4 . B.C. LUMBER WORKER

2nd Issue, October

Key To Power

OPPORTUNITIES, which far excel those of

former years, are now being provided by the
IWA District organization in cooperation with
the International and the CCL, through which
individual members may equip themselves for
posts of leadership in the union’s affairs.

This year, the weekend Institutes will blanket
the province, in such a manner as to enable all
Local Unions to arrange the attendance of stu-
dents, interested in mastering a selected trade
union subject. ;

In this work the Union is fulfilling the man-
date given at the last District Convention, when
it was declared that a program of education was
a vital need of the IWA.

For the very reason that the IWA has chosen
methods of administration, which vest full powers
in the hands of the membership, an enlightened
membership becomes a basic requirement for the
Union’s growth and stability.

Members of the IWA may well feel proud that
their Union is placing more and more stress on
the development of leadership from the ranks, and
that genuine educational opportunities are pro-
vided to this end.

As this program develops, it becomes more and
more: imperative that an increasing number of
IWA members should participate in the Institutes,
and “carry the message” of unionism back to their
fellow workers.

Any wood worker who feels that he can make
a contribution to the Union’s plans for expansion,
should enquire of the possibilities for his further
training from his Local Union officials.

Interior Need

CATEGORY rate revision is under way in the
operations certified by Interior Local Unions
of the IWA.

It is of importance to Interior IWA members
to note that this is the first general rate revision
under the master contracts since 1948, apart from
the annual contract “broad” negotiations.

In any rate revision, the negotiating commit-
tee must have evidence to justify an increase in
the rate for any particular category. Opinions are
not enough. The evidence required is gleaned on
the job, and is invariably in the possession of the
men engaged in the work of that particular clas-
sification.

Workers, who feel that the rates set for their
classifications under the wage schedule require
review, should now lend all possible assistance to
Cae Local Union in the collection of necessary

ata.
. Now is the time to act in a constructive way.
Complaints made at a later date may be received
too late.

A Real Program

The statement of economic policy adopted by
the 14th annual convention of the Canadian Con-
gress of Labour is based on the firm conviction
that Canada is a still-expanding nation. It can
only be kept that way by the kind of program the
CCL proposes. The cut-back, lay-off, wage-slash
policy some managements are proposing would
turn our country in exactly the opposite direction.

No one can say it is a selfish program. Cer-
tainly the CCL urges higher wages; but higher
wages for all, and all benefit from higher wages.
Wage increases won now are not going to be hid-
den away in a sock; they will be spent, and thus
they will provide demands for goods and employ-
ment for others.

It is natural that part of the CCL’s program
is action to increase the purchasing power of far-
mers and to raise old age pensions, for this is a
program for all Canadians, and a program de-
signed to aid those in other lands.

SCHOOL DAYS

Series of IWA-CCL Week-
end Educational Institutes
opened in Cranbrook on Octo-
ber 16, and before the end of
the year will have covered all
the main centres in the proy-
ince.

The schedule arranged is as
follows:

Cranbrook w- October 16-17
Kelowna vere October 23-24
Prince George ...... October 30-31
Vancouver .. November 6-7
Nanaimo . November 20-21
Victoria November 27-28

Haney .. December 4-5

Institutes Cover
Entire Province

Subjects which will be featured
at the Institutes are mainly:
Contract Analysis, Union Struc-
ture, Unidn Development, Un-
derstanding Our Economy, and
Effective oExpression.

IWA officials assisting with
Institutes are District President
Joe Morris, 1st “Vice-President
William Gray, Associate Re-
search Director Joe Miyazawa.
The CCL Education Director,
Howard Conquergood, is taking
a prominent part in the pro-
| Srams.

Conferences, in which Dis-
trict and Interior Local Union
officials participated recently,
have moved through the pre-
liminary stages of the annual
rate revision under the Interior
master contracts.

The contemplated revision,
which it is hoped will soon be in
effect, is the first complete major
revision, apart from broad nego-
tiations to take place since 1948.
The numerous problems which
arose during the early stages of
category rate consideration are

Interior Starts
Rate Revision

| now being discussed with the Lo-
| cal Unions concerned.

| The category rates were under
|review by the District Officers
and the following representatives
of the Local Unions: D. Parkin,
1-405; J. Strong, 1-423; W.
Thompson, 1-417; Clayton Wall,
Interior Regional Director; and
Vie Mauro, International Repre-
sentative.

Gold: 4,068,516 fine ounces
were mined last year, 403, 209
or 9 percent less than in 1952,

A SHAKING
INCIDENT

The crew of one of the log-
ging camps serviced by Local
1-85, IWA, Port Alberni, are
still shaking their heads over
the following incident which
took place in the camp cook
house during the supper hour,

One of the boys, while eating
his dinner, noticed that there
was only one salt shaker on the
table which normally calls for
two. Calling the Head Flunkie
over, he asked if it would be
possible to get another shaker,

The Head Flunkie replied that
someone had taken the :
off the table and until it was
turned the men would have to do
without., as the Company could
not afford to replace missing
articles,

As the Head Flunkie walked
away, the logger called him back
and saying he was sorry the
company was so broke he reached
into his pocket and brought out
20c¢ which he gave the Flunkie to
buy a new shaker,

To his surprise, the Flunkie
took the money but returned
later to say, “You forgot the
tax.”

This was a little too much for
the logger who replied that if
the company couldn’t afford the
tax, neither could he.

The outcome was that the men
received a new salt shaker, tax
free.

PEAK REACHED

Membership in the Canadian
Congress of Labor for the first
time reached the 400,000 mark,
CCL Secretary-treasurer Don-
ald MacDonald announced at
the 14th annual convention on
September 27.

At the pre-convention execu-
tive meeting, formal approval

was given to the affiliation of the

Amalgamated Civil Servants of
Canada, representing some 8500
workers in various federal gov-
ernment departments.

“This affiliation puts our mem-
bership over the 400,000-mark
for the first time in Congress
history,” MacDonald said.

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