e IWA-CANADA president Jack Munro spells out the union's position at Truck
Loggers’ Annual Convention.

Munro condemns
‘cutthroat’ bidding
forest policy

VANCOUVER, BC. — Addressing
over 200 delegates at the Annual
Truck Loggers’ Association Conven-
tion here on January 10th, IWA
-CANADA President, Jack. Munro
countered the TLA’s position that
more timber on the BC. coast could be
open to auction.

The TLA, an association of logging
contractors has been campaigning for
at least a partial break up of the
multinational timber holding cartel
which dominates the province’s
coastal forest industry.

Although Munro admitted in his
speech that “International capital
does not particularly care whether
future generations of British Colum-
bians will be able to work in, or other-
wise enjoy thriving forests ...,” he did
not endorse the TLA’s low bid policy
position.

The National Union President
reminded the audience that the IWA
went to bat in 1988 before the prov-
ince’s Legislative Standing Commit-
tee in support of the TLA’s demand for
proper written contracts and arbitra-
tion clauses between major tree farm
licence and/or forest licence holders
and logging contractors. The IWA
said that the major logging corpora-
tions (i.e. MacMillan Bloedel, Canfor,
Fletcher Challenge) had been getting
logging contractors to perform vari-
ous phases of logging for prices that
were unrealistic.

“To me, for the majors to sit around
the negotiating table and agree to
certain rates of pay and fringe bene-
fits for our members — your employ-
ees — and then refuse to compensate
you for those costs is downright dis-
honest and we cannot tolerate dishon-

esty from an industry that relies so
much upon public perception,” said
Munro.

Munro said that the workers’ gains
acquired over decades of tough strug-
gle are vulnerable when contractors
are driven to “cutthroat bidding.”

“Another example of what the
‘lowest bid at any costs’ mentality is
is provided by the silviculture indus-
try in this province,” said Munro.
“Because we have regulations that
enforce acceptance of the lowest bid,
we get bad planting, atrocious living
conditions and serious safety prob-
lems.”

The speaker expressed grave con-
cerns that the lower bid policy results
in the compromise of workers’ health
and safety. He said that woodworkers
know from bitter experience that poor
safety invariably results.

Munro repeated IWA-CANADA’s
claim that the province is going to
have to find a way of assuring that
BC.’s logging and sawmill sectors
stop subsidizing the pulp sector and
that the prices paid for pulp chips and
logs reflect the full cost of harvesting
and intensive forestry.

He also called for a fully restored
Ministry of Forests and expressed
concerns that the calibre of appoint-
ments to the Ministry of Forests is
sadly lacking.

Munro criticized the Federal Gov-
ernment’s high interest rates policy
which is ruinous for the industry. He
also said the Federal Government’s
current 86 cents per U.S. dollar policy
is driving B.C. mills into the ground.

“The truth is that the Bank of
Canada is trying to play a ‘confidence
game’ to keep investors happy,” said
Munro.

Contractor arbitration clause
greeted by union officials

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Provincial For-
ests Minister Clause Richmond
announced here on January 12, regu-
lations designed to give contractors
some new arbitration mechanisms in
their dealing with larger forest
companies.

Speaking to an Annual Convention
of the Truck Logger’s Association,
Richmond unveiled new changes to
the Forest Act which took place
immediately.

The changes will specify terms
under which forest contractors can
deal with larger, more powerful Tree
Farm Licenses and Forest License
tenure holders.

The new changes, which provide a
dispute settling mechanism(s) for par-
ties which have a contractual relation-
ship which lasts more than 4 weeks,
are greeted by IWA officials.

IWA-CANADA’s National Fifth
Vice-President Roger Stanyer says the
changes will help contractors in the
renewal of their working agreements
with larger forest companies.

Brother Stanyer says that contrac-
tual relationships between the parties
have been dominated by major
licensees which have often historically
shown “callous attitudes” towards
their contractors in one-sided argu-
ments.

“For years relationships have been
in place and a company has termi-
nated the contractor with a ‘take it or
leave it’ attitude,” says Stanyer.

Brother Stanyer adds that the per-
ceived fairness of the new system will
be mecessety to make the new process
work.

“Contractors must realize that they
will have somewhere to go to resolve
their disputes instead of dipping into
the pockets of workers when times get
tough,” adds Stanyer.

On coastal British Columbia more
than 10,000 IWA-CANADA members
are employees of stump to stump log-
ging contractors.

The Forest Act stipulates that 50%
of Tree Farm License work should go
to such contractors, seventy percent
of which are stump to dumpers, and

© Roger Stanyer, National fifth vice-
president.

Forest commission
set for

public meetings

The Forest Resources Commission,
established in late June of 1989 by the
British Columbia government is gear-
ing up for a series of public meetings
across the province starting in April
and continuing through May.

On February 20, forests minister

Claude Richmond appointed tourism
and recreation expert Garry Sharpe
to the commission bringing its mem-
bership to 12.

Mr. Sharpe, a businessman from
Penticton, B.C., is also currently the
president of the Okanagan Similka-
meen Tourism Association, and is a
past charter president of the Council
of Tourism Association for B.C.

Presently the Forest Resource Com-
mission has been directed by the min-
ister to conduct a full review of the
values of provincial forest lands.

According to the minister, the

review must consider the full range of
forest values and devise strategies on
how to protect these values. The com-
mission will attempt to assess the
total economic impact of forests on
the province.

The commission, chaired by Alex-
ander “Sandy” Peel, a former deputy
minister of education, will review
information from the meetings and
produce documents which should pro-

vide alternative recommendations for ,

forests management in the future.
IWA-CANADA president Jack Mun-
ro is a member of the commission.

380% of which are single phase
contractors.

Warren Ulley, President of Log-
gers’ Local 1-71 says many contrac-
tors in his jurisdiction don’t even have!
written agreements with the licensees.

“Not all of the majors play the
game the same way, but some of our
members have been put into a tough
spot by the previous lack of dispute
settling mechanisms for contract
employers,” says Brother Ulley.

The local president also says the
new regulations must work to provide
contractors with a means of living up
to their obligations in their collective
agreements with IWA-CANADA.

Too often, points out Brother Ulley,
contractors try to chisel away at por-
tions of the union agreement to make
ends meet.

“If a contractor is getting the
screws put to him then the work
invariably feel the pressure to tak
pay cuts or have the quality of their
workplace deteriorate,” says Ulley.

e Warren Ulley, president of Loggers’
local 1-71.

Roger Stanyer says that IWA
-CANADA has lobbied on behalf of
contractors, submitted briefs on their
behalf, and has met numerous times
with senior ministry officials.

In a brief presentation to a legisla-
tive committee in June of 1988, IWA
-CANADA called for a province-wide
standard agreement and arbitratio
clause to be put in place betwee
licensees and contractors.

The brief said such changes are
required to counter the “near monop-
oly” powers of major license holders
in the BC. forest industry.

The tree farm license tenure sys-
tem, originally established in the
1940's following the Justice Sloan
Royal Commission was supposedly
designed to create community stabil-
ity and stable relationships between
tenure holders and employees and
people of communities.

But IWA-CANADA's brief said that
security of employment has not
“trickled down” to contractors,
employees, or communities.

The new regulations introduced by
the Forests Minister will cover con®
tractual terms for more than twelve
phases of timber harvesting.

Under the new provision for resolu-
tion of disputes, every timber har-
vesting contract must contain one or
more mechanism agreed to by the
licensee and the contractor regarding
a condition or obligation of the
contract.

Where the parties fail to agree on
such terms the provincial Commer-
cial Arbitration Act will apply.

cS

2/LUMBERWORKER/MARCH, 1990