¢ Although they were promised job security by CPFP in the Fall of 1988, 25 workers at Sooke Logging Division were summarily
axed by the company. Left to right are Local 1-80 members: forestry crewman Steve Forslund, committee chairman Hans Szepat,
road crewman Jim Russell, and faller Guy Scott.

CPFP dumps company.

crew in favour of
contract loggers

DUNCAN, B.C. — Four months after
Canadian Pacific Forest Products
summarily axed 25 company employ-
ees at it's Sooke Logging Division,
the IWA is still fuming.
In December of last year the forest
lant permanently shut down its own
ke Logging Division in a final
cutback which eliminated its entire
pty, employee work force on
southern Vancouver Island, which had
been peeating since the 1950's.
_In the meantime, due to an Um-
's decision, a contract logger has
given the green light to continue
harvesting its quota on CPFP’s claim.
___ The decision has enraged IWA Local
1-80 (Duncan) and set a new prece-
_ dent when considering whether or not
established company employees
_ should get their fair share of work.
Local union president Bill Routley
_ says CPFP has treated its long term
“employees in a “rotten manner” and
i) that any such moves must be
condemned by British Columbians.
In fact even though it is now a
d industry practice the com-
ny didn’t even offer the employees
erance pay for the permanent job

The cocky move by CPFP sets the
for further confrontations when
mpanies can prioritize their work
way from company employees

favour of contract operators. _
e elimination of the last 25 jobs
k place 2 years after the com-
made public assurances that the
aaa

vor to the next century.

in October of 1988 Ken Hart, then
Division Manager, said that

scaled down logging operations would
guarantee work for company employ-
ees. In the fall of that year, the com-
pany slashed 81 union jobs from its
payroll.

‘The remaining crew of 25 workers
was kept to log 80% of CPF P’s timber
in the South Island Sooke Division.
Overall, the company cuts 550,000
cubic meters of wood from its tree
management area from Campbell
River southward.

In May of 1990 the employer
announced that the final axe would
drop at the end of the year since “a
reduced supply of mature timber and
lower harvest rates have made the
operations uneconomic”.

Local 1-80 president Brother Rout-
ley says there is no reason why the
company can’t keep the company
employees going when it has an esti-
mated 2 million cubic meters of old

wth left and an estimated 1.3 mil-
lion cubic meters of second growth
timber in the Sooke Division which
could be utilized.

CPFP has logged on federal land

mts which encompasses over
90,000 acres of Southern Vancouver
Island, and despite the need for for-
estry work the pompeny’ has axed its
forestry crew as E

Union forestry crewmen say there
is a lot of work needed to be done on
the land, however no jobs have been
offered to any of the laid off workers.

In reference to the job cuts Keith
Rush, manager of the company’s
Sooke and Cowichan Logging Divi-
sion said that CPFP has no more

“We had every indication in 1988
that the company would provide us
with job security,” says road crew
member Jim Russell. “Many workers
bought houses and other things as we
felt secure at the time.”

In fact the Sooke company employ-
ees were operating in the black. With
one steelspar, one grapple yarder, fall-
ers, mechanics, roadbuilding and a
forestry crew, the Sooke Division was
a money maker for the company.

Faller and Safety Chairman Guy
Scott echoes the fact that there’s
enough wood to keep the company
employees working and questions
what CPFP’s true motive is.

There is a good deal of mixed soft-
wood in the Tree Management Area
with a lucrative component of old
growth yellow cedar which fetches a
good dollar on the market.

Union committee chairman Hans
Szepat says that CPFP has a definite
agenda in mind.

“Once they get rid of all company
employees then they'll get their con-
tractors fighting amongst themselves
for lower competitive rates.”

Says Jim Russell: “You'll see this
kind of thing happening on the
increase in the next couple of years.
Unless something in the next con-
tract puts an end to it, then there
aren’t going to be many of us around
to fight for it.”

Brother Routley says that CPFP
has introduced contractors into other
areas (outside the Sooke Division)
and yet they are still cutting the same
volume from the forests they manage.

“This is clearly an attempt by this
unscrupulous employer to find loop:
holes in order to contract out the jobs
of their parent company crews,” says
Routley.

TEE

Victoria watershed

Continued from page twelve

gram needs are used to offset water
supply costs and reserved to acquire
additional lands for long-term water
supply purposes.”

Mr. Joyce says that the GVWD is
aware of the public’s interest in water-
shed management. Part of the plan-
ning process is recognizing this “right
to know.”

The District has set up acommittee
of foresters, public officials and edu-
cators, and has extended an invita-
tion to environmental groups such as
the Sierra Club to participate in the
review of practices and development
of a new Management Plan.

“We feel that issues affecting the
watershed have to be addressed prop-
erly and whatever policies we develop
must be acceptable to the public
within the context of our water sup-
ply mandate,” adds Mr. Joyce.

loyalty to company employees than to © Qutin the bush in the watershed are mini-tower rigging men (I. to r.) hooktender Ron
Van de Water and rigging slinger Wayne Jones.

the contractor.

LUMBERWORKER/MAY, 1991/13