12 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 38,000 copies printed in this issue. ' Published twice monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOQDWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Council No, 1 Affiliated with AFL-CIO-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 IWA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post. Office Department, EZ” and for payment of postage in cash. GUEST EDITORIAL A GUARANTEED INCOME HE guaranteed annual income is not _ likely to become a major issue in the current federal election campaign. How- ever, it is one of the platform planks of the New Democratic Party, and as such it has come under fire from Liberal and Tory politicians. Their main argument is that the guaranteed income is “pie in the sky”, and they accuse the NDP of making an extravagant promise without telling how it could be financed. The fact is that the Guaranteed An- nual Income (GAI) is no longer considered a Utopian measure. Many hard-nosed economists now estimate that Canada can easily afford to implement it, since it would largely replace most of the ex- isting hodge-podge of welfare plans. With 30 percent of Canadian families living in poverty or near-poverty, there is certainly no denying that the GAI is necessary. It is shocking to hear Prime Minister Trudeau saying that “we have had enough of this free stuff.” He has thus aligned himself with those reactionaries in both the Liberal and Tory parties who would block any further improvements to the Canadian welfare system. The NDP does not promise the guar- anteed income as a panacea for all our social ills. However, by putting a mini- mum income floor under all Canadian citizens (ranging perhaps from $4,000 for a family of four to $2,000 for an individual), the battle to wipe out pov- FED. AIDS - erty would be given a tremendous for- ward boost. There are several ways a GAI could be put into effect, including the negative income tax system, and the universal flat-rate allowance. A great deal of study has been devoted to the mechanics of the plan by experts who are convinced of its practicability. A number of them now declare that, by eliminating the main administrative expenses involved in the present “patchwork quilt” system, the GAI might prove to be cheaper in the long run. One of these experts is Reuben C. Baetz, executive director of the Canadian Welfare Council. He says flatly: “Canada can and should provide, as a matter of right, sufficient income to support an adequate standard of physical and social well-being for all its people.” He could have added that, by doing so, consumer purchasing power would be increased, stimulating the economy and creating more jobs. Until Canada dees provide a guaran- teed. income, or its equivalent, it will not be living up to Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which it is a signatory. This article states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family.” More than 5,000,000 Canadians to- day are still denied that right. —Canadian Transport EVALUATION RESULTS Implementation of the “amended” coastal plywood job evaluation manual combined with the elimination INDIAN The Saskatchewan Federa- tion has come up with a sig- nificant proposal in regard to the case of Walter Johnson, a Saskatchewan Indian who is being tried in court ona charge of failing to pay his hospital and medicare insur- ance premiums, The SFL has wired Prime Minister Trudeau and Sas- Kelowna Savona _._. of “female rates” has resulted in the following upward category rate revisions in the three Southern Interior plywood operations presently under evaluation: appr. 60% of crew Canoe appr. 43% of crew Beane sot: ale SEO Sos __ appr. 75% of crew PLYWOOD WORKERS WIN UPWARD PAY REVISIONS katchewan Attorney General Heald, requesting that the charges against Mr. Johnson be withdrawn and that a meeting of federal and provin- cial representatives and Sas- katchewan Indian representa- tives be convened to deal with outstanding issues surround- ing health services to Sas- katchewan Indians, including relevant parts of Indian Treaty No. 6 of the year 1876. SFL President W. G, Gil- bey said it was apparent the subjects at issue in the John- son trial were rooted in fed- eral-provincial policies on In- dian reservations. The terms of settlement for the 1966 - 67 Coast Master agreement included substan- tial improvements to the job evaluation program in effect in coastal plywood operations. As a result some 43% of ply- wood workers on the coast re- ceived category rate increases ranging from 4c to 2lc per hour. One of the demands of the Southern Interior plywood workers was “parity” between the coastal and interior ply- wood job evaluation plan, which goal was achieved on May 5, 1968 when the IWA and Interior Forest Labour Relations Association signed a Memorandum of Agreemnt virtually ending the 7%4- months strike. Implementation of the “amended” coastal plywood job evaluation manual has re- sulted in numerous category rate revisions in the three Southern Interior plywood operations. The resulting category rate revisions were installed by Regional representative Tony Vanderheide in Joint Local Union - Management meetings in Kelowna, Canoe and Sav- ona June 3, 4 and 5 — effec- tive immediately — and with retroactive pay from the day of return to work. TH’ OLD TIMERS USED TO SAY IF YA LISTEN- ED YA COULD HEAR TH’ TREE TALKIN’ TO YA. YUP...I KIN HEAR A KIND OF SWISHIN’ SOUND... FEDERATION OFFICERS SCORE APPOINTMENTS The appointment of a judge as chairman of the Mediation Commission vindicates the position the B.C. Federation of Labour has taken on the whole question of Bill 33. The only way the Social Credit government appears to be able to deal with labour mat- ters is through the courts — and to make a judge chair- man of a commission designed to handcuff ‘organized labour proves the point, The appointment of Pen Baskin, former 4th vice-presi- dent of the B.C. Federation of Labour, is, to say the least, disappointing and surprising to organized labour. The B.C. Federation of Labour said in a news release on May 15th that “no respected labour leader can possibly accept a position on this commission . .” The Federation sees no reason to alter the previous state- ment. Had Bill 33 not contained the compulsory arbitration features and had this bill been an honest effort on the part of Labour Minister Peterson to come to grips with the problem of labour-manage- ment relations, the B.C. Fed- eration of Labour would have welcomed with open arms the chance to see a responsible. labour man who has the con- fidence of labour on the Medi- ation Commission. But, since Bill 33 has been tailored to fit the needs of big business and those of the Social Credit government, organized labour cannot be expected to wel- come Mr. Baskin’s appoint- ment. Mr. Baskin, by accept- ing the post, has betrayed the trust of every working man in this province. Perhaps Mr. Baskin accept- ed the appointment in the mis- taken belief that the Media- tion Commission would be an impartial body. His inability to comprehend the implica- tions of such a post speaks for itself. SESS ey SUCCEEDS BASKIN Dave Chapman, Interna- tional Representative of the Machinists and Aerospace Workers, has been appointed by Labour Minister L, R. Peterson to replace Pen Bas- kin on the Labour Relations Board and the Industrial Re- lations Board. Chapman, well known in the B.C. labour movement has been an executive mem- ber of the Vancouver, New Westminster and District Building Trades Council for | the past 13 years.