THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER HIRING AGENCIES “SLAVE MARKET IN LABOUR” SCORED BY FEDERATION HEAD More efficient and effective methods must be adopted to cope with Canada’s unemploy- ment or “manpower” prob- lems if the current spate of hiring agencies — “out and out rackets” — is to be check- ed, according to David B. Archer, President of the On- tario Federation of Labor. The OFL head was com- menting on articles appearing in the daily press about what is being called “a slave mar- ket in human labor.” $1.35 AN HOUR Companies, some of them franchised by U.S. organiza- tions, are charging employers $1.95 an hour for work which- employees are being paid $1.20 to $1.35 an hour. These so-called “temporary help” firms are not regulated by law even though the em- ployment ‘they provide is not always temporary. One example given was of a man who worked “tempor- arily” for nine straight years, earning $27,000 ‘of which the hiring agency got $9,000. , While these firms have gain- ed a strong foothold only in the last 10 years or so, the hiring. agency business is by no means new. “As far back as 1958-9, the Ontario Federation of Labor was petitioning the govern- ment of Ontario to control these agencies,” says OFL President, Archer. OUTLAWED At one time the federal Un- employment Insurance Act outlawed hiring agencies, but this section of the Act was de- clared outside the jurisdiction Calona CLARET. CANADIAN of ‘the federal government. It was within provincial jurisdic- tion. The Ontario government then passed legislation out- lawing hiring agencies charg- ing fees, and licensing others. “Now you don’t pay for a job,” says Mr. Archer, “you pay for example for a psycho- logical examination in order to pre-determine to which job you should be assigned. “More often you become an employee of the agency and are rented out on a fee basis to an employer who needs your services, either on a tein- porary basis or to replace workers who’ve had the cour- age to join a union.” In Metro Toronto alone there are 45 agencies of one kind or another, most of them U.S. owned or franchised. NO BENEFITS These agencies can supply help with no requirement by the employer for paying for vacations, statutory holidays, coffee breaks, pension plans, unemployment insurance, Workmen’s Compensation or union dues. One head of a hiring agency admitted that he paid indus- trial workers $1.35 an hour and charged 60 cents an hour on top of that to the employer. And he considered himself one of the better agencies. Sometimes employees are “double-contracted” in which case they get about one-third of the final charge. A “tem- porary” worker paid $1.35 an hour may be hired out to a moving company for $1.90 an hour, and the moving com- pany would charge $4 an hour for the man’s services. ‘Calona Reel Gp line EXTRA ORY ITALIAN RED “At best,” says the OFL president, “they are offering nothing that the national em- ployment service cannot pro- vide more efficiently. At worst they are out and out rackets. Their targets are those who can least afford to be swin- dled.” PUBLIC SERVICE He said that only through a government agency, work- ing with industry and labor as a public service, can the problem of placement be tackled as it should be. “Up- grading, mobility, retraining are all part of the problem” plus proper surveys of man- power needs. Even a company as big as Ford of Canada is not immune from the hiring agency infec- tion. This year the company hired 250 temporary workers for several days on inventory at $1.97 an hour. The work- ers were actually paid $1.35 by the agency. They worked side by side with UAW mem- bers. “Part-time workers under the rules of the Ontario labor board,” according to Mr. Ar- cher, “are excluded from the union’s bargaining unit when requested by the employer. The unions have fought these agencies for years and will continue to do so until the political powers at Queen’s: Park and Ottawa get together, solve their political problems with regard to this matter, and agree on a proper and effective manpower policy.” fA PR AE TET Optimist of the year is the logger who checked with the marriage license bureau to see if his license had expired. Calona Sauterne Canadian Graceful new shape! Bright new labels! DELEGATES OF LOCAL 1-118 IWA VICTORIA B.C. AIR LINES LOOKS TO INTERIOR B.C. Air Lines Limited has applied to the Air Transport Committee in Ottawa to ser- vice -12 communities in the interior of British Columbia with Class One scheduled air- line service using fully pres- surized, 300 - mile - per - hour prop-jet aircraft. The new route network will provide these communi- ties with modern air service between the various interior points and connect major centres with mainline opera- tors for travel across Canada and to points beyond. The ma- jor new routes included in, the BCA application are: ser- vice from Vancouver, through Penticton, Castlegar and Cranbrook to Calgary; from Penticton to Kelowna and’ Kamloops, and from Kam- loops through Williams Lake, Quesnel, Prince George, Burns Lake and Smithers to Terrace, with this route ulti- mately being extended to in- Rerkijori ta STL Same unmatched taste! ’ Calona. Superb dinner wines. Include Calona — the spirit of hospitality This advertisement is not published or displayed by the Liquor Control Board or by the Government of British Columbia Calona Rosé meoruM ony clude Prince Rupert. All are return services. The proposed service fre- quency would generally pro- vide four flights daily each way between Vancouver, Pen- ticton and Castlegar; three flights daily each way between Vancouver and Cranbrook; two flights daily each way be- tween Vancouver and Cal- gary; two flights daily each way between Penticton. Kel- owna and Kamloops and one flight daily each way between Kamloops, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Prince George, Burns Lake and Smithers, with the Smithers - Terrace leg initially operating one flight per week each way. The BCA services would connect at cities such as Kam- loops, Prince George, Terrace, Kelowna, Penticton and, of course, Vancouver and Cal- gary, with Canadian Pacific Airlines’ flights and with those of other mainline car- riers in the two larger cities. 22