JOE MORRIS
District President

JOE MADDEN
Ist Vice-President

S, M. HODGSON
2nd Vice-President

WHAT'S
INSIDE

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ANNUAL

DISTRICT
CONVENTION |.”

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Vol. XXV, No.3  <@5>*9 Ist ISSUE, FEB. 1958 - VANCOUVER, B.C. =>

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Summary of progress made
during the twenty-one year period
in all departments of IWA activity
was presented as the foundation
work necessarily preparatory to
the 1957 culmination which re-
corded an all-time high in mem-
bership strength, contract im-
provements, and prestige.

The phenomenal expansion of
the forest products industry in the
same period, coupled: with the
changes in methods of production
d ‘integrated ownership, had
simultancous!: ‘imulated the
Union’s progress of activity, and
the necessary adaptation to tech-
nological and management inno-
vations through the years.

The more significant develop-
ments in the summary of twenty-
one years of progress were;

@ “Membership strength is
now 34 times greater than at
the beginning of the period. It
is significant that the greatest
growth in membership strength
has taken place since October,
1948,

@ “The Union has success-
fully represented the workers in
all sections of the industry, and
has developed its maximum bar-
gaining strength on an industry-
wide basis,

@ “By dint of persistent
struggle and with long-range
policies, the Union has gained
master contracts, which com-
pare favourably with those of
other unions, and which contain
many special provisions directed
to the improvement and stabili-
zation of working conditions
and job security.

LISTEN TO

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District Officers Report
Union's Progress Assures
Confidence For Future

Review Of Period’s Activities Shows
Marked Gains In Contract Benefits,
Membership And Bargaining Strength

Twenty-first Anniversary of the founding of the IWA in British Columbia, marked
this week by the 21st Annual District Convention in Vancouver, provided the occasion for
an Officers’ Report which recounted the achievements of twenty-one years steady and vigor-
ous growth in numerical strength now 34 times greater than in 1937, and forming the
largest Union in Western Canada.

@ “Special techniques of or-
ganization developed during the
past twenty-one years, enable
the Union to meet successfully
the original obstacles of travel,
distance, scattered operations,
seasonal employment, wide var-
iety of occupations and intensi-
fying employer opposition,

@ “The strength of the Pa-
cific Coast organization has

been employed to assist in the
building of a self-sustaining or-

ganization throughout the In-
terior and Alberta. This in turn,
has protected the wage stand-
ards won in the Coastal area.

© “Friendly cooperation with
other unions\and acceptance of
a proper share of responsibility
in regard to the B.C, Federa-
tion of Labour, the Canadian
Labour Congress and the
LGF.T.U., has strengthened

See REPORT” Page 3

‘No Retreat”
Officers Say

“There is no occasion for
table,” declared the District Officers’ report to the Annual
IWA District Convention in Vancouver this week. This
attitude was taken in a section of the report which analyzed
the existing economic situation as viewed by the Union, and
which repudiated any “panic reasoning.”

The joint report of the officers
anticipated an intensifying cam-
paign of misrepresentation on the
part of the employers for the pur-
pose of neutralizing demands for
adjustment in wages and working
conditions.

The facts are, said the report:

“During the past year, the
Trade Union movement has been
subjected to a vicious campaign
of misrepresentation. An attempt
has been made to pin the respons-
ibility on organized labour for the
results actually caused by an un-
precedented and unplanned plant
expansion financed largely by im-

a retreat from-the bargaining

ported capital, and the extra-
ordinary rise in dividends. Labour
is not the culprit,

“The stark fact is that the
productive capacity of industry
in Canada has exceeded the
ability of people to convert their
needs into demand by having
adequate participating power.
If the average Canadian worl
er had enjoyed the same i
crease in take-home pay. that
the employers gained in take-
home profits, he would now
have at least $40.00 more take-
home pay a week.

FRED FIEBER
3rd Vice-President

GEORGE H. MITCHELL

Secretary-Treasurer

WALTER ALLEN
Int. Board Member

No Panic Policy

“We must record the actual
facts here, that our people may
know where the responsibility
lies for the present economic dis-
turbance. We also state them here,
for we do not believe that we

See “RETREAT” Page 3

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