TWA Category Revision. Upgrades Wage Rates Kk & wk wk Skilled Workers Gain 3-15 Cent Wage Hike wk Ow wk wk * Upward revision of wage rates in twenty-three skilled categories in mill and logging operations was announced recently by the IWA District Category Revision Commit- tee, following prolonged negotiations with Forest Indus- trial Relations Ltd. Several thousand skilled workers will benefit in amounts ranging from 3 to 15 cents an hour as a result of bargaining under the “mutual consent” category revision <7 E \1 tas at ANY, El We Ny \ \\ Otel Pedtincion ot be Ieclernational Woodworkers of America diaxta Comet Nah Ss \ Vol. XXIII, No, 20 <3 32 2nd ISSUE, OCT. 1956 - VANCOUVER, B.C. 5c PER COPY : : PLANT COMMITTEE members, Western Plywood, (Alberta) Ltd., John Cooper; Orville Desjardins, and Bill Herron. Edmonton, who recently participated in negotiations for contract in new plant. Shown above are, Keith Johnson, Plant Chairman; Mickey McDermott; Disputes Arise With P.R. Co. Conviction that the Powell River Co. Ltd. is again at- tempting to water down the provisions of the coast master agreement in the manner which provoked the recent dis- pute at Salmon River, has caused Local 1-71, IWA, to apply for conciliation in disputes which have developed in the Kelley Logging Co. Ltd. operations at Kumdis and Alliford Bay. Upon opening negotiations, af- ter certification for these opera- tions, the Local Union met with stubborn opposition, inspired, it is claimed, for the same reasons that were responsible for the out- break at Salmon River. No agreement could be reached to give effect to rates prevailing in the industry for fallers and pbuckers, Similar difficulties were encountered in gaining recogni- tion for other categories at indus- try rates. The Local Union officials have compared notes with the officers of Local 1-363, TWA, and have discovered, they state, the same determined intention to wipe out the established basis for the in- dustry’s wage structure in log- ging operations. With regard. to the dispute which has developed in the mat- ter of contract rates for fallers and buckers, the Local Union al- leges that this is a repeat per- WHAT'S INSIDE Page Miners ... nae} Editorial IWA Pix ..... 5-8 Safety . .- 6-7 Back Injuries .... 9 formance of the earlier struggles with the same company in its other operations along the coast line. “Guard Civil Rights" Trade unions have ren- dered a notable service to minority groups seeking full citizenship rights, said As- sociate Secretary Kalmen Kaplansky of the CLC Com- mittee on Human Rights, when he recently addressed trade union audiences in ‘Vancouver. The Vancouver visitor, who has served as director of the Jewish Labour Committee for 10 years, assured trade unionists that the situation regarding racial dis- crimination in Canada has im- proved in a marked degree, ‘When interviewed by Research See “RIGHTS” Page 3 DAMAGE SUIT PENDS Unless steps are taken to right a rank injustice, al- leged to have been inflicted upon two loggers by Super- intendent W. Kinney of the Larson Logging Co. Lid., Ramsay Arm, action in the courts will be instituted by Local 1-71, IWA, to recover the ‘losses caused the two victims, it was stated this week by Financial Secretary Fred Fieber. This unusual action has become necessary, it was explained, be- cause the men in question had not completed the thirty-day proba- tionary period. The story as it was unfolded in the Local Union office, indi- cated that the machine on which they were working broke down on a Saturday. They then applied for leave to spend the week-end in Vancouver, in order to attend to personal business, with the firm promise that they would re- port for work on the following Monday. Fights Cancelled “They reportéd for work, as promised, but were informed on several successive days that plane flights had been cancelled. Finally on the following Wed- nesday, they were advised that their services were no longer re- quired and that their clothes and See “SUIT” Page 3 Negotiations which opened dur- ing the latter part of 1955, were referred by the District Execu- tive Board to a District Commit- tee comprised of District Presi- dent Joe Morris; District Secre- tary-Treasurer, George Mitchell; District Vice-Presidents, S. M. Hodgson, and Fred Fieber; Lloyd Whalen, President, Local 1-217, IWA; Walter Allen, President, Local 1-85; P. Clements, Local 1- 80; Rae Edie, Local 1-357; Wm. Hayes, Local 1-367. ‘An engineers’ advisory commit- tee had as its members, Tom Burke, and Harry Dixon. The. revision, one of the most comprehensive undertaken by the Union, since the general adjust- ment of tradesmens’ rates, was conducted under authority of the clause in the master contract which states: “The wage scale, attached hereto, Supplement No. 1, is approved by both parties and may, subject to the mutual con- sent of both parties, be revised once annually.” Jn an explanation of the proce- dure, outlined by District Secre- tary-Treasurer, George Mitchell, in a radio program statement he said: “The intention of this clause is to make possible necessary ad- _~| clause of the Coast master agreement. gories where gross inequities ap- pear, and which could not be dealt with during the general contract negotiations. For a number of years, it has been the custom of the industry, whenever inequities appeared, to open discussions with the employers’ representatives, and endeavor to negotiate, by mu- tual consent, an upward revision of wage rates in those classifica- tions where injustices have been made apparent. “In a sense these annual revi- sions are a continuation of the bargaining which precedes the signing of a contract, on points which require further study than is possible when broader ques- tions are being settled.” ‘The records of the District Re- vision Committee indicate that as fer back as October, 1955, the workers in a number of cate- gories had a justifiable grievance regarding the rates paid. This was particularly true of the grad- ers and tallymen in a number-of plants. Obviously the rates then paid were too low, the Committee xe- ported, in view of the skills and responsibilities demanded. Once See “REVISION” Page 3 justments in wage rates for cate- Alberta Plywood Rates Settled Highest base wage rate yet negotiated by the IWA in Alberta since the beginning of the Union’s campaign to raise deplorably low wage standards in that province's lumber industry was established in the agreement recently signed with Western Plywood (Alberta) Ltd. in Edmonton. This agreement in a recent- ly constructed plant negotiated on behalf of Local 1-207, IWA, by District President Joe Mor- ris, W. N. Gray, Associate Dir- ector of Research Joe Miya- zawa, and members of the plant committee, provides for a base rate of $1.26 an hour. A novel feature of the newly- established wage structure is the provision for set wage brackets to cover all jobs in the wage schedule. It establishes an ascending scale for category rates, by grouping the skilled classifications, with a - rising differential of four cents be- tween each job level, and with a tpp bracket rate of $1.82. Union Vindicated ‘This agreement is regarded as a complete vindication of the pol- icy pursued by District 1, when Alberta was added to its juris- diction. The steady organizational pressure to eliminate a low wage area on the borders of B.C, by progressing stages of contract negotiation, increaSed the Alberta industry’s wage rates, first from 75c an hour to $1.10, and now in this and other contracts, to rates upward from $1.26 an hour. “Not only has this minimized a threat to wage standards al- ready negotiated in B.C., but it has afforded special protection to B. C. plywood workers, as the Ed- monton operation is an expansion of the operations of a B.C. com- pany,” it was claimed. be The agreement which ex- tends over a two-year period, also provides for a further across-the-board increase of five cents an hour effective Oct. 1, 1957. In addition to the provision of a vacation allowance of 2 percent of total earnings for the first year’s employment, 4 percent of total earnings has been secured for those with more than one’ year’s service, Three paid statutory holidays See “PLYWOOD” Page 3 LISTEN TO Green Gold-t0 7.00 p.m. 4 CJ AV - 6:30 p.m. Thursday — Thursday § CKPG = Ist and 3rd Thursday- 6 Pant.