4 1st Issue October, 1968 “THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 1-363 REPORT SHOWS LOCAL HAS TOP ORGANIZING RECORD IN REGIONAL COUNCIL The bi-anyual membership meeting of Local 1-363 was held on Sunday, September 22, in the Native Sons’ Hall at Courtenay. Highlights of the meeting included the presenta- tion of the Local Union Offi- cers’ report, nomination of Local Union officers and an ad-~ dress by Regional President J. A. Moore. Following is the partial text of the Officers’ report: Your officers extend a sin- cere welcome to all members ' in attendance at this import- ant union gathering today. We also greet, with pleasure, the official guests and visitors in attendance. é It is difficult to properly ex- press our deep thanks to the committee men and shop stewards who have given so willingly of their time and ef- fort, in working sincerely for the best interests of our mem- bership, and thereby have been of great assistance to the administration of the Local Union affairs. Your officers are grateful to the membership of our Union for their continued support, and for their aid and help in reaching the difficult targets set during the past two year term of office. Many difficulties faced dur- ing the last two years, arose from the greatly changing work habits resulting from the new approaches being in- troduced by Industry. Some disappointments resulted, but your officers remain keenly aware of the need to increase activities designed to better conquer difficulties which are approaching. We welcome the growing number of young workers en- tering our Industry and em- phasize the need to speed plans aimed at educating these new members on the aims, objectives and policies that are necessary to keep our Union strong and united. We emphasize the absolute need for complete co-opera- tion between the members, committee men and officers if the welfare of the Union membership is going to be maintained. ORGANIZATION Since our last revort three Companies curtailed opera- tions in our area, with a loss of 86 members. Diligent action by our Local Officers resulted in the placement of most of these members into new jobs in other operations. Eleven new Certifications have been won in the period reported, and at the date of this report one Certification is pending and one operation is in process of Organization. One of the Certifications granted isa multiple unit operation which encloses four integrated Con- tractors under the one Bar- gaining Certificate. All of these Certifications were or- ganized by the Local Union Staff. We note that the 1968 Regional Report on Organiza- tion lists our Local as having the second highest of new Certifications gained through organization by Local Union Staff. The only Local which surpassed this effort was Lo- cal 1-71 who achieved one more Certification than the Courtenay Local. One of the recent Certifica- tions gained, promises to de- velop into a large operation, and your officers expect to see the Local Union Membership total at a higher level. The record shows an overall mem- bership gain to the end of June. Much difficulty is experi- enced in organizing work, be- cause of the Employers in- volved in. Contracting, and the fact that our Local Union adheres strictly to the policy of a common Contract. date for all our woodworking op- erations. We express special thanks to those Brothers working in the operations under Organ- ization who so greatly assisted in the work in obtaining a Union, and who in several cases placed their jobs in jeopardy while giving help to our Union. REGIONAL PRESIDENT Jack Moore received a hearty applause upon the completion of his address which dealt with the history of the IWA in the Interior of British Columbia and with the progress of the Union over the last six years, which saw the membership increase by 20 per- cent, the Coastal base rate by approximately 63 percent, » and the Interior base rate by approximately 68 percent. wy d MEMBERS OF LOCAL 1-363 attending their bi-annual meeting in Courtenay on Sunday, Sept. 22 for the nomination of Officers, one six-year Trustee, one Regional Executive Board Member and one Alternate Regional Executive Board Member. Nominations were conducted jointly by Regional President Jack Moore and the President of Local 1-357 Wyman Trineer. NEGOTIATIONS Since the end of Negotia- tions for the 1966-67 Contract, your Negotiating Committee has almost steadily engaged in bargaining for Tradesmen Training programs, and cate- gory rate revisions which have produced substantial in- creases to those categories which were involved in the study. We barely concluded the final terms for the 1968- 69 Contract at the time of this report, and we note that-once again substantial gain in wages and conditions have been won. Some of the most important gains this year saw great im- provements in the Fare Al- lowance Clause for Loggers, and a large step forward to- wards a closed shop by win- ning the Preferential Hiring conditions. EDUCATION The need for increased ac- tivity to educate more Shop Stewards, Committee Men and Members on the various aspects of grievance proce- dure and Contractural Terms is obvious and your officers are working on an outline to produce results in this direc- tion. A case for example is where the Local Union is pay- ing the Registration Fees for IWA members enrolled to take the two day weekend course being offered at Camp- bell River at the end of Sep- tember, under the auspices of the Campbell River, Courte- nay and District Labour Council, an organization which was the result of sev- eral years of concerted effort by this Local Union. GRIEVANCES Since our last report, 168 individual complaints were handled by your Local Staff. These problems covered a broad area including Compen- sation, MSA, Health and Wel- fare, Unemployment Insur- ance and of course job com- plaints involving wages, seniority and so forth. Includ- ed in grievances were eight cases which went to hearing before Arbitration Boards. POLITICAL ACTION We are all aware of the loss ~ of our representative in Ot- tawa when Tom Barnett was recently defeated. This IWA member has spoken well as the voice of the working peo- ple in this broad area, and your Political Education Com- mittee will be renewing and expanding their efforts to re- cuperate our representation in Government. SAFETY Your officers find that in spite of the increased activity of all of our Safety Commit- tees the Safety Record of the Local Union has shown very little improvement, even in the view of a very adequate job being performed by our members on the various oper- ational Safety Committees. We believe the record should show that there have been not less than seven fully investi-* gated fatals in our Local Un- ion since the time of our last report, they being as follows: MacMillan Bloedel, Kelsey Bay—Larry Sacht, Grapple Operator. MacMillan Bloedel, Menzies Bay—Keith Olmstead, Cat- Hooker. Crown Zellerbach — James Murray, Tree Farmer Oper- ator. Elk River Timber — Steven Grant, Chaser. Reliable Logging — Larry Merlo, Chokerman. Dyer Logging Co. — Robert Duff, Chokerman. R&M Trucking — John Bourassa, Log Truck Driver. In view of this record your officers feel that every effort must be expended now to in- crease the Local Union’s ac-. tivity in the field of Safety Education. To this end your officers suggest the implemen- tation of Local Union spon- sored Safety rallies and meet- ings so that a more effective Safety Program and lines of communication may be ham- mered out in order to promote the safest possible working conditions for our members and to overcome the disen- chantment that our members are suffering through the Company sponsored Safety ‘Meetings. Those of our members who are and have been on the Safety Committees are to be commended by all for their efforts in the Safety Program, even though at best it has been discouraging and frus- trating. Keep up your good work! LOOKING AHEAD Despite the gloomy reports hanging over the Pulp Indus- try, your officers are con- fident that the long range prospect is a cheerful one for our members, and we are well aware that the vast ma- jority of our members look with pride on the gains made in this year’s negotiations without becoming embroiled in a bitter strike. In closing this report your officers pledge themselves to continue, and to increase their efforts for the good and welfare of our members. REGIONAL PRESIDENT Guest speaker Jack Moore reviewed the history of the IWA in the Interior of British Columbia and gave special at- tention to the years the In- See “Local 1-363”—Page 10 PICTURED ABOVE are officers of Local 1-353 in attend- ance at the Local Union’s Bi-annual meeting; from left to right Bud Berkebstock (3rd Vice), Art Wesner (Recording Secretary), Karl Lidberg (Financial Secretary), Max Salter (President, at tHe microphone), Jack Moore (Regional President) and Ed Thompson (Ist Vice).