B.C. LUMBER WORKER

Summary

HE members of IWA Local Unions are now
in possession of the complete case presented

by the District Negotiating Committee before the
Conciliation Board.

As observers agree, this has been one of the

best presentations yet made on behalf of the
IWA. :

It has been good enough to reverse the think-
ing of many who were formerly inclined to agree

with the view that this year the Union had no
case.

This year the Union made one of its best
cases for a wage increase.

Costs of living have risen enough to wipe

out the increase granted last year. Food is up
4.8%.

The amazing increase in productivity of 8%,
was established in a way that made it impossible
of refutation by the employers.

Comparable wage settlements made neces-
sary by rising living costs in other industries are

already above the increase demanded by the
IWA.

The official consumers price index fails to
disclose the fact that the items in the family bud-
get which have risen in price most are those

necessities which are indispensable in the aver-
age home.

i The employers made no attempt to plead
inability to pay. The reference about the poor
neglected stockholders quickly brought out the
information that the stockholders have for the
most part done remarkably well dividend-wise.

All the employers’ gloomy predictions about
the market prospects collapsed when the Union
presented the true facts about shipments, in-

creased sales, decreased freight rates, and in-
creased orders.

_The employers attempted to rely on com-
parisons with 1955. This, as it happens, was the
best year in ten.

A comparison based on the average market
conditions for the past ten years would show that

1957 was not by any means as disastrous as it
was made to appear.

It must be emphasized over and over again,
that lumber workers must fasten their attention
on the rate of increased productivity.

Mainly, it is this increased productivity that
justifies a wage increase. It costs no more now
per unit to produce M board feet of lumber than
it did before last’year’s wage increase.

Unless the additional earnings made possible
by increased productivity are shared with the
workers, unemployment will spread, and eventu-
ally business activities in the province will de-
cline because of reduced purchasing power.

Note well the fact, that in the first two
months of this year, while production increased
20%, the number of workers engaged in this
production decreased by 11%.

Fewer and fewer men are producing more
and more.

Unless purchasing power rises in proper
relation to increased capacity to produce goods
and services, no economic progress can be ex-
pected throughout the province.

That is why the IWA says that a higher
wage level is necessary to keep the cash registers
ringing. ee

OTTAWA
REPORT

Much publicity was given to two recent emergency
measures dealt with by the House of Commons recently.
Part of this publicity is misleading, and accordingly some of

The two emergency matters
dealt with were: (1) a temporary
extension of Seasonal Unemploy-
ment Insurance benefits, and (2)
an increase of $350,000,000 for
home building construction.

Paltry Amount

The extension of Seasonal ben-
efits will certainly not affect as
many unemployed as we were led
to believe. In fact, according to
the Minister of Labour’s own fig-
ures, he estimated that 200,000 un-
employed would benefit to the ex-
tent of $14,000,000. If we spread
this amount of money over the
six weeks extended period and
divide it by the 200,000 who are
supposed to benefit we: find that
the average amount of money that
an unemployed person will get
will be $11.66 per week, a pretty
paltry amount.

One other important factor in
determining who will get addi-
tional benefits is this, and we can
do no better than to quote the
Minister’s own words from page
85 of Hansard (May 14, 1958).

“T would like to make it quite

clear at this time that this bill
does not constitute a blanket
addition of six weeks of bene-
fits for those who are now draw-
ing seasonal benefits . . . those
who have not exhausted all their
entitlement by May 17 will be
able to go on drawing benefits
until they do exhaust their
benefits . . .”

This means nothing to the poor
unfortunate person who has been

the hitherto unknown facts should be related.

unemployed all winter and has

been “cut off” unemployment in-
surance. The person who needs it
the most will have to line up at
“Ye Old Soup Kitchen.”

Extra Housing Money

Insofar as the extra money for
housing is concerned, in itself it
is good, for it will mean a cer-
tain amount of employment in the
lumber, transportation and con-
struction industries,

But it also means that people
who want to borrow some of the
money will have to go deeply into
debt in order to get it. One of
the main causes of the present
recession (depression is too harsh
a_word) is that people and indus-
tries became too inyolved in debt
loads. Under the system of get-
ting this $350,000,000 from the
Federal Government to you, here’s
what happens: You borrow your
own money from the bank and
pay 6% per year interest on it.
Most home building mortgages are
25 year ones, For every $1,000.00
that you borrow to build a house
you pay back $1,919.42 or in other
words you pay back almost twice
the amount that you borrowed.

Banks Get Rich

Incidentally, during the past
year we, the taxpayers, paid to
banks and other private lending
institutions the sum of $2,600,000
just to lend us back our own
money. Have. you heard how
banks get rich with someone else’s
money? This is one of the ways.

DISTRICT PRESIDENT,
dent of Local 1-357, IWA, on #
held by the Local Union, May 3rd.

Pm.

(left) compliments Joe Madden, P:
local’s new building during ¢

“Open

Are
You?

Are you an Active Member?
The kind that would be
missed,

Or are you just contented,
That your name is on the ©
List?

Do you attend the meetings,
And mingle with the boys,
Or do you stay at home,

And make a lot of noise?

Do you ever act on Commit-
tees,

To help the work along,

Or are you quite satisfied,

to only just belong?

Are you a Union Man?

A Man with Union views,
Or are you the kind of man,
That only pays his dues?

Think this over, Brother,
You know right from wrong.
Be an Active Member,

And help the work along.

Se cee eee
a

(one...
and gone!

McGavin’s Bakery
products are barely
out of the ovens
when they’re gone
... whisked direct
to your door, or to
CS your grocery store.
‘That's why, when
you buy MeGavir'’s,
you get home-quality baking
... fragrant, fresh, delicious.
Whatever your pleasure —
cakes, sweet goods, family
loaves or specialty breads —
you'll fins 's good eating if
it’s MeGavin’s.

M¢eGavin

BAKERIES LIMITED
Serving western Canada

with fine bakery producta
since 191%

16