Contract talks

Continued from page one

economic times.”

There is no doubt about the Indus-
try’s ability to pay substantial increas-
es in wages and benefits to its
workers. Senior Executives in large
B.C. forest companies have been re-
ceiving some very large increases in
compensation during the past year.

Bill Sauder, Chief Executive Officer
of International Forest Products, re-
ceived a 138% increase in salary be-
tween 1992-93 with an increase to
$871,187 for the year. The average in-
crease for the salaries of vice-presi-
dents of the same company increased
by over 104% in the same time period.

At Canadian Forest Products there
was an average increase of 52% in
salaries for vice-presidents, excluding
the Chief Executive Officer, between

1992-93.

Substantial increases in corporate
salaries are being repeated in other
companies and are a further indica-
tion that the industry is in excellent
shape.

IWA-CANADA agreements in B.C.
cover about 27,500 forest industry
workers. The Coast agreement ex-
pires on June 15 and the Interior
agreements expire on June 30.

The union is bargaining with three
employer’s associations and several
major independents. On the Coast the
union is bargaining with Forest Indus-
trial Relations, which employs 14,200
IWA members. About 6,500 of those
are loggers while the remainder work
in sawmill, shingle mills, and shake
and shingle operations.

In the Interior region the union is

e The B.C. provincial negotiating committee (right of photo) and industry negotiators have been meeting since
May. To the left of the photo are negotiators for Forest Industrial Relations on coastal B.C.

bargaining with the Interior Forest
Labour Relations Association which
employs about 3,850 union members
in the south of the province and the
Council of Northern Interior Forest

Employment Relations which has
about 2,540 IWA members employed.
Independently, in the North, the
union is also negotiating with North-
wood Pulp and Timber, and Canadian

Forest Products, Weldwood of Cana-
da.

In the South the union is only nego-
tiating with Tolko Industries at this
point in time.

¢ IWA-CANADA Gerry Stoney (right) said the new plan shows commit-
ment to a forest industry in the future.

Forest renewal

Continued from page one

Harcourt also said the plan will en-
sure forest jobs for B.C for now and
into the future.

“First we are putting people to
work to give back to the forests some
of what we have taken away,” he said.

Some of those jobs will be in im-
proved silvicultural initiatives such as
replanting harvested areas sooner, im-
proved spacing, thinning, fertilization,
and pruning. The focus on planting ar-
eas will be to look for higher timber
values.

Jobs will also be created in rehabili-
tating rivers, streams, and water-
sheds, and in the restoration of logged
of settings by repairing or putting old
roads to bed. There will also be new

jobs created in restocking fisheries
and in the protection of wildlife and
other resources depleted in the past.

Harcourt said the government rec-
ognized that adding more value to the
wood is essential to creating new jobs
and maintaining healthy communities.
The Forest Renewal Plan will make
investments in helping companies

start-up and expand their value-added
companies. New money will also be
made available for new research and
development in wood products and
manufacturing technologies. The plan
will also assist companies in develop-
ing new markets around the world.

These are radical changes which
have never been introduced by a
provincial government before.

“Our choice is simple,” said Har-
court. “We can continue down the
same path we've been on ....and we
will lose our forests and thousands of
British Columbians will lose their
Jobs.” Or we can change.

The Premier praised the members
of the FSSC for “finally setting aside
our differences and rising above indi-
vidual interests to seek the common
good for British Columbians.”

IWA-CANADA President Gerry
Stoney said finally the provincial gov-
ernment is getting on the right track.

“In the past previous governments
talked about special funds and desig-
nated spending in the forest sector
but these were only minor items with-
in a budget,” Said Brother Stoney.
“They (funds and spending) would
change is each new fiscal year, each

new cabinet shuffle, and each new re-
organization within a ministry.”

Stoney said the new legislation will
change that pattern and give a new
permanence and continuity to guaran-
tee a future for the forest industry.

He also said the new jobs in inten-
sive silviculture and value-added will
require training that must be based in
the dependent communities.

Peter Bentley, Chief Executive Offi-
cer of Canadian Forest Products,
praised the Harcourt government for
its forthrightness and foresight in
dealing with the long term viability of
the forest industry.

“I am not aware...of any provincial
government that has ever looked at a
plan that goes beyond the political cy-
cle that’s between elections. I congrat-
ulate you, Mr. Premier, for having the

° Thousands of new direct jobs will be created, including increased em-
ployment in intensive silviculture.

foresight to develop a long-term plan
of which this is just an early compo-
nent. We have much work left to do.”

Bentley also said that this is the
first time that the province has com-
mitted itself to reinvestment in the
forest land base.

For the forest companies, support
for the plan is a bottom line issue. Un-
less major changes are made soon, it
is faced with radical reductions in its
annual allowable cut. Currently the
Timber Supply Review taking place in
the province says that over the next
50 years the annual harvest could
drop by 15-30% if the status quo is
maintained.

With enhanced investment ap-
proaches the short term declines in
harvest will be lessened and more
jobs will be created to offset losses in
traditional job areas.

Photo courtesy MacMillan Bloede!

2/LUMBERWORKERJJUNE, 1994