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Del Pratt 1928-1991

IWA-CANADA extends its condo-
lences to the family and friends of the
late Del Pratt, former regional vice-

ident who passed away on May 1.

other Pratt served IWA members

with dedication and conviction for
many years.

Born in Saskatchewan in 1928,
Brother Pratt eventually moved to
BCC. and joined the IWA in 1945 when
he went to work as a logger on the
BL. coast. <

Del became involved in the Union
and became sub-local chairman at
Gordon River for many years. Even-

tually he served as a business agent
ae vice-president of Duncan Local
In 1965 Brother Pratt was appoint-
ed as 2nd vice-president of the West-
ern Regional Council of the IWA. Then
in 1966 he was elected to a 2-year post
in the same position where Del went
on to serve as secretary of the Coast
Negotiating Committee in 1968.
Below is an excerpt from a eulogy
given by a long time friend and fellow
logger, Bill Moore of Winter Harbour.
It was spoken at the home of Al War-
del in Campbell River on May 15.

“The roadbuilding logger”

“You give any boy a pile of sand and
a toy dump truck when he’s three or
four years old and he'll play with it. I
suspect that I’m still playing with
toys, only now they cost’ a half a
million dollars — and I can build real
roads!”

Del was a teacher, an enthusiast,
something we don’t find enough of
these days. He was a knowledgeable
man. He was a kind man — his broth-
ers’ helper, and his brothers’ keeper.

Building roads and constructing
bridges made him happy. That boy he
spoke of with the sand piles was

there on every project he ever
tackled. He knew the art of instruc-
tion, of analyzing and of skookum! He
Was practical, no frills.
__ One nice day in the spring of '84 I
_ drove with him in his pickup all over
_ the logging roads of Western Forest
lucts camp at Holberg. We had
each ane for many years. Del
been a charter member of the
ival of Forestry when we formed
°65. I carried a small tape recorder
me and we talked of many things.
talked of his Duncan days with
ier and how he had taken eight
irs out to work for the IWA. He was

practical union man, just as he
aS tical road builder. We talked

his beliefs and his thoughts of the
scene — the camps, the equip-

ment, the unions, the management
and the people. Mostly the people:

I asked him what had made him
give up his work in the Duncan area
and join the IWA hierarchy for eight
years. He told me that it had been the
satisfaction he had got working with
men like Fred Fieber and John Bill-
ings, Keith Bennett and Wally Cook
in getting the apprenticeship program
started and underway. 5

I quote Del: “Hell, the pay was
light — about $700.00 a month —
and an out of town per diem of eight
dollars. The IWA paid our hotel bills
and always put us up in pretty good
hotels, but we couldn’t eat there
because the meals were too high.
Believe me we scoured the towns for
cheap bean joints.”

His philosophy on management and
union was always to the point and

fair.

As we drove that day I asked him
what would be his number one prior-
ity if he went back into the executive
of the IWA after he retired from West-
ern. These are his words: “If I were in
union affairs again, I’d go for a say in
management. I’m talking about the
‘bigs’, M&B and Canfor etc., not the
small outfits. I’d like to see represen-
tation on the boards of directors. I
sometimes feel we get the ‘mushroom
treatment’ of being kept in the dark
and surrounded by secrecy.”

He went on, “The work force sees
what goes on and good representa-
tives from the force could be of tre-
mendous help to an intelligent board
of directors.” He added, “Well we have
to improve to keep competitive and
more money is not always the answer,
so what could be better than to give
the logger involvement in his compa-
ny’s direction? Out of it comes a bet-
ter trust in each other, management
and labour. If we are going to be the
highest paid woodworkers in the
world then we've got to be the best
producing woodworkers in the world.”

We were all very fortunate to have
known this fine man. And there are a

good many road building loggers who
can be thankful they were taught
their trade by such an understanding
teacher.

Del was one of those rare people
that you never forget. He had a spark
in him that made him just a bit
different. Quite a man — Delmore
Pratt. A practical man, not afraid to
voice some pretty well thought out
opinions about things in this forest
around us. And he knew his stuff
about roadbuilding too!

It just goes to show you what
playing in sand piles as a little boy
will get you.

Rest in peace, dear man.

Vancouver collector big
on IWA memorabilia

Since he worked in a small sawmill
in 1963, David Yorke has been on the
lookout for IWA memorabilia. The 46-
year-old lawyer, who is legal counsel
for the B.C. Teachers’ Federation has a
real goldmine of B.C. [WA membership
buttons going back to 1940.

Mr. Yorke displayed his collection
of IWA and other union buttons and
pins at this year’s Mayworks Festival,
held early this May at the Maritime
Labour Centre in Vancouver. May-
works is an annual event celebrating
the historic and present role of the
labour movement in our society.

He has over 100 IWA pins in his
collection and is ready to wheel and
deal with other collectors.

Mr. Yorke’s “pride and joy” is his
1946 strike button which has “union
security, 25¢/hr., 40 hr.” embossed on
it. The ’46 strike was a province wide
one for the IWA in B.C. which saw
some major gains and a large expan-
sion of the union’s membership.

Another rare find is a button which
reads “I pulled my weight in 48 - [WA
Strike Fund.” According to Yorke,
these buttons are few and far between.

During the early 1940’s IWA mem-
bers paid union dues 4 times a year
and got a button which signified when
their dues were collected. In camps
and mills, shop stewards would col-

lect dues from each worker and hand
out the dues buttons. This practice
ended, however, in 1946 when the
union achieved full recognition and
the company began to deduct union
dues from the payroll.

Mr. Yorke says he’s always search-
ing for people. who may have rare
buttons or pins. Although he says
he’s only been collecting “seriously for
10 years” Mr. Yorke has over 2,500
pins, buttons and ribbons in his col-
lection from over 100 trade unions.

He even has a “Wooie” (1948) but-
ton of the Woodworkers Industrial
Union of Canada, when the upstart
WIUC Union led by Communist mem-
bers attempted a split from the TWA.

Yorke has several IWA buttons he
has collected in the United States at
collectible and second hand stores.
The earliest IWA U.S. button is from
1938 (the IWA was founded in 1937).

The earliest woodworker buttons in
his collection are 1935 and ’36 issues
from the Lumber and Sawmill Work-
ers Union, a predecessor of the TWA.

Mr. Yorke also has a selection of
CPU and PPWC buttons.

If you have any IWA buttons or
pins you would like to give up or trade
for, please call:

Mr. David Yorke in Burnaby, B.C.
at (604) 291-9319.

in Vancouver.

© David Yorke proudly displays pin and memorabilia collection at Mayworks festival

ATTEND YOUR IWA-CANADA
SUB-LOCAL UNION MEETINGS

LUMBERWORKER/AUGUST, 1991/15