Tn what would be his last appearance at an
1.W.A. CANADA Convention, retiring Canadian
Labour Congress President Bob White dedicated
a good part of his speech to the issue of where
workers are finding themselves in the current
_ upheavals of the global economy.

“We're living in a very competitive world. We
st compete with workers in Mexico or Korea
an or some other country, and wages and
‘benefits there are much less,” said White. “What
_ makes the situation even worse is when workers
have expectations that once this wealth is cre-
ated that they can share in it for a change,
they’re constantly being told ‘no, you’ve got to
_ work harder.”

He said that corporations, backed up by the
“economic gurus of the world” and who sit at the
Bank of Canada and Federal Reserve Board in
the United States, who have been preoccupied
with inflation over the last 10 years, have driven
Wages down and have taken a hard line at the
bargaining table.

He simplified the message that corporations
have given to their workers: When time are
tough, workers have to take cutbacks and con-

Delegates give
call for profit
sharing policy

One of the burning issues on the union’s collec-
tive mind is the issue of profit sharing. Delegates
passed a resolution calling for the I.W.A. to doa
study on profit and gainsharing policies and
develop a national policy on these issues.

National Second Vice President Harvey Arcand
said that national union has already asked all
local unions to send it copies of all agreements
that are in place in order that they can be stud-
ied as of policy ing.

Bob McNair of Local 1-425 said that a national
apty is important to head off problems and pit-
of such ments in the workplace.

At his plywood Blaat in Williams Lake the
employer has forced a gainshare program on the
crew. The boss has split up crew inside the plant
i as they seek production records, while some
older members are not able to keep up.

Sy Pederson of Local 363 said that his local
went to the Labour Board a couple of years ago
to stop MacBlo from negotiation a gainsharing
program with the crew, and won the case.

° CLC President Bob White said the labour
economic and social agenda.

cessions and when the profits are coming in,
workers wages and benefits can’t catch up because
they will cause inflation.

“I want to ask myself the question: What the
hell planet do these economic gurus live on? It’s
about time we took some of the billions of dollars
in this country and around the world that work-
ers make for these corporations and put it in
workers’ pockets and take it the hell out of exec-
utive pockets.

“This economic mode of free markets, free
trade, deregulation, (and) financial market
deregulation completely ignores the economic
and social rights of people and is proving what
we said all would be a disaster.”

White pointed out to the 1997 meeting of APEC
countries in Vancouver, where students were
peppered sprayed by RCMP, as a scenario where
many of the world’s political leaders were extolling
the virtues of Asian markets and free trade.

But the Asian collapse, due to rampant corrup-
tion, has ruined markets for Canadian exports
and has cheapened the international labour mar-
ket.

“Before the crash in Indonesia a Nike worker

(aN

movement has to continue to fight for an alternative

CLC president says workers losing under globalization

building running shoes was paid, based on the
currency, about $58 U.S. a month,” said White.
“After the currency lost its valuation that works
out now to about $18 a month. I don’t have to tell
you when you translate that into commodities...
what it means in terms of competition.”

_ White said that one-third of the world includ-
ing Russia and most Latin American countries
are 1n recession.

“The people who are going to bear the brunt of
this once again in these countries is working peo-
ple and the poor who are going to find them-
selves without jobs and without incomes.”

He said that the labour movement has to con-
tinue to fight for an alternative economic and
social agenda.

“We have to talk about including workers’
rights in trade agreements,” he said. “We've got
to talk about an entirely different economic and
social model for our country and around the
world...”

The speaker said there has to be controls on
international currency speculators who make
millions of dollars driving the Canadian dollar
down.

° Larry Rewakowsky

“It was on ongoing battle with some of our
members and people that wanted to give it a try,
but we said that if the union was going to get
involved, we had to negotiate it,” he added.

“It’s just a point that if times are good and the
profit only generates a case of beer one year, I
guess the workers get a case of beer,” said Brother
Pederson, who added that if in a year the surplus
profit that workers generate in their operations
generates a Cadillac each, then they should get
all get a Cadillac.

Local 2171’s Scott Gibson said that the union
has to have strong people on profit sharing com-
mittees and that companies can try to cancel
such programs in an instant.

“Just.because you (may) get a six or ten thou-
sand dollars bonus doesn’t mean you (should)
sell anyone out,” he said. “You don’t cut corners.

° Bob MacNair

¢ Sy Pederson ° Scott Gibson

You're still union as the day it started.”

Local 1-80’s Larry Zorisky said that MB has
had profit and gainshare plans in Chemainus
sawmill, where he works, for about 4 years and
that there have been both good and bad aspects
to it.

At the company’s Northwest Bay logging divi-
sion the local union officers sit in to negotiate
renewals of such plans which Zorisky said “they
(MB management) don’t like.”

“But the crew has the security that our officers
are involved,” he said.

Local 1-85 President Larry Rewakowsky said
that it is important for the union not to partici-
pate in such arrangements where the employers
are trying to use incentive programs to downsize
operations and put other workers out onto unem-
ployment roles.

ee ———————_____

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1998/23