° IWA-CANADA National President Gerry Stoney addressed the Fed Con- vention’s emergency resolution supporting full assistance for workers af- fected by land-use decisions. Emergency Resolution Continued from page one The worst case scenario presented to forest workers is the loss-of thou- sands of jobs on the Island due to fur- ther set asides of old-growth timber harvesting areas. That would be a dev- astating blow to workers and their communities. The government’s early response through CORE has been that there is no money or programs to help work- ers with transition. IWA-CANADA president Gerry Stoney told Federation delegates that the situation is a “true emergency” that has been building through the years. He told the convention that the IWA and other forest industry unions sup- port land use reform. “Everybody knows there had to be change in the forest industry,” said Brother Stoney. “Everyone knows Workers and their communities have had their fair share of job losses. Now we want some fairness on the other side. — Gerry Stoney that the practices taking place were no longer acceptable for the future.” Because the union movement rec- ognized this, commitments were made to workers said Stoney, through the New Democratic party. New jobs in the forest industry would be creat- ed through reforestation and silvicul- ture and value-added strategies. Stoney said that thousands of new jobs are available through new strate- gies in which workers must be trained for new, quality jobs. The union president said the IWA has lost 2,000 jobs since 1991 in the province of B.C. “We don’t know of any (net) jobs that have been created in the forest industry since 1991,” he told dele- gates. In similar worse case scenarios tak- ing place under the CORE process in the Cariboo region, there could be a loss of 2,500 forest industry jobs. A similar story is developing in the Kootenay region of south eastern B.C., said Stoney. Brother Stoney said that workers and their communities “can’t handle any more, we've had our fair share of job losses. Now we want some fair- ness on the other side.” The IWA leader said that there has to be an agreement for a safety net to be put into place to ensure that when forest workers are displaced because of government decisions, replacement work (not make work schemes) is provided. “We don’t need jobs . . . that pay $8.50/hr and are of the requirement that you are on welfare,” said Stoney. “We want jobs created that are mean- ingful, are sustainable, (and) that pay good union wages to the people who are unemployed their now in the for- est industry.” In speaking towards the govern- ment and the industry, Stoney said: “Before you eliminate one more job in the forest industry in B.C., ensure that there is a safety net there. If there isn’t an alternative job (available) then be prepared to train that worker up to a level where that worker can go and find alternative employment in a good paying union job that the worker is used to in this province.” Although the early response from government officials was that there wasn’t money for workers, Stoney said that their is about $600 million out there in the form of federal, provincial, and municipal training pro- grams. A portion of that money can go to joint training of workers in the for- est industry. Brian Payne western vice-president for the Chemical, Energy and Paper- workers Union, which represents most pulp and paper workers on Van- couver Island, says that today work- ers are paying the price for the neglect that took place over decades - from mismanagement to decimating the environment. “It’s the worker in the industry in their unions that, long before it has been trendy, have been warning about the decimation of the environment,” said Payne. He also said that in 1993 the workers and their communities are bearing the brunt of that misman- agement. 2/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1993 Brother Payne also made a of saying that its past governments that are responsible for putting citizens in the province and the country against an poner oe jeff Broughton, Local member from Vancouver Island said that since 1982 his employment with his employ- er (Pat Carson Bulldozing - a logging contractor) has dropped from over 200 to about 40 today. Those effects have had devastating economic and social effects he says. He said the Federation must “de- mand” meaningful transition and com- pensation and alternative employment for workers. Brother Broughton said that “we can no longer be offered empty promises...” Jack McLeman also a delegate from Local 1-85 employed at MB's Somass cedar mill in Port Alberni said that MB’s own policies have resulted in hundreds of layoffs over the past 15 years. He also said that the major sawmill owners can create many more jobs by utilizing their fibre more e The new Forest Practices Code includes provisions for the training of loggers. Forest Code Continued from page one tect critical areas such as fish bearing streams, wildlife habitat and other sensitive forest values. “Our new rules will help make sure that environmental protection and the future of our province come before the profit of big companies,” said Har- court. Harcourt also said: “Previous gov- ermments did not have the political will to enforce good forest practices... Our government is making penalties tougher and increasing our abilities to catch and punish companies who break the rules.” As part of its enforcement policy the government is introducing an in- dependent system of auditing to forestry operations. The government claims that, in addition to encouraging better performance, the audit will also provide information to be used in up- dating and monitoring the Code. A newly established Forest Practice Board consisting of 3 to 4 experts will oversee the audits. Routine monitoring and enforce- ment will see new powers give to field staff from the Ministry of Environ- ment, Lands and Parks to uphold envi- ronmental aspects of forestry operations. In addition to participation through ey ah is we in 4 hospitality, spent going ee favourite rant, an : “When the base jobs in B.C. go Len bes tate is going to go it,” said Worhaug. Also voting in support of the resolu tion were John Shields, president the B.C. Government Employees Union, Angela Schira, secretary-trea- surer of the B.C. Federation of Labour, Carmela Allevato, secretary- business manager of the Hospital Em- t ployees union, and Ken Neum director of District 3 of the Unit Steelworkers of America. the Forest Practices Board, which will _ be able to investigate public com- plaints concerning forest practices, the public will be able to influence a Forest Practice Advisory Council on @ how the Code should be improved. These working groups will include some participation from the public at large. One important new direction the Code will be the training of workers. To see that the Code is properly ap- plied there are major training require- ments for those who work in government and industry. A total of over 50,000 people will need to be versed in the Code. That total includes 38,000 forest in- dustry workers, the majority of which are IWA-CANADA members. According to Brother Stoney the Code will require a significant new training effort within logging opera- tions. @ “The kind of changes that are being talked about have to be linked to a well-designed training plan for all our loggers,” Stoney noted. “The current proposal does not ade- quately address the training prob- lems,” said the union president. “We will be looking for improvements to a ensure that our members have the op- portunity to learn the full impact of the new rules. When that’s in place the province will clearly get full value from the Code.”