copies nee Dl i is issue THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER vy thewestern Canadian ‘Wor A: sae lumber worker ec once Monthly as the official publication of the (NTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Council No. } Affiliated with AFL-CiO-CLC 2859 Commercial Orive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 Editor—Patrick S. Kerr Business Manager—Wyman Trineer Forwarded to every memiber of the !WA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year EDITORIAL -SCRAMBLING FOR THE SPOILS oS the past two years or so, Canadian Forest Industry Cor- porations have accumulated immense cash reserves, owing to the rapid rate of U.S. construction and the plummet- ing value of the Canadian dollar. These cash reserves are a tempting target for corporate strate- gists who, having abandoned any pretense to producing anything, earn their personal fortunes by juggling shares. ‘ : mem Recent maneuvers have involved Consolidated Bathhurst, Price Bros., Domtar and MacMillan Bloedel. Our concern as a Union and especially as citizens of B.C., however, has to focus on the recent attempt of Canadian Pacific Invest- ments to add total control of Mac- Millan Bloedel to its corporate octo- pus. Dave Barrett and the NDP are to be congratulated for their fight against the Socred’s indecent haste in disposing of some of the province’s best assets. Panco Poultry ought never to have been sold, and least of all to U.S. interests. The same goes for Vancouver Island bus Companies, and so on and-on. They were also quite right in pointing out that Bennett’s resistance . to the loss of B.C. control of MacMil- lan Bloedel was, at best, a deathbed repentence. But there can be no doubt that, in terms of B.C.’s ability to establish a healthy, mature and just economy, large forest industry corporations (especially Mac-Blo) stand in a class by themselves. : These are some of the respects in which all British Columbians stand to lose if CPl’s take-over bid had been successful: (1) The cash reserves mentioned above have to be used to overcome the set-back that’ forest industry workers have suffered in their standard of living owing to staggering inflation rates, and to begin a massive program of modernization of forest industry manufacturing facilities. Despite the concentration of M-B assets and income-generation in B.C., we have had a difficult time in “persuading” that corporation to plow back a reasonable share of its earnings into the B.C. industry. ° lf those cash reserves had fallen under the control of CPI, that task would have been infinitely harder. (2) MacMillan Bloedel and Pacific Logging (a wholly owned subsidiary of CPI) are the two largest owners of private timber land in B.C. Generally, that land has the best trees and the best capacity to grow new trees. The proposed take-over would not only have concentrated control of about half of that land in one holding com- pany, but would greatly diminish what little capacity B.C. has to influ- ence decisions about how that land is to be used. As President Jack Munro said, “Will the best timber-growing land in all of Canada grow trees or CPR subdivisions?” (3) Most generally, B.C.’s capacity to get a decent return on its largest industry depends upon being able to negotiate with the companies that exploit it. The Pearce Commission drew attention to the alarming degree and rate of “corporate concentration” in the industry. One of the things that Pearce must have had in mind (we wish he said it more clearly) is that we have to be able to say to one company, “Look, you do such and such with this timber, - or we'll find some other company just -as big and tough as you are that will.” God knows it’s been difficult enough to get an even break as mat- ters stand. Pearce points out that M-B in particular has been the recipient of '-some incredibly “generous” deals from Socred Governments. What would happen if M-B quad- rupled in size, and at the same time greatly reduced its vulnerability to B.C.’s public, government and union pressure? We have never been, and never will be, champions of M-B. But the Van-ply episode shows that that company is to some extent vulnerable to B.C. pressure. As everybody in Canada knows (especially those familiar with the E&N fiasco), the CPR is not vulnerable to anything except its own arrogance. TWO BILLION DOLLAR WASTE Despite its cutbacks and re- Straint programme, the - Canadian government is still ng ahead with its plans to rehase over two billion made This is by far the greatest expenditure on armament in Canada’s history. Both NORAD and NATO claim the planes are not needed in the defence of either Europe or North America, Andrew Brewin, NDP Defence Critic, asked in the House of Commons why’ the government insisted on going ahead with the purchase but his question was ignored. JANUARY, 1979 “T goes in fer a raise and ‘“‘gypo”’ sucks me into buyin’ a share in his outfit!” The Canadian Labour Congress in conjunction with Carling O’Keefe have made available 24 bursaries which will be awarded to the sons and daughters of union members:in Canada entering their first year of post-secondary educa- tion. : Twenty-four bursaries worth five hundred dollars each will be available on the basis of two to each province and the Yukon and Northwest Territories. This awards programme has been established by Carling O’Keefe Breweries with the co- operation of the Canadian Labour Congress, to assist the children of trade union members in their pursuit. of knowledge at the post-second- ary level. The bursaries are being offered to the sons and daugh- ters of members, living or dead, who are (have been) a member in good standing in any union affiliated to or chartered by the Canadian Labour Congress. The awards are open only to Canadian stu- dents. The. student must be graduating from a secondary school and intending to go on to. higher education in an approv- ed institution, i-e., a university, technological institute, community college or CEGEP, teachers’ college, nursing school, etc. in Canada. These are entrance bursaries; they are not renewable for those entering their second year of studies. The successful appli- cant will be required to submit documents indicating definite acceptance at one of the insti- tuitions listed above as well as proof of registration before presentation of the award. — Official application forms may be obtained by completing and forwarding the coupon in- cluded on the back of this bro- chure. The application form will, among other things, re- quire a complete outline of the candidate’s record in school, an essay on a subject relevant to the labour movement, and recommendation from teach- er, principal or other person in the community. The selection of successful applicants will be,made by a committee appointed by the Canadian Laour Congress: tir the case of a tie the appli- cant’s relevant need will be investigated. In the case of a tie where need is equal, the award may be equally divided. _ The decision of the committee is final. Application forms may be requested at any time prior to, the deadline. It is the responsi- bility of the applicant to ensure that their completed applica- tion is submitted to the Canad- ian Labour Congress _post- marked no later than March 31, 1979. Incomplete applica- tions will not be considered. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision by July 1. Awards will be made in time for the fall semester upon receipt of proper documenta- tion as indicated.. Complete the coupon below and send to any one of these addresses: Education Department, Canadian Labour Congress, 2841 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, Ontario. K1V 8X7 2709 - 12th Avenue, Room 107, Regina, Saskatchewan. 1J3 S4T Room 228, 4925 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C. V5G 1M ey LIGHTER SIDE A noted actress had one of her most expensive gowns pilfered while playing an engagement out of town. She cabled her insurance company, ‘‘Gown lifted in Hotel Imperial.” The company called back, “Your policy does not cover that.’’