THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER DEC. 1975 - JAN. 1976 Due to the current stalemate between the Regional Council and Forest Industrial Rela- tions Ltd. on the subject of Coast Sawmill Rate Determin- ation, the Regional Officers were able to make Regional Staff Representative Tony Vanderheide available to assist the various Prairie Area Negotiating Committees in im- plementing evaluation and / or rate determination programs demanded by the IWA Prairie Membership. Since our November issue several more sets of Prairie Negotiations have been con- cluded and following are some of the details: TRAVELAIRE TRAILER, CANADA LTD., RED DEER, ALBERTA and IWA LOCAL 1- 207 UNION COMMITTEE Negotiations were headed by Regional Second Vice-Presi- dent, Stan Parker, and the Ne- gotiating Committee further consisted of R. DeLeeuw, Fin- ancial Secretary of Local 1-297 and Plant Representatives Clayton L. Stark, Carole Gordon and Ted Decker. This Committee was assisted by Regional Representative Tony Vanderheide in its direc- tion and decisions on the rate determination system. The system negotiated is also based on 7 groups, but the spread between the base rate and the rate for group number 7 is calculated as follows: Group 1 — base rate Group 2— base rate plus 4% Group 3— base rate plus 8% Group 4— base rate plus 12% Group 5 — base rate plus 16% Group 6 — base rate plus 20% Group 7 — base rate plus 40% The rate determination sys- tem does NOT. BECOME EF- FECTIVE UNTIL May 1, 1976 and will have the following monetary benefits: HIGHEST HOURLY EARNINGS Effective the start of the new contract, October 1, 1975, the Average Straight Time Hourly Earnings (ASTHE) expressed in “cents over the base rate’’ will be 25c. Implementation of the rate determination system on May 1, 1976 will bring the ASTHE to 63c over the base rate, to 70c over the base rate on October 1, 1976 and to 75c on April 1, 1977. This will be the highest aver- age straight time hourly earn- ings expressed in cents per hour over the base in any pro- gram presently administered within the jurisdictional boundaries of the regional council. The distribution of the work- force in the operation, which involves the manufacture of Recreational Vehicles and In- dustrial Mobile Units is as follows: WORKFORCE DISTRIBUTION Group 1 consists of 3 workers or 2.56% of the total workforce Group 2 consists of 9 workers or 7.69% of the total workforce Group 3 consists of 7 workers or 5.98% of the total workforce Group 4 consists of 50 workers or 42.73% of the total workforce Group 5 consists of 25 workers or 21.36% of the total workforce Group 6 consists of 10 workers or 8.55% of the total workforce Group 7 consists of 13 workers or 11.11% of the total workforce ZEIDLER FOREST INDUSTRIES LTD., EDMONTON, ALBERTA ZEIDLER FOREST INDUSTRIES LTD., SLAVE LAKE, ALBERTA and IWA LOCAL 1-207 SLAVE LAKE PLANT Negotiations for the Com- panies’ two divisions — one in Edmonton plant further con- sisted of R. DeLeeuw, Finan- cial Secretary of Local 1-207 and the following Plant Repre- sentatives: Anna Sharun, Rudi Schmidt and Jacob Boist. The Negotiating Committee for the Slave Lake Plant fur- ther consisted of R. DeLeeuw, Financial Secretary of Local 1- 207 and the following Plant Representatives: Gordon Johnson and Iran Reid. Both Committees were assisted by Regional Repre- sentative Tony Vanderheide in direction and decision on two (2) job evaluation The Edmonton plant is strictly a veneer drying and plywood sheathing lay-up plant, while the Slave Lake operation consists of (a) a veneer processing operation and (b) a dressed stud operation. Prior to this set of negotia- tions the Local Union and the Company had agreed on a “bracket” system consisting of 7 groups for production workers, whereby the mone- tary difference between the base rate and the highest pro- duction rate was $.86. In other words, the Lathe Operator — with an Automatic Charger and a Tray System — received 86c per hour more than the base rate. All other categories in both plants as a result of the Lathe Operator’s rate of pay were very much compressed. STAN PARKER Both Negotiating Commit- tees were successful in con- vincing the Company that the “old system” had to go and that the system for determin- ing category rates should be the Plywood Job Evaluation program with the B.C. Coast Wage Curve for plywood pro- duction categories and the Interior Sawmill Job Evalua- tion program with its related wage curve for sawmill pro- duction categories. . Both Parties agreed to im- mediately adjust the former category rates on an ‘‘interim”’ basis in line with evaluated rates, subject to final evalua- tion by the Parties. The Regional Council imme- diately conducted a ‘‘joint’”’ educational seminar for the plywood and sawmill Review Committees who are now busy writing the appropriate job descriptions. The IWA — IFLRA plywood and sawmill evaluation com- mittee, on which committee the Regional Council is repre- sented by Brother M. Walls, will finalize the negotiated ‘fnterim’”’ rates the moment these job descriptions have been finalized. In the meantime, the rate for the Lathe Operator has been increased, effective November 1, 1976, from 86 cents over the base rate to $2.15 over the base rate — AN INCREASE OF $1.29 PER HOUR OVER A PREVIOUSLY NEGOTIATED RATE — in addition to the general increases during the life-time of the agreement. While the final cost to the Company as a result of the implementation of both the plywood and sawmill job evaluation programs cannot yet be calculated by the Regional Council — awaiting the outcome of final evaluation results — outside of across the board increases — will be in the neighbourhood of 32 cents per hour. Pending Negotiations in Local 1-207 I.W.A. At the writing of this article, Local 1-207, I.W.A. is in negoti- ations or about to get into negotiations with: 1. Imperial Lumber Co. Ltd., Barrhead, Alberta BOB DELEEUW 2. Federated Co-operatives Ltd., Smith, Alberta 3. Moduline Mobile Homes, Red Deer, Alberta All three are certifications new to the Local Union, and the demand for category rates will be based upon either Sawmill Evaluation or Rate Deter- 4 nes i eS beg yh gt eae « s oo! We a TONY VANDERHEIDE mination, whichever is applic- able to the product manu- factured. Manitoba Forestry Resources Ltd., Lumber Division, The Pas, Manitoba and I.W.A. Local 1-324 COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT The Collective Agreement signed on March 7, 1975 be- tween Local 1-324 and the Com- pany under Section 22.02 pro- vided as follows: “On July 31, 1975, the con- tract shall be reopened to dis- cuss wages. With this reopener, the Company will only discuss the question of the difference in cents per hour between our present agree- ment and the West Coast as it relates to wages.”’ Negotiations as a result of the above reopener clause were headed by Regional Second Vice-President, Stan Parker, and the Negotiating Committee further consisted of W. J. Benson, President of Local 1-324 Don Parker and Plant Representatives Jim Anderson and Rene Richards. This Committee was assisted by Regional Staff Representa- tive Tony Vanderheide in its direction and decisions on the determination of category rates. Because of the peculiar nature of the plant (limited specie, limited length, heated and enclosed working condi- tions for most categories) Regional Evaluator E. Flannery was also brought in for consultation. Effective September 1, 1975 the minimum rate will be equal to the Coast base rate of $6.14 with a further increase of $ .75 on September 1, 1976, once again equalizing the Coast base rate. Final arrangements with re- spect to a formal method of “Sawmill Job Evaluation” or “Sawmill Rate Determination based upon Job Analysis”’ will be worked out between the Union and the Company once the whole picture on ‘‘Sawmill Job Evaluation’’, ‘‘Sawmill Rate Determination per se’’, and/or ‘Sawmill Rate De- termination based upon Job Analysis” has become clearer within the Regional Council. GIVE YOUR NEW B.C. MEDICAL CARD Running into difficulty with your medical payment claims? If you are, the provincial de- partment of health advises that the cure is simple: give your new Medical Services Plan of B.C. identification number to the medical people with whom you are dealing. According to a department spokesman, too many people have been ignoring their new medical cards and leaving their old numbers on file at doctors’ offices. The result has been an initial rejection of many claims and a delay in payment. The new cards came into being when the Medical Ser- vices Plan of B.C. became res- ponsible for all the work done previously by other carriers. The department spokesman says it is ‘‘essential’” that doctors’ offices, clinics and hospitals providing services under the plan be furnished with the new numbers. However, one move on your part should do the trick. “A simple phone call to the doctor’s office to have his re ceptionist update your history file with the latest identifica- tion information would elimin- ate delays in payment of claims,” the spokesman says. WELFARE PLAN DELAYED “The federal government’s proposed massive welfare schemes for the working poor and those who are unable to work will be delayed until at least 1978, Health and Welfare Minister Mare Lalonde said. He told the Liberal national policy convention that despite two and a half years of study, agreements had not been reached with each province.”