FROM PAGE NINE The Regional Secretary-Treasurer shall receive and receipt for all monies due the Union, pay all bills and current expenses and shall keep copies of all important correspondence sent out and received by his office. The Regional Secretary-Treasurer shall submit to each Executive Board meeting a monthly statement of the financial operations of the Regional Council. The Regional Secretary-Treasurer shall record or cause to be recorded the proceedings of all Regional Officers’ Meetings, Regional Executive Board Meetings, Regional Conferences and Regional Conventions. The Regional Secretary-Treasurer may, with the consent of the Regional Executive Board, employ such assistants as may be necessary. to conduct the affairs of his office. All Regional Officers and others entrusted with the finances of the Regional Council must be bonded in accordance with the provisions of Article XIX, Section (4), of the International Constitution. Chartered Accountants shall be engaged to conduct semi-annual audits of the financial records of the Regional Council for the periods ending in June and December each year, copies of which shall be submitted by the Regional Sec- retary-Treasurer to the Regional Executive Board, Regional Convention and Local Unions. REGIONAL TRUSTEES It shall be the duty of the Regional Trustees to examine all financial records quarterly, and to see that the title to all real estate, assets, property and equipment is properly and securely vested in the membership or officers responsible thereto. The Regional Council Trustees shall determine whether all receipts have been properly recorded and all expenditures authorized by the Regional Constitution, Regional Convention, or Regional Executive Board. The Regional Council Trustees shall report to the Regional Executive Board and may make recommendations on any matters coming within their jurisdiction. INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS International Executive Board Members shall keep informed of conditions in their Region, and shall give all assistance possible to the Regional Director in effectua- ting International Policy in the Region. SUBJECT: ANNUAL AUDITS WHEREAS:The IWA Regional Council No. 1 currently has 2 audits per year as provided for in the Constitution. AND WHEREAS:The cost of each of these audits is now in excess of $6,000.00 making for an annual cost of more than $12,000.00. AND WHEREAS: One audit per year supplemented by the quarterly Trustees’ examinations of the books and vouchers would provide adequate review and protection for our finances. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That Article 11 — Duties of Officers, Section: Regional Secretary-Treasurer, paragraph 7 which reads: Chartered Accountants shall be engaged to conduct semi-annual audits of the financial records of the Regional Council for the previous periods ending in June and December each year, copies of which shall be submitted by the Regional Sec- retary-Treasurer to the Regional Executive Board, Regional Convention, and Local Unions. Be deleted and replaced by the following: Chartered Accountants shall be engaged to conduct an annual audit of the finan- cial records of the Regional Council for the previous year in June of each year, copies of which shall be submitted by the Regional Secretary-Treasurer to the Regional Executive Board, Regional Convention, and Local Unions. Submitted by Regional Executive Board NEW BOGEU AGREEMENT Members of the B.C. Government Employee’s Union ratified their new con- tract by 79.5 percent, the Union announced October 21. The Agreement, which was reached Sep- tember 20, will provide wage increases from 7 to 16 percent over 15 months, as well as improvements in fringe benefits, working conditions and job security. The total compensation package, including fringe benefit improvements, will average between 11.3 and 11.8 percent. With ratification of the agreement, BCGEU members will be receiving an immediate $100 per month increase across- the-board retroactive to August 1, with a further $25 per month for those making $1,386 or less. Another $25 per month increase is scheduled for all members August 1,1983. All bargaining unit wages will again be increased by an additional 1.5 to 2 percent on April 1, 1983, in accordance with a newly devised Economic Recovery Formula incor- porating four factors — government revenues, provincial economic performance, inflation and productivity. Additionally, the Agreement will provide each member with two fully redeemable $100 B.C. Government Housing and Employment Development Bearer Bonds in an effort to stimulate job creation in the province’s private sector. Besides monetary improvements, the proposed agreement contains a major breakthrough in job security. It establishes 1,500 permanent jobs for long-term casual employees and extends full benefit coverage to all casuals who have worked continu- ously for a year of more. It improves senior- ity provisions governing seasonal workers as well. They will now retain full recall rights for nine months, an increase from six months. The Agreement provides all members improvements in extended medical and dental benefits, meal allowances, vehicle allowances and shift premiums. It estab- lishes a committee to determine how senior- ity can be added to merit as a criterion for promotion in the B.C. public service. Two very important personal rights clauses are also part of the proposed Agree- ment; a new clause giving full protection to workers who operate video display termi- nals and a sexual harassment protection clause which offers members of the Bargain- ing Unit protection thatis second to none in Canada. The VDT protection clause allows women to change jobs during pregnancy with no loss in pay. Full-time VDT operators will receive regular eye examinations as well as two 10-minute breaks from the machines in addition to regularly scheduled coffee and meal breaks. Other significant improvements include introduction of an expedited arbitration system for resolving grievances and estab- lishment of a child care centre for the children of government employees in Vancouver. BOYCOTT MCDONALD'S The B.C. Federation of Labour announced that it has joined with the Saskatchewan and Manitoba Federations of Labour in ‘declaring a consumer boycott against the McDonald’s Corporation. The boycott has been declared in response to Mcdonald’s decision to stop purchasing hamburger buns from Canadian bakeries and get their supplies from American bakeries. In B.C. their decision will result in the permanent layoff of fifty people employed in the baking industry. The boycott takes effect imme- diately and covers all McDonald’s outlets in the province. “McDonald’s management must under- stand that the bulk of their customers are working people who expect a measure of good corporate citizenship from the busi- ness they patronize,” said B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Kinnaird. “In these tough times, when hundreds of thousands of British Columbians are out of work, people are sensitive to actions like McDonald’s have taken. We don’t need fifty more people out of work in this province and McDonald’s should understand that. This Federation will not sit idly by and watch McDonald’s put people on to unemployment insurance,” said Kinnaird. “Consumer boycotts have been used very successfully by the Federation in the past,” said Kinnaird. “The consumer boycott tends to be a long-range weapon and takes consid- erable time to work. It slowly grinds down business as more and more people learn of the boycott and join with it,” he added. Kinnaird gave the California Grape and Lettuce Boycott of a decade ago as an example. “That boycott lasted almost six years and was extremely successful; it took time to work but it helped in winning contracts for California farmworkers.” 10/Lumber Worker/November, 1982