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