EDI

NDP making decisions
in tough situations

here's always on of two tough things that can
happen in an election campaign: the New De-
mocrats might win or they might lose.

In the last British Columbia election the
first tough thing happened. Since then
labour’s party has been forced to face the
tough reality of trying to govern a province
split on environmental issues and in which

business is used to getting its own way.

The ties between government and labour, including
IWA-CANADA, have been severely tested.

Yet through it all, in spite of mistakes, slights, misun-
derstandings and strained nerves, the New Democratic
government of Mike Harcourt has done a job in tackling
some of the province's most important issues.

It is conducting a major timber supply review for the
province. It has established a Commision on the Re-
sources and Environment. Although the CORE process
is entangled in controversy, the government has pledged
to not move on any recommendations until workers’
needs are looked after. We will hold the NDP to its
word.

The government's decision on Vancouver Island (see
page three) will create hardship for workers. Their con-
cerns must be addressed. The IWA will be carefully
monitoring every move that is made by the government
to ensure that workers are not dumped on the street
due to the land-use decision.

In mid-April the government announced the creation
of Forest Renewal B.C. It is one of the most important
announcements that the province has ever made con-
cerning the future of the forest industry.

Over $400 million dollars a year on average will be
reinvested in the forests of the province. Half of that
will be in added silviculture to ensure more vibrant sec-
ond growth forests. The other half will go to address en-
vironmental concerns such as rehabilitation of streams
and logging roads.

The spending will create thousands of new jobs and
training opportunitites for workers.

These are good things that indicate the government's
commitment to the future of the forest industry. Previ-
ous governments never had the initiative nor the
courage to make the kinds of decisions that the New
Democrats have had to make. Their way of managing
the forests was to let the status quo of overcutting and
mismanagement continue.

The entire Forest Sector Strategy Committee (FSSC)
is to be commended for doing a working man’s job in
coming up with some solid plans for the future of the in-
dustry.

The whole FSSC process was different than other
study or commisions of the past. While the FSSC is an-
other advisory group, the government treated it as
something more. During its meetings the government
threw its resources into helping out. It sent in top-level
Deputy Ministers and assistants to monitor what was
going on. It actively participated in the process.

At the end of the day there just wasn’t another report
that would sit around and collect dust. There were not a
thousand recommendations that would go nowhere.
The work of the FSSC was moved through Cabinet at a
fast pace.

The process has been a good one. Everybody has
been satisfied to a degree which is the best that you can
expect from any government.

‘This Forest Renewal Plan should serve as a example
to other governments in other provinces. The needs of
replentishing the forests are universal.

Although the plan is a good one, it is not an answer to
all of our problems. The government must not use it as
ameans to setting aside more protected areas.

LUIMBERUIORKER

Official publication of WA-CANADA

MAN GERRY STONEY. . President
Nor PA GARCIN NEIL MENARD ... Ist Vice-President
FRED MIRON . . 2nd Vice-President
WARREN ULLEY. . 3rd Vice-President
5th Floor, HARVEY ARCAND , . 4th Vice-President

1285 W. Pender Street
Vancouver, B.C.
V6E 4B2

BROADWAY +2 PRINTERS LTD.

‘TERRY SMITH . . Secretary-Treasurer

LOGGING PROFITS

COAST SECTOR

NK sill, ody, yy|

——

£

INGRID RICE FOR THE LUMGERWORKER.

U.S. bears down on Canadian workers in the
brave new world of ‘free trade agreements’

Although the North Ameri-
can Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) has been in force
for about six months and has
all but disappeared from the
headlines, we should take
stock of what is happening in
international trade and inter-
actions with the United
States. When we look at what
is happening with our sup-
posed best trading partner we
can see a more aggressive and
unforgiving United States in
the era of NAFTA.

All we have to do is look at
several hot spots to foresee
that Canadian workers are in
for a tough time in the years
ahead.

The U.S. has maintained its
belligerent stand against the
Canadian forest industry and
has ignored the binational
free trade panel’s decision to
remove the tariff against
Canadian lumber. That deci-
sion has cost Canadian work-
ers jobs. Fortunately lumber
prices are high and most mills
are operating at a profit even
with the tariff in place.

The U.S. has also ignored
free trade panel decisions on
grain and pork. Canadian
farmers are suffering because
of the decision to ignore or
override decisions made by
international tribunals.

At this time Canadian Agri-
culture Minister Ralph
Goodale says that U.S, offi-
cials are spreading false infor-
mation about Canadian wheat
producers and their pricing
practices. He says the U.S, is
harassing Canada internation-
ally and trying to interrupt
our shipments to South Amer-
ican countries. At the same
time the U.S. is using its Ex-
port Enhancement program
to subsidize its own grain
sales in the region to the tune
of over $1 billion.

Canada and the U.S. are
also at loggerheads over the
Pacific Coast salmon fish-
eries. For the past six months
the U.S. government has
banned all commercial
salmon fishing in its Pacific
Northwest waters. Salmon

stocks in U.S. waters are al-
most reaching the point of no
return and have been devas-
tated due to over fishing and
the building of dams and hy-
droelectric projects. Over
8,000 jobs have been lost.

Now the Americans are
pledging to go after our
salmon stocks in the waters
off of Southern Alaska. In
facts in 1993 they took $65
million more of Canadian
salmon than did Canadians.

Unless they are stopped or
an agreement is reached, what
happened to U.S. salmon
stocks may well happen to
Canadian stocks as well.

The effects would be dead-
ly for Canadian fishermen

Multinational
corporations are

flexing their
muscles in a
way that they
would not have
dared to before
NAFTA

who have been subjected to
strict fish conservation laws.
Canada has spent hundreds of
millions preserving its salmon
while the U.S. has almost
wiped out theirs. They will
wipe out ours too if we don’t
stop them.

The Americans are interna-
tional bullies who often have
little regard for the laws and
customs of other countries.
Free trade or no free trade.
Salmon treaty or no Salmon
treaty, it doesn’t matter to
them. When you're a super-
power you can do as you
please. When you devastate
your own resources, you
move on to devastate some
other country’s resources, if
you have not already done so.

Fish and lumber are not the

only areas that Canada is un-
der the gun. Currently our
federal government is consid-
ering a plain packaging law
for tobacco products sold in
Canada. It may decide to do
away with fancy labeling of
cigarette packages and put
stricter health warnings on
packages.

In reaction to this the giant
U.S. multinationals, RJR
Nabisco Inc. and Phillip Mor-
ris Co. Inc. have hired two top
former trade negotiators Car-
la Hills and Julius Katz, who
both negotiated the NAFTA
for the U.S., to argue that our
packaging laws are against
the NAFTA and are an expro-
priation and violation of copy-
right laws. Phillip Morris,
which owns Kraft General
Foods Inc. and 20% of Mol-
sons says if the packaging
laws go ahead it will reconsid-
er investment in the food in-
dustry in Canada.

This could cause consider-
able hardship for more than
4,700 Canadian workers, who
are employed in 11 food pro-
cessing plants across Canada.

So in the age of NAFTA
things are not getting any
more pleasant with our
largest trading partner. In
fact, life is getting more
threatening as the United
States bears down on Canadi-
an workers in the brave new
world of “free trade” agree-
ments which are not worth
the paper they are written on.

In a response to Phillip
Morris’ threats, Maude Bar-
low, chairperson for the
Council of Canadians, said
the message from Corporate
America is straightforward.

“It is very clear that this is
more than a health issue. This
is a form of blackmail by the
company.”

“Now (multinationals) are
going to flex their muscles in
a way that they would have
not dared to before the NAF-
TA because they did not have
the clout.”

Ms. Barlow is right. We
haven’t even seen the first of
it in the new NAFTA era.

LUMBERWORKERJJUNE, 1994/5