Me Ee See ee Local 1-423 Focus on: This is the third in a series of feature articles looking at IWA- CANADA locals across the country. It is our hope that members will familiarize themselves with their fel- low unionists in other jurisdictions. Situated in B.C.’s Southern Interior Dry Belt, IWA-CANADA, Local 1-423 represents a diverse cross section of workers. With nearly 2,100 members, the Local jurisdiction stretches throughout and past the Okanagan Valley from the Canada-U.S. border, east up to Christina Lake, and then on west of the Arrow Lakes, up to the northern Okanagan Valley, south of Enderby. Western borders of the juris- diction run from the American border north to Aspen Grove. Local 1-423 represents workers in plywood manufacturing, sawmills, logging, pole making, secondary man- ufacturing and tree nurseries/silvi- culture. Despite a rash of layoffs, tech changes, and permanent closures, the Local is holding tough in an area where industrial unions are few and far between. “This (Kelowna and surrounding areas) is a bad area as far as wages go. The Chambers of Commerce in these areas, don’t like to talk about it, but the wages paid to most of the work force are pretty damn poor,” says Local President, Bill Schumaker. “In fact, the Local Chamber in many of their briefs, openly argue that for the privilege to live in this beautiful val- ley, workers should expect to work for less money.” Brother Schumaker says that most of the area surrounding his Local’s office, is a “tourist trap” from May to September and adds that it’s “an expensive place to live with wages that are very depressing.” INTERIOR LOCALS WORK TOGETHER The Kelowna Local, along with Kamloops Local 1-417 and Cranbrook Local 1-405, holds joint staff meet- ings twice a year to discuss problems and co-ordinate strategies in the Southern Interior. “We try to move in the same direc- tion and stick to similar policies,” says Brother Schumaker. “We've hung together even after the IRO (Interior Regional Office) disbanded nearly 25 years ago. The IRO, to which Brother Schu- maker is referring, was first set up as an administrative body for the three Interior Locals in May of 1954. At that time in history, the Southern Interior Locals were suffering from lack of financial strength. The dues from the three Locals were pooled and administered by the IRO. Widely scattered, independent operations and fluctuating U.S. markets for Interior e Veneer “welder” operator Seig Lehmann feeds random veneer widths into a machine made with Japanese technology. The machine, property of Fletcher Challenge's Kelowna Division, glues the widths together in 8 foot lengths. © Local President Bill Schumaker (1.) and Local 1-423 member Nick Papov demonstrate 4’ x 8’ plywood sheet that has been “welded” with high strength glue and a string bead. lumber products, created gaps in ser- vicing the membership during the late fifties and early sixties. Local 1-423 received its first char- ter from the then IWA District Coun- cilin July, 1945. During the infamous “October Revolution of 1948”, the Communist led Woodworkers’ Indus- trial Union of Canada disrupted Local 1-423 and a duplicate charter was eventually re-issued later that year. ACTIVE EXECUTIVE BOARD Local Union By-Laws permit certi- fications with 45 members or more to have an “Area Representative” on the Local’s Executive Board. Seventeen Executive Board Members meet every six weeks to conduct union affairs. This includes the eight Table Officers, of which four are full-time staff and Business Agents. Full time staffers include Brother Schumaker; Bob © Working in the yard at Bell Pole Company Ltd.'s Lumby division are pole framers Ken McClennan and Tim Cleverley (facing). Cedar poles are debarked by machine peelers and finished by hand before being dipped in wood preservatives. Schlosser, Financial Secretary; Troi Caldwell, First Vice-President; and Ben Landis, Third Vice-President. HI-TECH MANUFACTURING Union mills in Kelowna’s Local are characteristically hi-tech. Fletcher Challenge Canada has a modern plywood-sawmill factory in Kelowna on the shores of Lake Okanagan. The plywood plant’s new Japanese tech- nology includes a “veneer welder” which glues random veneer widths into complete 4’ x 8’ sheets. The mill also boasts of a “Kitagawa Lay-up Line” which eliminates random core laying to create greater efficiency and quality. At present, Pope & Talbot Ltd.’s sawmill at Midway is undergoing a modernization of more than $10 mil- lion. That company’s Grand Forks sawmill, which cuts dimensional lum- ber from Spruce, Fir and Pine is con- sidered one of the most efficient in the Southern Interior. THREE MAJOR EMPLOYERS In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Local started losing certifications when the industry went on a takeover binge. U.S. based Weyerhauser and Crown Zellerbach (a Fletcher Chal- lenge predecessor) started consolidat- ing mills and timber supply. Mills in Keremeos, Oliver, Greenwood, Arm- strong, Falkland and Penticton disappeared. Now the timber supply in the Local is mostly tied up by Fletcher Chal- lenge, Pope & Talbot (a Portland based multi-national) and Weyer- hauser Canada. Weyerhauser has mills in Penticton, Okanagan Falls and Lumby. Unlike the majority of other IWA- CANADA Locals, the sawmills in 1-423’s jurisdiction, do not have to compete with pulp and paper mills for wood fibre. However, long-term survival of mills are questionable. Reforestation efforts in the Local are sadly lacking and Local President Schumaker says the hi-tech mills are gobbling up tim- ber supply. He also feels that the Southern Interior is not getting its fair share of reforestation agreements under “FIRDA” (Federal Provincial Forest Resource Development Agree- ments). ORGANIZING — A KEY TO SURVIVAL Local Financial Secretary, Bob Schlosser, says that Kelowna has only one independent logging crew certi- fied (Davidoff Logging). Like Local 1-405, Kelowna lost a large number of union logging contractors and sub- contractors in the early 1980s due to rulings on contracting-out clauses in their collective agreements. Today, logging for major compa- nies is done by contractors and sub- contractors, who further sub-contract, out, falling, skidding, loading, and hauling. The Interior is spotted with “gyppo” contractors, some of whom live in make-shift shacks and trailers. “It’s like the coast was in the 1930s,” says Schumaker. Union organizers must sign up each individual contractor and/or sub- contractor separately to get a pres- ence back in the logging sector again. The task is virtually impossible. ° Prefabricated housing units are manu- factured at Chaparral Industries Ltd. in Kelowna. Carpenters Bob Casper (1.) and Wilf Baron nail a roof gable into place. SECONDARY MANUFACTURING At one time, the Local was diversi- fied with varying certifications in the secondary industries, such as sash and door, furniture, boat and even carpet manufacturing. Today, the Local holds certifications at Chapar- ral Homes in Kelowna, a pre-fab home company that custom manufactures homes for B.C. customers, and OK Builders Supply, a retail building sup- ply store. Brother Schlosser, also President of the South Okanagan-Boundary Labour Council, says that organized labour in the area must work to get a foothold in expanding secondary industries in the future. © At local 1-423's office in Kelowna are (1. to r.) Bob Schlosser, Financial Secretary; Connie Evans, Secretary and Bill Schu- maker, President. L UMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1989/7