Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for
lift up his fellow: but woe to him who is alone when he falleth,

The labour movement is under an intense, unprecedented assault. Not just the IWA, and not just the B.C. Federation of Labour. All
organized labour throughout North America and the U.K. is under assault.

Elsewhere in this issue, you will see that three million American workers are fired (apart from layoffs) every year, that the
earnings of non-union workers have fallen more than a thousand dollars per year FURTHER behind those of union workers, and
that real wages (adjusted for inflation) are declining steadily, while those of Sweden, where 80% of the workforce is organized, are

steadily increasing.

For younger workers, the questions raised by the assault of right-wing governments and their corporate bosses are not limited to
wages and benefits. Ten years from now, will there be any limit to the boss’s ability to fire you? Will seniority mean ANYTHING AT

ALL when you are 55 years old? Will they be able to replace yo

accountant?

u, no questions asked, with some relative of the company’s

If you think these questions are far-fetched, ask someone who worked in the thirties, or just remind yourself that 90% of the three
million workers fired annually in the U.S. are non-union. ;
There is a grim lesson in all this. A lesson for all of us. We have to defend labour’s rights much more vigorously than we have in the

recent past.

To defend labour, you have first of all to know labour, and especially your own union. For that reason, we are providing

information on the IWA.

What is the IWA?

The IWA is the International Wood-
workers of America — the organization of
working men and women who perform the
maintenance and production tasks in the
logging, lumber and wood products indus-
tries of Canada and the United States.

When was the IWA started?

The IWA was formed in 1937 by honest,
courageous, hardworking woodworkers to
whom great credit is due. It was formed at
the time of the Great Depression when
thousands of workers were joining the new
industrial unions of the CIO in the United
States and the CCL in Canada.

What is the structure of the IWA?

For the purpose of handling its activities
the IWA divides the United States and
Canada into five geographical regions.
Each local union is in one of these regions,
and each region has three members on the
International Executive Board, including

the Regional Directors. The regions have
Regional conventions which enable local

unions to meet periodically to discuss
problems, hear reports, establish Regional
policy and nominate Regional Officers and
Trustees.

Regions are, within the very wide latitude
provided by the International Constitution,
autonomous.

Western Canadian Region members set
their own dues, negotiate and ratify their
own contracts, and elect their own officers.

How are the International Officers
elected?

The officers of the International Union
are nominated at conventions and, when
there is a contest for an office, elected by
secret ballot vote of all IWA members. The
term of office is four years. The Executive
officers are the President, First and Second
Vice Presidents, and Secretary-Treasurer.
Salaries and expenses of the officers appear
in the International Union constitution and
ean be changed only by convention action.

Who are the convention delegates?
Every local union in good standing has a
right to send delegates to the convention.
Every delegate to the convention must be a
member of an IWA local union and must be:
elected by the local union. The number of
delegates and the number of votes to which
each local is entitled varies with the size of
the local union and is spelled out in the
constitution of the International Union.

How are local union officers elected?
In the local union the officers are elected
by the members in secret-ballot elections.
The officers are elected for not more than-
four-year terms, depending on the term of
office of the local union’s constitution. Local
unions have the following officers: presi-
dent, one or more vice presidents, financial
secretary, recording secretary, conductor,
warden and three trustees. All of these
except the trustees, plus other elected
members, form the Local Union Executive

How is the contract negotiated?
A local union negotiating committee,

elected by the membership of the local,
meets with management to negotiate the
collective bargaining agreement. In casesin
which negotiations involve operations
represented by two or more local unions, the
Region coordinates the bargaining. In all
cases, the settlement must be voted upon
and approved by the members of the local
who work in the operations involved.

What is the Union’s role
in collective bargaining?

An officer or member of the Regional
Council staff usually assists the local
negotiating committee in its negotiating
sessions with management. Additionally,
much of the work of the IWA Research and
Education Department is geared to
strengthening the collective bargaining
position of all of the IWA locals. Staff
economists do research to provide informa-
tion on sales, profits and wages. A skilled
technician, experienced in analyzing and
negotiating pension and welfare plans, is
available to assist our locals in these highly
technical fields. The educational activities
of the IWA seek to improve the knowledge
and techniques of our officers, stewards and
committeemen.

Who belongs to the IWA?

Maintenance and production workers in
logging, sawmills and planing mills, hard-
wood dimension and flooring mills, mill-
work, veneer, plywood, and structural wood
plants, wood kitchen cabinets, wood con-
tainers, pallets and skids, mobile homes and
prefabricated wood buildings and compo-
nents, wood preserving, particleboard and
hardboard and dozens of related industries
belong to the IWA.

How many members does the IWA
have?

There are more than 230 locals and about
115,000 membersin the IWA, approximately
half of them in Canada and half in the
United States. Since the IWA is affiliated
with the AFL-CIO in the United States and
the CLC in Canada, backing our member-
ship are the millions of members in those
two national federations.

What are the initiation fee and dues?

Within the limits set by the International
Constitution, each local union sets its own
initiation fee and dues. The International
constitution provides for a minimum initia-
tion fee of $10. The Constitution sets the
minimum monthly dues at $6.50 without
any maximum. The dues and/or dues for-
mula are set by secret ballot by the members
of the local union. However, for purposes of
organizing the unorganized, the Interna-
tional President may grant temporary
dispensation of all or part of the initiation
fees and dues.

What happens to the money?

Out of each member’s dues the Regional
Council collects for the International a per
capita tax of $1.25 per month plus 12'2% of
one hour of the International weighted
average hourly base rate increases secured
for the membership each year. In other
words, the dues for the International Union

are increased each year by 1 cent per month
for each 8 cents per hour average increase to
the common labor wage rate negotiated for
all IWA members. The rest of the monthly
dues remains with the Regional Council and
the local union to pay for the costs of
carrying on the business of the Region and
the local. All initiation fees remain with the
local union. (Editor’s Note: For members in
Western Canada — Region #1 — the per
capita is now $4.15/month for the Region,
$2.00 for the Strike Fund, and $1.95 for the
International.)

What does the International do
with the income from the
per capita dues?

Under our constitution, all per capita dues
income is disbursed through the General
Fund guided by a budget approved by the
International Executive Board. The consti-
tution also determines the amount of each
member’s monthly per capita payment to be
set aside into a staff pension fund. The

pension fund covers all full time local,
Regional and International officers, organ-

izers, representatives and other staff. Furth-

TOMORROW'S
FORESTS...

TODAY'S
CHALLENGE

see a fire,

dial ‘O’an
ask for
Zenith 5555

2 ae