B.C. LUMBER WORKER Ist Issue, Local 1-357 Hea ae rs Negotiations Report 2 From Page 1 “Vot necessary to advise workers in the industry that only workers in those operations bargaining through Forest Industrial Rela- tions Ltd. were eligible. Negoti- ations with the large number of employers who bargain indepen- dently have not yet been referred to conciliation. From all sides reports were made to IWA District officials that the employers had taken extraordinary measures to influ- ence the vote, in some instances using methods of intimidation. Threats Made In one operation, the employers threatened the employees with Joss of MSA and other benefits not included in the contract. One prominent lumber executive actu- 7 ally locked the gates of the plant in order to imprison the workers of the day shift, until he had told them what he thought of the Union’s policy. Fortunately, in this plant the workers had been previously in- formed of the facts and were not swayed from their original inten- tion to support the Union. Charges were made by the Dis- trict President that many employ- ers engaged in what he termed “contemptible trickery.” The terms of the majority report were misrepresented, he claimed, as of- fering the workers the same con- tract as in force the preceding year. This was not true, he ex- plained. DUNCAN BUSINESS GUIDE LOUTET AGENCIES LTD. INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE J. Lindsay Loutet Gordon R. Loutet Duncan Lake Cowichan HANEY HANEY BUSINESS GUIDE “ESQUIRE” MEN’S WEAR (Graham Mowatt) Complete Stock of Work and Dress Clothing “THE STORE WITH THE POPULAR BRANDS” PORT ALBERNI BUSINESS GUIDE MacGREGOR’S MEN’S WEAR For Everything A Man Wears 4k WORK, SPORT or DRESS x 131 Jubilee St. S. Shore Road BRITISH COLUMBIA We Can Afford To Sell The... BEST For LESS! WOODWARD STORES (PORT ALBERNI) LTD. “YOUR FAMILY SHOPPING CENTRE” Closed Wednesdays All Day Phone 1600 Hours: 9 - 5:30 Worse Contract Offered He said, “It is a matter of regret that statements originat- ing with the employers’ spokes- men gave the impression that the majority report of the Con- ciliation Board, which they ac- cepted, offers their employees exactly the same contract terms for 1958-59 as in force for 1957- 58. The truth of the matter is that the majority report offers them a much worse contract. “The fact has been glossed over that the majority report of the Board proposed to destroy the value of important contract pro- visions negotiated in previous years, and proven of great bene- fit to the workers.” The conditions which had been threatened here, he said, were: “The majority of the Board ignored the non-cost items con- tained in the Union’s bargaining demands, and at the same time upheld the point of view of the employers on contract changes. One stich proposal, dealing with seniority would, during so-called emergency situations, make a complete farce of the provisions written into the contract to pro- tect the rights of those with long service. Fallers and Buckers “The -employers have been mainly responsible for the system of paying fallers and buckers on piece work or contract rates. Be- cause bargaining on the job to fix the contract rates for timber to be felled, had resulted in hard- ship and confusion, the contract was amended to provide that such conditions could be determined and policed as a matter of con- tractual relations. “The proposal made by the Board referring the question for investigation is in effect a pro- posal that these conditions should be removed from the field of the Union’s negotiations. The enter- ing wedge, as proposed by the Board, would eventually leave the fallers and buckers without proper contract protection for their earn- ings. “Board rates for loggers is a matter of vital concern to them for the obvious reason, that as the board rates are raised their take- home pay is cut. Any raise in board rates aggravates a serious problem for men who must main- tain two places of domicile in order to get employment in the woods, “The majority report of the Board would place this matter in the position where upon any general increase in wage rates, the board rates would auto- matically be raised. Category Rates “In past years, under the pro- visions of the contract, it has been possible to conduct periodical re- visions of category rates. This has been of great value in dealing with rates which through chang- ing job conditions were out of line with other jobs requiring the same comparative job skills. Revision conducted on a dis- trict basis made it possible to ¢s- tablish a measure of uniformity throughout the industry, so that a worker accepting employment anywhere in the industry knew what the rate of pay for a par- ticular job should be no matter which operation he was working in. If we now accept the majority report, we accept terms which will wipe out this revision on an industry-wide basis. In fact, it is designed to so handicap such re- visions as to make them imprac- ticable. “This works a grave injustice to the workers affected, be- cause it is always made impos- sible during broad negotiations to give proper consideration to the details of the wage struc- ture. I haven't time on this pro- gram to outline all our objec- tions to the majority report, but the illustrations I have men- tioned should be sufficient to show that acceptance of the majority report would mean a cut in pay for groups of work- ers, apart from the refusal to grant any wage increase. Violation of Principles “In the terms of the majority report, the recommendation is made that some matters in dispute be referred to the Department of Labour for decisions binding upon the membership. These matters have already been negotiated for years with the employers. There is no valid reason why at this time they should be taken from the field of negotiation, for arbi- trary decisions by bodies without responsibility to the parties. This is a violation of collective bargain- ing principles to which we must take determined objection. Pay Cut Theatened “Without elaborating this point any further, I again stress the fact, that the terms of the majority report so change the contract conditions as to make working conditions worse and to impose upon groups of work- ers a cut in pay. The employers have deliberately fostered mis- understanding on this point by suggesting that a vote for strike action would mean a refusal to renew the contract terms in force, as they now stand. “I must direct attention to the fact that the majority report of the Board set aside all considera~ tion of the factors usually consid- ered as basic in fixing wage rates. The Board stated that the over~ riding consideration should be the ability of the employers to pay a wage increase, and evidently, in the opinion of the majority of the Board, the only evidence that should be used to determine this is that evidence supplied by the employers. Wrong Evidence “Such factors as rising living costs, increased productivity, and wage levels in adjacent industries are to be regarded as of no im- portance. Never at any time did the employers during the hear- ings, show finaricial inability to pay the wage increase, This year’s wage demand on the part of the IWA was considerably less than the increases already granted to other unionized workers in the province, “Also if the employers have been concerned solely about their precarious financial position, they could still grant the non-cost items in theUnion’ s list of de- mands without any financial risk.” Don't Monkey With Pay NEW YORK (CPA) — It’s perfectly in order to have mon- keys on the picket lines with you, but when it comes to ele- phants, the answer is no! New York City police allowed 500 employees of the Bronx Zoo, the Hayden Planetarium and a number of museums to bring along three caged monkeys when picketing City Hall in protest against a municipal salaries plan. ‘The monkeys carried placards reading “Stop monkeying with our pay.” Police, however, banned two baby elephants which the picket- ers had rented along with half-a- dozen monkeys. Moral: employers trying to monkey with wages may be in for a beastly time of it! Fa