BIG CITY LOCAL HAS SUCCESS IN NEW ORGANIZING Once with over 7,000 members, IWA-CANADA Local 1-217 is now looking to organize new members in non-traditional work places, both in and outside the forest industry. PAGE 10 ° The IWA-CANADA negotiating committee has received a powerful mandate to take job action as it received a 91.5% strike mandate from the members. Negotiations reach crucial phase as IWA members back strike vote This issue of the Lwmberworker is going to press at a critical time during the 1994 negotiations. Woodworkers in British Columbia have overwhelmingly voted to take strike action if the employers do not change their positions. On August 17 the IWA announced the results of a province-wide strike vote conducted by eleven local unions. The results spoke clearly. Union members voted 91.5% in favour of a strike in the event that employers do not present a realistic offer. The vote effects almost 28,000 workers in log- ging, sawmills and plywood opera- tions across B.C, “There is no question that the strike vote is a strong mandate for our nego- tiating committee,” said IWA-CANA- DA president Gerry Stoney. “The onus is now clearly on the employers to reconsider their position.” ‘The wage offer which provoked the strike vote was 25 cents, 20 cents, and 15 cents per hour over the first, sec- ond, and third year of an agreement. Brother Stoney, who is Chairman of the IWA-CANADA negotiating com- mittee, said “the current economic sit- uation for wood pendncts companies in British Columbia fully supports a much better package than was offered to us on August 2. Employers know that, our (negotiating) committee knows that this strike vote result shows that our members across the province know that too.” proposed to the employer bar- gaining association Forest Industrial Relations (FIR), is entirely unrealistic, said Stoney. “We have made some progress on some important issues. They have agreed to accept responsibilty for maintaining the LTD plan in the event of closures or crew reductions. But there is a long way to go on wages, and other crucial issues. Negotiations during the next week or so will probably determine whether we can get a settlement without a strike.” In four of the past eleven years, IWA members have accepted zero wage increases. “Our members recognized the eco- nomic state of the industry during those years,” said Stoney. “In 1994 the forest industry is in very good shape and we are determined to get a settle- ment which reflects that.” “FIR’s August 2 proposal does not even begin to deal with the issues that need addressing in order to produce an acceptable agreement,” added Stoney. “The industry is obviously of a mind to get the cheapest agreement possible. That is unacceptable to our members.” The union president said that the FIR proposal has fallen short in other areas of the collective agreement such as funding of pension and long-term disability plans, and other benefits. “The IWA committee is negotiating on the basis that we can achieve a fair settlement without strike action,” said Stoney. “But employers have to get realistic about some of the essential issues such as wages, pensions and job security.” The IWA membership has said clearly told the IWA negotiating com- mittee that it wants its pension plan secured by driving towards a fully funded plan in as short a time as pos- sible. “IWA members have seen increases in contribution rates consistently over the years as our contributory hours decline due to job losses in our indus- try,” says Stoney. “This has caused money to be diverted into the pension plan that could have gone to our members in the form of wages. The way to avoid this from continuing is to fully fund the plan as quickly as possible.” To this end the industry has pro- posed in negotiations to make lump sum payments to the pension plan totalling approximately $42 million over the next two years to pay down the unfunded liability. “The industry’s offer is a step in the right direction but there are still other issues that need to be addressed in this set of negotiations,” says Stoney. “Our long-term disability plan’s funding needs to be addressed in no uncertain terms as well as increases in benefit levels and our members have a legitimate right to expect this industry to serious address their con- cerns regarding job security.” “In the future we expect significant changes in the type of employment that will be in the forest industry. Our members need assurances that they will be given the opportunity to obtain these jobs and receive the training necessary to do them.” Forest Code threatens worker safety The new Forest Practices Code in British Columbia neglects workers’ health and safety, says IWA-CANADA. Worker safety is imperative and must be foremost in forest practice change,” warns the union in a consul- tation brief. In that respect, and in some others, both the Code in its pre- sent form and the process by which it was formulated are seriously flawed.” The union calls for review of the proposed Code to ensure that in com- plies with worker safety regulations. As well, IWA-CANADA suggests that a section be added to the Codes “Standards” that makes clear the gov- ernment’s commitment to high stan- dards of health and safety, as well as focusing on “the worker's role as the ultimate judge of any practice, both ecologically and in terms of safety.” The union brief, a product of input from B.C. locals, was prepared by the union’s Environment and Land-Use Department. It was presented to gov- ernment consultation specialist Dr. Gordon Baskerville of the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Forestry. The union showed a number of in which safety standards are potentially compromised by measures in the new Code, including: size of landings; over- reliance on “selective harvesting and a bias against clearcutting; green-tree retention on logging sites. “We insist that there must be com- pelling ecological reasons for any changes that affect safety,” insisted IWA Director of Environment and Land-use Kim Pollock. The union also warns that the Code would subject workers to the same heavy fines and penalties as forest companies. “We believe that this is excessive,” says the IWA, calling instead for workers’ rights to refuse work that would contravene the Code and appli- cation of standards of liability already found in the B.C. Labour Code and the Common Law. These rules assume that in normal circumstances, employ- ers are liable. Following the union’s presentation, an appreciative Dr. Baskerville told Ministry of Forest officials that the Janguage of the new standards is “pre- sumptuous with respect to worker safety” and suggested they follow the union’s lead by “applying the precau- tionary principle to people, not just trees.” The union believes that too little attention has been paid to the safety of workers and the public is not aware of the severe dangers that workers face, especially in the logging sector. This attitude must change. The union brief, presented by Brothers Kim Pollock and Clay Perry, also touched on such issues and train- ing, timber supply impacts, forest zon- ing, legal liability for workers, and intensive silviculture.