¢ Supporters from various I.W.A. locals and the national office showed up to spoil the protest plans of the “Friends of Slocan” when they arrived in Vancouver on July 21, at the World Trade and Convention Centre. Anti-logging protesters foiled by union As if the stand-off with Green- peace wasn’t enough for the I.W.A., the union has been faced with log- ging road blockades in the province’s southeastern region. The forest-dependent community of Slocan is facing the threat of log- ging blockades in the Slocan Valley. Protestors have or continue to block logging roads into several areas including New Denver Flats, Perry Ridge, Bonanza Creek, and Climax Creek. At risk are 180 sawmill jobs at Slocan Forest Products in the West Kootenays. Workers there are certi- fied to I.W.A. CANADA Local 1-405. The protest campaign to prevent logging is ostensibly based on pre- serving drinking water quality in Slocan Valley watersheds. It is being headed by the Valhalla Wilderness Society. Local 1-405 President Bob Matters said in an interview with the Lumberworker, that the concern over water supply is really a smoke- screen to prevent logging activity by the company, which also employs some crews of I.W.A. loggers. “The logging that is being halted is really state-of-the-art logging which is low-impact in nature,” said Brother Matters. I.W.A. members are on an “Alternate Harvesting Crew” that took part in courses put on by forester Herb Hammond at Selkirk College in Castlegar, south of Slocan. They have received training in such areas as falling, laying down low- impact skid trails, road and landing building and rehabilitation. In the Silverton community area, the majority of cutblocks are under five hectares while only three are between 5-10 hectares. One is 16 hectares, far below the B.C. Forest Code maximum of 60 hectares. “The greens are trying to com- pletely shut us down despite log- Skeena mill to open following restructuring The Skeena Cellulose sawmill in Terrace, B.C., which employs over 180 I.W.A. CANADA Local 1-71 members is awaiting reopening fol- lowing a shutdown this summer. On August 13, the planer mill part of the operation ran its last piece of lumber as the company headed into bankruptcy. Two giant financial institutions, the Royal Bank of Canada and the Toronto-Dominion Bank, played hardball with the future of forest workers in northwestern British Columbia. Then the banks pulled the plug on three Skeena Cellulose Inc. solid wood operations in Terrace, Hazelton and Smithers following the shutdown of the company’s pulp mill in Prince Rupert. The company, formerly owned by Repap Enterprises, was reported to be over $600 million in debt. Skeena filed for bankruptcy protection in March of this year following an upsucoesei takeover bid by Avenor Inc. A restructuring plan introduced by the company’s creditors and banks, called for giant concessions from the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers Union of Canada, Local 4 which has over 750 mem- bers at the pulp mill. That mill went down indefinitely on June 28. A rescue plan to save the Prince Rupert pulp mill was put through by the B.C. government, the banks and the mem bership of the Pulp and Paper Workers of Canada who voted 83 per cent in favour of a Se ere plan on September About 150 workers will be per- manently laid off and the rest will take take a wage reduction which will be used to purchase shares in the company for them. The government will take 45% ownership in Skeena and kick in $149 million - $75 million to build logging roads, guarantee wages and credit logging fees, the other $74 million will be used to modernize operations. The banks will own 55% and write off over $300 million in debt. The I.W.A. Local 1-71 members who work at the company’s Terrace sawmill and logging operations will take no concessions and should be back to work some time in October after the pulp mill opens. There are also over 150 loggers who are employed for I.W.A.-certified con- tractors. “A permanent closure would have an absolutely devastating effect on the forest-dependent communities of the northwest,” said Local 1-71 President Darrel Wong. “The big banks, who are making an obscene amount of profit these days, have a large responsibility to the affected communities in the region.” According to a report prepared by a court-appointed monitor, the sawmill in Terrace is highly effi- cient and profitable. “It is one of the most efficient operations in B.C.,” added Brother Wong. “Logging costs have been high but the government is addressing that issue.” Local 1-71 Second Vice President Surinder Malhotra said that the Terrace sawmill is one of the most modern mills on the coast and is a ‘stand alone’ operation that would have opened up whether or not the Prince Rupert pulp mill survived or not. “It definitely would take us a lot longer to get up and operating with- out the pulp mill going,” said Brother Malhotra. “Our members have never been asked to take concessions as the mill’s profitability has never been an issue in the big picture of things.” The company has contacted Local 1-71 to sign a “me-too” coastal col- lective agreement. Malhotra said the union still has to negotiate some local issues before an agreement can be reached. “The banks were being a real bunch of bastards,” said Wong. “They had, at one time, given the parties only 17 days to comply with a very complex report or have shut the mill down unilaterally without any regards for the workers and their communities.” “The banks were trying to force concessions by economic blackmail on the people of the northwest,” he added. Permanent closures would have effected over 9,000 people, directly and indirectly, in the northwestern region of the province. ging plans that have been devel- oped for ecologically sensitive areas,” added Matters. “Our members have taken extensive training in water- shed logging and logging in other sensitive areas.” “I.W.A. members are prepared to make changes and live up to the Forest Practices Code,” he added. “As a local union we support the Kootenay-Boundary Land-Use plan,” Matters said. “That’s why we refuse to stand idle and see our members thrown out of work by green groups and their supporters who didn’t take part in the land-use plan.” In the New Denver Flats area, logging is taking place near a sec- ondary water source for the town, which is seldom used. Steps have been taken to protect those drainages as well. Matter said that the public is starting to get the message that for- est practices are much better now than they ever were in the past. “With the technology and train- ing that we now have, we can log anywhere in a safe and responsible manner that won’t effect water qual- ity,” he said. Matters pointed out that most of the watersheds in the province, including the Kootenays have been impacted by forestry activity. “You'll find a hard time finding a part of B.C. that isn’t a watershed in one form or another,” said Matters. “Those who want to stop our members from legally going to work are those who want to stop logging at all costs.” I.W.A. members confronted a group called “The Friends of Slocan” when they stopped in Vancouver on July 21 in seek of media attention. Union members showed up to steal their thunder. At one point during the protest, Matters confronted a protester who criticized logging practices as destructive. When questioned by Matters if he had seen I.W.A. loggers at work, the protester iekedt down on his comments. Later the protester continued his confrontational rhetoric. “It just goes to show you that these people don’t know what they are talking about,” said Matters. “Their only agenda is to stop log- ging.” a 14/LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER 1997