* OFL Vice President and I.W.A. Local 2693 President Wilf McIntyre (r.)

utive Vice President Ken Signoretti.

gave local union jackets to retiring OFL President Gord Wilson and Exec-

I.W.A. supports election
of new OFL president

The Ontario Federation of Labour
celebrated its 40th Anniversary this
year and marked a few milestones.
Over 2,400 delegates to the 650,000
member federation met in Toronto
between November 24 and 25 at the
organization’s fourth biennial policy
convention.

Anew OFL president was elected,
some changes were made to the con-
stitution to allow for greater partici-

ation in the federation’s executive

ard, and there was a reconfirma-
tion of ties with the New Democra-
tic Party with the attendance of
Ontario party leader Howard Hamp-
ton and federal leader Alexa McDo-

nough.

LW.A. CANADA Wilf McIntyre
was re-elected to his second two-
year term as an OFL Vice Presi-
dent, ee the I.W.A., which
is now the thirteenth largest union
in the province.

The new president is a former
OFL staff member and United Steel-
workers of America member Wayne
Samuelson who beat CAW candi-
date Paul Forder by a count of 1,252
to 1,046,

The I.W.A. is a Samuelson sup-
porter.

“I think Wayne is a team builder
and has the ability to work with all
groups,” said Brother McIntyre. “He
can do the tough job of pulling peo-
ple back together.”

Samuelson started working at the
B.G. Goodrich Tire plant in Kitch-
ener-Waterloo in 1971 and became
a member of the Rubber Workers
Union before it became the Steel-
workers. He has been active in all
federal, provincial and federal elec-
tions since 1972 and has held elected
positions in the provincial and fed-

eral New Democratic Party.

Samuelson has been the OFL
director of political education since
1991 following a year of activity in
the Basic Education and Skills
Training (BEST) project.

Ethel LaValley, the OFL Secre-
tary-Treasurer, was acclaimed toa
second two year term. She was the
first aboriginal person elected to the
CLC executive council in 1994 and
is a former local president for the
Ontario Public Service Employees
Union.

The OFL is still faced with the
task of rebuilding stronger ties to
the New Democratic Party in the
province. Outgoing president Gor-
don Wilson and Howard Hampton
have made many moves to help that
process take place.

The OFL made some constitu-
tional changes to provide that the
fifteen largest union in the province
be made vice presidents. Changes
were also made to specifically include
representatives from native groups,
youth, visibleminorities and gays
and lesbians caucuses on the execu-
tive board.

The convention was highlighted
by two protest rallies. The first was
outside office of the Workers Com-
pensation Board to protest Bill 99.
The other was a large rally at the
Queen’s Park legislature which held
up final passage of Bill 160 as pro-
testers occupied the legislative
gallery.

In addition to Howard Hampton
and Alexa McDonough, other speak-
ers included CLC President Bob
White, David Orchard of Citizens
Concerned About Free Trade, Craig
Kielburger of the Free the Children
Foundation and William Lucy, Inter-

\ ‘Ontario I.W.A. Presidents (1. to r.) Wilf McIntyre
ac iniie (700), 2 Joe da Costa (1000), Norm Rivard (1-2995) and.

ce Weber (500).

national Secretary of the American
Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees.

Policy debates took place over
organizing, the public sector and
the economy, WCB and Occupa-
tional Health and Safety, and fight-
ing back against the Harris govern-
ment in the workplace, street and
at the ballot box.

On November 27, a special dinner
was held to celebrate the 40th
anniversary and pay tribute to retir-
ing president Gordon Wilson and
executive vice president Ken Sig-
noretti. At the dinner Brother McIn-
tyre thanked both men for their
id work and gave them I.W.A. jackets
2 form his local union.

Wilson stepped down from office
after 11 years as the OFL leader.
He was the director of education of

Local 1-80
Anniversary

Continued from page thirty

zations of Lake Cowichan. Its first
task was to coordinate war effort
support; the UO went on to orga-
nize events such as Labour Day cel-
ebrations, charity drives, dental
clinics and the Lake Days event
itself.

“These women helped to instill
pride of community that has lasted
to this day,” Lundgren said in an
address to the Kaatza Museum Soci-
ety this year. “This spirit still abounds
and is a legacy to be proud of.”

Photos by Tor

 I.W.A. National Second V.P. Fred
Miron met with new OFL President
Wayne Samuelson.

the UAW/CAW education depart-
ment before being elected as OFL
president in 1986.

At the Local 1-80 picnic Lake
Cowichan mayor Jean Brown pre-
sented a plaque to president Rout-
ley commemorating “the large part
played in the history of the Cowichan
Lake area.” Brown noted that her
father was among those who fought
for the I.W.A. in the region.

The celebrations have a lasting
value, Lundgren wrote in the
newsletter. They “helped to restore
some of the legacy left by unionists
of the past, and let them know how
appreciative we are of their sacri-
fices to build the I.W.A. It left a
renewed pride of belonging to the
membership of today, and possibly
opened a door to educate the young
workers of tomorrow.”

Local 1-85
Anniversary

Continued from page thirty-one

from Kamloops. He worked at sey-
eral jobs before finding employ-
ment in the plywood mill and work-
ing there until retirement.
McKnight was active in the union
“from day one” — since 1944, when
the local came into the plywood
mill.

In 1948, Cold War politics entered
the union causing a split between
the old left-wing leadership and
others, and an abortive attempt to
form a new union. “The workers
just walked away. The rest was
history and I spent 40 years trying
to overcome the results of that,”
says the left-leaning McKnight.

None the less, McKnight was

called on for advice in getting rid of
the I.W.A. anti-Communist clause
by the international president in
1972, following which the clause
was removed. McKnight himself
was elected to Port Alberni city
council in 1967 and was an alder-
man until 1981.

Among the key victories McK-
night took part in was the elimina-
tion of the wage differential between
women and men at the plywood
mill. The company’s response was
to stop hiring women but when the
union successfully fought to rein-
state a fired woman worker in the
Sixties, the mill again began hiring
women. “They found the crews
worked better with women on
them,” McKnight observes.

Today when workers are being
laid off due to the tech change,
unions need to promote alternative
work policies to prevent their own
demise, McKnight asserts.

NORTH BAY DAY OF PROTEST - I.W.A. CANADA Local 1-2995 was one of
several I.W.A. local unions in attendance at the seventh day of
protest against the Harris government on September 26, and 27 when
they were in the home town city of Conservative Premier Mike Har-
ris. The local union sent a bus load of protestors as it offered a seat to
a member from every operation in its jurisdiction. Union, coalition
and community supporters joined to protest numerous goverment
attacks on the education system, municipal governments, the poor
and underpriveledged and the Workers Compensation system.

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER 1997/35