Call sent to
women for
LW.A.
conference

The call to local unions across the
I.W.A. is going out to send accred-
ited delegates to the first-ever Con-
stitutional Women’s Education Con-
ference to be held in Richmond, B.C.
between June 8-10.

At the conference elections will be
held to establish an I.W.A. National
Women’s Committee for a two year
term. Positions to be elected are
chairperson, first, second, third, and
fourth vice chairpersons, and secre-
tary-treasurer.

Brenda Wagg, chair of the women’s
standing committee, says the union
is hoping there will be full partici-
pation from women in every part of
the I.W.A. Each local unian is enti-
tled to sent one delegate for every
1000 members or fraction thereof.

The conference will hear from
national union president Dave Hag-
gard and Sister Angela Schira, sec-
retary-treasurer Angela of the B.C.

° Local 500’s Mary Lou Scott, seen here at a National IWA Women’s Conference in Winnipeg in 1998, makes a

point to her union sisters.

Federation of Labour..

It will offer basic and advanced
workshops. Basic workshops include
the topics of assertiveness training,
stress and time management, and
harassment/human rights. The
advanced classes include effective
communication, parliamentary pro-

cedure and public speaking.

All topics are important to the
advancement of women in the I.W.A.
and were chosen by the standing
committee.

The elected National Women’s
Committee will act as an advisory
body to the national executive board

on women’s issues and will formu-
late and adopt policy matters.

“It’s an important conference for
the women of the I.W.A. to be at,”
added Sister Wagg. “The women’s
committee is now recognized in our
constitution and that’s an achieve-
ment that we must build on.”

Vibrant second growth appears in infamous ‘black hole’

Peter Crofts, Paul Guiden, Dave Culley, and Ed Lopez.

When national union employment
coordinator Ron Corbeil recently
visited the west coast of Vancouver
Island he dropped in on Local 1-85
members to explain new changes to
their collective agreement with
NewForest Opportunities.

“What I seen was rather interest-
ing,” he said. “It was how the infa-
mous ‘black hole” has more than
greened up, it is turning into a fast-
growing plantation forest.”

Corbeil was referring to an area
adjacent to the west coast Highway
4 junction for Ucluelet and Tofino.
On the south side of the road exist-
ing a logged off site that was har-
vested by Millstream Timber in
1986 and later burnt before being
replanted.

The remained charred stumps and
landscape become know as the “black
hole,” an area which environmental
groups used against the forest indus-
try and against workers in their suc-
cessful fight to shut down virtually

all logging in the Clayoquot Sound.

In 1989 then B.C. premier Bill Van-
derzalm stood on a stump in the
clearcut with the media present and
pronounced the area as “disgraceful.”

It was the beginning of the end
for logging in the area.

Four years later environmental-
ists were out blocking roads in Clay-
oquot Sound and pitched a tent
camp for most of the summer in the
black hole where the Aussie rock
band Midnight Oil held a concert.

“It was quite the scene,” recalls
Brother Corbeil. “After the environ-
mentalists left the local community
went in and cleaned up the garbage
left behind.”

Ten to twelve trucks were filled
with refuse.

“Even the (NewForests) crew
today has stumbled across bottles
and things tied back with rope,”
said Corbeil.

In the late 1980’s it was a high
profile eyesore. Today it’s a vibrant

young forest. Union members have
been in to take out.the competing
deciduous bush and do some
enhanced silviculture.

“Our guys are in there doing this
type of work. They want to see suc-
cessful second growth of trees and
help the area turn into a productive
stand to support a future genera-
tion,” said Corbeil.

a
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Photo by Monty Mearns

Photo taken in 1996, shows Millstream Timber log loading in the same area.

LUMBERWORKER/April, 2001/19