MacMillan Bloedel’s Alberni Pacific Division sawmill in Port Alberni. ‘Employer S gloom predictions prelude to concession demand The following article, which appeared orig- inally in the IWA Local 1-85 Job Steward, was written in reply to an article which appeared in APD Week in Review, the tabloid newsletter put out by the management of the Alberni Pacific Division of MacMillan Bloe- del in Port Alberni. The APD mill is a highly- automated sawmill, completed a few years The author is IWA plant chairman at the mill. His article, slightly abridged, is reprinted with his permission. By HUGO JONASSON “Doom and gloom” propaganda seems to be a part of every weekly publication that is released by the Alberni Pacific Division (APD) management. They must have a per- son on full time just to pick and point out the items that reflect “loss of earnings” or otherwise depress the attitude of their workers by reprinting great take away schemes that would reduce our wages and working conditions to the pre-1950 era. To top it all off their leader states that. we are too well paid as reported by the Alberni Valley Times. : It is obvious that the company is condi- tioning us for the 1986 negotiations, and in the short term they want us to feel bad about accepting our well-earned 4.5 per cent - increase on June 15, 1985, and try and take away everything else in between time. You never hear the company ask the employees: “How can we improve your wages and working conditions?” How many times have you seen in their weekly publications “MacMillan Bloedel made $19 million last year.” They don’t include in their weekly tabloid, for example, that as of Dec. 31, 1984, former M-B presi- _ dent Calvert Knudsen’s estimated annual retirement benefits were $236,000 — a trifle more than we are receiving. Nor do they report that [WA workers have lost approx- imately 10 per cent to inflation in the last . few years. We deserve more than the nego- tiated pay raise of 4.5 per cent. = One recent APD Week in Review reported some of the losses and causes for the last few years. But I don’t believe they reflect the total corporate finances, nor were they _ meant to. They were meant to soften us up _ some more — in other words, to take con- The first fact is this: APD is an integral < _ part of the company’s business, and it is the ~ overall results that count. The record shows $19 million in profit last year. APD contributes in various ways to the overall profit and its employees could be — commended for their contribution to the © corporate welfare of the largest multi- cnet forestry company in Canada, which bass: Gare of wenget SOEs total sales. 12 « PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JUNE 26, 1985 I don’t know if APD is getting a fair shake, because when I asked our manager a question relating to log cost, I was told that the value of one cubic metre of wood fibre was based on log (sales) market value. In ' other words, even if the loggers could produce one cubic metre of wood fibre for $10, we would still be paying mar- ket value of approx- imately $45-$55 per cubic metre. Thus, when the company chooses, HUGO we are an integral JONASSON operation of the corporation’s overall financial position and we contribute at both ends, sometimes as a profit and sometimes as a loss by paying for another integral component’s (division’s) _ profits. It is not fair to dump all of this on APD. What I really take exception to is that we must have had some very distorted ideolog- ical arguments among management in the past because on one hand they are asking the workers to take a reduction in wages and on the other hand our APD plant is sending hundreds of units of hog fuel to the pulp mill for a measly $4 per unit. Tam told that APD sends 325-425 units of hog fuel per day to the pulp mill at $4 per unit. I am also told that “‘one unit” is the equivalent of one barrel of oil. I ask: Why does the APD management not charge the pulp mill, oil replacement cost, or near that cost unit is the true value of our byproduct? One barrel of oil costs approximately $35, which makes the discrepancy between what is charged and the true value approx- imately $30 per unit of hog fuel. I further query the relativity of the chip prices versus the true value of chips. Are we taking a huge loss there also? In my opinion, were APD to get the true value of hog fuel relative to oil prices, APD would make so much money it would be emb ing. I'm a true believer in collective bargain- ing, and I’m quite willing to share in the company profits in 1986 because we lost to inflation. , We need a pay raise. Our manager refers to the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. and that many mills have closed. Well, that’s true, but another IWA Local 1-85 officer and I had the opportunity to visit some of the WA locals in the Pacific Northwest in 1978, and found that there had been many mills — lumber and plywood — permanently shut down then, and that mills had been going down _ before 1978 as far back east as Spokane where there are no major forestry convert- ing plants left at the present time. The reasons cited by the company in their propaganda then were Semiansae differ- ent: lack of logs. That’s what we were told by IWA locals in the Pacific Northwest. As in B.C. the forestry companies in the Pacific Northwest export a huge volume of whole logs. In other words, they are export- ing jobs. Some forestry companies in B.C. are presently exporting huge volumes of whole logs. Exporting our jobs — the same as what happened to the Pacific Northwest. I am convinced that the forestry manu- facturing concerns in B.C. enjoy some advantages over the U.S. Pacific Northwest. To start with, the forest base and the allotted Tree Farm Licences ensure long range planning. Also, the devalued Cana- dian dollar versus the U.S. dollar accounts for millions of dollars of profit for the com- panies. In order for us to enjoy the U.S. Pacific Northwest’s living standards, we need a hefty increase. Last but not’least, according to some people in the Pacific Northwest, the Cana- dian forestry companies are paying $7 for the same log the U.S. competitors have to . pay $100 for. Just something to think about and compare with the company’s state- ments in their divisional newsletter. The last couple of statements from the Week in Review from APD that I want to deal with are to me classic examples of the company’s inability to correctly assess the needs and flexibilities of manufacturing of wood products for a relatively short period of time in relation to markets and market- ing products that we are capable of Deeley ing. Another statement from the same news- letter states that the new APD mill was well designed and built, and had the prices improved as anticipated in the late 1970s, then APD would make a suitable return on investment. This is a very serious statement, because it is telling us that a “four-year-old, Name Address SUE Ree a ae eee ee we ~ .into other markets where a more suitable PACIFIC RIBUNE Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 Pe 8 oe 6 059. B 8.08 0 0B a, Be Oe 0 » 0 8 ye 90-0 420-004. © 0's 0° 0.0 2 hs 2 9i9 0 eb 4 0 ee ae Postal Code lam Swi 1yr.$140) 2yrs.$250) 6mo. $80 Fateigri 1 yr. $200 Bill me later O Donation$........ READ THE PAPER THA T FIGHTS FOR LABOR _their workers and used profit to enhance the — $60 million manufacturing plant is out- dated.” I find it hard to believe that any management team designed and builta $60 million sawmill based on prices and specific markets with no options for diversification return on the investment dollar might be extracted. If APD management needs an eiisipn of capital in order to increase productivity and ensure more production flexibility, then I say provide the necessary money — but not by laying off and downsizing the crews. Iam talking about additional or different or more machinery, or other modifications. — We will not accept anything less than that. _ After all, it’s our timber. The plant committee members and oth- _ ers have made suggestions to the company about improvements and flexbility of oper- ation on numerous occasions, but to no - avail. Money is the key, and all the com- pany seems to be interested in is cutting expenses by doubling up on jobs, taking away conditions, and reducing wages. It’s time the company put more value on ~ Rite ting standard of living for their employees and their families. Let’s also talk about the responsibility of the company under the Tree Farm Licences __ or TFLs as they are commonly referred to. The TFL was established to provide eco- nomic and employment stability to com- — munities in the province of B.C. : But the fact is that M-B has been allowed to harvest the riches of the forests in B.C. and has spent countless millions to establish manufacturing operations in numerous ~ other countries — operations which are — now competing with each other and with — B.C. operations. 4 I for one would like the APD manager to — print in the APD Week In Review how many — billions of dollars have been spent by M-B outside of B.C. I think it is a fair question. ~ The fact is that B.C. WA members made — the billions of dollars the company spent in — other countries. It was money made from | our timber. I think the time has come when the fore- stry unions will have to band together and — make representations to the government of — B.C. to compel the multinational compan- _ ies such as M-B to invest more money to — maintain a competitive edge in the country — or province where they harvest their natural — resources — the people’s resources. a What we need is a comprehensive silvi- — culture program which will encompass all — aspects of forestry to ensure a perpetual — forest. In B.C. that is realistic. I had occasion to work for a forestry- © management company in another country — and I can honestly say that any forestry — management program in B.C. falls about 80 per cent short of what it could be. 4 This would employ hundreds more fore- — stry workers, thus increasing the tax — revenue to government and contributing to® Canda economically. : There is a lot of potential in our forest — industry that can be realized but not by negative attitudes but by being positive and — confident in the future and by developing — wood products saleable to markets and the — people who utilize these markets for theif _ supply. I want to conclude with this: one of the — leading financial advisory publications in — Canada, The Money Letter, predicts that — M-B profit in 1985 will be $3.60 per share with over $3 billion in sales. 4 _ sin Balai