© More than 500 IWA members rallied in support of Leyland strikers. RCMP arrests of
Local 1-367 officers incensed the union leadership. National president Jack Munro
(inset) condemned the police action and pledged continuing support for the workers.

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PITT MEADOWS, B.C. — A pro-
test rally by more than 500 TWA
members on June 10th proved to be a
turning point in successful negotia-
tions for.a first contract at Leyland
Industries in Pitt Meadows, B.C. The
crowd was gathered to protest
R.C.M.P. arrests and jailing of three
officers from Haney Local 1-367 in
alleged strike related incidents.

Thirteen days after the rally, the
union plastic workers voted 82% in
favour of a two year agreement, expir-
ing in June of 1991. The strikers had
been on the picket line since Septem-
ber 14, 1988.

Dave Tones, President of Local
1-367, said the protest rally was the
catalyst for a rapid settlement.

“The fact that our union members
led by Jack Munro and Ken Georgetti
(B.C. Federation of Labour President)
attended the rally in defiance of the
court injunction, sent a clear message
to this employer that we were deter-
mined to stop the plant from being
run by scabs,” said Tones.

At the protest Munro thundered
that “... In this society we have a
right to belong to a union ... We
thought we’ve been through this a
long time ago...”

Munro told the crowd that previous
generations have fought for the right
to join unions and that the present
generation must fight to not give that
right up.

The national union leader drew a
parallel between the R.C.M.P. actions
in Maple Ridge and R.C.M.P. interfer-
ence in Slave Lake, Alberta, which
has prolonged a strike at Zeidler For-
est Products for more than three
years.

Munro said that the arresting of
IWA members will not be taken
lightly. He also scathed the Maple
Ridge crown prosecutor who endorsed
charges against the local union staff.

Ken Georgetti pledged complete
support from the 275,000 member
provincial organization. He said that
police tactics and scabbing will not be

tolerated in B.C.

Negotiations with the employer
resumed promptly after the protest.
During the last five days of crucial
negotiations, National First Vice-
President Gerry Stoney joined with
Brother Tones and the Leyland nego-
tiating team to thrash out an agree-
ment.

Plant members of the negotiating
team were Sheila Funk, Mark Wall-
smith, Janice Johnstone, Allison Fra-
ser, and Jeanine Keen.

The ratified agreement contains
numerous wage increases and benefit
packages not previously extended to
the workers. Benefits such as Life

2/LUMBERWORKER/JUNE, 1989

Insurance, Accidental Death and Dis-
memberment, Dental Coverage and
Extended Health Care‘are among the
new contract provisions. Other pro-
visions governing severance pay, call
time, bereavement leave, jury duty,
statutory holiday pay and the bar-
gaining agency were also included.
Much of the contract language was

e National First Vice-President Gerry
Stoney.

modelled on language in B.C. forestry
industry agreements.

The most contentious issue of the
dispute, that of eight scab techni-
cians in the bargaining unit, was set-
tled. Eight of the nine technicians in
the plant will pay union dues under
the “Rand Formula” and remain non-
members. Moreover, upon their attri-
tion and replacement, the bargaining
agency for those positions will be’
fully retained by the IWA.

Gerry Stoney congratulated union
members for their perseverance after
the ratification vote on June 23rd. He
urged the members to strive for collec-
tive participation during the time of
the agreement. He also asked the
workers to seek labour peace in the
plant in spite of the bitter dispute.

Speaking to the factory workers
Tones said, “You now have a union.
You must understand that you are the
union. Please operate from this prem-
ise. Stay together and fight together.”

© Gathered in front of the Leyland plastic plant in Pitt Meadows, B.C. are striking
IWA members. The workers were gathered with fellow union supporters in defiance of
injunctions limiting the maximum number of picketers to four.

Vancouver Island locals merge

VICTORIA, B.C. — On May 2nd,
1989 the National Executive Board
gave final approval to a merger
between Victoria, Local 1-118 and
Duncan, Local 1-80. The newly
merged Local will be recognized as
Duncan, Local 1-80 as its boundaries
will now extend into the Victoria
region and southern tip of Vancouver
Island.

The initiative for the merger came
from the Victoria Local’s Executive
Board in October of 1988, where the
Board passed a motion to approach
Duncan for a possible merger.

Both Local Executive Boards came
to an agreement in January of 1989
and their memberships subsequently
approved the merger by referendum
ballot in April.

Victoria President, Rod Thomson
says, ‘We want to see our member-
ship given the best service possible.
That’s why we initiated the whole
thing.”

“Now we will be able to do some of
the things for our membership that
our (previous) finances wouldn’t allow
us to do in the last year or so,” adds
Thomson.

Local 1-118 reached its highest
membership in the late 1970s, with
a peak of between 2,100 and 2,300
workers. In the recession of early

1982, a large BCFP plywood mill and
sawmill shut down, the sawmill open-
ing in limited capacity a year later.

In late 1988, layoff of the graveyard
shift at Fletcher Challenge’s Victoria
Sawmill Division and severe cutbacks
at Canadian Pacific Forest Products
(Sooke) Logging Division put the Vic-
toria Local in a position where cut-
backs to membership services would
be necessary for the Local’s survival.
A merger became necessary.

For a period of roughly one year,
Brother Thomson will remain in the
Victoria office in the capacity of a
business agent for Local 1-80. The
area he will be servicing is road acces-
sible from that office.

Today the bulk of the Victoria mem-
bership is situated at Lamford Forest
Products (Sooke) and Western Forest
Products (Jordan River). CPFP oper-
ates near Sooke with about 20 loggers
and the Greater Victoria Water Dis-
trict has about 20 employees.

Local 1-118 was one of the first
IWA Locals, receiving its charter from
the International Union in 1937.

Says Thomson: “It’s a passing of
an era. Victoria has always been a
very proud local. We've continued to
fight to represent the membership to
thet best of our ability right up to the
end.”

¢ Rod Thomson, in one of his last acts as President of Local 1-118, Victoria, hands
Krishan Manhas a cheque for $13,079.72. This was the final settlement of a grievance
for over $22,000.00. The Local Union had discovered that Bro. Manhas’ employer, West
Isle Forest Products had been paying him $8.00 per hour. The employer had attempted
to by-pass the Local Union in settling this grievance, but in the end he was forced to

pay in full. Ten days after the photo 5 i
Seite at: pl was taken, Local 1-118 merged with and became