PRESIDE MESSAGE

New dues formula
a fairer solution

by Gerry Stoney

t our National Convention, the del-

egates unanimously approved a

major overhaul of the per capita

formula which details how month-

ly union dues are shared between

i local unions and the National of-

fice. Under our constitution, the actions of

our National Convention must now be put to

the entire membership in the form of a refer-

endum ballot to get their approval for the

changes that were agreed to at the National
Convention

Every ballot, like this one, is an important
part of maintaining membership input and ap-
proval in the operation of our union. If we
don’t have that kind of input, we lose an es-
sential strength in our union - the active in-
volvement of rank and file members.

As you consider the issues of this ballot, it
is important to remember that the changes
proposed by the National Convention are part
of an on-going process within our union that
began when we disbanded our international
office in Portland and formed two separate
national unions; one in Canada and one in the

U.S. Those changes
were made in 1986

the problem and draft-
ed a new formula that

and since then the . more fairly reflects the
I.W.A. CANADA has > situation in every local
been moving for- Y union. Under the pro-

ward to build a na-
tional organization or «
that can better ser- :
vice its members.

Part of that effort
has been directed at
merging local
unions so that they
are better suited to
service members
within a defined
area. The greatest
effort in that regard
has been concen-
trated in Eastern
Canada where we
have gone from lo-
cals based on single operations to geographi-
cally based locals responsible for members in
a wider area or region.

As these changes have moved forward, the
need to re-balance the national per capita for-
mula has become more pressing. Under the
old formula, a local union paid a national per
capita that was 23% of 2 hours at the Coast
Master Agreement Base Rate. For newly orga-
nized operations or operations that were not
a part of the B.C. Master Agreement, that for-
mula was not fair because their national per
capita accounted for a much larger portion of
the monthly dues - in some cases it was as
high as 50%.

The National Executive Board recognized

posed formula which
endorsed by the 1995.
Convention, monthly
membership dues are
not increased. Instead,
national per capita will
be based on 73% of an
hour at the base rate in
each operation. Out of
that contribution 70%
will go to the national
office and 30% will go
to the strike fund.

The new formula
represents a better
deal for everyone; the
member, the local and
the National union. It will put the union on a
more solid footing in terms of organizing. It
will equalize the contributions that every local
makes towards important national services
such as master agreement bargaining, orga-
nizing, research, education, health and safety,
pensions and trade union advocacy.

Every member plays a part in how our
union works and this referendum ballot is an-
other example of that fact. I encourage you to
read the information that has gone out with
the ballot, consider the options, talk it over
with others at work. In the end, I hope you
agree that the future of our organization will
be well served by your support for the pro-
posed changes.

LANDS AND FORESTS

Eco-labelling needed
in the forest industry

by Kim Pollock

nada depends masively on forest ex-
ports. So a lot of us notice when someone
fools around with our markets. Today, a
lot of people are fooling around with
\ { them.

aye In San Francisco, protestors dressed
as salmon pile thousands of telephone books on
the phone company’s front steps, a media stunt in
opposition to logging on Vancouver Island.

In London, Greenpeace threatens a negative ad
campaign if a British paper company doesn’t stop
buying pulp from its Canadian supplier. The threat
is backed up with half-truths and outright false-
hoods.

In New York and Los Angeles, protesters chain
themselves to gates and block trucks delivering
newspapers and phone books.

The same economic blackmail is used in Ger-
many, Southern California and other locations
world-wide.

But the situation is not hopeless. There are signs
that the Canadian forest industry is fighting back.
Most importantly, forest practices in this country
really are changing.

In Ontario, for instance, a stringent new Crown
Forest Sustainability Act is in place. The province
is also setting up a process for auditing forest
practices to ensure that forest companies are
achieving and maintaining sustainable manage-
ment.

The new law and the audits follow Ontario's
sweeping environmental assessment of Crown for-
est lands.

In British Columbia a new Forest Practices
Code has been linked to the province’s Timber
Supply Review, which aims at putting timber har-
vesting at a sustainable level. The land in parks

| will be doubled.

Other provinces are also reviewing or changing
forest practices.

This is the most important way that Canadians
are “greening” their forest standards: through
sweeping changes of practices, forest manage-
ment, land-use and cut levels.

But it’s not enough. Canada’s foreign customers
also need a credible way to show that our prod-
ucts are sustainably produced. It won’t convince
zealots. But it might convince hard-nosed business
people and reasonable citizens.

And that’s worth a shot: remember, forestry is

Canada’s largest export
industry. In 1993, exports
of forest products added
$22 billion to Canada’s
international balance of
payments/

That’s why a group of
stakeholders are working
on sustainability stan-
dards in forestry. Work-
ing through the Canadian
| Standards Association
| (CSA), LW.A. CANADA
and other stakeholders
have recently put for-
ward a draft Sustainable Forest Management sys-
tem.

It would require licencees to conserve biodiver-
sity; maintain ecosystems; conserve soil and wa-
ter; respect the role of global ecological cycles,
such as carbon and oxygen conversion; meet so-
cial goals like econom-

ver “open house” remain skeptical and most will
continue to push instead for Canadian adoption of
FSC standards. a

It’s interesting, however, that one high profile
green, at least, has taken a fairly measured posi-
tion. Writing in the organization’s recent newslet-
ter, Sierra Club executive director Elizabeth May
notes that the CSA and the International Standards
Organization, to which it is affiliated, are the only
labelling agencies sanctioned by the General
Agreement on Trades and Tariffs or the World
Trade Organization.

This appears to have given rise to a division
among international green organizations, May
writes, “with some arguing that based on experi-
ence with organic produce, we desperately need
reliable certification to guide consumers, with oth-
ers wholly opposed to any ISO-WTO links.”

As always there will be a lot of debate between
the realists and the zealots.

Meanwhile, it’s important for forest-sector
workers to get behind

ic diversification and
job creation; and ac-
cept responsibility for
sustainable develop-
ment.

Broad public and
community participa-
tion would be required
at several stages of the
process. Forest compa-
nies planning, forest
management, timber

To receive CSA
certification a company
would have to convince the
auditors that tts practices
are substainable

the CSA process. We
should be trying to con-
vince licencees and
governments that we
need the market securi-
ty that international
“eco-labelling” can pro-
vide.

But even internation-
al certification is not
enough. That’s why
I.W.A. CANADA is be-

harvesting, reforesta-
tion practices, environmental stewardship and
public relations would all be subject to regular au-
dits. To receive CSA certification, a company
would have to convince the auditors that its prac-
tices are sustainable.

The fight for acceptance of the CSA system
won't be easy, though. Many green groups want
regulation of specific practices. Most importantly,
they oppose clearcutting and will not rest until it is
eliminated.

This position flies in the face of a great deal of
scientific knowledge about forests and the “natur-
al” disturbances to which they are liable. It opens
the door to serious industrial accidents. But for
many greens opposition to clearcutting is simply
the gospel: they want it outlawed.

This drives their position on certification. Some
groups have already set up a rival “green-label” or-
ganization, the Forest Stewardship Council. It
takes a hostile stance to the forest industry. In
Canada, for instance, most of its information
comes from hard-line preservationists.

Although environmental groups were invited to
help draw up the CSA proposal, their participation
was minimal.

Green groups who attended the CSA’s Vancou-

z coming increasingly ac-
tive internationally, telling our side of the story
overseas. We can’t leave the preservationists alone
to sell their side of the story to the media or the
public.

Recently, for instance, national president Gerry
Stoney was in Great Britain speaking to represen-
tatives of the Trade Unions’ Council and European
Parliament. At the same time, third vice president
Warren Ulley was in Sweden for an International
Federation of Building and Wood Workers meet-
ing where the relative merits of FSC and other cer-
tification options was debated.

In November national board member Dave Hag-
gard and members of his Vancouver Island Local
1-85 were in San Francisco telling the U.S. Yellow
Pages Publishers’ Association about the changing
forest practices they are applying in Clayoquot
Sound.

It's important for workers to speak out on these
issues because often we're more credible to for-
eign audiences than are forest company execu-
tives or staff.

Kim Pollock is the Director of I.W.A. CANADA’s
Environment and Land-Use Department.

4/LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 1995