convention — Safety resolutions get green light NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING - the delegates passed a resolution to pressure appropriate governments to have April 28 recognized as a statutory holiday. WORKERS COMPENSATION BOARD - the convention passed a resolution calling for the I.W.A. to enter into an awareness program that will make members aware of the benefits of report- ing workplace injuries. WCB CLAIMS - the union will urge governments to pass legislation taking away the ability of com- panies to appeal workers compensation claims. WCB APPEALS - the B.C. government will be lob- bied to enact time lines for review board hear- ings to one month after the part 2 of the WCB appeal has been filed. ONTARIO HEALTH AND SAFETY CUTS - the union will join with the OFL and other unions to fight for the return of benefit levels and employer responsibilities that have been eliminated by the Harris government. SAFETY TRAINING PROCEDURES - the union passed a resolution calling on the I.W.A., the forest industry, and government agencies to implement comprehensive training procedures, certifying all forest industry workers in proper and safe work procedures. on multinational corporations. ¢ The IAM’s Randall Rice said that workers on both sides of the border must band together to take Time to unite against common employers says guest speaker Rice IAM speaker Randall Rice, the Grand Lodge Representative from Memphis, Tennessee brought a message of solidarity to I.W.A. mem- bers from his American brothers and sisters. “I want to talk a little bit about the workers in Canada and the U.S. beating back the forces that would keep us apart, because on both sides of this border that we've got, this imaginary line that’s between us, are the employers that will beat us up and take advantage if we let them,” said Brother Rice. “The politicians in your coun- try and mine would like nothing better than to please the corporate bosses that control them and keep us apart. It strokes their inflated egos every time they see us squabble over things like their law on the softwood lumber tariff agree- ments, over things like U.S. workers got to com- pete with the Canadian workers. And I’ve heard in this room — not today, but this week, that the employers tell the Canadian workers that you’ve got to compete with those low wages down south.” “It’s the same old thing they’ve done for years. Big business, (and) the government that they control, dividing the working people and keep them apart so they can exploit them on both sides of the border,” he added “We have to know what they’re doing to us and be aware of that and keep our heads out of that sand so we don’t let them work us over,” Rice said. Rice said that in Arkansas, Weyerhaeuser “every chance they get, tells the workers that they need to reduce their health care costs, that they don’t need to be getting higher wages, they don’t need to be all of this stuff because of the wood that’s coming down from Canada.” He said that although the U.S. housing mar- ket is very robust, mills south of the line are taking down time because of the glut on the market. He added that companies like Weyer- haeuser and International Paper are all doing it. “Did the workers cause the glut on the mar- ket or was it because the employers worked us all the hours that we could work for years, 10, 12 hours a day and created an artificial glut on the market, and now they want to beat us over the heads with it and hold us down. Do we understand that on both sides of the border, that they’re working us over, and that we have to, brothers and sisters, share with one another those ideas and learn what Weyerhaeuser is telling you folks in Canada and what they’re telling us in the States, so that we know that they are playing the game with us.” He said the IAM and the I.W.A. can keep up communications on partnerships in the work- place, as they have done in the past few years. Rice said that the two unions can work together on the softwood lumber agreement and share ideas. “because you don’t have all the problems, we have our share too.” He encouraged more exchanges of leaders and workers among the organizations to build on ne Telshonehip that has already been estab- ished. REE el Legislative resolutions Continued from page thirty-one SECTORAL BARGAINING - all provincial govern- ments will be lobbied to prowde for sectoral bar- gaining in all Labour Relations Codes. EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS - the conven- tion demanded that the federal government establish a piparty. conference of labour and overnment to establish programs and benefit levels which will assist the unemployed. E.I. AND VACATION PAY - the union will demand that the federal government change the legisla- tion so that vacation pay is not used as income to disqualify claimants from E.I. benefits. EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE - the union demands that the federal government increase unemploy- ment insurance benefit periods, extend them and make benefits easier to get. SECTION 19 OF E.I. ACT - the union voted to demand that the federal government change the E.I, Act so workers won't be penalized for incorrectly estimating declared earnings, pebeca lag the cases where they are in excess of 125% o: claimant’s gross weekly benefits. PRESCRIPTION DRUGS - the union will lobby the B.C. government to demand that all prescribed non-generic drugs be recognized and paid for by B.C. Pharmacare. STATUTORY HOLIDAYS - federal and provincial governments will be lobbied to add more statu- tory holidays to the calendar year. TRUCK TAX - the union will lobby the B.C. gov- ernment to prevent a tax being put on trucks and utility vehicles as it will only increase the burden that members in rural areas face. INTEREST RATES - the delegates passed a resolu- tion calling on the federal government to restrict interest charges on all credit cards to not more than 1-1/2% over Prime Rate. HIRING PRACTICES - the union demands that all provincial governments introduce and enforce legislation preventing employers from inquiring about past WCB claims and unrelated medical problems on employment application forms, using WCB file information for reasons other than claim appeal purposes and denying employ- ment on the basis of past compensation claims or medical history. ¢ Local 1-85 President Monty Mearns debating a legislative resolution. 32/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 2000