e I.W.A. members and others from B.C., seen here marching to a protest rally outside TimberWest’s corporate headquarters in downtown Vancouver,

gave solid support to the workers in Youbou.

BC Federation of Labour rallies its support

A boisterous rally held in front of Timber-
West’s corporate headquarters in downtown
Vancouver on November 30 saw over 500 dele-
gates to the B.C. Federation of Labour’s conven-
tion protest against the export of raw logs in
support of 1.W.A. members at the company’s
Cowichan Lumbermill in Youbou.

Minutes before at the convention a resolution
was passed reaffirming the Fed’s opposition to
the export of logs and cants. The resolution also
called on the provincial labour body to coordi-
nate affiliates to campaign for provincial and
federal legislation banning log exports and to
undertake a direct action campaign against log
exporters.

Local 2171 first vice president Gary Kobayashi,
told delegates that “the timber resources of this
province where intended to benefit the people of
this province and not the shareholders of multi-
national corporations.”

Fed president Jim Sinclair told the rally that
“the woods industry is the fundamental back-
pone one of this province.”

“Tf we don’t protect our wealth and add value
to it — then we won’t have a future in this
province,” he said.

He said that money that goes into forest work-
ers’ pockets all over the province benefits com-
munities.

“We have to be clear with the federal govern-
ment — the logs that are coming off of private
jands are the responsibility of the federal gov-
ernment and they should get off their ass and
they should stop this right now!” shouted the
speaker. " :

He said that stopping raw log exports is a
“fundamental issue about the economy of the
province.” “

National union president Dave Haggard said
that Fletcher Challenge left workers with a
“pad mess” called TimberWest.

“They left us with a company that they spun-
off to raise more money for their faceless foreign
directors and shareholders...,” said Haggard.

“The logs of British Columbia and of Canada
are not for companies to give away to the United
States, Mexico or anyone else,” he said. “That’s
not what community stability means. It’s not
what the future of the forest industry and the
province of British Columbia should be — to
allow companies to reap the profits and wreak
havoc upon communities, upon workers, men
and women and their families.”

e National I.W.A. President Dave Haggard
addressed the rally.

“There’s something really wrong with that
picture when we allow that to happen and the
ederal government not once, not twice, but
three times has come within a whisker of chang-
ing the laws to allow them to do it,” he added.
“The message must be: Federal government —
don’t change the laws so they can take our logs
out of the country and take our jobs with them!”

Local 1-80 business agent Rick Whiteford said
that former TimberWest CEO Scott Folk, who
was replaced a week earlier, once told him that
shareholder’s come first and employees and
communities second.

He said that the company is throwing 220
workers and their families “into total chaos.”

Also at stake, said Whiteford, are some 600-
700 jobs in related trucking, cay nine reman-
ning and related spin-off jobs that will greatly
affect the people of Youbou, Lake Cowichan,
Duncan, Chemainus, Ladysmith and surround-
ing areas. Over $20 million of wages would be
lost each year.

“That’s tax dollars and money that the gov-
ernment’s not going to get,” he said.

Local 1-80 president Bill Routley told the
rally that in 1998 TimberWest bragged about
the fact that Youbou made a $1 million profit
and that the mill has made profits for the last

three years. It made $266,000 in September of
this year alone.

He said that the company has been ramping
up its raw log exports from 150,000 cubic meters
in 1998 to nearly 1 million cubic metres today.

Routley said that a mill closure review study
by consultant Peter Drake revealed that under
different ownership and, with a new vision, the
Youbou mill has a future.

“It’s outrageous that we aren’t getting inter-
vention into this situation by the federal gov-
ernment,” said the local union president. “They
ought to be toughening up and saying ‘we're not
going to allow log exports.’ Where is the federal
government support for B.C. and Canadian
workers?”

After meeting with B.C. Forest Minister Gor-
don Wilson, Routley and others were told that
the minister wants to listen to “both sides.”

“This is the side that’s on the right side,
morally and ethically, of this issue. The govern-
ment has got to step in and help this community
and these forest workers. Once these jobs are
lost, they are gone for all time.

“It’s the tip of the iceberg. If they can get
away with this, there will be more mills closed,”
said Routley.

¢ Local 1-80 president Bill Routley said govern-
ments must intervene.

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 2000/11