they can be an inspiration to all of us.

To commemorate the special achievement of 10 years without a lost time accident, a BBQ was held at the local community centre for plant staff. At this event I was honoured to present the members of the Grand Lake Joint Health and Safety Committee (JH&SC) a framed certificate recognizing all Grand Lakes G.S. employees’ strong commitment to safety.

The IBEW was founded in large part from a desire to improve worker safety – it’s great to see that tradition living on at Grand Lake Generating Station!

(Top: Grand Lake G.S. employees celebrate their achievement. Bottom: IBEW Business Manager Ross Galbraith presents a certificate of achievement to all employees of Grand lake G.S. Accepting on behalf of the employees is JH&SC Chairperson Kenny Fraser and the other members of the committee.)

Comments on the Telegraph Journal story suggesting NB Power may be privatized

Those of you who read the Telegraph Journal may have been a bit surprised by a front page story today under the headline "Utility on the block". Although I don’t think it is anything to get too worked up about at this time, I want you to know that we remain strongly opposed to privatization and are doing our due diligence on this issue and will respond appropriately.

For those who haven’t actually seen it, the story was prompted by an announcement by the provincial government that it is entering into talks with the Province of Quebec about developing partnerships in the energy sector. When he was interviewed by a group of reporters on this, Premier Graham was asked if these talks would include discussions on privatizing NB Power. His response was vague, saying: “This is going to be a very broad discussion. There are going to be a number of hypothetical questions out there.” That response led the TJ reporter to the conclusion that privatization could be one of the topics of discussion, and that led to the headline “Utility on the block”.

We are now trying to find out more, but at this point, our gut feel is that the headline is sensationalistic.

I can’t believe that the province would seriously consider privatization. The case against it is overwhelming. The Premier knows we’re better off than Nova Scotia or Maine, both of whom have privatized utilities. He knows New Brunswickers would be paying more and outages would be more frequent and last longer under a privatized utility. The track record is there. But perhaps even more importantly, he knows the public doesn’t want it, and that keeping NB Power public was one of the three major planks that helped get him elected. In fact, their platform stated that “A Liberal Government will maintain NB Power as a publically owned utility that will serve all New Brunswickers equally.”

Local 37 has fought this battle before and we won’t hesitate to do it again if the need arises. But we don’t want to over-react to something that doesn’t warrant it. I want you to know though, that we are on it.

As always, we welcome your input. Also, if you want your voice heard on this outside the union, you can go to the Telegraph Journal CanadaEast website (http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/) and click on this morning’s story. You’ll see under it where readers have registered their comments. You are free to do the same or to support or oppose the views expressed by other readers. It’s just one more way of having your voice heard.

You're supposed to climb back on, right?

Last October, I wrote about an accident I had been in (http://ibew37.blogspot.com/2008/10/health-update.html) which resulted in me spending three days in the Intensive Care Unit at the Saint John Regional Hospital after suffering a head injury. As some of you may know, one of my hobbies is training and driving Standardbred (Harness) racehorses, a hobby I picked up through my father, who trained racehorses as an occupation, for nearly 50 years. The accident occurred during a horse race, when the horse I was driving fell suddenly, propelling me into the ground head first. Luckily for me, I was wearing the proper safety equipment (a top notch helmet and a protective impact vest) and there is no doubt that the helmet saved my life.

Just like most accidents, it came without warning and it was unexpected -- it's one of the reasons we always need to use the safety equipment and tools we have - you can just never tell.

You may be interested in listening to an interview CBC radio did with me about the accident. You can find it at http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningsaintjohn/int_archives/jun.html by scrolling down to the June 8th interview.

As an update to that blog entry, I thought some of you would like to know that I'm now "back on track". You know what they say - if a horse throws you, you need to climb right back up! The good news is that last week I won with the horse I had crashed with (his name is "Porthill Digger") in my second time out with him this year.