CONVE HIGHLIGHTS ° John Little Local 1-71’s Jack Harmston. @ ATED ° Gerry Smith ¢ Darrel Wong e Reading out resolutions for the resolutions committee were Local 1000’s Michael McCarter (1.) and ° Gary Kobayashi ° Bruce Weber Delegates get behind plan to develop strategy in fighting preservationists’ attacks on workers One resolution, demanding that I.W.A. CANADA develop and promote a strategy to counter all attacks on the jobs of I.W.A. mem- bers by protectionist groups and that all union locals be informed and urged to support and participate in all such initiatives received a lot of interest at the convention as delegates from several locals got up to speak. Jeff Broughton from Port Alberni Local 1-85 said that 1997 was a turnaround year for the 1.W.A. in its war against radical environmen- talists. “I think we have a unique advantage this year and I think it’s been coming for the last couple of years but now it’s starting to crest where we can turn the tide against the people that are trying to ruin our communities, (and) against the people that are trying to take away our jobs, our livelihoods and our future...” said Brother Broughton. He commended the actions against Green- eace in Vancouver during the first week of tae and Local 1-71’s participation in the stand- off against radical environmentalists who were trying to prevent logging in the Upper Squamish Valley. ‘ He said that it’s up to the I.W.A.’s national office and executive board to “make sure that we get the right message out and that message is that we’re changing the forest practices and we're going to have Jogging and manufacturing (for future generations)...” John Little of Duncan, B.C. Local 1-80 said that the I.W.A. put its best foot forward in the fight against Greenpeace, “T have one message from the people in the mill I work at about the actions against the ationists,” he added. “Let’s be clear who we're talking about, we’re not talking about environmentalists, we’re talking about preser- vationists.” Local 1-405 officer and delegate Stan McMas- ter said that his local is fighting back against radicals in the southeastern Interior and was, at convention time, confronting blockaders in the northern part of the Slocan valley. He said that the actions were continuing all summer long against Slocan Forest Products logging operations. He said that people turning away blockaders noticed that only about one-third of them had B.C. license plates. Out-of-province protesters had plates from places including Alberta, Wash- ington, Idaho and even Minnesota. “Now when we go to start taking actions against these people, my question is how do we get to those people that are from out-of- province...or out of the country?” he asked. Darrel Wong, President of Loggers’ Local 1- 71, thanked National union president Dave Haggard, the national officers and members of Local 1-3567 and 217 for the work they did in stopping the Greenpeace vessels Arctic Sunrise and Moby Dick from moving their boats out of Vancouver Harbour. “That was probably one of the best things that happened this year, and that was absolutely tremendous for all the people that put the effort in to do it.” He also commended Local 1-71 activists Ken Bayers and Rob Otto for their work in blockad- ing blockaders in Squamish. “They worked with the communities out there and they managed to stop the protection- ists from coming in and stopping them from going to work for in excess of a month,” he said. In June Local 1-71 filed suit against Green- pence for $42,000 for blockading loggers on derick Island, stopping union members from going to work for 10 days. A second suit for $130,000 worth of wages and benefits was filed in July for 20 lost days of work on King Island. The local also filed a third suit against the European based Forest Action Network, although Wong said it will be difficult to track the group’s individuals down as they are for- eign nationals. Wong commented on the union’s “Fight Back for Forest Jobs” fund which had raised over $18,000 by convention time and said that a lot of members in 1-71 are donating an extra hour on their pay cheques to help out in the battle. He said that his local has incurred high legal costs in fighting back against Greenpeace. Local 217 President Gary Kobayashi said that the summer of 1997 turned the tables against the radical preservationists but cau- tioned that the likes of Greenpeace, the West- ern Canada Wilderness Committee and the Forest Action Network are still out there plot- ting their next move. “And we, as an organization, should build uj the momentum that’s created ...and start devel- oping some long-term tactics on how we’re going to start dealing with these groups in the future.” Local 1-71 Business Agent and delegate Bob Freer said that the I.W.A. has received a high level of community support “I don’t think at any time in our history have we brought up the awareness of this organiza- tion as much as we did last summer, and I think it is a very important tool for organizing as well,” he said. “We have the non-union peo- ple out there that are being threatened just as much as our operations are and they’re looking at the I.W.A. and they saw the protection that we did for our memberships...” Local 1-424’s Gerry Smith alerted the con- vention as to what is taking place in northern British Columbia. Between McKenzie and Wat- son Lake, in the Rocky Mountain trench, a con- servation coalition is asking for the set aside of Continued on page twenty eee LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER 1997/17