‘not next year...

UNION SHOP!

_ and only then will they be obli-

B.C. LUMBER WORKER

Page Nine

Right to Union security for the IWA in th B.C.
ein Jee cite by the IWA- Nepodiuag cee
re the Coast Conciliati: i
re ee liation Board, during the May 19

Employers’ arguments in opposition were declared to be out:
moded in modern industry and offered ; itions
i offered in defence of conditions

Section of the IWA brief deal-9

worked under non-union condi-
tions and have no way to draw
comparisons. Other English-
speaking nations have long ago
accepted the idea of Union shop
and, having done so, made a part-
ner out of labor so as to increase
responsibility and co-operation
between the parties,

We are willing to accept our
responsibility in living up to the
agreement if we have the oppor-
tunity. A new person coming on
the job may or may not take it
upon himself to become ac-
quainted with the working agree-
ment. More than likely, he will

not, unless he can be induced to
join the Union and participate in
the affairs of the Union.

When a Union signs an agree-
ment with an employer pertaining
to the terms and conditions of
employment, it has acquired a
measure of security, at least for
the duration of the contract.

While the agreement is in force,
the major aspects of the collect-
ive bargaining relationship —
wages, hours working conditions
—have been removed from the
area of conflict. The rules and
procedures of this relationship

‘have also been fairly established.

ing with the IWA demand for
the Union shop stated in part:
We feel the Union shop is not
only desirable from the Union’s
tt of view; we believe it is
absolutely necessary to stabilize
employment and increase effici- Union Shop Won in U.S.
The International Woodwork-|,, The, employers were adamant
ers of —, aoe in Canada Aaa el 2
ry pen nee, WeS| strikes resulted” However, the
fndustry. A great deel of tee| Union did win’ Union security
and effort was spent by the work- Peete rectl of War Labor
rs fee sa te organization in| rr Was ea PES
8. or ard was a
Be rieiatonwes ccrabianca |tePartite boatd similas icine
- democratic organization, |C°"¢iliation Board we are appear-
Wearsousible te ie jal |img before here. It was comprised
ponsible in its financial of T bli
dealings with its members and cinpioyer, public and labor

“eater members. These men were far-
ee tintioulfées and | ichted enough to visualise tho

9 benefits of Union shop, and the

2, The Union is well-known | results speak for eis naeivess by

to the employers and has |the very few work stoppages
proved to be made up of re-

over this matter.
sponsible citizens. h i
i Whey are known to be in- The International Woodworkers

# ;
terested in civic affairs by their Serene has, feats umber. of
meee, in ao Paiste: pny employers in B.C, to agree to
co-operat Wi! usiness lead- i = es
ers, school and church officials | OTP Shop, but to no avail. In

stead the lumber operators say
for the betterment of the com- | i¢ j, i j 5
Sesion in witch gins eee it is against their policy and offer

2 the ridiculous proposal that the
4. These responsible employ- | Union post bond for all the em-
ees of the various operators

ployees whether or not they are
haye strongly indicated that |members of the Union. es
they want such a clause. Union Shop G 1
5, There is no law prohibit- Sree ences

ing such a clause and, as we Union security in most of the
will show later in our discus- | North American continent is now
sions, the trend is toward more js well accepted that it has be-
Union security; thus, adding joe standard part of agree-
responsibility, | ments. ‘The U.S, Bureau of Labor

6. There has been no showing | St#tistics in 1939 estimated that
that the inclusion of such a |2 Million out of 8 million organ-
clause would act as a detri- ;2¢d workers were under closed

! shop. By 1948, 6 million, or 45|
Pees pone tenn’ 8" | percent of the 48 raillion then om |

ganized, were under closed shop.
Bathe paares Would be a8- lin addition, there were 2.5 mil:
val one rsnazae oganine |e covered. by other” forma of
tion in all their labor relations | nq "oder dig Ono, SHOR
during the contract period and | Ynion security.
all grievances would be brought : s
to the attention of management |, During a study of labor legis-
at once rather than having dis- | ation in 1946, it was shown that
gruntled non-union men on the | Union security was more wide-
Job.

laid down a hard and fast rule
that they would not work with
People who did not belong to the
Union, and in the early 1940's,
Union shop was a big issue in
the lumber industry in the States.

spread than at any time in the
history of organized labor in Am-
erica, About 10.5 million workers
out of 15 million were covered
with Union security contracts.

Following passage of the Taft-
Hartley Act, millions of workers
reaffirmed their position on the
Union shop question by secret
government conducted elections.
As a result in 1950, there are
more Union shop contracts
throughout the United States
than ever before.

This trend toward Union shop
contracts is healthy, as many
thousands of workers today never

On the other hand, the Union
will be able to convey its pol-
icies to all employees and ap-
prise them of the proper way
to ts grievances, if any

a

7. Finally, the Union has
a there will be no strikes
with respect to any matter for
which arbitration is provided.
Consequently, it is essential
that all people employed in the
bargaining unit are active
members of the Union. Then

gated to follow decisions of the

nor year

after...

One of the most important
rules involves the position of the
Union and its relationship to the
workers in the plant and to their
jobs; that it, the requirement
that the workers in the bargain-
ing unit must become and remain
members of the Union as a con-
dition of employment. The term
“Union security” refers to this
rule determining the status of
the Union in the plant.

First Step

The first step toward “Union
security” may be said to have

been accomplished when an em- | 'i

ployer recognizes the Union as
sole or exclusive bargaining agent

of the workers in the bargaining |!

unit of the plant. Following rec-

the contract—the Union and the
company. John Smith does not
hold the contract. The Union
holds it in behalf of John Smith,
whether he be a member of the
Union or not.

If John Smith, Union mem-
ber, has a grievance he comes to
the Union to seek redress, but if
John Smith, non-member, has a
grievance, he beefs on the job

that the Union isn’t any good and
the company isn’t good.

This sort of thing must stop.
When two parties sign an agree-
ment, they both must agree to
the terms and then adhere to
those terms.

‘We hear employers say, “We
don’t want to deprive a man of
his liberty. He can join or not,
as he sees fit.” That is so much
rubbish as what good is liberty
if you don’t get it? A non-mem-
ber does not have the liberty to
express himself on Union matters.
He has no vote of acceptance or
rejection. He takes a grievance
to the boss, and the boss says,
“Go to the Union.” So the man
has no liberty; he is governed by
an outside force. In order to get
liberty and justice he must be
in the Union and participate in
its affairs. *

Strikes

We have discussed the matter
of Union shop many years around
the bargaining table, and the
committee for the Union has al-
ways let the Union shop issue
drop before we have come to
blows, so today, we-find consider-
able unrest and demand for Union
shop.

... but this year

ognition, the employer and Union|;

or their representatives, enter in-

to collective bargaining to deter- |) /

mine the terms and conditions of
employment, including Union see.
urity going beyond simple recog-
nition,

The position of the Union is
based upon the simple proposi-
tion that all workers who share
the benefits of the collective
agreement should, at the same
time, share the costs and obli-
gations of the Union. Member-
ship in good standing in the
Union is regarded as the prin-
cipal obligation.

For the most part, management
has opposed Union security be-
cause it has feared that the con-
trol over the supply and quality
of its labor force would thereby
be placed in the hands of the
Union. However, the thousands
of Union agreements which con-
tain Union security provisions of
one type or another, afford ample
evidence of the fact that employ-
ers and unions have, through the
process of collective bargaining,
found a basis for reconciling any
differences,

Parties to the Contract

Democracy is what the people
say it is; not what some small
group or an individual says it
it. The company and the Union
should both strive to see that the
contract works, If that is so,
everyone must participate and co-
operate.

That brings us up to the ques-
tion of who are the parties to the
contract. The agreement says,
“The company recognizes the
Union as the sole collective bar-
gaining agency of the employees
of the company ... etc,”

There are only two parties to

majority,

In the early days, men eagerly
Joined the Union to better their
eonditions because they knew
what it was like to work in un-
organized mills and camps. The
workers in most mills and camps

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