—S ¢ Local 1-71 President Darrel Wong accepted original I.W.A. charter which had been missing since 1948. To his (nee ig = a, right is Communist Party of Canada member Maurice Rush, who returned the charter. Loggers’ Local 1-71 holds 60th anniversary his year’s annual dele- gated meeting marked two and possibly three milestones for I.W.A. CANADA Local 1-71. It marked the 60th anniver- sary of the Loggers’ Local, founded in 1937. It marked an occasion where the original local union charter, issued by the International Woodworkers of America and missing since 1948, was returned to the membership. It also marked what might be the last Loggers’ Local convention before a possible merger with I.W.A. CANA- DA Local 217 in Vancouver. After considerable discussion and debate, the majority of delegates passed a resolution, submitted by the local executive board, calling for a referendum ballot of the membership which will decide whether or not Local 1-71 will merge with the Van- couver local. That ballot has been sent out and the results should be tabulated by the end of the first week of July. Meanwhile the executive board at Local 217, which has been holding discussions with Local 1-71, took a similar resolution to its annual gen- eral meeting on May 10 where it assed. A referendum ballot in that local is now being circulated-‘amongst the membership. ORIGINAL CHARTER RETURNED Areal historical milestone was reached for the Local 1-71 when the loggers’ “holy grail” was returned to the members. The original charter, signed by the old international union in 1937, and which has been missing from 1-71 headquarters since the “October Rev- olution of 1948” was brought to the annual meeting by Maurice Rush, a former leader of the B.C. Communist Party and a friend and colleague of the late and legendary I.W.A. orga- nizer and officer Ernie Dalskog. In 1948, after communists were banned from holding office in the international union (for full historical rundown see story by Clay Perry, pages 10-13), Brother Dalskog took the charter from Local 1-71 before it was recalled by the International Woodworkers of America, headquar- tered in Oregon. The communist leadership of the I.W.A. left to form its own indepen- dent Canadian union, know as the Woodworkers Industrial Union of Canada. Mr. Rush said that big split of 1948 was a “big mistake.” “The tragedy of the 1948 split was that it divided the woodworkers of B.C. for a number of years,” he said. “We should know the main lesson from the split is the need to avoid divisions among the woodworkers because disunity helps the boss and burs the interests of working peo- ple. Rush spoke about Ernie Dalskog, who was a founding member of the 1.W.A. and who rose to top positions in the I.W.A., also serving as the sec- retary-treasurer of Local 1-71 from 1940-45. Dalskog was one of the union’s most capable organizers who helped organize thousands of work- ers on the coast of B.C., the Queen Charlotte Islands and the province’s northern interior. On behalf of Local 1-71, President Darrel Wong accepted the original charter and acknowledged the contri- bution of Dalskog and other commu- nists who were put on an errant mem- bers list after the 1948 split. That list has been sealed forever and will not be opened again as all the former members of 1-71 are now recognized for their contributions. “It is incumbent upon us to try and do what we can to try and ensure that we can make this a better orga- nization so the people in our (union’s) past that got us to where we are today, can be proud of where we go tomor- row,” said Brother Wong. He presented a post-humous retire- ment certificate for Ernie Dalskog to his son Karl Dalskog, who thanked the local union on his late father’s behalf. Accompanied by his own son, Mr. Dalskog said his father “was a person who believed in and struggled for the betterment of the position of his fel- low working class men.” The historic tributes were orga- nized by local union business agent and newspaper editor Bill Owens who got a round of applause for all the work he did setting up the events and historical display at the back of the meeting hall. Also invited as a guest speaker was former local union president Ben Thompson, who gave a historical overview of his time as a union repre- sentative/officer for 25 of his 40 years in the L.W.A. It was the first time in ten years that Brother Thompson spoke at a Local 1-71 LADM. He received a standing ovation from the delegates before and after his speech. Thompson recalled the days, before automatic dues check-off, when mem- bers would pay their dues and get a union organizing boat, would collect those dues. He worked on the Green Gold, as a business agent, from Sechelt to Rivers Inlet. Also invited to speak at the annu- al meeting were I.W.A. National Sec- retary Treasurer Terry Smith who took nominations and spoke on nation- al issues, and Local 2693 President Wilf McIntyre who spoke on labour and workers’ compensation issues in Ontario. National Second Vice President Fred Miron was also present and spoke at the banquet for the dele- gates and guests. Bob Callendar, retired first vice president of the local union, spoke at the end of the second day about his fifty years in the union. GLENN ROBERTSON PAYS VISIT One of the keynote speakers at the annual was Local 1-71 member and NDP MLA Glenn Robertson from Port McNeill. Last year Brother Robertson became the first I.W.A. logger. to be elected in quite a few years as a member of the provincial legislature as he won the seat for North Island in April of last year. He gave the delegates a run-down of what he has been up to, including work on the Select Standing Commit- tee on Forestry, the Board of FRBC, the Caucus Labour Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and the Select Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. Robertson also sits on the NDP Caucus committees for Economic Development and the Jobs and Tim- ber Accord. He said that I.W.A. members should continue to not play into the hands of environmental protesters and blockaders and commended the members for their resistance to date. He said that the government is work- ing hard on the forest jobs initiative which is the largest government ini- tiative in the province's history. Robertson said the government was revisiting the Forest Practices Code and that “we are not going to compromise environmental stan- dards in the province.” “But to look at the Forest Prac- tices Code, with its six different steps, the paperwork involved, the man hours, the administrative costs, the overlap between the Minister of Envi- ronment, Land and Parks and the Ministry of Forests - there is some opportunity there to continue to do good work in the woods and get rid of the overlap,” said Robertson. He said that Chief Forester Larry Pederson has announced, over the last year, timber cut adjustments in Timber Supply Areas across the province. There have been cut reductions in 32 areas, while the cut has stayed the same in 20 TSA’s and gone up in 19 of them. Robertson said that incremental silviculture by licensees will add to annual yields. “Sustainability is the key to each and every one of your jobs,” said Robertson. He also congratulated the local union on negotiating an employ- ment agreement with Interfor that will provide jobs for displaced log- gers. W.C.B. ROYAL COMMISSION Local union Safety Director Bob Patterson got up to He mike during the annual delegated meeting to encourage members to get out and tell the Royal Commission into the Workers Compensation Board their stories. “The bottom line is that, it’s your responsibility, if you want anything out of this, to get yourselves out to the Royal Commission and tell them where the problems are,” he said. The commission has plans to visit 38 B.C. communities between May and July. “You've got to be there,” exclaimed Patterson. “I’ll guarantee that the employeris there already. The employ- er is going to kick the hell out of your benefits and levels of entitlement under the current system.” Brother Patterson pointed out that WCB jurisdictions are being attacked by the right wing everywhere. He pointed out that in the Ontario, the Mike Harris government's changes to the WCB will not allow compensation. for repetitive strain injuries, which constitute about 50% of all claims. The local union will make submis- sions in writing to the Royal Com- mission and join the National Office in making a joint submission in July. e North Island MLA and Local 1-71 member Glenn Robertson gave dele- stamp in a book. The Green Gold,a gates a rundown of his new life as a politician. 14/LUMBERWORKER/JULY 1997