Continued from page 1

CONVENTION

Zalm having only 817 days left in
office.

Ken Georgetti, President of the
B.C. Federation of Labour spoke of
the court case being launched to
stop the B.C. Government from
returning 90 million dollars to
employers from the WCB fund. It
seems that the WCB has an excess
of 90 million dollars and the govern-
ment wants to return that money to
employers. Georgetti echoed the feel-
ings of the delegates as to how insult-
ing this is to working men and
women.

CLC President, Shirley Carr spoke
of the free trade deal and the threat
that right wing governments pose to
working men and women.

Observers and friends of the IWA
attending over the four days com-
mented on the seriousness of the
debate and the number of important
issues that were discussed. Overall
the convention reflected the IWA’s
new sense of responsibility and new
direction.

A SAD LOSS

DAVE MULLIN:
SADLY MISSED BY ALL

Delegates attending the conven-
tion in Vancouver were greeted with
sad news the last morning of the
convention. 1-71 delegate Dave
Mullin passed away during the night
ofa brain hemorage. Dave was 41, he
worked at the dryland sort, Beaver
Cove, Port McNeil. He was a dedi-
cated trade unionist who gave many
years of service to the IWA. Dave
was a local board member and was
camp chairman at his operation. 1-71
President Warren Ulley described
Dave as a “well liked, dedicated fam-
ily man”. He was active in the local
community, serving on the volun-
teer fire department. Dave leaves
behind his wife Carol and 3 children.
Delegates at the convention were led
in a moment's silence by National
President Jack Munro. They also
took up a collection to send to the
family. Dave Mullin will be missed
by his fellow IWA members.

IWA — GROWING

STRONGER, GROWING
LARGER

Since the merger and separation
of the IWA almost a year ago the
organizing department has been fac-
ing one of the largest challenges in
its history. Back in February of 1987
the Executive Board made the deci-
sion to open an office in Thunder
Bay in the hopes of organizing work-
ers in the industry throughout
Northern Ontario. Up until now that
part of the country has been a hodge
podge of different unions represent-
ing workers in the same industry.
The Carpenters have members in the
form of the Lumber and Sawmill
Workers Union [LSWU], the CPU,
IWA and a smattering of other
unions are in the picture. It didn’t
make any sense to have this diver-
sity of membership and representa-
tion. Bearing in mind the IWA’s
stated goal of “One Union in Wood”,
the organizing department has been
working hard to bring more wood
workers into the IWA family.

The opening of the Thunder Bay
office was a significant act by the
IWA. For those in the area it repre-
sented the strong commitment that
the IWA has to “One Union in
Wood.” It showed that the new
national IWA was just that, a union
committed to national representa-
tion and a national perspective. It
showed that we were going to stick
around. But the organizing drive is
not one that happens by merely
showing up, by merely being there.
It has meant a lot of hard work and
convincing. It has meant that we
have had to fend off unfair attacks
on the IWA and that we have had to

work hard to ensure that the real’

IWA story gets out there.

The first major break-throughs
were meetings with the LSWU. They
wanted a Canadian union with suc-
cess in the bush, logging and saw-
mill operations. The LSWU is a
division of the Carpenters Interna-
tional and the new Canadian IWA
represented a fresh start, a Cana-
dian union that was national in
scope. But it wasn’t going to be as
easy as that. The Canadian
Paperworkers Union has had their
eyes on LSWU membership. The
growth potential for unions in the

forest, logging, sawmill and related
industries is limited. Any potential
for growth is going to be pursued
actively and the CPU wanted new
members. In their offensive against
the IWA, the CPU painted us as
“strike happy” and “broke”. We
fought back with the truth and so
far it’s working. Slowly but surely,
we have been successful. One at a

Employers will resort to intimidation,
lies and threats and they are often
supported by legislation hostile to

working men and women.

bers have already voted to merge
with the TWA when their agreements
expire. In spite of the fact that the
CPU has over fifteen organizers
working in the area, the mergers are
continuing.

The current labour relations cli-
mate particularly in B.C., Alberta
and Saskatchewan makes organiz-
ing an uphill battle in these prov-

time, votes to merge the LSWU and
the IWA have been taking place in
LSWU locals throughout Northern
Ontario. With each vote “One Union
in Wood” comes closer to a reality.
So far in excess of 2500 LSWU mem-
bers have voted to merge with the
IWA. As the Lumberworker goes to
press there are many others about to
have votes. Further down the road
there are a number of LSWU locals
who are in collective agreements
until 1988. Over 4,000 of these mem-

ince. There is loophole after loophole
available through which employers
can squirm. Employers will resort to
intimidation, lies and threats and
they are often supported by legisla-
tion hostile to working men and
women. We continue to try and work
around this situation with some
limited success. All and all the
growth potential for the IWA looks
good. We will continue to expand
and grow towards “One Union in
Wood”.

JR DA

UPDATE”

“2 UPDATE - Ul

EN

Part of the settlement of the 1986,
B.C. strike was the Commission on
Contracting Out and Flexibility.
By mutual agreement between the
industry and the IWA, commis-
sioner Ken Mackenzie was appoint-
ed to head an investigation. The
areas of reference for the commis-
sion are:

1. Contracting out throughout
the industry.

COMMISSION ON CONTRACTIN
OUT AND FLEXIBILITY

2. Flexibility of shifts.

3. Add on compensation, bonuses
and premiums for shift work and so
on.

On August 25 the commission
received short briefs from both the
IWA and the industry. These layed
out the basic positions of the two
sides. Since then the commission
along with both industry and union

representatives have toured through-
out B.C. Three days were spent tour-
ing operations in the interior with
mills, logging shows and nurseries
included. Tours have also taken place
along the coast and the north. The
last part of the tour will be Van-
couver Island. There is some pres-
sure from the forest industry to
spend time in the Pacific Northwest
states. At press time that decision
had not yet been made.

The commission will be receiving
an in-depth brief from both sides by
the end of November and commis-
sioner Mackenzie hopes to have the

final report in by the end of 1987.
IWA First Vice President Bob
Blanchard has been travelling with
the commission and has expressed
optimism that the IWA position is

being listened to and received posi-
tively.

ZEIDLER STRIKE

October 8th was a long awaited
day in the strike at Zeidler Forest

Industries, Slave Lake — (IWA,
Local 1-207).

See page 3 — STRIKE

2/LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 1987