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TREE NURSERY PESTICIDES

In the third of a four part series | Ree

on the safe use of pesticides,
Research Scientist Shona
Kelley examines fungicides,
insecticides, and germicides
commonly used in the tree

a

nursery industry.

PAGE 6

© Local 1-824 President Jim Anderson (second from right) talks about contract negotiations with Repap loggers near
Cranberry, Manitoba. L. to R. are Dave Wowk, Art Reimer, Dave Moodie, Anderson, and Jack Quinn.

B.C. Forests Minister foreshadows
reduced annual allowable harvests

B.C.’s Provincial Forests Minister
is looking straight down the barrel
at some serious problems in the for-
est industry, both economically and
environmentally. At IWA-CANA-
DA’s National Safety Conference on
June 27 in Victoria, Miller said
there are “some rude shocks” yet to
hit workers and that the previous
provincial government created a
misleading false sense of security
that companies can go on harvest-
ing at the same rates forever.

fives are getting worse for the
forest industry and the NDP
Government is trying to come to

‘ips with some serious problems it

faces.

“We are going through the tough-
est time in our history when it
comes to forestry and its impact on
the mills,” said Miller. “In B.C.
we've gone past the point where,
because of our vast resources, we
could literally name our price and
customers were knocking at the
door.”

The Forest Minister said pres-
sure from global markets, including
a potential ban on our lumber from
the European market, the U.S.
countervail action, and new pulp
mill environmental regulations cou-

led with a shrinking forest land
Base all are serious issues.

“I can’t say that the future looks

i ly rosy,” said Miller. “We

ve really gone through the most

unstable period in the last 5 - 6
years in terms of land-use.”

In conjunction with the Ministry

of Environment, the Ministry. of
Forests is working to solve land-use
conflicts, and set aside 12% of the
provinces land base into parks, eco-
reserves, and wilderness areas by
the year 2000. By doing so the
Minister says the government
wants to put conflict behind us.
“Then those who want to contin-
ue to blockade roads or go outside

the system will not have any public
sympathy.”

Miller said the government has
got to get ahead of the game.

“Lets get a map out and say okay,
these are the areas and lets view
them and we have to deal with
them to get a greater deal of cer-
tainty.”

Continued on page two

Loggers throughout the province will be affected by upcoming reductions in

harvesting areas,

Repap aims
for contract
concessions

Repap Enterprises, Manitoba’s
largest forest company which con-
trols two-thirds of the province’s
timber, is trying to tear pages out of
a collective agreement with IWA-
CANADA, Local 1-324.

On August 5 when the company
and the union met, the IWA was
stunned to find out that Repap is
attempting to gut the contract of
protective language for contract
workers and remove long standing
language that protects health and
safety of workers.

All of this is being done at a time
when the company has run its
inventory of logs down to next to
nothing and is introducing radical
changes that are affecting its log-
ging sectors.

The turnaround in Repap’s indus-
trial relations strategy is causing a
great deal of concern in the IWA
and many eyes are set on the nego-
tiations.

“We could believe that Repap
would try to escape from its basic
responsibility for contractors that
work for it,” says Local 1-324 presi-
dent Jim Anderson. “But we find it
very hard to believe that Repap
would go after health and safety
issues.”

Since the early 1970’s IWA mem-
bers working for Manitoba Forest
Products (Repap’s predecessor) and
Repap have had certain health and
safety provisions covered by the col-
lective agreement. Now the compa-
ny wants to eradicate contract lan-
guage that covers lockout proce-
dures, health and safety commit-
tees, and safety equipment.

Brother Anderson said the com-
pany will not be successful in taking
away health and safety provisions
that the union has fought for in
years past.

Repap wants to gut the contract
language that protects workers
from being ripped off by contractors
that work for Repap. Repap is now
responsible for ensuring that con-
tractors live up to the language of
the collective agreement.

Now that Repap is phasing out its
cut and skid operations in favour of
feller bunchers and is trying to
introduce as many owner operators
as is possible, it wants to escape
responsibility for the performance
of the owner operators and their
employees. Even though Repap will
try to control the work and pay-
ments given to the owner operators,
it wants no responsibility for any
problems that employees could face.

“Basically, Repap is gearing up to
get wood for less money,” says Doug
Northcott, 3rd vice-president of
Local 1-324. and a log truck driver
with Slymac Trucking a contract
trucking outfit that handles wood
for Repap. “Repap wants to operate

Continued on page twelve