ermore, just as each local union pays a per
capita tax to the Regional Council, the
International also pays per capita taxes: to
the AFL-CIO for our members in the United
States; to the Canadian Labour Congress
for our members in Canada; to the Indus-
trial Union Department of the AFL-CIO; to
the Union Label Departments of both the
AFL-CIO and the CLC; and to the Interna-
tional Federation of Building and Wood-
workers. The total of these affiliation fees
changes from time to time. Out of the per
capita payment the International receives
from the Regional Councils, a large portion
is earmarked even before it is received.

Where is the rest of the money spent?
The biggest part of the income of the
International Union goes to pay for the
salaries and expenses of the staffrequired to
service and to assist our Regional Councils
and local unions. The International office
has about 35 employees, including the
various departments — accounting, legal,
public relations, research and education —
and the assistant directors of organization.
Each of these departments provide services
and information not available to workers
acting alone or even as single-plant organi-
zations. For example, the Research and
ey Education Department receives, analyzes
and reports on information concerning the
economy, including employment and unem-
ployment, inflation, production and produc-
tivity, corporate finances and activities, log
exports and trade, housing and forest
products, pensions and insurance, wages
and wage systems, collective bargaining
and agreements, labor legislation, taxes,
legally required benefits and any other issue
‘of importance to workers. Each member of
the staff is assigned responsibility for
research, education and assistance with
negotiation in several subject areas. The
~ International publishes a monthly news-

labour, for if they fall, the one will
he hath not another to help him up.

Eccliastes 4:9 and 10

paper, the INTERNATIONAL WOOD-
WORKER which is available to the [WA
membership.

Why should I be a member of the IWA?

As a member of the IWA you join with
other workers in the industry and in organ-
ized labor to obtain better wages, hours and
working conditions — a fair share of the
production of goods and services in the
economy through the negotiation and
enforcement of collective bargaining agree- |
ments arrived at by legal equals in the
age-old process of give-and-take discussion.
You and your family are protected by
pensions, insurance, health plans, safer
working conditions, the elimination of
favoritism and unfair practices in employ-
ment and promotion. Instead of being a
servant, you are a worker with human
dignity and rights equal to everyone else —
including the president of the company.
Without a union, you donot have the right to
insist that your boss negotiate with you on
wages, hours and working conditions. But
with a union, the law requires the employer
to negotiate with a committee of his
employees and union representatives on
ALL matters pertaining to wages, benefits
and other working conditions. That, alone,
is worth many times over the cost of union
fees and dues.

PAYING THEIR
NON-UNION
DUES

The U.S. “Monthly Labour Report” of
May 1984, says the unionized American
workers realized a 2.2% increase in purchas-
ing power between September 1975 and
December 1983. i

No great shakes, but 7% better than
non-unionized American workers in the
same period, who lost 4.7%.

That means that an average union guy
earning $15,000 in 1975 got $15,330 in 1983.
The average non-union guy earning the
same amount in 1975 got only $14,295 in
1983 — more than one thousand (1976)
dollars less per year.

But an eyen more powerful argument for
joining Unions (and for keeping them
strong) was made in the same issue of the
“Report” in an article by Jack Stieber of
Michigan State University. He reports that
U.S. employers in the private sector fire
about three million workers for non-
economic reasons.

He goes on to quote a U.S. court about the
circumstances of non-organized people
(workers without grievance procedures):
“Jobs can be terminated at any time without
notice for good cause, for no cause, or even
for cause morally wrong”.

Unorganized workers pay very large
non-union dues.

SONG OF THE
WORMS

SONG OF THE WORMS
We have been underground too long,
we have done our work, %
we are many and one,
we remember when we were human

We have lived among roots and stones
we have sung but no one has listened,
we come into the open air

at night only to love

which disgusts the soles of boots,
their leather strict religion.

We know what a boot looks like

when seen from underneath,

we know the philosophy of boots,

_ their metaphysic of kicks and ladders.
_ We are afraid of boots

but pe aptious of the foot that needs
em.

Soon we will invade like weeds,
" z ere but slowly;
e captive plants will rebel
us, fences will topple,
walls ripple and fall,

will be no more boots.
inwhile we eat dirt
feet.

When we say Attack
| hear nothing

__ From “You Are Happy”
by MARGARET ATWOOD

LABOR ASSISTS UNEMPLOYED

Organized labour may have its hands full warding off the government’s anti-union actions,
but the labour movement is still devoting time, effort and money to look after the rights and
needs of the weak, the poor and the unprotected.

With unemployment in the province at its highest level since the Depression, the jobless are
obviously organized labour’s number one concern.

The BC Federation of Labour has been assisting the unemployed for ‘more than a year,
through a network of thirty unemployment action centres around the province. These centres
provide a variety of services to the unemployed, helping them with welfare and unemployment
insurance appeals, counselling and referral to appropriate community agencies, education and
food banks and stores.

Typical is the action centre in Nelson which has been hard hit by the shut down of David
Thompson University Centre, many government offices and BCRIC’s Kootenay Forest
Products plywood mill.

Here a young volunteer at the centre committed suicide after he was unable to obtain a course
to upgrade his English so he would be more employable. :

“We're not kidding when we talk about the effects of unemployment on people,” says co-
ordinator Dennis Bannert, a Nelson city councillor and former activist in the IWA at the closed-
down Kootenay mill.

Bannert has helped organize a city-council authorized meeting of all social and health
agencies in the city to assess current community needs and project the effects of government
cutbacks.

The Neslon Centre runs a small store where food is sold at 4 per cent above wholesale price to
cover spoilage and overhead. 3

Other action centres provide food in different ways. In Duncan, people in real need can receive
food hampers, while others can buy food at cost.

Of the six action centres in the lower mainland-sunshine coast region, only the New
Westminster centre runs a labour sponsored food bank (although labour does support the
church-run Vancouver Food Bank).

But there is only one real solution to the problem of unemployment —“more jobs,” says BC
Federation of Labour president Art Kube.

In May the Fed held a major conference on unemployment which decided to make
unemployment the number one issue in BC.

Some of the proposals:

— reducing work time and overtime to increase staffing, increasing unemployment insurance
and social assistance to raise incomes above the poverty line, a restructuring the forestry,
fishing and shipbuilding industries, restoring social services, health and education programs
and tax reform.

Local labour councils will be increasing political awareness about unemployment through
lobbying efforts, directed at the public, politicians and the media.

Another concern for labour is the cuts in Workers’ Compensation Board coverage, which
jeopardize the health and safety of all workers in the province. -

Labour has been active in many other issues through Operation Solidarity, which comprises
virtually every trade union in the province. Through the provincial Solidarity Coalition and the
local coalitions around the province, trade unions are working with community groups on the
issues which affect their communities and the province as a whole.

Human rights, poverty and cuts to legal aid are some issues on which the trade union

movement has spoken out strongly. -
From Solidarity’s “B.C. Report” July, 1984

-¢ : Lumber Worker/Summer, 1984/9