(WAN Canada,
Novae

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Photo courtesy Fort Nelson News.

e In early February National Dave Haggard (second from left) made his first stop in Fort Nelson, B.C. He is seen here at the Local 1-424 union hall with (1.to r.)
Robert Neville, National Fourth Vice President Harvey Arcand and Rod Park.

Haggard goes to Fort Nelson
in first visit as |.W.A. President

Less than a week after being sworn
in as National I.W.A. President, Dave
Haggard headed up to the far northern
stretches of B.C. to the forest depen-
dent community of Fort Nelson to
meeting with local union officials and
members.

In early February, Brother Haggard
went to Fort Nelson to indicate that
there will attention paid to issues af-
fecting workers in the northern interior.

He told Local 1-424 union activists
that the I.W.A. is not only focusing on
organizing in the forest industry by in
non-traditional industrial and service
sectors as well. He also reminded the
unionists and the local media that the
union is expanding into the logging
sector in the interior region and is
now organizing logging truck drivers
and some logging contractors.

Haggard was informed by union

members at the Slocan Group's
Tackama plywood and veneer plants
that large volumes of logs are flowing
through the northeast of the province
and that there are concerns, year in
and year out, that company opera-
tions will not get enough quality logs
to continue all year long.

What appeared to be an early spring
in the area was threatening log haul-
ing from the bush. Meanwhile wood
supply was by-passing the Tackama
mills for other destinations. However,
some recent moves by Slocan has en-
sured that there will be enough wood
to operate this year.

The company also has an I.W.A.
certified sawmill and a non-union ori-
ented strandboard plant in Ft. Nelson.

Local 1-424 also carries certification
at the Canadian Chopstick Manufac-
turing Co. plant in town.

re)

Pension and LTD

Continued from page three

last fiscal year the plan had an aston-
ishing return of 18.99% on investment.

That makes the plan 92.5% solvent,
in accordance with government laws
in the provinces of B.C. and Alberta.

Areand said the plan will be fully
funded and completely solvent at cur-
rent rates of contribution by the year
2001, and will run a small surplus if
contribution hours remain constant
and the plan’s investments earn at
least 7.5% interest.

He said that trustees are looking at
Various options to restructure the
pension plan including benefit in-
creases on a future service basis only.

vesting is also being exam-

_ ined for as early as 1988.

Delegates to the wage and contract

conference passed a resolution direct-

_ ing LW.A. pension trustees to draft a
comprehensive plan for the I.W.A.-
Forest Industry Pension Plan that

F te be put into effect when the

is fully funded.
‘ ee et ra. Rovest Industry
‘i goes, there is still an un-
ity to be addressed. Since
Bee concinutinn levels started go-

ng into the plan following 1994 nego-
i it has not been able to keep

plan is far from broke. At as-
d rates of annual interest (7.5%)

the LTD will take 11.5 years to com-
plete its amortization schedule, which
is an increase from 7.9 years.

“This is a dangerous trend,” said
Brother Arcand.

Arcand said that the plan is under-
going more stresses to it as the Cana-
dian Pension Plan disability pension
benefits are dropping off and private
plans, like the I.W.A. - Forest Industry
LTD are picking up payments.

Currently the plan pays up to $1,600
to disabled I.W.A. who must meet
qualification criteria. The plan has as-
sets of over $20 million, which are
providing benefits for over 1000 union
members.

Another problem that the plan faces
is that line-ups for surgery are getting
longer. As a result those who are dis-
abled while waiting are putting stress
on the LTD plan, said Arcand.

To help disabled workers out, the
plan's trustees are getting the LTD Re-
habilitation Department to intervene
at earlier stages (within the first 30
days) to improve the chances of suc-
cessful rehab.

Brother Arcand said the trustees
are looking at ways of making bene-
fits tax free to recipients and estab-
lishing a guaranteed earning proposal.

Delegates passed a resolution call-
ing for employers to increase their
share of joint LTD funding to provide
for $2,000 per month benefits and a
more meaningful rehabilitation pro-

gram.

Heli-log training
Continued from page eleven

a growing field in B.C. and that “we’re
going to see an integration between
(harvesting) systems.”

He predicts that there will be prob-
lems scheduling conventional crews
to do the work, but that it can be done
with advance notice and proper plan-
ning.

SAFETY STRESSED IN COURSE

The training course has a heavy
dose of safety in it, says Don Smith,
President of the International Heli-
copter Logging. He says that experi-
enced loggers are easier to train than
green workers because they already
have “bush sense.”

Mr. Smith says that the course,
which is half theory and half practical,
preaches and teaches safety through-
out.

“The WCB guidelines for the type of
logging are inadequate,” he says. “Be-
cause it’s such a new industry, they
(the WCB) don’t know all of the para-
meters.”

Daryl Sawatsky, an I.W.A. crew
member from J.S. Jones who is under-
going training, told the Lumberworker
that the course has been a good one in
stressing safety.

“It’s always safety first over produc-
tion,” he said. “You can replace wood
but you can’t replace lives.”

Fellow worker Shaun Neufeld said
that heli-logging has more things hap-
pening at once than conventional log-
ging.

“When you're in conventional log-
ging you don’t have as much going
on,” he said. “It’s a little more relaxed
and not as fast-paced.”

Tim Smith, union committe member
at J.S. Jones, said that workers have
to not only watching turns, but also
looking up in the air for chokers and
falling debris that can be caused by
the wash from helicopter blades.

PROBLEMS TO RESOLVE

Brother Smith said that workers on
the heli-logging training project are
there because of the persistence of
the sub-local and local union. Unfortu-
nately, when they started the course
they were not being paid I.W.A. rate.

He said that the company told them
that FRBC contributions would be
used to get the training wages up to
base rate, which is $20.24/hr. for log-
gers.

“There have been a lot of promises
made by FRBC and the company and
we haven't seen things happen like we
expected them to,” said Smith. “This
course is taking off because of a lot of
pushing on the crew’s part.”

e AMERICAN INCOME LIFE representative Fran Christie stopped into the

. union's national office in December of last year to present then I.W.A. Na-
tional President Gerry Stoney a cheque for the amount of $2,500. The mon-
ey will be used for a scholarship contest by the union in 1997. American In-
come Life is a benefit plan carrier for several I.W.A. local unions.

LUMBERWORKER/APRIL 1997/19