There were about 1,700-1,800 employees at Drummondville and 500-600 at Sorel. These were lost during the separatist movement of the early 1970s, but TWUA should not have lost them. For too long a period of time an American, Bert Demers, was maintained as Quebec director. Even though he was French-speaking, he antagonized many people in Quebec. Watson attended a meeting of Quebec staff who decided to rebel against Demers. Watson toured Quebec with a French-speaking staff person from Ontario to discover the problems and reported to President William Pollock that Demers should be removed and replaced by a native Quebecian. He had a difficult time convincing Pollock of this, but finally Demers was replaced. Unfortunately, the replacement, Wilfrid Essiambre, though a native, was no more acceptable to the members. The Union found this out too late, however. A better person, Jean-Marc Couture, who is currently on the Executive Council, was available; but he had been downgraded by Demers. If he had been named Quebec director, Sorel and Drummondville would not have been lost to the nationalist union, the Confederation of National Trade Unions. It was a bad situation; some staff were not working to help TWUA save the local. The loss resulted from a combination of “our sad staff situation in Quebec” and the separatist group which came in and “promised the moon.” Although the new union there is militant and radical, it has not accomplished much in negotiations. These were the only plants TWUA lost during the separatist and nationalist movement.
