16 Wor A.) 38,000 copies printed in this issue THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER ‘vi thewestern canadian lumber worker Published once monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1 Affiliated with AFL-C!O-CLC 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 Editor—Pat Kerr Business Manager—Fred Fieber Advertising Representatives—Elizabeth Spencer Associates Forwarded to every member of the 1WA in Western Canada inaccordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. EDITORIAL “AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT” N the twelve years the PPWC has existed they have proven beyond doubt that the method they use to pursue better wages and working condi- tions for their members is just not successful. The PPWC was an interest- ing experiment that has proven what everyone knew, splitting the Trade Union movement is not the answer. The PPWC could have been a good trade union, had it maintained the tradi- tional trade union principles followed by all other unions. In twelve years the PPWC has managed to obtain about six thousand members. Of those six thousand only a few hundred were organized from -the ranks of. the unorganized in B.C. Their expansion has ‘been based on “raids’’. Certainly had they based their expansion on the organization of the unorganized no one could have condemned them and they certainly would have had more help from other unions. . They say they are promoting the Canadian identity: that Canadians should have their own-unions free from American domination. There is no Canadian identity problem, except the one that people create for their own purposes: Probably there are some International unions that are dominated from the States. It’s also probable that the leadership of the PPWC is into the union for what they can get personally from it. Which is worse? Those that do believe in what they are doing are dominated by the ones that don’t really care. The political strife that they say doesn't exist in their union is only wish- ) PULP MILLS MAY BE BULLDOZED : te . Robert Williams had announced that the provincial government es may have to spend millions of dollars to clean up pollution from said that, if the companies don’t spend money on pollution control have to bulldoze the old mills down and start again with new s said that the government-controlled sulphite mill at Prince Rupert will of the first to have to make such a decision. ful thinking. The fact that the National President doesn’t chair their negotiating committee is proof enough that political dissention does exist in the PPWC. If they are so busy fighting among themselves at the top how do they ever expect to provide the leadership required by a strong trade union. The Trade Union movement has become frustrated by the actions of the PPWC and by the half truths they use during their raids. However, like most, the IWA has unfailing faith in the intelli- gence and strength of the average working guy. We honestly believe that very few fall for the line that the PPWC strings out. To some extent the PPWC has done the forest industry a great deal of good. It has provided an air of competition, of opposition, if you prefer, that has made other unions work that much harder for their members. However, at the same time it has cost a phenomenal amount of money. Money that could have been better spent in Pensions and Health, Welfare and Safety Programs for the members. The disappearance of the PPWC and the other ‘‘petty cash” unions within the near future is a certainty. Their ex- pansion base is small and with the in- creased cost of services to their mem- bers they cannot financially handle it without placing their dues structure well out of line from the large progressive unions. There will be few tears shed at the death of the PPWC. When it dies we can all get back to building the strong trade union the workers need. FARM WORKERS WIN MPS’ SUPPORT Members of Parliament attending a 20-minute film and discussion meeting with United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez voted 13 to 3 to seek a boycott of California grapes and lettuce in subsidized parliamentary restaurants. The MPs will also try to get a boycott of the “‘hot"’ produce by all federal government departments which buy grapes and lettuce. The three MPs who voted against the proposal were John Reynolds (PC, Burnaby- Richmond-Delta), Fred MacCain (PC-Carleton-Charlotte) and George Whittaker (PC, Okanagan Boundary). JANUARY—FEBRUARY, 1974 Ya might as well shut off yer motor mister... Sis ain’t got her make-up on yet! r MACDONALD REPORTS = . LAW COMMISSION BACKS _ Attorney-General - Alex Macdonald has released a report prepared by the B.C. Law Commission which . in- cludes the following recom- mendations: 1. Landlords should be prohi- bited from. evicting tenants unless there is justification for the eviction. 2. Arental ombudsmen, with power to resolve problems between landlords and tenants, should be appointed. 3. Landlords should be per- mitted to collect one-half a month’s rent from a tenant as a deposit against possible damage done by the tenant. 4. The B.C. Human Rights Code should be expanded to prohibit discrimination by landlords on the basis of domestic arrangements, sexual orientation, or mem- bership in an organization of tenants. Justification for eviction would ‘include failure to pay rent, unreasonable damage, misconduct on premises, land- lord requiring premises for his own family, premises to be demolished or to be used in part for hotel or recreational purposes. Where a tenant objects to being - evicted, the rental ombudsman would be em- powered to pass final judge- ment on whether the eviction was justified. The ombudsman (to be known as rentalsman) could collect damage deposits and administer claims from land- lords in the event of damage being done. NEW ELECTIONS ACT LIMITS PARTY SPENDING After six months of wrang- ling, the House of Commons finally agreed on a law, the Canada Elections Act, which will limit election campaign spending. The Act limits the amount which may be spent by a national party to 30 cents for each voter in the country. A candidate may spend $1 for each of the first 15,000 eligible voters in his riding, 50 cents each for the next 10,000 and 25 cents for each voter over 25,000. Campaign contributions exceeding $100 will have to be publicly disclosed, while donations up to a limit of $500 will be tax deductible for in- dividuals and corporations. Audited statements will be required and will have a list of all gifts and contributions received at any time — not just during a campaign. Six and one-half hours of prime TV and radio time will be apportioned among the parties. Taxpayers will pay half the cost. The maximum that a party may spend under the Act works out to about $11 million, roughly half of which could come from the public purse, But a candidate must get at least 20 per cent of the vote in his riding to qualify for financial assistance. | The Liberals says they spent $5.3 million in the 1972 election and the Conservatives say they spent $3.93 million. The NDP spent $365,918. The amendments to the Canada Elections Act shorten 1 the time for party campaign advertising, but an amend- ment to the Broadcasting Act permits commentaries in the final hours of a campaign. bs