We must maintain our
support for EFAP's

by Jim Work

™,. uring tough economic periods such as
/ now, workers and their families can go

that some IWA-CANADA members are put.
/ under today is enormous as many face
s the threat of losing their jobs for a whole
list of reasons.

working people and their family members need

nately for most IVA members a special service has
existed for several years.

The majority of IVA members and their depen-
dents in Canada are eligible to receive services at
the jointly managed Employee and Family Assis-
tance Program (EFAP). The EFAP’s offer a wide

bers and their families.

Whether the problem may be alcohol addiction,
drugs dependency, financial problems, child/par-
ent difficulties, marital relation conflict, or legal
problems, the EFAP program can help. When a
worker goes to an jointly administered EFAP
his/her first stop is a visit to an Assessment and
Referral Service (ARS).

The ARS’s are a vital part of the EFAP program.
At the ARS’s the clients can discuss whatever prob-
lem they or their family members have.

An experienced counsellor will assess the
client’s problems and then refer them to various
services in that community or close to them if they
are available.

So the proper function of the ARS’s are essential
to the EFAP and helping people with their prob-
lems.

Two years ago the administrators of the joint
union-management EFAP’s got together and

formed the Canadian Association of Assessment
and Referral Services (CAARS) which is an umbrel-

GUEST COLUMN |

\ through a lot of trying times. The stress |

It is in times like these more than ever that |

support for the problems that they face. Fortu- |

range of services to current and retired IVA mem- |

la organization for the |
ARS’s. As the voluntary —
chairman of CAARS |
since 1991, I have seen
how we can work to-
gether to lobby for effec-
tive EFAP’s and uphold
the integrity of the indi-
vidual ARS’s.

Both government, in-
dustry and unions must, |
now more than ever, |
maintain their support
4 of EFAP services. In
| CAARS we are determined to maintain the |
| EFAP/ARS model program in changing times.
| _ The reason why the ARS's have been so success-
| ful is that they are a community based service
| where workers and their family dependents can go
| for help. In 1992 there thousands of referrals to |
the ARS’s in the EFAP system.

There are 19 ARS’s across the provinces of B.C.,
| Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. All ©
are jointly administered by management and
| labour and all are doing a good job in providing a
| service for people.

| strong to this day. As a union the IWA, and espe-
| cially due to the efforts of National first vice-presi-

| upholding and improving EFAP’s.
| separated the EFAP from labour relations issues

| procedure nor do they ever get mixed up with dis-
| cipline procedure. They are independent and out-

| gram to maintain their level of support for the
| ARS’s as a cost effective and standardized way of

communities, where our broad base of support
traditionally lies. :

The IWA’s commitment to the ARS’ and the EFAP
and remains

in general has always been

dent Neil Menard, has kept its commitment to
Along with management, the IWA has skilfully

and maintained its commitment good and
bad times. As Brother Menard and others in the
IWA know, this dedication must be maintained as
the industry heads into an uncertain future.

EFAP’s are not part of the collective bargaining

side of the labour relations arena.
1 would encourage all IWA locals and other trade

unions involved in the jointly managed EFAP pro-

delivering assistance to the members and their
families.

So far no employers that have been involved
funding an EFAP and
whom are still in busi-

| _ In certain areas there
is a lot of pressure on
ARS’s. When there are
plant closures and mas-
| sive layoffs then the
| pressures are more
acute and severe. In
general when there is
| more need for services
then there becomes a

EFAP'S are needed even
more when there are tough
economic times for workers

and their families

ness, have dropped out
of the program. The
EFAP's have been used
by people and their
families from manage-
ment and from labour.
Getting help for you
and your loved ones is
important. When you

shortage of all kinds of
| help and assistance in
| different communities.
| _ARS’s are not there to take the place of commu-
nity services, therefore we realize more than most, |
the importance of maintaining social services in
| rough economic times.

In 1991 when the B.C. Socred government of
Rita Johnson was going to cut funding for alcohol
programs in hospitals, the CAARS lobbied the gov-
ernment intensively and funding was restored or
maintained. Governments must maintain their
commitment for social services.

Unions believe that the ARS’s can also serve
non-union and non-traditional part of the commu-
nity. Rather than keep the EFAP model to them-
selves, unions have expanded the program within

know there is help in
the form of an EFAP
then life can be made a whole lot easier.

Working people know that when they go to work
with their personal problems sorted out, that they
are more happy and generally more productive.

We should all give thanks to those in industry
and the union who struggled for many years to set
the EFAP’s and ARS’s up. Let’s continue to work to-
gether and not let them slip away.

Jim Work, is the chairman of the Canadian
Association of Assessment and Referral Services.
He is also first vice-president of IWA-CANADA Lo-
cal 1-363 in Courtenay and a logging truck dri-
ver at MacMillan Bloedel’s Menzies Bay Division
on Vancouver Island.

B.C. Liberals aim for labour
code and ‘right to work’ laws

The far-out right wing lunatic forces
are alive and well inside the Liberal
Party’s B.C. provincial caucus. The
Liberals have left behind any notion
that they are a “middle-of-the road” al-
ternative. In January Wilf Hurd, the
party’s Critic for Forests, Lands, And
Parks, launched an official campaign
for “right to work” legislation.

As union members should be
aware, “right to work” labour laws are
prevalent in the United States where
trade unions are the weakest. “Right
to work” labour laws are designed to
weaken labour standards by allowing
workers to not belong to a union even
though a majority of workers may
have voted to join a union.

Mr.Hurd has cloaked his “right to
work” campaign as “an urgent con-
cern to the economies and workers in
the resource-dependent communities
in our Province.”

In a letter to John Scholtens, the
Mayor of the District of Langley, the
Liberal Party’s Member of the Legisla-
tive Assembly asks the Langley City
Council to endorse a call for a “right
to work” bill.

In his letter to Mayor Scholtens
Hurd claims that a “right to work” bill
will guarantee “the right of resource
workers to access their employment,
free of illegal blockades, confronta-
tion and interruption.”

Says the letter: “I believe that while
the B.C. Treaty Commission is in
place and while such environment
and land use processes as the Com-
mission on Resources and Environ-
ment are on-going, workers in such

fields as forestry, mining, guide-outfit-
ting and geological exploration should

20/LUMBERWORKEPYAPRIL, 1994

have their rights to work guaranteed
by the government.”

“It’s hard to believe that one of the
Liberals critics in such an important
portfolio would confuse current ef-
forts to resolve land use disputes with
anti-union legislation,” says Lyle Pona,
IWA-CANADA’S National Director of
Organizing.

“Workers in the forest industry or in
any other field of work should be
aware of any talk about ‘right to work’
legislation,” adds Brother Pona. “This
should be a warning signal that the
Liberals have something up their
sleeves as far as labour legislation
goes.”

“Right to work” legislation would
give workers the right to not belong to
a union even though they would be
subject to the benefits of a union con-
tract. Those who wouldn’t want to be
a member of the union in question
wouldn't have to pay dues even if the
majority of their fellow workers de-
cide to join the union.

“The Liberals are saying that they
support the right to scab if they sup-
port this ‘Right to work’ legislation,”
says Pona. “In the United States
where this type of labour legislation
exists, the strength of organized
labour is weaker and the standards of
living are lower.”

Such labour legislation exists in
poor states such as South Carolina,
Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee
where the percentage of workers who
are unionized is well blow the nation-
al average. In South Carolina only
about 3% of the workforce is union-
ized.

“Right to work” legislation does not

protect the security of working people
and the unions that they may choose
to represent them.

In early March Liberal leader Gor-
don Campbell confirmed the Liberals’
position on scabs when he stated that.
current Labour Code provisions ban-
ning the use of strikebreakers would
be eliminated should his party take
power in B.C.

Campbell said he would also do
away with the 55% automatic certifi-
cation vote. He wants to reinstitute
the secret ballot provisions where

many employers intimidate workers
prior to their vote.

The Liberal leader says he will elim-
inate secondary boycott provisions
that are negotiated between unions
and employers.

B.C. Federation of Labour President
Ken Georgetti has responded to
Campbell's latest statements by say-
ing that the Liberals risk inflaming
peaceful labour relations. He also
charged that Campbell is “in the back
pocket of business in B.C.- totally
owned.”

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