THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

“SASK. LABOUR
‘SCORES GOVERNMENT

-* The hard nosed attitude
- +against Labor taken by Sas-
, katchewan’s Liberal premier,
“Ross Thatcher, is brewing a
- multitude of problems for the

- province.
The government has been
“involved with strikes at two
| -crown corporations, the Tim-
| .ber Board and the Estevan

- Brick Plant. Government
statements have also indi-
“cated that they plan to make

_-the going tough in recently

| _opened negotiations with the

hd employees of the Saskatche-

{ - wan Power Corporation.

\- The basis of the trouble is

~’ believed to be that the

_ Thatcher Government is not
- only antagonistic toward La-
. bor in general but it is hostile

towards crown corporations
“which were successfully
-launched by the CCF govern-
_ment.

_ The Timber Soard Employ-

| -ees are represented by the

J -International Woodworkers
of America.

The Brick Plant employees
-are affiliated with the United
-Glass and Ceramic Workers,
_and the Power Corporation

union is a local of the Oil,

* Chemical and Atomic Work-
-ers Union.

J. D. Arnold, president of

~the Estevan Brick Plant Un-

= ~ion, has stated that their posi-

_ «tion is centred on the fact that

| wages of the plant have fallen

“seriously behind those paid

-by other sections of the Heke

-industry on the prairies,

| namely at Medicine Hat and

| “Edmonton. He says that over

-recent years the Estevan

>

The union contends that it
must receive an offer which
will make at least some at-
tempt to bridge this gap.

The spokesman for the
Power Corporation employ-
ees is Jim Kimmerly, inter-
national representative of the
OCAW. He has stated that
the union is seeking an
across-the-board increase of
35 cents an hour.

Their case, he says, is based
on the fact that the decision
of the compulsory arbitration
board earlier this year re-
sulted in SPC employees fall-
ing even further behind as
far as the general wage pic-
ture across Canada is con-
cerned.

He notes that the Greater
Winnipeg Gas Utility, for
which the OCAW is also bar-
Zaining agent, is a_ utility
which the SPC used repeat-
edly for wage comparison
purposes during the compul-
sory arbitration hearings.
That union has just signed a
new agreement providing for
a 154%4% general wage in-
crease over a two year period.
This would amount to some-
what more than the Regina
union is asking.

Besides the wage increase,
the Power Corporation em-
ployees are seeking improved
vacation conditions, namely
four weeks after 15 years and
five weeks after 20 years. One
other main demand is for a
Sunday premium of 50 cents
an hour for all hours worked
on Sunday and double time
for all overtime worked on
that day.

Commenting on the Labor
situation in Saskatchewan,
W. C. Gilbey, president of
the Saskatchewan Federation

11

MEMBERS OF LOCAL 1-184 IWA, Saskatchewan, employed by the Northern Wood
Preservers Ltd. have been on strike in an attempt to win wage parity with Simpson
Timber, Domtar and MacMillan Bloedel employees in Saskatchewan. Photo shows more
of the strikers in front of the plant’s main gate in Prince Albert. With the strikers -
are Regional 2nd Vice-President Del Pratt (centre) and Glen Thompson, Local 1-184

President (left).

of Labor has issued a public
statement in which he says:

“From the attitude of the
Saskatchewan Government
and its leaders over the past
several weeks it appears that
they are not really interested
in finding a settlement to
their dispute with the wood-
working employees and brick
plant workers, but rather are
trying to work up some dubi-
ous political strategy.”

He said that the govern-
ment has made no attempt to
institute genuinely impartial
mediation processes. “The de-
partment of Labor concilia-
tion services are plainly poor-
ly suited and tend to be
biased in a situation where
the government’s own inter-
ests are at stake.”

“The Premier,” said Mr.
Gilbey, “never. appears at the
bargaining table but utters
threats and ultimatums which
inflame the situation and
block the way to settlement.
The statement of the deputy
premier (David Steuart)
hinting that the disputes may
come before a special session
of the legislature are particu-
larly reprehensible. So are his
remarks trying to link up the
Great Lakes shipping dispute
with the two isolated Saskat-
chewan strikes.

“Again it seems in 1967, as
it appeared in 1966, that the
cabinet is playing politics
with labor disputes by at-
tempting to work up one sec-
tion of the population against
another.”

LIGHTER SIDE

Mr. Jones: “My dear, this
book is a remarkable work.
Nature is marvelous! Stupen-
dous! When I read a book like
this it makes me think how
lowly, how insignificant is
man.”

Mrs. Jones: “A woman does-
n’t have to wade through 400
pages to discover that!”

* * *

“Hello, old man! How
you’ve changed! What’s mak-
ing you look so old?”

“Trying to keep young,”
was the reply. -

“Trying to keep young?”

“Yes—nine of them,” was
the gloomy response:

-wages were slightly ahead of
_those in other areas but now
they are from 23 to 30 cents
-an hour less on the average.
1
i.

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