ist Issue November, 1966 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER ; PRINCE GEORGE Ang - () SEMINAR By FRANK FULLER International Assistant Director of Research and Education “Where are the workers?” «was the question asked by iw members of Local 1-424 as they toured the automated Prince George Pulp and “ Paper mill on October 13th. « They were greeted by a com- plex series of panel boards ; with an array of red and green lights. According to the plant personnel manager, most of the workers were tucked away in control rooms; however, a few were seen watching a row of panel boards near the moving ma- chines. The plant machinery was operated by a system of electronic instrumentation supervised by workers. The tour was one part of an educational seminar on automation and technological change held in Prince George, B.C., on October 12-14, spon- sored by Local 1-424 in co- operation with the Region and International Union. It was conducted by Frank Fuller, International Union. The course was conducted by my- self with the aid of 1-424 officers. Other highlights of the con- ference were: ® an examination of the prob- lems created by _ techno- logical change and possible solutions. . © films which revealed both the research being done on the creation of new ma- chines, and the actual op- eration of a highly mechan- ized factory. -® a Swedish color film on worker retraining. ® a tour through the Weld- agg Plywood mill in Ques- nel, ® a lecture on the political structure of the Canadian Parliament by Gordon Hurlbert, Canadian Labour College graduate and Busi- ness Agent of Local 1-424. The initial day of the semi- mar was spent in searching out the meaning of automa- tion and mechanization. Class members from the highly mechanized sawmill at Mc- Kenzie, B.C. and other mills described the effects of tech- COMING TO VANCOUVER? stay at the AUSTIN MOTOR HOTEL Wonderful comfort at low nological change on their jobs and operations. Mechanization was simply defined as the replacement of muscle power by machines operated by workers; in its more advanced stages, push buttons are used to,exercise control and operate, the ma- chines. Automation ‘was de- fined as the operation of ma- chines by other machines or computers, with very few workers involved. Automa- tion changes the machine op- erator into a supervisor of automatically controlled ma- chines. The difference between automation and mechaniza- tion was brought into focus by the visit to the Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill on the second night. The barker-chipper operator con- trolled the log deck, barking and chipping machines by pushing buttons. In the rest of the mill, workers watched panel boards and made ad- justments when the board- lights indicated they were needed. One executive board member commented — “It is frightening to be in a plant with so few workers; they must be lonesome.” The second day of the semi- nar sessions was spent in dis- cussing the problems that were being created by both automation and technological change. Also examined were some possible solutions to the problems. Spirited discussion took place on these issues. Members at times disagreed, but the consensus was that automation can be a blessing if it is controlled when it is being introduced. The point was made in the discussion that collective bargaining alone was not the solution, but that political action is ne- cessary to control the impact of automation and spread its benefits to all of society. HOLD EVERYTHING IWA INTERNATIONAL Assistant Director of Research and Education Frank Fuller (left) is shown instructing Local 1-424 IWA students at the educational seminar held to discuss automation and technological change, October 13, in Prince George. The third day was spent in analyzing various contract clauses that other unions are using to prevent the loss of wages and benefits that occur when mechanization and auto- mation are introduced. The class broke down into buzz groups to discuss these issues. The buzz groups and the full class session that follawed were sparked by critical eval- uation of these contract clauses. On the third night the visit to the Weldwood Plywood Plant in Quesnel gave the class a chance to see a mech- anized mill, but one in which there was a large amount of manual work being done. However, control of the flow of plywood through the mill rested with the workers. This advertisement is not published or displayed by the Liquor Control Board or by the Governmentof so “ eee a See Executive Board members and officers who attended the class were: Bruce Farquhar- son, Bill Koshman, Stanley “Ball, Doug Edwards, Roland Paulin, Bob Pittman, Ken Gunter, Toby Mogensen, Earl Hall, C. H. Webb, Walter Zwahlen. E. W. 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