ia!

¢ STANDING IN FRONT of skids of recycled whiskey barrels are employees at

the Canbar Inc. plant in Harrow, Ontario. Left to right are Bill Harris, Wil-
fred Cornwall, Rick Laliberté, Ron Thibeault, plant manager Lloyd Dube
and Peter Quiring. Workers are members of I.W.A. CANADA Local 500.

See story page 13.

National union calls for
new marketing strategy

To start the new year the I.W.A.
released a paper entitled Marketing
Canada’s Forest Products to both
the Federal and the Provincial gov-
ernment and the B.C. Jobs and Tim-
ber Advocate’s office.

The paper, issued in mid-January
proposes “Canada move quickly to
assess our standing in foreign mar-
kets, both those we currently enjoy
and those currently unexploited or
closed to us, and develop a strategy
for expanding our international
sales, diversifying the range of prod-
ucts we Readies, gaining access to
new markets and increasing access
to existing ones.”

The paper is part of the union’s
ongoing efforts to encourage all
stakeholders to pursue strategies to
secure the long-term future of the

dustry, : y

“I’m tired of going to meetings
where everyone sits on their hands,
stares at their feet and blames the
rest of the world for our problems,”
said Hi rd. “I want to see people
start ea on solutions to build
our industry for the future.”

“We can’t just wait for the Japan-
ese market to come back — we also

have to work hard on increasing
access to the U.S. market, the Euro-
ean market as well as getting a
foot in the door of various emerging
markets,” he added.

As a first step, the I.W.A. paper
calls for an analysis of existing prod-
ucts and markets and a look at ways
and means to overcome external
market impediments, including
countervail, biological and certifica-
tion issues and the activities of
“green” extremist groups. The paper

iso calls for an analysis of how gov-
ernments in Canada can play a role
to facilitate and stimulate trade in
forest products.

“The forest sector is the single
biggest contributor to Canada’s bal-
ance of payments and directly
employs 300,000 Canadians,” said
Haggard.

“As a country we need to recog-
nize this as an important industry
and we have to work hard on things
like: research and development;
increasing our international com-
pemavene ss; cultivating new mar-

ets; and finding new ways to over-
come current market impediments.”

- Kim Pollock

A MODEL RECOVERY

In the community of
Golden, B.C., Evans
Forest Products has
bucked the trend of
the rest of the forest
industry and has
saved jobs.

SEE PAGE 12

Ul cuts slammed by
CLC sponsored study

On January 26, the Canadian
Labour Congress released a compre-
hensive study on the dismantling of
Canada’s unemployment insurance
system since 1989.

Using Statistics Canada’s own
information, the CLC revealed that
today only about 36% of the coun-
try’s unemployed population is actu-
ally eligible for UI benefits.

That contrasts with 1989 when
over 72% of the unemployed could
collect benefits. Simply said, the
scourge of unemployment is not dis-
appearing, but the UI system is.

The CLC and federation of labour
affiliates in seven provinces held
regional press conferences in Van-
couver, B.C.; Winnipeg, Manitoba;
St. John’s, Newfoundland; Halifax,
Nova Scotia; Fredricton, New
Brunswick; Charlottetown, P.E.I;
and Regina and Saskatoon Sask-
atchewan to release localized reports
on the growing UI ineligibility num-
bers occurring in their regions.

The overall report, called Left Out
in the Cold: The End of UI Coverage
for Canadian Workers, gives num-
bers on the details of the percentage
of the jobless who get UI, broken
down by city, UI region and federal
riding.

The study, which cost the CLC
$20,000 and six months to complete,
details how the unemployed are
affected right across the country.

“Behind these appalling statistics
are the stories of thousands of unem-
ployed men and women who are suf-
fering — and the major reason is
that changes to unemployment
insurance has shut them out,” said
CLC President Bob White, at a press
conference in Ottawa.

“This is an absolute tragedy that
these people are not getting appro-
priate benefits out of the system
and it’s costing people across this
country a helluva lot of money,”
added White.

Nancy Riche, the CLC’s Executive
Vice President said: “No govern-
ment sincerely interested in improv-
ing the lives of its people would
allow this situation to continue.

“ If there’s one thing these stats
make clear it’s that the UI surplus
should be used to improve the bene-
fits and coverage of the unemployed.”

The study reveals some liar
numbers. In the cities of Regina and
Ottawa, only 19 percent of the job-
less get UI benefits. That goes to 24,
25 and 26 percent in Toronto, Win-
nipeg and Vancouver, respectively.
In 1989, 63 per cent of Vancouverites
could qualify for benefits.

For jobless Canadians between
the ages of 15 to 25, only 15 percent
qualified for benefits, compared to
55 percent ten years ago.

White said that changes put in by
the Liberals have made it tougher
for part time workers to quality for
benefits.

Sister Riche said the loss of UI
benefits has cost some federal con-
stituencies as much as $82 million
in benefits.

“Unemployment insurance pay-
ments not only help tide workers
over, but they have a direct benefit
to communities as well,” said Brother
White. “Unemployed workers pay
rent, use local drug stores, buy gro-
ceries for their families — they don’t
salt their money away in Swiss bank
accounts or banks in the Cayman
Islands.”

At a press conference held in the
I.W.A. CANADA boardroom in Van-
couver, B.C. Federation of Labour
Vice President Angela Schira
pointed out that over the past five
years, the federal government stole
$20 billion out of UI account sur-
plus and that, this year, the federal
Liberals are presenting a surplus
budget which is padded by theft
from the fund.

“The money is in there to protect
Canadians when they need protec-

tion. It is an insurance fund paid for
by workers and employers,” said

Sister Schira. “It’s not a pot for goy-
ernment to freely dip into. But that’s
exactly what the Liberals have
done.”

Unemployment insurance benefi-
ciaries have dropped in numbers to
about 500,000 Canadians, while
there are over 1.3 million unem-
ployed.

Of interest to 1.W.A. members
and others in rural resource-based
communities, UI benefits have
dropped by $1.4 billion in communi-
ties outside of the Lower Mainland
since 1989.

Schira said that the province has
two economies — the Lower Main-
land where things are better and
the economy in resource-dependent
communities where global economic
conditions are having a deep impact.

“The statistics show that at a time
when British Columbians need sup-
port from UI, they’re not getting it,”
she added.

“That has an impact on our local
economies. It has an impact on the
families in this province,” said
Schira.

“It’s no coincidence that as the
rate of child poverty in this country
keeps going up — families aren’t
getting the support they need.”

Some UI cheques are issued for
half the period they were in 1989.
Those payments provide much less
than 60 percent of weekly pay.

The CLC and federation affiliates
issued the UI report to pressure the
federal Liberal government into
restoring benefits.

It is pushing the Chretien govern-
ment to give benefits to at least 70
percent of the unemployed and boost
the cheques to at least 60 percent of
a worker’s regular weekly pay.

Schira mentioned that there is no
UI coverage for hundred of thou-
sands of Canadians that are forced
into self-employment.

For those who recieve benefits,
there are clawbacks for people earn-
ing more than $39,000 a year.

SS SSS SSSI