to r. Georg

¢ Among th
ter Geortzen.

Wiebe, Roy Sloan, Dallas Blake, and Pe-

Alberta Local 1-207 certifies sawmill
workers at Daishowa’s Red Earth plant

‘he ae Local union in Albert:
hap,

around, and others on a Rae -Fri-
day basis.

For those who don’t have their per-
manent residence near the mill, there

much led fo a formal meeting be-
n the crew and Local 1-207 in ear-
iy. January,
al financial secretary Bob
DeLecuvr and organizer Hore carne

fan Valentines Day when, a
Februar: = Pr, 1995, the provincial
Labour Relations Board disrented a
new say certificat lowi
vote of 68

Construction Li

town community of aE Bath Greek
Alberta, AL | workers said y

grant:

ane operation, owned by the giant
ashe qerubent paernational Ltd.

Albe a dimensi situate
the ‘middle of Ten oan, igi half
way between Slave Lake and High
Level Alberta.

live both in the

workers to
stay during the week. The closest ma-
jor community is Slave Lake, about a

d Earth
ad in sane A ae begun
and soon the union had a majority of

The Local union | had kept up con-

year ago, contact between the union
and the workers went on. In early De-

de struck up Some new
conversations with some workers

1

To help out th ion thei
brought some members from
Daishowa’s High Level operation

igh Level members were Henry
Wolfe, Wayne Paul, and Rick
MacPhee.

W 1

February, 41 out of 68 workers voted
in favour of the certification, despite
some intimidation from local manage-
nen

are very happy that the work-
ers Mee decided ae join the IWA,”
says Brother Pisak. “During the last
several years organizing in Alberta

laws have not allowed us to defend

Workers who live in the camp now
pay $6.00/day room and board. After
th began, local
management threatened to raise that
fee to $30.00/day. But the workers

idn’t bite.

Wages in the operation are below
the union standard by about
$5.00/hour, which is ser at the
igh Level
where thes union has had a era
for 20
“The w Sonera in Red Earth realize
that they are dragging far behind on
wages and we hope to bargain a bet-

“But it will probably take us some

nsion sawmill is in opera-

day a week basis. Under the current
Ree workers are on the job for five

our i are
fae rate of 190 hours per month. If
they work over 2280 hours a year,
then they can bank the time off with
pay.

hours that other workers must put in
get a full work year. The average in
the industry is about 2000 hours a
_ Other issues affecting workers in-
health and

oe Currently new workers receive
i ini j fety break

lowns.
The mill produces standard two
inch lumber from 2x4’s to 2x10’s and

Mexican peso crisis indicates that we
need to put social dimesion in NAFTA

White
iY 94, Mex! was
hailed by “free market” ees as
the living example that should be

wage cut of at least 12 per cent, wide-

spread poverty will increase and

growth will grind to a halt for at least
ear.

import most of the capital equipment
going into the new plants along the
border vee have yet to crank out
orts destined for the

in extreme poverty (incomes of less
that 08 day), and the richest 10th of

come ‘than the cauree bottom 70%,

Mexican billionaires

ly from the priv: eabeatant e ab uae ae

byl pan etto bubble economy created

The Mexican nightmare about to
unfold has repercussions for working
people in Canada and the U.S. The de-

luati h d the Mexi

hemisphere and throughout the

world. The economic of the In-
ternational Mone the World
Bank and the Organization for Eco-
nomic Co-operati

tol
justment” had come to an end, and
that “sound” polici de, pri-

Th ak

crisis
was “loss of Sunes in the peso
by the 20-year-old traders in red Sus-

event was foreseen by none of the

cial markets are “rational.” ensicaly,
the foreign- exchange nd

vatization and deregulation were
about to usher in a bright new era of

of Mexico's rising balance of pay-
ments deficit, which had been there

growth and prosperity for the Mexi- for a aa oO see since the beginning « of
can people. wey ease of the 1990's.’
In 1994, f the crisis
loping cor euniry pola the ie rich coun- are aheaed in the extreme “free ar.
tries’ club, ccember ket” ee of the former Salina:
;conomic Boone Be ae body said government. Rapid trade liberaliza
pI f its new member that “ec ion, American

nomic activity is to strengthen in 1995
and Need as peered confidence helps

ree-trade agreement, produced a
arge aus deficit (now ota lion)
that w:

and Seige goods e grown, bi
the trade gap has oe eee ce
‘ocketed in the 1990's.

gap has been filled by

Margaret Thatc! ne . For reign banks

will, ee about a surge in Mi

make the miracle come true for em-
ble ers.
at the alternatives
ae have been, and could be e yet
Rather ose the extreme
A

ness elite to fame the
tion of the export Seetane and have
established Mexican branch plants to
export to the U:. S. and Canada. Rich

ome of the bil-

model ieeuit ed to the realities of
much of its economy and society, we

For ex-
ample, we should let Mexico limit the
§ 5 aausstan

lions of euescs they had switched to
dollars during the debt crisis of the
1980's; but most of the moneys wat

ing the livelihood of traditional
, and slow down the pace of
justment being forced on its hard-

much as the Mexi-
can at

Suppo) er growth in private con- as financed ors huge in-
sumption and fecetnect: ” Former = of sp: ect culators y ae un-
s Tone gave way when

t to take over at the new the bubble

Trade Organization, Sea to
better inform the world of the murals
that can be worked markets.

Today, the Mexican miracle has
come the Mexican nightmare. The
free fall of the austerity
package ee, to deal with the
crisis means that Mexican workers
will experience an immediate real

economy ae had created was about

the burs'
The i of imports into Mexico
companies and debs ns in Mexico's tradi-
an sane

tionally heavily protected yur

The restructuring of the Mex!
economy in the 1980's ee
the already huge inequalities in Mexi-
can society. Real wages fell by ¢ 40 per

per cent, resulting in a huge increase

larly in sectors such as eas and
agriculture. Mexico has also had to

At the end of the 1980's some ‘one-

Rather than see our reslationship

explore how we
cial dimension to North American
economic integration. We should not
while the burden of dealing with this
crisis is imposed, above all, on the
lexico.

Bob White is president of the

Canadian Labour Congress.

LUMBERWORKER/MARCH, 1995/15