Local unions take ot ganizing seriously. Two local unions of IWA - CANADA have been keeping up a tradition of actively recruiting new members in their local boundaries. Each local has appointed a full time staffer to coordi- nate organizing on a continual basis. Duncan Local 1-80 on Vancouver Island and Maple Ridge Local 1-367 in the Fraser Valley of B.C. have kept busy running successful organizing campaigns in the IWA in recent years. Bill Routley, first vice-president of 1-80, says the Local has always had an officer responsible for organizing and has hired on additional staff when required. Since September of 1989 the Local has kept organizer Lyn Kistner on the payroll and since then the union has picked up four new certifications. Workers from two lumber remanu- facturing companies, a truck shop, and a tree nursery and a tree improve- ment centre have joined Local 1-80. Brother Routley says that the Local has had, on an ongoing basis, a run at every company in the wood industry within its jurisdiction every 2 or 3 years. Brian Powelson. “We believe that you have to con- tinue to organize and that you don’t accept failures,” says Routley. “We are mandated as an organizing body, not just a union which is here to collect dues.” Brother Kistner, who worked as a faller for over 20 years and spent 9 years as plant chairman at Fletcher- Challenge’s Port Renfrew Division (formerly BCFP) says that “worker dignity is a major factor influencing those who join the union.” “Workers want to be treated with dignity and respect and most times they can't receive either in non-union workplaces,” say Kistner. He also says that forest industry workers want a voice in the IWA in order to influence the future forest policy of the province. Since the Local has hired a full time organizer, it has received several leads which it is investigating, Brother Kistner says that as major licensees are paring down their opera- tions, more independent lumber remanufacturers are springing up in the local union. He says that worl in the reman sector are concerned Local 1-80 organizer Lyn Kistner (second from right) successfully brought in 15 employees at Island Mack Truck Sales Ltd. in Nanaimo the fall of '89. Some of those workers are (1. to r.) Len Baldwin, Larry Whipps, Greig Green, Jeff McCallum, and about the provinces’ forest policy since their employers have no guaran- teed source of timber. In Local 1-367, organizer Lyle Olson, the local union’s second vice- president, says there’s potential to pick up some additional remanufac- turing operations as well. Since 1983 Brother Olson has been involved in 15 organizing campaigns which have seen success in 11 cases. As a worker at the Red Skin Shake and Shingle mill in Maple Ridge in 1983, Brother Olson helped the Local organize the mill from the inside. He then worked as an organizer on a part time basis after the mill joined the union. In 1985 Brother Olson came on staff full time and has held the organizing position ever since. Local 1-367 has been very active in gearing up for future drives. In Janu- ary of this year local union president Dave Tones and Olson put on an organizing seminar for a group of hand picked volunteers from union operations. The seminars included basic les- sons on organizing under the prov- ince’s Industrial Relations Act (Bill 19), and how to communicate with workers while organizing. The purpose of having the organiz- ing team, which includes local union members Manjit Sidhu, Don White, Bob Reed, Howard Jensen, and Mark Abbott, is to have a group of activists to call on during a drive at larger operations. The 2,100 member local has, in its boundaries, non-union remanufactur- ers, shake and shingle mills, and nurs- eries. There is a potential to double the size of the membership if the time and manpower were made available. “In this local we believe there is just as much an obligation to organ- ize workers as there is to serve pres- ent members,” says Brother Tones. “The IWA constitution specifically states that we must organize workers and we take the constitution seri- ously.” “We try to develop contacts in oper- ations and sit back to wait for issues that will turn the workers to our union,” says Olson. “We keep moni- toring the situation until the time is right.” © Union activist and organizer Lyle Olson (middle of photo) pays a visit to a crew organized in 1989. Left to right at Elk Wood Specialties Ltd. reman plant in Mission are local union executive board member Don Wright, committee member Mike McConnell, Roy Kerpan, plant chairman Ron Johnson, secretary Larry Chapotelle, and George Beaulieu. Brother Olson says that during organizing drives workers often feel the intimidation of employers and that they must often withstand threats of job loss. “If we're lucky we get the check-offs and apply for a certification vote before the employer knows what's hap- pening,” says Brother Olson. He says that during the 10-day period from when a vote application is made and the certification ballot is taken, employers often work to intim- idate the crew and will try to discredit the union. Olson also says that worker dignity is a major factor in getting workers to seek representation from organized labour. He says that organizing on money-benefit issues, is often not enough to get people to join the union. The Local takes the position it will represent workers in its jurisdiction who need a trade union. Between September, 1988 and May, 1989, the Local helped 80 workers battle scabs, the R.C.M.P. and an unscrupulous employer at Leyland Industries in Pitt Meadows, for a first contract at a plastics factory. Local 1-80’s Bill Routley explains the importance of organizing: “If we don’t organize, we allow the slow ero- sion of our stand as a union. If we become insignificant in that there’s going to be only a handful of us left, we're not going to be much of a force to be reckoned with.” National organizing director, John Smithies, applauds the efforts of both local unions. “These locals have seen a strong tradition of organizing,” says Smith- ies. “Other local unions in the IWA are shaping up along the same lines. We must get local involvement in order to strengthen our union.” e In May of this year Local 1-80 organizer Lyn Kistner certified 37 new members at Paulcan Enterprises in Chemainus. Included in the new crew are (I. to r.) Doug Gunderson, Scott McMurtry, Terry Ferguson, and Rob Lacasse. LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1990/7