Real

:* Political Abuses Invited

B.C. LUMBER WORKER :

were found to be:
The Bill deprives the
of the right to engage
tive strike action, and
ecially designed to penal-

industry-wide strike action.

2. The Bill places the Union
completely at the mercy of the
Labor Minister at critical
stages of conciliation, especial-
ly with respect to timing, the

appointment of a Conciliation’

Officer, or the appointment of
a Conciliation Board Chairman
now made the personal respon-
sibility of the Minister.

No Protection,
3. The Bill removes all pro-
tection for the Union against
prosecutions that may be in-

= 7. The Bill opens the door to
the ‘gravest abuses of political
patronage and partizan inter-
ference during a serious indus-
trial dispute. The Minister has
full power to appoint whom he
eae to deal with disputes,
der a Union to comply

aa jis wishes. This makes
it possible for the Minister to
take revenge on a Union which
he believes to be opposed to
him politically, and to dispense

spired by the employers.

4. The Bill enables the Min-
| ister to refer any alleged
| breach of the Act during a
| strike to a Justice of the Su-

preme Court for a ruling as to
“the legality of any occurrence.

This includes any action taken

by a friendly union in obsery-

ance of an IWA picket line.
5. If the Union fails to de-
fend its rights successfully
against the attacks of high-
priced counsel employed by
wealthy corporations, and is
found to have condoned any
action deemed to be illegal
| under the faulty terms of the
| new Labor Relations Act, the
Minister may then proceed to
exterminate the Union by de-
certification, cancellation of all

| favors to any other union that
may be encouraged to support
him politically.

The results can only be that
decisions, upon which public
controversy may centre, will
be made on the basis of politi-
eal expediency and without
consistency in the promotion
of industrial harmony.

8. Although the Minister as-
sumes extraordinary powers
| under the Act, no proper limi-

1

NIONS BLAST LRA”.

Objectionable Features Exposed

ectionable features of |
it applies to IWA bar- |

bargaining rights, and check-
off privileges.

6. The Bill drastically cur-
tails the powers of the Labor
Relations Board, and places
all matters relating to concilia-
tion, mediation, and enquiry
into industrial disputes direct-
ly under the authority of the
Minister.

This divides the exercise of
authority under the Bill.

The Union must deal with
one stage of officials with re-
gard to such matters as certi-
fication, and -union activity, but
when labor relations reach the
stage of a dispute, it is placed
directly under the control of
the Minister. This destroys
| the basis of sound conciliation.

tation is placed upon the exer-
cise of his powers. It is stipu-
lated that the Minister may

perform a long list of func-
tions, but fails to stipulate
that the Mimster shall do any
one of these functions. It fol-
| lows that in the exercise of
| such unprecedented discretion-
| ary power, the Minister may
not perform any of the func-
‘tions assigned to him.

Unions Further Restricted

9. The Bill promises nothing
in the way of speeding of con-
ciliation procedures or making
them serve the purpose of con-
ciliation more efficiently than
in the past. The Minister can-
not possibly exercise the pow-
ers assumed by him under the
the Bill personally. Of neces-
sity these powers will be dele-
gated to the staff of the De-

| partment of Labor. There i
no assurance in the Bill nor in
the estimates that competent,
well-trained men will be made
available.

10. The freedom of trade
unions is restricted in many
important respects. A trade
union is not free to nominate
whom it chooses to a Concilia-
tion Board, as it is forbidden

| to name a member or officer of
the Union. A trade union is
not free {to institute strike ac-
tion when it so determines
after
Unless
poli-party certification, is
not free to plan industry-wide
strike action, if any of the
operations affected vote
against strike action.

a favorable strike vote.
the Union secures a
it

k of Montreal.

iJ

From generation to

eneration Canadians have put their trust in the

~ w~ ~

‘oday, more than two million people from coast to
call the B of M “My Bank”.

ANK OF MonrTreat

3% OWN
(15% STOCK
IN FIRMS

| NEW YORK (CPA) — The
| well-worn story that “the peo-
| ple” own the nation’s industry
}
|

has been further punctured by a
| has been further punctured by
| a report from a group of Har-
| vard business school professors
| that 75 percent of all stock in

U.S. industry is owned by only
3 percent of all U.S. families.

The spread of stock among a
select group is emphasized even
more by the findings that 35 per-
cent of all stock is owned by only
4,700 of the nation’s families.
Sixty-five percent of stock is
owned by families worth $250,000
or more, and, on the average,
each of these families owns at
least $100,000 in stock.

Besides the amount held in
stock, the top-bracket boys are
not doing so badly with their sav-
ings. The top 10 percent of the
| population has heen accumulating
| savings at the rate of $10 billion
a year, One quarter of all sav-
ing is done by one percent of
the population, while 55 percent
is done by only 5 percent of the
population.

‘©

Cigars: 235,588,000 were re-
leased for consumption in 1953,
an increase of 35,325,000 or 13
percent over the preceding year.

Housing: Average time re-
quired to complete units built last
year was six months and nine
days, 21 days less than in 1952,
one month less than in 1951.

FROM PAGE 1

“Trades

has long required a remedy.

Discussions with management
commenced last September, and
have continued at intervals since.

‘Progress has been made on a
number of important points, but
the employers” proposals fell
short of a solution which would
prove satisfactory to the trades
men. They have expressed their
dissatisfaction in no uncertain
terms, and our Union is again
engaged in an all-out effort to
convince the employers of the
justice of their claims.

Began in 1953

Before dealing with the yari-
ous aspects of the grievance, I
should explain to all workers
in the Iumber industry, that
the present negotiations on
behalf of the tradesmen are a
continuation of those initiated
by recommendation of the 1953
Conciliation Board.

At¢that time the Union
agreed to negotiate the ques-
tion with the employers, and
has faithfully kept to that un-
dertaking, The present discus-
sions with the employers have
no reference whatever to the
negotiations for revised con-
tract terms which open in the
middle of next month.

Rates Far

requiring the same qualifications
were paid at rates varying as
much as 30 cents an hour. It was
also discovered that no clear
definition had been made of the
skills and responsibilities attach-
ed to each classification.

The confusion in classifica-
tions, and the specified qualifica-
tions for each classification led
to endless misunderstandings.
Frequently improvers were ask-
ed to perform work that could
only be done by a competent
journeyman, with most unsatis-
factory results to all concerned.

The rates paid to the trades-
men in the lumber industry have
been far too low for the highly
skilled nature of their work.
They must spend years to ac-
quire proficiency in their trades.
They must own the tools of
their respective trades, frequent-
ly requiring an investment by
them of hundreds of dollars.

Rates Too Low

By the same token, the rates
paid to sawmill tradesmen has
fallen far below those paid to
tradesmen in many other indus-
tries in the area. Qualified
tradesmen properly consider that
they should be paid the same
vate when working at their r
spective trades as those now i
corporated in the wage pattern
for the area. This has caused
irritations, when tradesmen are
sometimes brought in temporarily
from outside to perform work in
the plants beside the plant
tradesmen and are paid at the
higher prevailing xate in the
area.

The tradesmen in the lumber
industry gre well aware that the
same employers which have re-
fused their claims are now pay-
ing a higher rate to tradesmen
in the pulp and paper industry.

As a matter of fact, at some
points, tradesmen are switched
back and forth and compelled to
accept a lower rate in the saw-
mill or plywood plant, than they
earned in the pulpwood plant for
exactly the same class of work.
They become still more exasper-
ated when they realize that in
the lumber and plywood mills,
they are expected to perform
even more exacting work, with
greater proficiency than is else-
where required.

Program Made

Our Union has made import-
ant progress in these negotia-
tions, We expect that it will

he possible to simplify the

Talks”

Another point that should be
clearly understood is that the
standards of skill in thei respec-
tive trades are as high, if not
higher, than those demanded of
tradesmen in other industries.
They are relied upon to keep a
modern and highly mechanized
industry running smoothly, and
at the top pitch of Pee
efficiency.

They are required to keep
abreast of all the latest scien-.
tific developments, for modern
production demands the most
up-to-date equipment, kept func-
tioning at high speed. It is gen-
erally agreed that tradesmen in
the lumber industry be classed
among the most competent in in-
dustry at large.

There has been a complete lack
of uniformity in the rates paid
to skilled tradesmen.

When our survey was made of
the rate structure, discrepancies
were discovered which could not
be, defended. Very little effort
has yet been made to pay stand-
ardized rates for qualified jour-
neymen performing the same
class or skilled work.

Senseless Mix-up
We found that tradesmen per-
forming-the same class of work,

Too Low.

qalifications of journeymen,
improvers, and helpets in their
respective trades. This will
enormously benefit the trades-
men because they will then
gain full and orderly recogni-
tion of their skills. It will also
proyide the right kind of in-
centive to helpers and improy-
ers to qualify in their trades,
when they are assured that
when so qualified they will
haye the status and pay of
journeymen.

We also hope to establish uni-
formly basic rates in each major
classification. At least we are
close to an agreement on the
principle. If a man qualifies as
a journeyman, he should secure
at least the basic rate so estab-
lished, wherever he may work
in the industry.

In some instances, he may be
paid more than this basic rate,
because of special circumstances.
In no instance should he receive
less. Agreement on this prin-
ciple, when given effect by agree-
ment with the employers, will
immediately result in a substan-
tial increase in the rates paid
the great majority of tradesmen,
improvers and helpers.

Point at Issue

The point at issue with the
employers at the present time is
with respect to the rates for
journeymen, which will largely
determine the rates for improv-
ers and helpers in the trade, At
first ‘the employers were reluc-
tant to make any. adjustment,
but more recently they have
consented to substantial im-
provements.

All Will Benefit =

I wish to emphasize again,
that these present conferences
are a continuation of last
year’s negotiations, in which
our Union is seeking to imple-
ment recommendations which
were won in the process of
the 1953 Conciliation proceed-
ings. They do not in any way
infringe upon the broad nego-
tiations for all the workers
which will commence soon.

Production workers as well
as maintenance workers will
recognize that it is necessary
to clear up this issue as a pre-
liminary to this year’s nego-
tiations. All workers will
benefit, both directly and in-
directly, if our Union gains ~
recognition for the high stand-
ard of skill required in the
lumber industry,