The benefits of
unionizing FRBC
silviculture jobs

Research by Scott Lunny, National
Representative, and Kim Pollock,
Director of Environment and Land-Use

n 1994, the British Columbia Forest
Renewal Act created a new crown cor-
poration, Forest Renewal BC (FRBC),
with the mandate, “to renew the forest
economy of British Columbia, enhance
the productive capacity and environ-
mental value of forest lands, create
jobs, provide training for forest work-
ers and strengthen communities.”

In its first two years of operation, many FRBC
stakeholders felt the crown corporation was fail-
ing to fulfill its mandate. Specifically, FRBC was
falling short in the creation of meaningful
employment and as a vehicle to enhance’ commu-
nity stability.

In June 1997, the government and industry
reached the Jobs and Timber Accord which set
forest industry job targets for the year 2001. One
of the components of the Accord called for the
creation of a “forest worker agency” to assist dis-
placed forest workers through massive public
spending in silviculture. In essence, the concept
of the forest worker agency is an attempt by the

government to leverage broader social and eco-
nomic benefits for British Columbia through sub-
stantial public investment in the provincial for-
est resource. *

While much has been made of the Accord and
the forest worker agency in the media, particu-
Jarly the unionization aspect, little effort has
been made to critically analyze the beneficiaries
and benefits of these initiatives. This study
focuses specifically on the agency, its structure
as it applies to the coastal B.C. forest industry
and the benefits of this initiative to workers,
communities and the province as a whole.

The Model - Highway Constructors Limited

The use of public spending to promote social
and economic development is not new to the
province of British Columbia, dating back to the
construction “mega-projects” initiated by WAC
Bennett. The most recent and ambitious exam-
ple of this kind of initiative is the Vancouver
Island Highway Project (VIHP), which is being
used as the model for the forest worker agency.

The goals of the VIHP were to promote regional
economic development, community based job cre-
ation, local business development, workforce
training and the employment of members of
equity groups. In order to achieve these goals,
the Transportation Financing Authority (TFA),
the crown corporation which oversees capital
spending on transportation infrastructure, cre-
ated a wholly-owned subsidiary corporation to
act as the employer of the labour force on the

The subsidiary, Highway Constructors Limited
(HCL), negotiated a project-wide agreement with
the highway construction building trades unions.
HCL is the exclusive employer on the project and
its agreement with the building trades unions
covers all workers on the VIHP. While contrac-
tors competitively bid to do portions of the pro-
ject, the successful bidders do not hire their own
workers. Rather, workers are assigned to the
contractors by HCL and the contractors reim-
burse the corporation for their labour force.

Experience on the Vancouver Island Highway
Project from 1994-1997 indicates: ?

¢ HCL had hired 2,451 British Columbians to
work on the Island Highway.

¢ Ninety-three percent (93%) of the work went
to residents of Vancouver Island,

¢ An average of 15% of the Island Highway
workforce, more than 360 people, have been hired
from the four equity groups: women, aboriginal

people, people from visible minorities, and people
with disabilities. *

¢ The HCL accident rate is thirty-eight percent
(88%) less than the long-term industry average.

° Bidding on the VIHP is open
to all firms, union or non-union,
and 65% of prime contracts have
gone to firms that are not oth-
erwise unionized.

¢ In-almost two million hours
worked, not one complaint has
been filed under-the provincial
Employment Standards Act,
compared to an average of
12,000-15,000 annually in the
rest of the construction indus-
try.
e TFA’s actual project costs |
under the HCL model have been |
an average of six percent (6%)
below estimates made by the
Ministry of Highways in 1993,
before HCL was created, for
savings of $18.5 million.

° The Auditor General of BC
has stated, “We conclude that
the designs for the Vancouver
Island Highway will provide
good value for money within the context of cur-
rent ministry standards and guidelines.” *

Forest Worker Agency

As noted above, a significant part of the Jobs
and Timber Accord, announced in June 1997,
involves Forest Renewal B.C. funded silvicultural
work and the creation of anew agency to ensure
that displaced forest workers and forest depen-
dent communities benefit from this investment.

The stated goals of the agency include:

° to assess, train and certify displaced forest
workers;

° to assist displaced forest workers in finding
employment with priority attention given to local
then displaced regional workers; and

° to create stable jobs with an objective of
employment through multi-year FRBC funded
projects.

Included in the agency portion of the Jobs and
Timber Accord, there is also a commitment to,
“increased employment for Native people in forest
work followed by a local hiring process for quali-
fied local workers.”

While the goals of the agency are stated differ-
ently from those of HCL, the fundamental social
and economic objectives are very similar. As well,
the planned multi-year, multi-contract public
expenditures for silvicultural work can easily be
compared to the planned multi-year, multi-con-
tract public expenditures on the Vancouver Island
Highway project. Based on the successes of the
VIHP, it is only logical that the forest worker
agency be modeled after HCL.

In late 1997, New Forest Opportunities Limited
(NewFO), a subsidiary of Forest Renewal BC, was
incorporated to be the employer for all FRBC
funded land based work. In other words, NewFO
is the mechanism for putting the forest worker
agency concept into effect on the Coast. Currently,
NewFO is negotiating a collective agreement cov-
ering this work with a council of local unions of
the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers of Canada
(Council of I.W.A. Locals).

Scope of the Work
The scope of the work covered by New Forest
Pbporean gs Limited is Forest Renewal BC
funded land based programs and includes:
1. Enhanced Forestry:
- spacing
- pimaing and fertilizing
- brushing
- silvicultural surveys
- forest health surveys and treatments
2. Watershed Restoration:
- rehabilitating streams
- stabilizing hillslopes
- deactivating old roads
8. Resource Inventories
4, Forest Recreational Programs
5, Workforce Training

¢ Unionization of silviculture jobs will bring steadier jobs to sector.

Although the scope of the work appears quite
broad, the dollar amounts, the relation of this
work to existing silvicultural work and whether
or not it is “new” work are areas of some con-
tention.

Amidst public criticism that government was
taking the work of existing silvicultural contrac-
tors and “giving it to its union friends,” the CEO
of FRBC stated, “Seventy-eight per cent of (cur-
rent silviculture) workers would not be impacted
by this in any way.”* This claim is supported by
a recent study by Coopers & Lybrand Coane
which indicates the funding sources of silvicul-
tural contractors as follows: *

Funding Source (%)
1994/1995 {1996 {1997
Ministry of
Forests 27 25 22 10
Forest Renewal
BC i 5 10 14
Licensees 68 66 65 73

Even considering that funding is increasingly
coming from FRBC, it is clear from these figures
that the majority of silvicultural work is gener-
ated without direct government funding.

Benefits of the Forest Worker Agency

While there can be no argument about the ben-
efits of the HCL on the Vancouver Island High-
way Project, some people have questioned whether
such a model will provide similar benefits if
applied to FRBC silvicultural investment. Specif-
ically, existing silvicultural contractors, and par-
ticularly the Western Silvicultural Contractors
Association (WSCA), dispute the fact that a for-
est worker agency would provide any additional
benefits to worker, communities or the province
than would the status quo.

The following is an attempt to counter some of
the misconceptions about the agency by outlining
the key benefits of this initiative.

(1) Stable Employment:

By definition, the expenditure of FRBC dollars
on silvicultural work will create employment.
However, the nature of this employment is criti.
cal, particularly where the system contractin,
the work can be used to increase the benefits o
FRBC investment to workers and communities.

The findings of a recent study commissioned
WSCA,’ substantiate the often made assumption
that silvicultural work, as it is currently done, is
generally short-term in nature. The study shows
the silvicultural industry employs 15,152 people
annually. However, this amounts to only 8,575
full-time equavaleay (FTE) jobs. To further high-
light the short-term nature silvicultural work,

Continued on page seventeen

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16/LUMBERWORKER/MARCH, 1998