1-217 President Doug Evans at the CLC convention. Ihe Canadian Labour Congress wrapped up its convention in Vancouver in early May, passing what some see as a historical reso- lution. ‘The last year or two has seen some | infighting in the labour movement over the question of affiliates raid- ing each other. The question has | finally been answered through a clar- ification of the policy. Effective immediately, CLC unions will be forbidden from raid- ing other unions. But, if the member- ship of one union wants to leave their union for another, that will be allowed. In short there will be no hostile raiding by unions of each other. Any decision to change unions will be up to the membership and not the leadership. The new propos- als were supported overwhelmingly by the 2800 delegates at the convention. In a 10 page committee report brought forward to the convention delegates were told of 32 disputes On May 9 the Canadian and B.C. governments announced a 30 million dollar, world class, forest research centre to be built in Vancouver. Forintek Canada Corp. and the For- est Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC), two private, non-profit institutes providing 2/LUMBERWORKER/JUNE, 1988 lished to look at ways to strengthen CLC SAYS within the CLC on this contentious issue. The report also talked about mandatory membership in labour councils and federations of labour provincially. A task force was estab- labour councils and federations of labour. Delegates attention on this issue was focussed by the dispute between the new Foundland Fisherman's research services in the forest sector, will receive the funding for the new lab and offices to be built at UBC in Vancouver. This project will allow research staff at various agencies to get together on projects. It will provide a focus for forestry research in west- ern Canada. The new centre will be built entirely of wood in keeping with its mandate. Participants in the centre point out that building it out of wood will allow them to show off wood as a cost effective, versatile building material. The emphasis will be on value added wood products, while keeping in mind that it all starts in the woods with the raw material. Union led by Richard Cashin, the UFCW from whom the fisherman’s union was trying to break away from and the Canadian Auto Workers. The membership of the fisher- man’s union has broken away from Wilf McIntyre (left), IWA 1-2693, vice-president, Thunder Bay, Ontario, with Ray Boissonneault (centre) and Norm Rivard (right) of Kapuskasing, Ontario attend their first CLC convention as IWA members. All are former LSWU members. the UFCW and affiliated with the CAW. This has caused a bitter fight. There has been a call from all sectors of the trade union movement to find a way in which to deal with this kind Lumber and Saw Merger Complete March 28rd marked the day that the merger was complete with the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union Locals 2693 and 2995. The final agreement marks one year of negoti- ations and voting by the member- ship of the LSWU. In sheer numbers, this expands IWA Canada by a further 6800 members in the Thun- der Bay and Kapuskasing areas. The leadership of the LSWU and its parent organization the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Join- ers expressed happiness with the agreement. IWA Canada President. Jack Munro said “the agreement. of divisive issue. Eventually the compromise was reached and supported by the CAW, UFCW and new Foundland Fisher- man’s Union. The compromise clearly puts the CLC in a position to step in and assist the membership of any union in determining what is best for them. it strengthens the right of self determination and that strengthens the labour movement. works well for everyone. The LSWU members really wanted to be part of a Canadian union. The IWA is now just that, all Canadian. These new 6800 members makes us stronger and more national and that helps everyone.”