Cedar shake and shingle ban © Shingle sawyer Baldeep Singh Nagra at Green River Cedar in Mission, B.C. An IWA official expresses concern over job loss if a ban on the use of Red Cedar shakes and shingles expands in the U.S. On July 12th, the Los Ange- les City Council voted 12-1 to prohibit the use of any cedar roofing products. The council members feel that cedar materials are a fire hazard. “Right now the ban is in Los Ange- les city and we hope it won't spread to other parts of Los Angeles County or California”, said Dave Tones, Presi- dent of IWA Haney Local 1-367. The Haney Local represents about 800 workers in the shake and shingle industry, which is primarily situated in the Fraser Valley. The industry is still recovering from tariffs imposed in June, 1986 by then U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Tar- iffs in the first year were placed at 35% in a program of declining duties which should expire on June 6, 1991. How- ever, the U.S. industry may apply for a tariff extension which could extend up until 1994. ¢ Cedar shake cuberman Jim Smith at Scott Cedar in Mission. “It seems like we're getting hit with one thing after another”, says Brother Tones. “This industry has bounced back only to be punished by unwar- ranted claims.” The Los Angeles City Council, urged by fire officials, claims that both shakes and shingles are fire hazards. But industry officials claim that cedar materials properly treated with fire retardants are proven safe. The Construction contract ratified IWA construction workers in B.C. reached a three-year settlement with their employers in late July. Members in Vancouver Local 1-217, New West- minster Local 1-357, Haney Local 1-367, and Prince George Local 1-424, voted in favour of the new contract which provided tradesmen with wage increases of 5.5% in each of the three years. The negotiating committee con- sisted of spokesman Doug Evans, Local 1-217 President; Gary Kobay- ashi, Recording Secretary in the Van- couver Local; Bill Hanson, Second Vice-President of Local 1-357; Sonny Ghag, Local 1-367’s Financial Secre- tary, and Prince George’s Financial Secretary, Roger December. Union representatives from the major IWA construction companies were Gerry Lingenfelter and Frank Granberg from Gisborne Construc- tion, Mike Fehler from LNS Services Ltd., Stolberg Mill Construction Ser- vice Ltd.’s Barrie Parent, and Ian Rutherford from G&R Industries. All IWA construction crews in B.C. are certified on a province-wide basis. In addition to the wage increases the settlement provides a new classifi- cation for demolition rates. When demolition is part and parcel of a new construction project, workers will be paid at a new construction rate. How- ever straight demolition rates with- out any new construction will be paid at overload rates in the future. An increase in living-out allowance e IWA carpenters Carman Cool (I.) and Jim Dechka work on a concrete mould at Canadian Forest Products Ltd.’s Eburne Sawmill division. The Vancouver Local 1-217 members are employees of Eugene Forest Systems Ltd. was also negotiated. The allowance will reach $62.40 in the final year of the contract. For workers living on Vancouver Island in the Cowichan, Malahat, and Nanaimo areas, a new travel allow- ance was negotiated. On isolated construction jobs both the travel allowance and living-out allowance may be available. “If workers have to travel from a town to an isolated project and, for example the roads were not in good shape, then we'll be able to negotiate a cee allowance,” says Gary Kobay- ashi. Also in the new contract will be coverage for technical training. A welder will now be paid for lost-time wages and learning expenses. The negotiations’ most difficult issue remains unresolved. Union nego- tiators have asked that the IWA and Forest Industrial Relations Ltd., the industry’s bargaining agency, to lobby their pension plan trustees for changes in the current plan. Brother Kobayashi says that con- struction workers have difficulties under the present pension formula. “The ups and downs in the con- struction industry are many,” ex- plains Kobayashi. “Workers rarely get vested in the pension plan and often have long breaks in service over two years and lose all their benefits. In addition, some of our guys can’t get anywhere near the 1,500 hours it takes to get credit for one year in the plan.” Although the new three-year pack- age is a popular one with union work- ers, future difficulties with the pen- sion plan may arise again. The IWA is attempting to address pension concerns for construction workers during the term of the Agreement. forest service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture backs up those claims. Michael Westfall, an official at the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau in Bellevue, Washington says that civic politicians and the general public are often unaware of fire resistant roofing materials sold by the Board’s 250 Canadian and American companies. The cedar roofing products are imposed in fire retardant chemicals in a “full cell impregnation process” which permanently locks in the retar- dant chemical. The treated product is required then to be kiln dried after treatment. e Packing shingles at Green River Cedar is Don Timofee. All “Class C” roofing material, which fulfills normal requirements for residential structures, is subjected to a battery of tests. These tests include testing for intermittent flame, spread- ing of flame, and weathering tests for exposure to rain and other elements. The Los Angeles area alone repre- sents a $75 million CDN market for Canadian and American producers. It is estimated that B.C. produced more than $300 million worth of shake prod- ucts for the U.S. in 1988. Other import markets for ship- ments processed with fire retardants are the states of Texas, Washington, and Oregon. Testing procedures established many years ago by the independent Underwriters Laboratory, have been adopted by other Associations such as the American Society for Testing Materials, the National Fire Protec- tion Association, and the Interna- tional Conference of Building Offi- cials. 16/LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1989