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III- HAH Wednesday December lt78 PgeJ Taxi union controversy shakes industry Union organizer did not foresee controversy Herald editor Two months ago Georgetown cab driver Jack McDowell set out to help a couple of til low workers who were having trouble with the boss he now embroiled In a battle that could change the entire On tario and possible Canadian taxi Industries Jack McDowell Is trying to organize Ontario taxi drivers Into their first ever union He t start out to Up until Nov Mr Mc drove a taxi or the Glen cab company in own On that date a vote by the cabbies on whether or not to certify their union ended In a five- five tie with two spoiled ballots And on that date less than minutes after the vote Mr McDowell along with the four other Glen employees who voted for the union were fired OTHER EMPLOltlS Mr McDowell the other fired employees and support era of the unionizing attempt are now involved with before the Ontario Labour Relations Board appealing the firings as well as other alleged misdeeds carried out by the Glen management during the unionizing attempt Mr Mc hoped the ORLU wil set aside the initial vote because of thenllege violations of Onto no labour law and grant the union automatic certification Mr McDowell said he has ended up at the centre of the unionizing controversy more by default than by design SINCE AUGUST The yearold Niagara Falls native only began work log with the Glen cab company In August of this ear It was shortly after he started the Job that Mr McDowell said he realized there were serious problems between the Glen management and staff My first Impression upon meeting theGlcn management was that they were a lot like lot of new small businessmen They were on bit of an ego trip and they felt their employees were something less than Mr McDowell explains that the drivers were upset with the working conditions at the com He said the drivers feel they have no rights and are completely at the mercy of the whims of the owners The drivers began to discuss jhe possibility of organizing a union and McDowell ended up in the leadership rale I was the only driver who really knew anything about unions and people s rights I also have a friend who Is a negotiator with the paper workers union and we figured he could give me some lips KFFPCOOL I also thought of as a guy who can keep his cool and von fly off the handle easily which is Important in ncgnti ations That why they elected me president Mr McDowell is not only president of the fledgling Georgetown local of the taxi drivers association he Is also president of the Ontario Taxi Association since George town Is the only local In Ontario currently in the pro cess of seeking certification When McDowell and the Glen cabbies began their certl Ication fight they thought of it only as a local affair Then were no visions of a provincial union and in fact neither the Ontario of Labour or the Canadian Labour Con became Involved in the certification attempt until mid November after the wheels were already well in motion was then strapped for money to meet the local s legal fees that the union organ turned to the CLC for financial assistance and got It HI- AH TALK You hear a lot of talk of brotherhood and sticking unions Our appeal to the CLC for help really put this talk to the test and it proved it true I have found that becoming part of the union is like becoming part of a family they do back you up with money and moral support When It first started there was a cause but my heart wasn that in It I just wanted justice for a few people But the more I got the more the principal of the thing became apparent Now I am dedicated to the cause And m not to unionizing taxi drivers in Georgetown but also In Ontario and maybe even a cross Canada I II fight for the union until we get it established and sooner or later we will blish it somewhere ONLY W He thinks unionsarc the only way of guaranteeing employee rights Management says go In and bargain with them dually but what the good of thaf would have seven different contracts for seven different people you would have nothing behind it They recognized as a unit A union is the only way the government will back up a contract Employees are subjected to a lot of unfair treatment by management and somewhere along the lint someone has got I m convinced that the only way to do that is through organizing and collective bar gaining Mr McDowell said he doesn think management should be opposed to unions It seems to me that If management is going to make a promise and keep it they should have no fear of a union All collective bargaining means is that you get a group together they negotiate a eon tract with management and then they have the protection or the Ontario government labour board TOKEN By the same token the union has to live up to their end or the contract too Mr McDowell thinks certain aspects of the taxi Industry cleaned up thinks that a provincial union would help do this He said hat currently all government lotions relating to taxis are legislated at the municipal live Mr McDowell think that per cent of regulations relating to tho taxi industry could be uniform across the province A strong taxi union could lobby for regulations to clean up the industry and also guar better working candl Honed far tin vers across the Taxi company owner says unions unnecessary do not serve purpose labour board hearings by owner Denis Or vine refused to province he said Protection of the drivers is a big issue There arc over robberies a day in Toronto of taxi drivers but the companies won put in protective glass between the driver and the passenger A strong taxi union could push for this typo or regulation REGULATE Mr McDowell said a taxi union would also be able to help regulate its own member ship According to Mr McDo well some drivers and violate the ethics of the Industry airports for some cabbies will bribe the dispatcher to get preferential treatment Under a union situation a local could take disciplinary action a gainst a driver or dispatcher taking part In such practises Mr McDowell said Mr McDowell describes himself as an Idealist and it is partially this Idealism thit fuels his Tight for the union If I feel someone getting shafted I It fight for them 1 don 1 do It for but the self satisfaction If 1 enjoying what I doing I don t mind working hard Iconspcnd 16 toohours a day it Despite Mr McDowells cur rent dedication to union work he says his number one love Is harness racing race driver and has driven In over races since getting his license five years ago He hopes some day to make his racing but adds that It isn difficult field to crack Mil Mr McDowell his previous driven a taxi in St Gather Ines and has held a variety or jobs Including working In a paper mill along with a one as the bookkeeper at I he Mi II croft Inn In Acton Georgetown taxi dispute has not been without its share of bitterness and during the course of the unionizing at ttmpt both sides have directed charges and countercharges at on another The union organ izcrs have been accused of using intimidation tactics threats and vandalism Mr said of the charges I expected those type stories because I was told they would do that before hand Management is looking for public sympathy I have never threatened anybody but to some people as soon as mention union they think longshoremen with sticks and This the New York docks this a little town in Ontario and It just 1 happen that way Mr McDowell said that even Glen cab company have nil picture taken Photo by Michael oil ft I if the KB orders Glen Cabs to rehire the fired drivers he expect they will find another excuse to fire them again Ik said job has made the unionizing cult is afraid of Vouhavetobe iwlully dedicated to ignore the fear of losing your job but the principal means Mr more than money The labour board hearings ire expected to resume on January Mr McDowell lb currently working as pizza delivery man for some income to tide him over ilunnc course of the hearings Alter hearings are re he said probably in his capacity Taxi Association pros he will help cabbies to unionize in other municipalities org their Halton planning committee approves Acton subdivision Herald staff writer The principle behind ions may be good the methods and so Dims one of owners of Glen Taxi which is in Hie middle of a fight to bar Ihc certification of The Ontario Taxi Association Their ids are fires he wid Whin they first started unions there was a need for them but il to the point now where outlived their useful Lots f members are fanatics whole principle behind them is now that the times have The laws governing unions and their establishment need ind this it the fight that Mr Intends to go into He and he says he II tike his battle to tht legislature if need be because his battle Is Ihc prmiiple behind the way unions are certified not si unions themselves in gener al The laws arc made per cent in favour of unions management stand a chance the they stand he says members can walk in here and curse swear to me threaten me and the onus would be on me to prove it he said But can be into court and have to prove thai 1 didn t do something to a union member on his alone It time they stopped shooting off their mouths and seriously looked the situation As the rules now stand it requires of per cent plus one in order to certified is totally worng in many cases he aid If per cent of the in a big company like which has work wi re upset enough to want a union then I don feel they need vole If that many people ire then there s something wrong in the phce and should be If you re little plicc with only ten employees say 20 or per cent want he i that or 3 people to reveal them or then his competition would be able to do what he dots V- never the melhods they he said since the comp any is already breaking even something most new taxi com panics don do for some years after they first change hands Mr always been involved in tixls He rked it a dairy at one point then bought it After that he went to Calvary for a time and wound up with his own trucking firm delivering carpels from to retail litems developed in his life at that point he said and he came back cast began driving a taxi in Milton I t want start doing something where people would be counting on me for any specific time he said If I was driving taxi I could come and go as I liked just like most of the drivers do Mr MncMillanaskcdhimto help out in Georgetown one day and he fell for the town I know what I was doing that day he said know the town at all but I didn l go back to Milton again Mr has two sons whom he termed charming bright handsome modest and all sorts of other neat things just like their dad he said with a wink The reporter tried to get a picture of Mr told he never allows people to photograph him If anyone wants to know what I look like they can come over here and meet me in the flesh he chuckled Regional police are initiating complaint forms region planning committee has endorsed the towns Sept 5 decision to grant a zoning bylaw amendment for the residential sub division proposed for construe in Acton north end Concern over the site s loca adjacent to a busy CNR line had been expressed by the provincial ministry of environ and business development officer and Oik Carol Gooding add last week that the practice of building homes near railway lines should be discoursed The recommended approval for the rczonlng however subject lo the site being suitably buffered a gainst noise lo the ministry satisfaction North Heal Estate Ltd coowners Paul and were on hand at the committee Tuesday meeting to hear regional chair man Jack lluflis tell Hills Major Pete Pomcroy that ho want a resi dentin subdivision built next to a railway in his home municipality or Burlington CAUTIONS I concerns about okay ing any residential develop ment that abutting rail lines despite the that would be taken Good Ing agreed citing problems that hove arisen in as a result of similar planning errors The committee was told that approximately six freight trains and ten passenger trains use the CNIt line through Acton every day North Hat ton proposed subdivision would abut the line at Us southern limit while fronting on Main Street North High way to the west and extending north to Wallace Street The plan of subdivision awaiting by the mm of housing calls for the construction of semi detached home and town house units The committee also learned that noise levels in the vicinity of the rail line exceed the acceptable level factor which the ministry or environ mcnl wishes have noted in till land registry deeds pertain inc to the site Major defended the choice of site however explaining that it could be used for no purpose 1 don 1 think the noise is something Hint be rcome he said its up to and Hilton Hills but put it this way 1 wnuUin want it In Burlington Chairman responded point Hi out that Acton already has major residential visions located alongside the mi railway line and the lose proximity t seem be bothering any of people living there troublemakers in every place ind then there couple who can be one way or the depending on whns tic best In a small griup one two people prol ably deserve any trouble they re getting The wny things stind now isn right or to a small com pany In fact its damaging Mr and his partner Us bought Glen Taxi from Al Lee I in during the summer Prior lo that he dispatched an I drove for them He started life as an orphan a Hull Quebec I ut can remember when his him and look him where he spent Ins boyhood and received his education His father worked in the post office more than years and Mr says he learned his business methods from him Those principles ire different from the ones used by every other company own he knows In I about The police commission has adopted the Ontario Police Commissions recommended complaint pro cedure for alliens complaints the fore of the commissi express I the concern at membc of the public c made the avenues of complaint open to them if they reason lo believe that a police officer with whom had dealing has not acted propcrlj or within the At the same lime the com mission Ins recommended that thief Ken meet with members of the I Association ind my members of the commission who wish parti pate lo discuss the proce dure for internal The association supported the procedure for III ng a hut the members were concerned that a citizen Till out a complaint form but refuse to sign it and the investigations would be carried out anyway requiring officer to submit a report on the matter I- II commission decided that if i filed a comp refused to sign the form they would receu written notice that unless the form is the complaint will not be followed up The association is to tell the officers thit the board is behind them in the daj out of their duties if they curry them out properly and lay fully Judge Joseph Same told association dent lleulcns The complaint procedure a do ted by the commission several avenues to a member of the public who believes he has a complaint against a member of the force A mplnint can be filed with any duty officer at any police station In the region If the complaint Is minor it may be resolved the dlvi level and in such a case the complainant is asked to sign a form indicating his complaint has been resolved It the complaint can t be resolv at this level it will be passed on to the chief or to an officer appointed to investigate com plaints The chief will be required lo decide whether the complaint is unfounded force exonerated that the complaint is not sustained or that the complaint Is sustain If the complaint is founded thai means the dent did not occur or the member complained about involved If the officer is exonerated it means the incident took place but the officer acted properly If the complaint is not tamed it means the chief has decided there Is Insufficient evidence to prove or disprove the allegation If there Is sufficient evidence to support the complaint the verdict will be that the complaint is If the complaint is sustained the officer may face a criminal charge a charge under the Police Act or other action if the complainant Is not happy with Ihe results of the Investigation into the com plainl he or she ask for a hearing before the local police commission or apply a Justice of the Peace with a view to pressing criminal charges he final avenue appeal is to the Ontario Police Commission A brochure will be available at any local police station which details the complaint procedure and describes the penalties for a malicious com plaint which has not tlon The brochures will be available some time In the New Year WEDNESDAY NIGHT FEVER Majuery and Karen Herrmann me ratten of ditto club Public School performed the school Christmas concert Wednesday evening Students from all grides are in the club and member performed a number of dance routine to the of teveral well known tunes Herald 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