ei

iat

° Displaying the new union flag are (1. to r.) Plant First Vice Chairman Randy Randolph, Business Agent Dave Briscoe,

committee member Bob Martin, Second Vice Chairman Ed Zilkowsky, Local 1-423 President Troi Caldwell, Plant Chair-
man Gordon Kirby and I.W.A. National President Gerry Stoney.

First |.W.A. CANADA flag is raised outside
Weyerhaeuser sawmill in Okanagan Falls, B.C.

I.W.A. CANADA Local 1-423 hosted
a milestone event in the B.C. commu-
nity of Okanagan Falls on November
20, 1995 when the first union flag was
raised on company property. The flag
raising event was attended by the sub-
local plant committee, I.W.A. CANA-
DA President Gerry Stoney, local
union officials, union workers and
management at the Weyerhaeuser
sawmill.

About two years ago the plant com-
mittee raised the idea of flying a union
flag along side of the company’s flag
and the Canadian maple leaf. The idea
grew into reality as the National union
eventually had a flag produced for the
organization.

All of this was possible because the
members at the operation pushed for it.

At the flag raising event Brother
Stoney commended Local 1-423 for its
initiative.

“This is good stuff,” said the Na-
tional President. “It’s on par with
having a sticker on your hardhat or a
crest on your jacket. It says you are
proud of the organization that you
belong to.”

“I hope that it spreads to other op-
erations in this company and through-
out the I.W.A.,” he added.

Stoney said that there is a symbolic
meaning to having the flag fly from
the same base.

“We were, as the I.W.A., not always
welcome on company property. We
weren’t always invited in to go do
what we had to do. The relationship
(between the union and the company)

First aid
Continued from page seven

minimum standards for first aid cov-
erage.

“There are a few employers who try
to put all of their employees through
Survival First aid training but this is
the exception,” he says.

He says that Survival First Aid was
introduced in the early 1970's to offer
workers a minimal level of first aid
training that could be used to stablize
accident victims until a more experi-
enced Industrial First Aider with an
equal or higher level of ticket ap-
peared at the site.

Patterson also says that combina-
tion first aid jobs are on the increase,
and that, with exception of a few large
companies, full-time first aid positions
are fast becoming a thing of the past.
It is a trend that is not welcomed by
the union.

A major issue for the safety of
workers is the 20 minute time period
that it must take to reach a victim of
an accident. Logging crews are work-
ing further and further from first aid
offices.

Brother Patterson says that “there
is no question that many employers
try to stretch that out” and encour-
ages union members on joint safety
committees to be aware of the issue.

He suggests that when this rule is
violated, that workers use their right
to refuse unsafe work and invoke Sec-

tion 8.24 of the WCB’s Industrial
Health and Safety regulations.

In other sectors of the Industry
where Level II tickets are mandatory
for lower hazard jobs (i.e. sawmills),
Brother Patterson points out that that
the Level II ticket must be upgraded
to a Level III ticket if the workplace
has the following conditions:

° if there is an obstruction of routes to
the workplace or other barriers likely
to delay the arrival of an ambulance
for more than 20 minutes after it was
dispatched.

e where there are areas in the work-
place that can’t be safely accessed by
ambulance service and for which
workers at the work site are trained,
equipped and capable of effecting res-
cue.

e where there is rough terrain or other
similar circumstances that would pre-
vent ambulance service from access-
ing the workplace.

“The labour representatives of the
First Aid sub-committee did not agree
with the reduction of first aid services
in B Class hazards,” says Patterson.
“The levels of coverage in this sector
were a non-consensus issue that was
referred to the Board of Governors.
There final decision is what we are
now stuck with.”

Brother Patterson also points out
the the WCB has indicated that there
will be an on-going review process
and he says that I.W.A. members
should write down the changes they
want for the continuing process and
refer those changes to the Board.

has been one that has grown and de-
veloped.”

Brother Stoney reminded the work-
ers that union members in the
province’s interior struck for over 7
months in 1967 to achieve better
wages and working conditions and
that the strike created a great deal of
solidarity amongst I.W.A. members in
the interior and coast regions.

“Now you work under different

conditions than there were in 1967,”
said Stoney.

He pointed to relatively good
and a good pension plan nich did
not exist back then. He also said the
union has worked hard to assist the
company in developing a skilled
workforce which produces valuable
products.

Stoney said that woodworkers feel
good again about what they produce
because it is a durable product that
comes from a renewable resource.

Gordon Kirby, plant chairman at OK

The union flag
is now flying beside
the company flag
and Canadian
maple leaf

Falls said that “it is indeed an achieve-
ment to be able to fly the I.W.A.
CANADA flag along with our employ-

He said that the company is recog-
nizing the union as an asset in main-
taining a smooth running operation
ang thanked mill manager Ben Hen-
aler.

Local 1-423 President Troi Caldwell
said that the relationship between
labour and management is the best it
has been at the “it’s a credit to every-

body that’s here today - management.
included.”

Mr. Henzler said; “I am very pleased
that it (the union flag) is here and is
going to be flying with our flag and
the Canadian flag.”

“The road is sometimes bumpy but
we are partners in this,” he added.

Following the flag raising, Brothers
Stoney and Caldwell presented
25-year I.W.A. membership certifi-
cates to nine union members.

WA

‘There's someone waiting for you
Take care. On and off the job.

SAFER

Labor and management working together
for health and safety in the community.

BC Forest

Canada_Industry

20/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1995