INTERIOR FOREST
WORKERS GO FOR
TRAINING PROGRAM

In the B.C. southern in-
terior, workers from
three IWA locals have
set their own priorities
S. for training and skills
upgrading.

PAGES 10-11, 17

* The anti-CORE rally on the lawns of the legislature was one of the largest protests in the province's history.

20,000 protest in Victoria

Workers and supporiers say no to CORE report

n one of the largest rallies in the

history of B.C., over 20,000 forest

ees and eoRUy

supporters gath« on the lawns

of the provincial parliament build-

ings in Victoria B.C.-to protest a pro-

land-use strategy for Vancouver

4 ‘The protest, eek took place
on March 21, sent a clear messagi

Premier Mike Harcourt that

recommendations of the

ion on Resources eae

ronment’s (CORE) commissioner

Ste 2 Owen are unacceptable to

Owen submitted a written report to
the provincial Cabinet of Mike Har-
court. In Owen’s report, he recom-
mends the creation of 23 new
provincial parks and the permanent
Set aside of 13.89% of the lands on Van-
couver Island. In addition the recom-

Williams Lake, and Anahim Lake.
There were also community represen-
tatives from Cranbrook, Keremeeos,
Hope, Princeton, Abbottsford, and
Chilliwack.

IWA-Canada Locals 1-217 and 1-
3567 organized and filled over 60
busses with their members who took
the day off work to join their Brothers
and Sisters from Vancouver Island
and the interior.

The main speakers list at the rally
had fourteen speakers from the indus-
try, communities, the mining and agri-
cultural sectors, labour, and Premier
Mike Harcourt himself.

IWA-CANADA national president
Gerry Stoney told the sea of people
that the message of the rally is simple:
“The CORE report is unacceptable in
its present form.”

Brother Stoney said the bureaucrats
responsible for the report need to be
sent back out to all the communities
of Vancouver Island to find out what
the people want. He said there needs
to be a report which recommends bal-
ance, and that recommends that no
more than 12% of the land base be set
aside,

Continued on page two

Union sets
agenda for
B.C. contract

IWA-CANADA is getting prepared for
the upcoming negotiations in the B.C.
forest industry. On March 17 and 18
over 100 delegates from 11 locals
unions gathered in Vancouver to de-
bate and vote on the union’s set of de-
mands that will soon be presented to
employers.

The upcoming contract talks should
see the IWA in a stronger position than
in years past. The forest industry is
highly profitable in the solid wood
sector.

IWA-CANADA president Gerry
Stoney told delegates that this set of
negotiations will be a challenging one.

“Fortunately the logging and the
lumber sectors of the industry are in

good shape and there is every reason
to believe that they will be for at least

the next couple of years,” Brother
Stoney told the delegate.

During the last set of negotiations
which lasted into the spring of 1992,
the IWA struck a three year deal which
expires on June 14 of this year on the
B.C. coast and at the end of June in
the northern and southern interior re-
gions. In those negotiations the union
struck a three year deal which in-
cludes an 85 cent an hour across the
board wage increase in the final year
of the agreement. Several improve-
ments were also made to the pension
plan in the last set of negotiations.

This year the wage and contract
delegates voted for a motion to fur-
ther booster the IWA-Forest Industry
pension plan. The union is demanding
that the plan’s unfunded liability be
paid down as quickly as possible and
that there be an improvement in fu-
ture service benefits. Delegates also
demanded that an individual’s banked
hours be used to produce the $40 per
year of service level in monthly pen-
sion benefits.(see article page 19)

A major theme of the conference
was the urgency of creating new jobs
in the forest industry, The union is de-
manding that the new collective
agreement provide for a plan of accu-
mulated time off for workers who
work a minimum number of negotiat-
ed hours to created new job opportu-
nities for employees with less
seniority.

The pension plan improvements
sought should allow many older work-
ers to retire, thus creating jobs for
younger people.

The conference also put top priority
additional funding for the union/in-
dustry Long Term Disability Program
(LTD). Delegates passed a motion that
the plan be 100 percent funded by the
employer and that benefit levels be in-
creased to $2,000 per month. The
union is also calling on the industry to
provide protection against negotiated
withdrawals from the plan and that a
better rehabilitation plan be instituted
to allow disabled members to obtain
well paid jobs.

Continued on page three