HINGE PLANT A PLACE FOR GOOD LABOUR RELATIONS At the Larsen and Shaw hinge manufacturing plant in Walker- ton, Ontario, there have only been two grievances in the past 12 years — something the union rarely sees. SEE PAGE 16 AT THE WAPAWEKKA LUMBER LTD. SAWMILL near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, are Local 1-184 members and mill technicians, (I. to r.) Carman Hancheroff, Angelique Chenard and Louise Nelson. Photo was taken before the grand opening of the new joint venture mill on June 24. For feature story see pages 8, 9 and 23. Union cautious on proposed merger between MacBlo and Weyerhaeuser he June 21 announcement that the Weyerhaeuser Company intends to take over MacMillan Bloedel was met with surprise and caution by the LW.A. “We were not expecting this and the conventional wisdom was that MacBlo was out there shopping around to take over other companies or parts of companies,” said national union president Dave Haggard. “We are obviously concerned about the impact that any increased corporate concentration brings to Canadian workers,” he added. “Although both companies now say that it is too early to gauge what the impact will be on jobs, our union knows from experience the mergers can often mean more rationalization of operations and employment.” 1.W.A. represents about 4,500 MacBlo employees in British Colum- bia, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Most are employed in logging and sawmill operations on the Coast of B.C. while Weyerhaeuser forest roducts operations employing EWA. members are concentrated in the B.C. Interior, Alberta and _ Saskatchewan. Weyerhaeuser is interested in acquiring MacMillan Bloedel’s in lumber, oriented strand- and plywood, other building materials and packaging materials. Haggard said that the union is pleased that both companies claim that the current construction of a new giant oriented strandboard plant in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan will proceed should a merger take place. He also welcomed statements that there would be a continued commitment to worker safety in all operations and that Weyerhaeuser may focus some research and devel- opment on new value-added prod- ucts in Canada. At the merger announcement Weyerhaeuser CEO Steve Rogel said that the company is deepening its roots in Canada with the $3.6 billion bid. Weyerhaeuser has 35,000 employees worldwide and would employ 11,500 in Canada after a merger, about 5,500 which would be from MacMillan Bloedel. When asked about the commit- ment to existing plants, Rogel said he was non-committal and that his company had not yet looked at each individual facility. However he did say there would be a “minimal addi- tion” to the synergies (between the two epeipanies) by laying off work- ers, and that layoffs would more i occur inside the companies’ head offices should a merger be approved by shareholder and gov- ernment regulatory authorities. Said Haggard: “We have worked well with both companies during the past couple of years and are cau- tiously optimistic that they will not attempt to do any more downsizing in the foreseeable future although there is never any guarantee. Our union wants to work to grow the business for both MacMillan Bloedel and Weyerhaeuser and create more job opportunities for our members whether or not the merger goes through.” During the announcement Tom Stephens, MacBlo’s president and CEO, said that the last thing he had on his mind was to sell the company. Since taking over, Stephens cut 2,700 jobs and sold off the conipany’s pulp and paper divisions. He threat- ened to sell OSB operations and, when prices rose, embarked on the Saskfor MacMillan expansion pro- ject in Hudson Bay. “We had our tank filled up with fuel and our balance sheet was clear and the phone rang,” said Stephens. On the other end was Rogel. The union’s “cautious optimism” is reflected in the diversity of concerns over the announced merger. Local 2171 Heacen Darrel Wong said his local is not philosphically opposed to the deal but that it is con- cerned over closures of existing man- Continued on page two Haggard calls for reform to forest renewal Forest Renewal B.C. is flounder- ing and it should be fixed or scrapped, says I.W.A. National President Dave Haggard. As amem- ber of the Board of FRBC, Haggard says that the program has to be reworked to produce better results on the ground in creating steady, good paying jobs on both the Coast and the Interior regions. “The whole pro- gram has im- proved since its early days but there is still along |\ ways to go,” he says. “FRBC has |” tried to reform its command and control structure into one where there is results- based spending and the results have been mixed.” Haggard charges that many of the FRBC jobs have been short-term, low-paying “welfare jobs” with little ae for workers and their fami- es. Ron Corbeil, the union’s FRBC coordinator says that the silvicul- ture jobs that have been created often only last a week or two and are too scattered for any continuity of employment. ° Dave Haggard Continued on page two 99 Convention set for Ontario The upcoming 1999 national con- vention promises to be interesting and exciting, both on and off the con- vention floor. Over 180 delegates are scheduled to appear in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario between September 20-24. There will be a range of speakers, including Ontario Federation of Labour President Wayne Samuelson, United Steelworkers’ National Direc- tor Lawrence McBrearty, and the International Association of Machin- ists’ International President and Canadian General Vice-President Tom Buffenburger and Dave Ritchie. Also speaking will be the IAM’s Administrative Assistant Rod Kilty and Randall Rice from Memphis. Delegates will also hear from On- tario NDP Leader Howie Hampton, and possibly Gary Doer, leader of the NDP in Manitoba. A new delegate orientation meet- ing will take place on September 19 followed by a casual social and dur- ing the week a spousal orientation meeting will be offered in addition to the convention banquet and social evening. “It will definitely be lots of fun but there is a lot of serious business to be taken care of as well,” says National Secretary Treasure Terry Smith.