PRESIDENT’S MESSAG

Labor should play a key
role in decision-making

by Jack Munro

N the past, and at present we in IWA-

CANADA have done a great deal to lessen

confrontation with employers and help

create a competitive forest industry

which is second to none in the world. We
should be proud of that and the public should
be aware of it.

As a result of our industry becoming so
competitive, the U.S. slapped a 15% charge
against Canadian imports in 1986 which we
are still fighting against. We in IWA-CANADA
are assisting the industry to get rid of this
crippling export tax against our softwood
lumber for once and for all.

It’s not only for our members sake, it is for
the sake of the taxpayer as well. When the
forest industry is doing well in Canada, there
is more tax revenue to help pay for such
things as hospitals, schools, roads and the
entire infrastructure of society as we know it.

Although we haven’t been given a fair
shake in much of the public’s eye, we continue
to demonstrate a willingness to participate
with governments and employers in ways
that are innovative and which we hope will
produce results.

Right now we are sitting across the table
from industry employers in the toughest set
of contract talks that B.C. has seen in 30
years. We are searching for ways to keep this

industry competitive
in the face of a reces-
sion that shows no
signs of fading away.

At the same time,
outside the area of
collective bargain-
ing, we are sitting
down with industry
dealing with other
critical issues our in-
dustry faces.

In the wood pro-
ducts industry, both
sides continue to
work together in the
Western Wood Pro-
ducts Forum, which
is a joint labour
management organi-

Training must
take place in three
areas to achieve these
goals; training prior
to employment;
training of displaced
workers; and train-
ing of the existing
workforce. This
training should focus
on production work-
ers as well as trades
categories.
on production work-
ers as well as trades
categories.

Now that the in-
dustry and ourselves
are talking seriously
about these issues

—

zation that many of
you may have heard about.

Our objective is to have the Forum take a
leadership role on issues such as forest policy,
the development of more value-added wood
products manufacturing, and training and
labour adjustment.

Last March the Forum held our first annual
conference and many good things happened.
We listened to important speakers on the
above issues and sat in on workshops to
sound out leading industry representatives.

Finally we agreed that the industry has to
develop a value-added future and a global
outlook in its marketing strategy. We also
agreed that to reach these goals, investors
must have a secure timber supply.

The conference also examined worker train-
ing: In our Union we believe that, although
the industry is cyclical in nature, it must
develop a long term commitment to worker
training. Both sides realize that a value-
added sector needs well trained and skilled
workers.

} we can develop a co-

ordinated approach to them.

Fortunately in British Columbia, we have a
new NDP government which wants labour to
be a full partner in the key decision making
processes that will affect the future of the
forest industry

This type of “partnership” is a fragile
exercise of trust and good faith which can be
made more fragile when governments and
employers are not prepared to address in a
meaningful way, some of the basic problems
that the industry faces.

A partnership doesn’t mean you are going
to abandon your beliefs just to side with the
boss or with the government of the day. We
need to forge new alliances between parties
which haven't worked well in the past.

Labour must become a major player in the
country’s long term economic strategy. We
work in the industry and we understand its
problems better than anyone else.

That’s why the industry and the govern-
ment are finally listening to us.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Groups meet to formulate a
national strategy for forests

by Claire Dansereau

|HE Canadian Council of Forest Ministers
(CCFM) is currently preparing a strategy
or a broad Accord for the use and manage-
ment of Canadian Forests.

The purpose of the Strategy is to provide
general principles and plans of action by those
responsible for forestry decision-making through-
out Canada.

The Strategy will be introduced at the CCFM
Forestry Congress in March, 1992. Following
ratification at the Congress, the principles adopted
in the Strategy will assist the federal government
in its participation in the formulation of an Inter-
national Convention to be presented at the United
Nations Conference on the Environment in Brazil,
June, 1992.

IWA-CANADA has been involved in many stages
of the strategy’s preparation. We are represented
on the CCFM strategy steering committee and
the National Round-Table forestry sector sub-
committee which is jointly preparing the strategy.

Initial steps for strategy preparation included a
series of regional workshops for all interested
groups. The workshops flushed out the issues and
concerns that Canadians felt needed to be
addressed in a new forest strategy.

A group of writers summarized these issues
into a draft that was further analyzed by another
group of concerned stakeholders in Winnipeg,
December 9-11, 1991.

IWA-CANADA was present at the Winnipeg
meetings and ensured that the final document
addresses the many issues that we have raised
concerning forest management in the past. We
insist that Canada has the responsibility to remain
competitive in world wood products markets but
that it must do so at minimum environmental
costs.

The strategy focuses to a large degree on chang-
ing planning processes so that the true owners of
the resource, you and I, have a stronger voice in
decision-making. :

It was agreed by all participants that we need a
strong industry; we need more, and more open,

participation in decision-
making; we need better
environmental manage-
ment to ensure that
future generations have
access to high quality,
biologically diverse
forests; we need more
forestry dollars devoted
to research and develop-
ment; and, finally we
need a fair process to en-
sure that Canada’s abor-
iginal people have the
means with which to support a lifestyle of their
choice.

Represented in the strategy formation are lab-
our unions, professional associations, business
associations, environmental groups, government
agencies; non-timber users of the forests and
aboriginal forestry associations. It is not always
easy for such groups to reach consensus but so far

most concerns have been dealt with successfully.
Some of the toughest issues that we face deal

If we were to decide to live in a pristine ial
ness, our wood products would have to come from
some other place. That other place would likely be
an under-regulated country with poor environ-
mental and labour protection. We would therefore
be exporting our environmental stress to another
country. From a global environmental perspective
this is unacceptable.

However, at the same time we must make sure
that we do not increase environmental stresses at
home. We must make sure that companies and
governments incorporate new planning ideas in
their management plans.

A major area of dispute in our process is over
the use of chemicals in the forests. Most compa-
nies argue that the amount of chemicals used in
forestry operations is minuscule compared to
their counterparts in agriculture. They consider it
unfair that so much attention is focused on the
small amounts used in forestry especially when
compared to the substantial economic savings
that can be made. We, and others, argue that
much of the work done by herbicides can be taken
over by manual processes.

fects of sustainable de-
velopment strategies on
forestry dependent com-
munities. The majority
of participants agree
that these communities
should not pay the price
for implementation.

with mitigating the ef-
Canada has a

to remain competitive
with minimal costs
to the environment

Chemicals are used
primarily in forest re-
generation. Their pur-
pose is to rid sites of tree
species that compete for
air, water, soil and sun-
light with commercially
viable species.

There are two prob-

responsibility

A central theme of the
document will be that outlying communities form
the backbone not only of our economy but of our
cultural heritage and for these reasons need to be
supported. The difficulty will be in finding ways
to do this. a

However, the purpose of sustainable develop-
ment is to ensure that communities are sustaina-
ble. As Canadians, we not only have a right to live
in our traditional communities we have a responsi-
bility to do so. The country would not be environ-
mentally or economically sustainable if we all
tried to live in major urban centres.

We have a global environmental responsibility
to produce wood products from our fertile forested
lands and this position is now becoming clear to
participants. [WA-CANADA’s forest policy states
that from an environmental point of view it is not
acceptable for us to stop producing wood prod-

ucts. We use those products.

lems with this idea. The
first is that high quality forests require a certain
amount of biological diversity and the second is
that much of the removal of these competitive
species can be done manually thus reducing harm
to wildlife. We strongly argue for a reduction in the
use of these chemicals.

The major flaw in the document so far is that
there is no time-frame established within which all
of this must take place nor is there any real
mention of accountability. It was agreed by all
participants that a new chapter was required
which would outline the “where”, “when”, “how”
and “who pays” components of the strategy. How-
ever, the strategy is a step in the right Groction
for all Canadians.

Claire Dansereau is IWA-CANADASs
Forest and Environment Planner.

a

4/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1991