t was a wet day in 1947 that
‘saw a young Bob Blanchard
‘walk into the personnel of-
fice of BCFP Vancouver Divi-
sion and apply for a job. He
was hired and that was the
beginning of a career that
led to the office looking over
Vancouver's coal harbour that
he will soon vacate.

IWA ist Vice President Bob
Blanchard has decided to take an
early retirement after over forty
years of union activism. The 57 year
old Blanchard will lock the door on
his office for the last time come early
January, 1989.

This final act will mark the end of
a career that has been full of accom-
plishments, struggles and some
controversy.

Blanchard first became involved
in union politics when he was fired
for fighting following a card game at

4/LUMBERWORKER/OCTOBER, 1988

BOB BLANCHARD
RETIRES

his first job at BCFP. Not one to not
profit from his mistakes, he was
instrumental in later getting a com-
pany policy implemented that banned
card playing on company premises.

Following Bob’s job loss at BCFP,
he worked at Canadian White Pine
and B.C. Fir and Cedar where he
suspects he was hired because of his
baseball playing talents.

In 1951, he was back at BCFP and
became shop steward the same year.
During the bitter and tough 1951
strike, Bob was the zone chairman.
By 1952 he had been elected Plant
Chairman. He stayed there until
1961 when the mill burned down.

He spent the next 7 months look-
ing for work, while at the same time
acting as one of the founding mem-
bers of the Unemployed Action
Council for the B.C. Federation of
Labour. It was during this time that
Bob and 1000 other unemployed
workers went to Victoria. There was
a meeting held with WAC Bennett
and his cabinet, which to say the
least was raucus.

“| feel | have done
But, it still comes:
satisfaction. | have
IWA members live
| have seen their
dramatically a
satisfactio

Late that same night he received a
phone call with a job offer from
M&B with a full-time job. ‘

Back on the job Bob became more
and more involved in union politics

which lead to his appointment as a