fi ¢ I.W.A. CANADA National President Dave Haggard addressed SMART members with words of encouragement. Haggard said the union supports whatever needs to be done to stop killing and injuring forest industry workers. Local members study WSIB Local 1-2995 is not wasting any time getting its union representatives up to speed on changes which have replaced the Workers’ Compensation Board with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Major changes, introduced by the right-wing Conservative government of Mike Harris were introduced on January 1 of this year. To inform the membership of the changes and amendments to the Workers Compensation Act (Bill 99) the local organized two one-day semi- nars in March in Timmins and Hearst (group pictured above). The partici- pants in the information seminars were certified Health and Safety Com- mittee co-chairs. They learned, for example, to receive disability benefits from the WSIB under the new act, workers must fill certain obligations such as, in the case of work-related accidents, promptly filing their claims and giving consent to the release of functional abilities information to the employer by a health professional treating you. Workers must cooperate in any early and safe return to work or labour market re-entry programs. They are also required to report any material change in their circumstances to the WSIB, such as, but not limited to, change of income, return to work status or medical condition. If an employee misses time from work because of a work-related injury or disease, the WSIB will provide payments. The amount paid for loss of earnings is based of 85% of the pre-injury take home earnings, less any earnings one may have after the injury up to an annual maximum. Before January 1, 90% was paid to the sick or injured employee. The participants really appreciated the information received. - - Damien Roy, Local 1-2995 First Vice President and Safety Director CORRECTING THE RECORD The Lumberworker sends a humble apology toI.W.A. CANADA Local 1-424. After reading a copy of the March, 1998 issue of the national newspaper, Local 1-424 President Fred Geel immedi- ately phoned the editor to inform him that a story in that issue enti- tled “Local 500 hold first women’s conference,” was incorrect. In fact, pointed out Brother Car- roll, Local 1-424 held a two day seminar for “Women in the Work Force” on June 24 and 25, 1995. At the seminar, held in Prince George, there were 19 women pre- sent from the local union. Not to mince words, (Local 1- 424 called its event a “seminar” and Local 500 called its event a “conference”), Local 1-424 is one of the first locals to actively cham- pion the cause of women’s confer- ences, first at the local level and then at the national union. Local 1-424 submitted a resolu- tion to the 1995 I.W.A. CANADA National Convention which called for a national union conference on women’s issues. That resolution passed and the first conference took place on March 17-18, 1997. The next national conference for women will take place in Win- nipeg between June 7-9, 1998. a 8 3 3 H MB Safety Team Continued from page ten duce more,” he said. In an 11 month period starting in the summer of 1995, there were three loggers killed at MB’s Kelsey Bay logging division. At least one of the deaths, that of 28 year old rig- ging slinger Gordie Clark, was directly related to the company’s push for higher production figures. Brother Clark was hit by a log chunk, as the rigging crew was logging on both sides of the bight of a skyline, with management’s knowledge. Several senior I.W.A. people kept telling MB brass that they were pushing production too far. “What ticks me off is MB’s idea that our workers aren’t the most efficient and productive workers you can find,” said Pederson. “In our local we are not going to run harder and speed up for MB. At the end of the day, after our people work efficiently and in a safe manner, the productivity you see is what the company will get - nothing more and nothing less.” Local union member Danny Brown, a truck driver and safety pal pence: from Menzies Bay, (who retired on April 24) said “our message from the local is that safety is going to be first and foremost.” “I’ve heard Tom Stephens speak and he seems like he wants every- thing done yesterday,” he added. “The push is on but rather than rush for some deadline, we have to do things right. We want this to be successful,” Local 1-3567 President Sonny Ghag said that the solid wood group's agenda can’t be just driven by man- agement. “We can make MB a better place if our members have real input and jointly run the program,” said Brother Ghag. Ray Hudon, a Local 1-3567 mem- ber, at the MB New Westminster Lumber division said that “we want to create a level of trust where we can work together.” At the plant there are an increas- ing number of soft tissue injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome. “We need top end support when but it comes down to the expertise to how to take care of ourselves, it comes down to the person on the floor,” he said. Marcel Poland a first aid atten- dant and production worker at Plenk’s Wood Centre in Duncan which is owned in part by MB, said that both the company and the union haye to work proactively. In his value-added plant, workers have to perform many tasks. “The problems occur when we get a guy going on a piece of machinery, we keep him there,” he said. “On one hand you want to keep produc- tion up and, at the same time to person can get repetitive injuries.” Local 2171 member Don Judd, a faller at MB’s Pt. McNeill logging division, said that workers there have had a good safety and produc- tion record. “More and more, as the divisions restructure, and the younger guys get chopped we are seeing an aging workforce,” he said. “So we are going to have to fine tune our safety pro- gram, rather than rip things apart.” “The industry that we are inis a hazardous on but it’s what we make of it,” he added. “Work safely and the production will follow. A safe worker is a productive worker.” WERE YOU WORKING ATA B.C. SAWMILL IN 1979? union. The University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medic- ine is conducting a study on the effects of technological change and unemployment on the health of B.C. sawmill workers. The investigators have sent letters to a number of sawmill workers who were working in the industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These letters will be followed- up by a phone call and a request for an interview. Your participation is very important for the success of this study. The I.W.A. has agreed to help UBC find some of the mill workers by forwarding a copy of the study noti- fication to people identified by UBC who belong to our — of Fe a: 16/LUMBERWORKER/JUNE, 1998