Local unions hold a
breath on Canada- §
U.S. lumber dispute

The I.W.A. Canada is calling for free
and fair trade of lumber products
with the United States as a
countervail duty strikes the industry,
forcing thousands of layoffs.

@jhe impact of the 19.31 per cent
preliminary countervail against
Canadian softwood exports announced
on August 10 by the U.S. Department
of Commerce (DOC) is having an effect

z on the softwood lumber industry
throughout the country.

That trade action, coupled with an upcoming
decision (likely on October 15) by the DOC on “anti-
dumping” charges (alleging that various Canadian
lumber producers ship their products to the
United States below the costs of production), has
L.W.A. officials extremely concerned.

Early reactions are coming in across the country.

“How our local unions are dealing with the

impact varies a great deal,” said national president,
Dave Haggard. “The amvacts at this point in time,
is being felt more on the coast of B.C., and in
areas where the industry has had serious
difficulties over the past several years.”

“Generally all local unions, with the exception
of the Maritimes (the U.S. trade actions have
exempted New Brunswick and other east coast
provinces) are reporting very serious. concerns
about the present and future effect of the
countervail and potential anti-dumping charges,”
added Haggard.

The union is united in its call for free trade in
lumber products with the United States.

“Although our union was never comfortable
with the (1989) free trade agreement with the

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United States and the
(1994) North American
Free Trade agreement with
the U.S. and Mexico, those
are realities that we have

to live with,” said Haggard.
“It’s time for the Americans
to, once and for all, achieve
free and fair trade in
lumber products with Canada. It’s not right that
they demand access to our gas, oil, water and
everything else, yet turn the other way when it
comes to Canadian lumber.”

Over the past 20 years, and even before, the
Canadian lumber industry has been attacked by
American timber interests who want to limit
Canada’s share of U.S. markets.

The latest CVD is a body blow to the industry,
across-the-boards. ‘

ON THE COAST OF B.C.

“There’s going to be a whole lot of pain and
suffering by a lot of people,” said Local 2171
president Darrel Wong, whose jurisdiction covers
logging operations from Pemberton, the entire
Mainland coast, and northern part of Vancouver
Island and Queen Charlotte Islands. It also has
jurisdiction over mills in Vancouver and
Squamish.

Hardest hit to date are the Weyerhaeuser
Queen Charlotte Island

¢ Value-added remanufacturing operations are not exempt from the 19.31

per cent preliminary countervail ruling.

crews (including
contractors), Doman
Industries mills in
Vancouver (Vancouver
Sawmill Division and
Silvertree) and Doman-
Western loggers on
Vancouver Island and
the coast.

Doman has requested
that it be exempt from
the CVD and has also
applied to the DOC for
an exemption of its
cedar production,
arguing like the rest of
the industry, that cedar
is specialty product that
the U.S. can’t provide
to its own market and
does not compete with
dimension white woods.

Also affected in a
general curtailment of
Weyerhaeuser’s cedar
mills were 400 members
at the company’s
Canadian White Pine
division in Vancouver.
On August 17 the crew
was laid of for two weeks
and possibly longer.

Brother Wong said
that most of Interfor’s
logging operations on
the coast will be down
by mid-September and
that the Skeena
Cellulose sawmill in

e The impact of the tariff is being felt right across Canada in virtually
all parts of the softwood lumber industry.

Terrace had plans to go back to work which have
been canceled due to the CVD.

In Prince Rupert, Northcoast Timber has laid
off 45 I.W.A. members, while in those hard-hit
Queen Charlotte Islands all Weyerhaeuser
company and contractors (Edwards and Associates
and Olmarig Logging) are not back to work even
after layoffs of up to eight months. The Olympic
Louis Island operation was laid off for those eight
months prior to returning to work in June for a
small cut of approximately 80,000 cubic meters.

Doman-Western loggers just got back to work
on Vancouver Island before they went down for
another two weeks at the end of August,
Meanwhile Canfor Englewood division plans to
log until the end of September but beyond thatis
uncertain. TimberWest’s Beaver Cove has laid off
about 80 members.

Brother Wongisevs the 19.31 per cent tariffis
the final straw that may Hp some companies over
the edge. He calculates at least 2,000 layoffs in a
local which has 5,500 members depending on
seasonal employment.

“Our members have had a tough time of it and
there are so many issues coming together at one
time including stumpage costs,” he said. “This
19.3 percent tariff is a big ticket item.” *

“We've had difficulty with the concept of free
trade for quite a while and the reality is that
when you are working with the United States,
there isn’t any (free trade) at all,” he commented.

“We've got to get out to all the (forest dependent)
communities across Canada and get them involved
—there’s a helluva lot of people who are impacted,”
added Wong. ‘

Local 1.80 president Bill Routley said at the
Doman operations, which have between 800-1000
workers in his local, the workers are very
concerned and the company is reeling from the
softwood tariff, Shutdowns are in effect at the
Nanoose Forest Products mill in Chemainus, the
Cowichan Bay mill and the Doman-Western
Nanaimo Sawmill operation (formerly Mayo

Forest Products). % ‘ 4
Smail reman operations in the local have also
that once

been hit. 3
“There’s a concern from our membe! pa
they go down, are they going to come pack to

" work?” said Brother Routley.

Doman has hired former FRBC chairman and

ex-I.W.A. local and national officer Roger Stanyer
to assist in analyzing a restructurin, of the
company, which is in dire financial straights.

The impact on logging, said Routley, has not
been immediate “but I think that’s coming too.”

Routley pointed out that the U.S. trade actions
focus mainly on the stumpage system when there
are some many other factors involved in costing
out lumber production.

“Our system as a whole is completely different
system than the American system and they are

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