NDP support

Continued from page one

voters everywhere, especially in
B.C., are upset with politicians in
general,” adds Brother Stoney. “I
don’t think that people were voting
so much for something as they were
voting against something.”

Most incumbents to the House of
Commons were soundly defeated.

“Many voters simply believed
that the NDP is part of the incum-
bent establishment in Ottawa,
therefore the party suffered,” adds
Stoney.

Fred Miron, second national vice-
president of the union who works in
the union’s office in Toronto said
that the election results are discour-
aging.. f

“Union members and all working
people are in for a tough go,” says
Brother Miron. “We've lost some of
the people who understand our
issues. NDP candidates are the most
knowledgeable on forestry issues,
the environment, and native land
claims. It’s a tragedy to have lost
their strong voice.”

Brother Stoney says that without
a doubt the IWA as an organization,
remains committed to the policies,
and positions of the democratic
socialist NDP.

He says that the most important
election issue was employment.
With official unemployment hover-
ing at over 11.3% and actual job-
lessness and underemployment
much higher, Brother Stoney says
Canadian workers are worried.

And with economic growth in
decline, deficits are rising and right
wing hysteria and attacks on unem-
ployment insurance, pensions,
health care spending and the educa-
tion system are getting greater.

Many voters forgot
about the Trudeau
years and the kind
of arrogance that
workers found so
unacceptable

Brother Stoney predicts that the
Liberal majority will be just as bad
for workers as the Tory years.

“Many voters forgot about the
Trudeau years when they supported
Chrétien,” says Stoney. “They forgot
that the kind of arrogance we found
so unacceptable in the Tory govern-
ments will be just as strong in the
Chrétien government.”

Gord Wilson president of the
Ontario Federation of Labour
praised the federal NDP for their
role in the election.

“There is no doubt that Audrey
McLaughlin and the New Democra-
tic Party shaped the terms of this
election campaign - from jobs to

e¢ ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL Federal NDP Leader Audrey McLaughlin appeared at IWA-CANADA’s National
Convention in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on October 6 where union President Gerry Stoney (seated) and others

gave the party leader a warm reception. Story in next issue.

Medicare,” said Wilson in a press
release.

“McLaughlin’s battle against the
forces of the right was a daily
reminder of the urgency of our fight
against the corporate agenda for
Canada, ... We regret the defeat of
a number of outstanding Canadians
and the loss it represents for pro-
gressive forces in our country.”

Brother Wilson reminded workers
that the NDP must never give up
and that in 1958 the party only won
8 seats, but continued the struggle.

He said “. . . this is not the first
time the NDP has suffered setbacks.
If we had quit in 1958, when we
were reduced to eight seats, we
wouldn’t have Medicare today and
we would not have any of the pro-
gressive labour laws we have now.”

Bob White president of the Cana-
dian Labour Congress said that
“Audrey McLaughlin conducted a
campaign in very difficult circum-
stances with enormous credibility
and enthusiasm.”

“The pundits who are preparing
the grave site for the NDP should
put their shovels away or get a head
stone marked ‘Tories’,” said White.
He also predicted that the NDP will
return to its traditional base with
three provincial governments and
two opposition parties.

Brother White said that it is a
disappointment that more Canadi-
ans don’t view their economic con-

Strike vote

Continued from page one

the camps down and freeze us out
on travel time shows us how little
they care for workers,” adds the
local union president.

In cold winter months the loggers’
days are made longer with poorer
driving conditions and extra warm-
up times needed for their vehicles
in the freezing temperatures.

A strike may be necessary if CPFP
doesn’t back down on its agenda to
tear pages out of the collective
agreement.

The IWA negotiating committee
with CPFP consists of 18 members
including McIntyre, business agents
Lloyd Szkaley, John Lorenowich,

and Joe Hanlon and members from
each logging operation.

The local union is also negotiat-
ing contracts in logging operations
with E.B. Eddy Forest Products,
Kimberly-Clark, and Abitibi-Price.
So far no strike vote has been taken
at these other operations.

In IWA-CANADA, Local 1-2995
(Kapuskasing) in north eastern
Ontario, the union is also in con-
tract talks with logging operators
including Lecours, Malette, Abitibi
Price, and Olov Havelshruud.

Both locals 1-2693 and 1-2995
coordinate their ongoing strategies
through the Northern Ontario Dis-
trict Council, an affiliation body of
both locals. This is done to stan-
dardize wage patterns and other
contract settlement issues.

cerns linked with the scrapping of
the “free trade” agenda.

“NAFTA is still very much an
issue in the United States. Trade
action against Canada are under-
way and more are contemplated by
various sectors of the U.S. political
system,” said White.

Jean Chrétien and his fellow
MP’s have done such a flip-flop on
the issue of free trade since the
1988 federal election that anyone
can see how phony their position is
on the subject.

Less than two months ago the
Liberals said that if elected they
would not implement the agree-
ment. Then on October 2nd Chré-
tien said he would renegotiate NAF-
TA, on the issues of codes for subsi-

dies, countervailing duties, and
improving the dispute settling
mechanism.

Then the Liberals said that if the
final talks on the General ee-
ment and Trades and Tariffs in
December establish new rules on
subsidies and countervails then
renegotiating NAFTA wouldn’t be
necessary.

And now the talk is of a “study
group” of Canadians, U.S. and Mex-
ican officials to study our concerns.

There should be no surprise in (
the Liberals flip flopping. When
push comes to shove a Liberal is a
Tory. Will Chrétien stand up to Bill
Clinton after the U.S. president’s
battle to push NAFTA through Con-
gress? Not likely!

Value-added report

Continued from page three

ly change the SBFEP In fact, in a
number of areas it recommends
expanding the program in terms of
the amount of provincial Annual
Allowable Cut (AAC) that will be
available under SBFEP.

The frustration for the IWA is
that without a major revision to the
de-unionizing aspects of the
SBFEP, many of the positive recom-
mendations in the Committee
report will not have a beneficial
impact on woodworkers. In the com-
ing months, the union will have to
push that message more forcefully
to ensure that the goals of more and
better jobs in the value-added sector
becomes a reality. ~

IWA-CANADA made a major pre-
sentation to the Legislative Com-
mittee when the public hearing
process began in January, 1993.
Our brief started from the view that
any meaningful re-design of value-
added policies in B.C. had to have
high skill - high wage employment
as its primary objective’ From our
perspective, “good” jobs are only cre-
ated through careful and deliberate
public policy and to assume other-
wise would be an enormous mis-
take.

The IWA brief also argued that
value-added manufacturing is sim-
ply one part of a larger forest sector
puzzle. In our view, the provincial

government should ensure that any
changes contemplated on the value-
added front are consistent with and
complementary to a larger and
more comprehensive forest sector
strategy.

To its credit, the Committee’s
report does recommend that job cre-
ation and industrial strategy play
an integral role in the development
of policies on value-added in B.C.
The report suggests that a stated
goal of the provincial government
should be the “doubling of re-manu-
facturing jobs in B.C. by year 2000,
and the addition of a similar expan-
sion by the year 2010.”

As well, the Committee’s report
stresses the need to substantially
increase the level and effort of
training within the industry. It rec-
ommends, for example, the estab-
lishment of a training program in
B.C. similar to those found in the
European wood products industry.
Under the proposed program, exist-
ing institutions sat as BCIT and
regional colleges could provide basic
technical skills training as well as
industrial wood engineering pro-
grams.

The report also calls upon the
government to actively assist in
product and market development
efforts of the value-added industry.
It suggests that the development of
new promotion and marketing pro-
grams could greatly enhance the
prospects for more value-added
manufacturing in B.C.

2/LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 1993