Swe he eke land, taking o a
least eaepe poorer er. The
Cc anadian xecuti ive, impelled by a

always

ts th leaving a

and poorer tine for the generations
to follow. The Canadian woodworker
is familiar path, ower gad lower qual-
ae ey to wi h. The Swedish

aw
site experince

A f

ea is the matter of funda-

nieutal social attitudes, or “phil-
sophy” of a sense of obligation

I can only begin to illustrate this
powerful difference. With examples
that are so striking, and enviable, toa
Canadian. For example: The yDanes
discover a large Viking site, with trea-

pee vais, eee say to beds
“What onde: rful | experience to be

 Finnish-designed ee grip aa of our ancestors. We must leave the
at work in a thinning operation in south- | remainder for future generations, so
ern Sweden. ey can share the excitement.”

ENT CYCLE FOR SPRUCE IN
NORTHERN SWEDEN
vy == T T T T
) 6 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
ai ot Ta 4 |
2nd ig 3rd thinnin 2
Final Harvest

for pulpwe for sawlogs (65%)
& sawlogs & pulpwood

For example: The Directors of
‘Sodra’, the ae co-operative of
Swedish woodlot owners, with about
25,000 aber, purovided us with the
astoun ndin; g fig f the accumula-

© One of the many varieties of mini-skidders on display at ELMIA- WOOD: Ties
machines are highly suitable for pulpwood harvesting on small-scale operational

Swedish labour part

of economic |
co-operation |

NE of the most striking things

In additions to central bargaining,
the L

everyone is organized — the
sawmill worker, the artist, the
Police, the army, the sm: farmers
who provide most of the timber in

chet

ig to achieve full employ-
Pest whee Swedish unemployment
reached the unheard of level of 3.5% a

to an organization.

IWA-CANADA'’s counterpart, The
Swedish Wood Industry Workers’
Union, is one of the larger (about
75,000 members) in the main “blue
collar” central “L.O.”, and pro-

most of its existence. As with most
Swedish union
90% of the workers in their juris-
diction.

A major
li 11
ering their employment are worked
out as parts of the “economic frame-

ditt sett ak ah ts

ish Employers’
Confederation.

Once the “framework” ‘ked
out at “hs, top level of “ coordinated
bargaining”, negotiation

meters growing per year, ae ee
only about seventy million. This has
been happening for decades. In 1926,
they had 1800 million cubic meters,
today, it is 2700 million eubie meters,
an increase of fifty Ae dy
So curred to us t] in one

way, ee Swedish linber ‘growers
were storing up a problem for them-
selves. We asked, “TE you continue to

or later you will run into a seriou:
surplus and naan Te Have

since there is a labour shortage here,
have you thought ¢ about building saw-

“Clubs”) ) with the
to get an agreement ie fits piers)
lee ney ae fitting within the
overall pati

main reason for ee evolution
of ae syste in the early
decades oat this century, ad the Swe-
dish workers’ lsterminstion ue low
a wage p polic; icy of “solidari

few year:
tional crisis.)

i Worker is mem-
ber of Swedish Wood Industry Workers’
Union.

e Defending the social security
ructure.

n
g

fs Working to achieve a fair distri-

high paid workers.

They have been very successful at
doing that. For example, the range
between thie highest and lowest saw-

‘ker

Promoting economic democracy
(a major tool in this drive has bee:
the Swedish “Employment Funds",
under which a portion of the profi its

mill worl is only about 15% eee on
only t, 1%, di fi a es ;

ing gnyeniony!

soa ee Sweden’, Hi ee asked it

the directors of a very large
prise, with two pulpmills and several
sawmills.

may be as short as ae
ead inch) top. The Swedes

—_—

(Continued on page 12)

_ LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1989/11