e George Deschene

° Bob Macnair

Overtime policy needed say delegates

The topic of union members not taking their
earned vacations has got. the dander up in more
than one local union. Working extra days while
fellow workers are off and new jobs could be cre-
ated is not the way to go, ruled the convention,
as it adopted a resolution calling on the national
union to make a policy that all earned vacations
must be taken.

Bob Macnair of Local 1-425 said the Weldwood
operation in Williams Lake has created some 44
full-time jobs because all employees have to take
their earned holidays.

It’s a bone of contention in his local. Macnair
has spoken on the issue at two different annual
meetings and has run into opposition from senior
people. Some ask why they should have to take
their holidays.

“] say it was negotiated at the provincial nego-
tiating table on your behalf, to have earned hol-
idays, paid holidays.,” he said, “...what about the
Reople that are on call that are getting one or two

ys a week?”

“T re wish that a lot of the delegates here
would go back to their local operations and nego-
tiated interim agreements in conjunction with
their local that all earned vacations must be
taken, because if we can create 44 full-time jobs
in one plant in our local, and if all the plants in

local were small, we’d probably create 250
jobs, especially at a time of tech change and

doy ng: and jobs are disappearing hand over
ist.

John Little of Local 1-80 said that the coast
master agreement says that all earned vacations
must be taken even though they may not work a
full year.

He said that the issue must be addressed at
the next wage and contract conference.

Dale Oberg of Local 1-85 said that in logging
some workers have only gotten in three months
a year.

“It’s pretty hard to get them to take their
earned vacations,” he said.

Don Sampson of Local 1-3567 said his local
dealt with an arbitration case where workers
were not taking all of their earned vacations
through a contract and workers grieved it. The
case was won.

“So there is something in writing as far as an
arbitration goes, so whatever people want to do
with that, they can take into consideration,” he
said. If workers don’t take their allotted time off
an arbitrator could make the company pay those
laid off workers.

Local 1-3567 president Sonny Ghag said that,
in his local, there are at least 300-400 people
working because the clause is enforced. The local
forces workers to take their earned weeks off.

“But if you only earned one week or two weeks,
then that’s what you have to take,” he said. “We

don’t force (e.g. senior people) to take six weeks
off if’ they only work two or three months in that
year...

George Deschene of Local 1-424 said his
employer will lay people off because of lack of
quota or near year end and say they should take
their vacations at that time. Ifnot they don’t take
them, they are put on lay-off and are not out long
enough to collect EI.

He said that any policy must be closely looked
at for its effects on crews with less seniority.

Surinderpal Rathor of Local 1-425 said that
taking earned vacations can have positive effects
on worker health and safety.

“If we can force everybody to take their holi-
day, just imagine when you come back, you pro-
duce more, you're all fresh,” he said. “It’s roa for
your health, it’s good for your safety. You're not
a burnout.” ~

He said that, although agreements are negoti-
ated in individual plants, the union has to have
a policy to stand on. .

“We will never get any better holiday provi-
sions in our contracts if we don’t start using our
holidays,” said Local 1-425’s Ron Colville. “You
take 12 people with four weeks holidays — that’s
a year’s work for somebody. Why the hell have
everybody sitting there with all those holidays
and not using them? We could be putting a lot of
people back to work here that are laid off.”

eS

Regulations needed
on private lands

The way private forest managed forest lands
are managed in British Columbia, especially in
ards to annual allowable cuts, are a big issue
‘union members. This year the union passed

lution calling for the government to step in

ions over har-

” said Mearns.

Lake Cowichan area or
jn the Alberni Valley

e Dan Clements

a Monty Mearns

that the MacMillan Bloedels (now Weyer-
haeuser) and the TimberWests are simply deci-
mating those stands of timber. I think it’s high
time, as we move further and further into sec-
ond growth forests, that we clearly have to move
to a sustainable level.”

Local 1-80’s Carmen Rocco pointed out that

the intent of the resolution is to affect the major
corporate land holders and not the small wood-
Jot owners of ordinary British Columbians.

Jeff Broughton of Local 1-85 said that it is
important for communities that there be a sus-
tainable development of the forest resource. He
also said it’s important for the membership that
logs second growth and has a good year, not to
believe it will carry on.

“Because in five years that’s all going to be
gone, and they’re going to be in the worst reces-
sion we’ve seen in the Cowichan and Alberni val-
leys,” added Broughton.

“We have to look at it. We really have to put
the various governments to the fires on this one,
or else we're not going to have a sustainable for-
est industry in B.C.,” he said.

Dan Clements of Local 1-80 said that the union
has called time after time for the appropriate
taxing of private lands that are taken out oh ‘man-
aged forest lands status. Such a policy is neces-
sary to maintain the forest land base, he said.

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1999/29