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Otte Rian ties Indornatianol Wooduarbers of America

Dierks Coonell Nob

Vol. XXI, No. 23

SS

Ist ISSUE, DECEMBER - VANCOUVER, B.C.

S&S

INTERIOR STRIKE Al

resident William Gray

Interior, whose self-sacrificing struggle defends the rights of all Jumber workers.”

-IWA SECURITY

MADE ISSUE

Conference held recently
in Penticton between the
IWA representatives and
the Southern Interior op-
erators failed to reach any
satisfactory basis of agree-
ment, when the operators
flatly rejected all the cus-
tomary forms of union
security, and hedged their
offer about with conditions
impossible of acceptance by
the Union.

The operators made an offer
of a 8-cent an hour wage in-
crease, but stipulated that the
Union sign a three-year contract.
It was proposed by the employ-
ers that the contract should con-
tain an annual wage-opening
clause, which would be subject to
compulsory arbitration, should no
agreement be possible.

Meaningless Offer
Spokesman for the IWA, Dis-
trict President Joe Morris, said:
“The so-called offer of the em-
ployers is meaningless as a basis
of settlement because it contains

WHAT’S
INSIDE

Page

Locals, ..

Editorials
IWA Pix ..

Safety Pages... 6-7

too many conditional require-
ments.”

He added, “The operators of-
fered no proper formula for wage
adjustments in their three-year
contract, except the initial three
cents to become effective Janu-
ary 1, 1954. All the conditions
of the contract would remain
static for a three-year period.”

The District official charged
that the operators absolutely re-
fused to consider the matter of
union security, and termination
date of the contract, two of the
Union’s most important demands.

Operators’ Statement

Jim Rhees, secretary-manager
of the ILMA, said “the IWA re-
fused to depart from demands
for a maintenance of membership
clause in the contract, which
makes an employee a member of
the IWA for life, no matter
where he works in the industry in
B.C., as well as the compulsory
check-off of dues. We could not
agree to this undemocratic de-
mand.” 2

“Instead, we offered a clause
calling for maintenance of the
check-off, which would require an
employee to maintain the check-
off once he had assigned it as a
condition of continued employ-
ment for the duration of the con-
tract.

“We can go no further.”

Union officials, experienced in
the negotiation of contracts de-
scribed the operators’ statement
as so much “double-talk”.

Vital

Issue
Fought

Realization that the In-
terior IWA picket line is en-
gaged .in warding off the
organized employers’ pre-
liminary onslaught on B.C.
standards of wages and
working conditions, has
prompted Coast trade unions
to mobilize financial support
for the strike, on a scale sel-
dom known.

IWA Local Unions have made
substantial contributions to the
Children’s Christmas Fund, The
total sum collected will now en-
sure that every child in the strik-
ers’ families will be remembered
by Daddy’s Union.

These contributions are over
and above the sums collected in
yespect of the special assessment
assumed by employed IWA mem-
bers, and which are applied to
the strike fund reserve. ~

Brewery . Workers’
Generosity

Among the affiliated unions,
the most outstanding gener-
osity was shown by the Brew-
ery Workers, who at a recent
membership meeting agreed to
assess themselves $1.00 a
month as long as the strike
lasts, to aid the strikers,

See “ISSUE” Page 3

fren GoldCJOR

LISTEN TO
7.00 p.m. ¢
Thursday ¢

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TRIKE PROBE BEGINS

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Operators Reject Mediation;
Victoria Orders Full Enquiry

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Appointment this week of County Court Judge, Arthur
E. Lord, as an Industrial Enquiry Commissioner under the
ICA Act faced the Interior lumber operators with a judicial
probe into the causes of the IWA strike, now in its tenth
week, Mr. Justice Lord will commence his enquiry in
Prince George during the week of December 14, and will
Jater proceed to the Southern Interior.

Under the terms of the Act, an
Industrial Enquiry.Commission is
appointed to make any enquiries
necessary with regard to indus-
trial matters and to “do such
things as seem calculated to
maintain or secure industrial
peace and to promote conditions
favorable to settlement.”

Full-dress Probe

It is expected that the Com-
missioner will conduct a thor-
ough probe into those matters
referred to him by the Minister
of Labor, If a settlement is not
effected in the meantime, he is
required to report to the Min-
ister within a stipulated time, and
make suitable recommendations.

The immediate reaction of
IWA officials to the appointment
was that the fullest cooperation
would be extended the Commis-
sioner, and steps were set in
motion to prepare a complete
case for the Union and the
strikers.

The appointment of Mr. Justice
Lord, followed the rejection by
the operators of the Premier’s
mediation proposals, to which the
IWA ‘had assented. Lame at-
tempts made by the employers to
stave off mediation through re-
course to the services of Con-
ciliation Officers, failed, when
their, peace’ offers were exposed
as “phony” by the strikers.

Strikers Spurn
Phony Offer

Overflow meeting of IWA members in the CCF Hall,
Prince George, December 6, heard District President Joe
Morris report on the outcome of a conference with the
lumber operators the previous day, and unanimously re-
jected the employers’ offer as being “unworthy of con-
sideration_as a basis of settlement”.

The official release made by the
Union following this meeting was
as follows:

At a meeting held on Saturday,
December 5, under the Chairman-
ship of Conciliation Officer Wil-
liam Fraser, between the NILA
and the IWA, the operators pre-
sented a proposal for settlement
of the present dispute between
the two parties in the Northern
Interior Lumber industry. The
proposal was as follows:

The Offer

1. Maintenance of member-
ship on a single plant basis.

2. A wage increase. of 5 cents
per hour, effective April 1,
1954.

3. A provision for the opening
of negotiations prior to 1st
of June of. each contract
year, with no change in ter-
smination date.

4, An agreement on two other
contract word changes.

This proposal was presented to
a capacity meeting-of the general
membership of IWA, Local 1-424,
Prince George, and it was soundly
xejected as being unworthy of
consideration as a basis of settle-
ment.

This offer gave no considera-
tion whatsoever to the major
causes of the present dispute and
does not in any way satisfy the
desires of the union membership
with respect to the conditions
under which they will work.

Democratic Procedure

“The operators have always
accused the Union leaders of
not representing the true
wishes of the membership,”
said IWA District President
Joe Morris. “The action of the
Prince George membership in
unanimously rejecting this last
offer of the operators gives the

CNW

Saturday

7.05 p.m. ¢

lie to this accusation. Our Un-
ion has at all times carried out
its policy consistent with the
wishes of the membership and
in dealing with the Interior
situation, the wishes of the In-
terior membership are the sole
basis on which policy has been
decided. Proof of this is the
action of the Prince George
membership today.” :
“No attempt has been made by
the operators to take a realistic
look at the causes that led to the
present dispute. A prime consid-
eration in any settlement must
be some form of Union Security
above and beyond anything yet
offered by the operators. It is
the Union’s opinion that if this
stumbling block were removed,
then a settlement could be
reached.”

Empty Gesture

“The operators’ proposal was
handed to the Union in a form
of an ultimatum in the late Sat-
urday afternoon and the opera-
tors’ representative didn’t even
stay in Prince George long
enough to get the Union’s answer.
It is my opinion that the opera-
tors’ group are not desirous of a
settlemént except on their own
terms. This is apparent by their
actions.”

President Morris further stated
that “They have continually re-
fused to enter into mediation un-
der the chairmanship of a neu-
tral party, as proposed by the
Premier. While professing to be
willing to work out a settlement,

they have refused to entertain
mediation as a means toward that

settlement and have insisted on
using the Government concilia-
tion machinery for the second

See “OFFER” Page 3

6.30 p.m.
Thursday

CJAV