* Over 100 staff members from 20 local unions attended the two-day education and information conference. Among them were (I. to r.) New Brunswick Local 306's John Richard and Mario Fortunato, and national organizer Lisa Mu. B.C. Fed rep continued from page thirty-five ‘These are questions that are basic to run effective campaigns, said Legg. GENERAL DISCUSSION In promoting communication with their local union members, several “local union reps put forward their local’s experiences. Among them was Nick Doubinin of Local 2171 who said that his local’s newspaper is now gettin; into the homes of individua members and is spreading the word although it is difficult to yet measure the effectiveness of the publication. Timeliness of news is a key concern he said. Local 1-80’s Brian Butler said doing mail-outs can be costly for locals. Certification sizes in his local range from between one or two people to 200 or more. “It’s impossible to get one (local newsletter) into every individual in every operation,” he added. Fred Carroll, president of Local 1- 424, said that communication in his northern B.C. jurisdiction is hard due to the immense distances between operations. His local is looking at communicating to its members over the mountain pine beetle infestation which is affecting large swathes of timberlands in the north on into the southern Interior. Jack Alexander of Local 830 in Winnipeg said e-mail is an effective communication tool and said a recent survey indicated that 20 per cent of his local reads e-mail at home. Legg said that government. surveys show about a 16 per cent communications effectiveness through e-mail releases. “You have to look at the economies of scale,” he suggested. Local 1-3567’s Earl Graham told conference delegates that business agents in his jurisdiction are instructed to get into operations at least once every six weeks where they distribute information, including the local newspaper and notifications to put on the union bulletin board. “They (the members) want to know what we’re doing,” he said. Advance notice and one-on-one contact is also important, and discussions with the plant chairman are vital in order to disseminate information, he added. Local 368 officer Erik Eriksson said to communicate effectively the union must reach the members with its message up to five and six times. He said that messages must be consistent from all sources. National staffer Bob Navarretta said that the labour movement in general lacks a major com- munications tool “whether its provincial or federal” and that members are bombarded by messages from big corporations through the corporate media. He questioned why unions do not pool their resources to get labour’s messages to their members. Local 2995 officer Guy Bourgoin said his local is looking at getting the financial resources to release rank- and-file union members to go out and disseminate union information. Local 1000 president Joe da Costa said union people and workers lead busy lives with raising their families. “It’s a challenge to get them organized,” he said, adding that the union needs to develop simple, quick messages. Jim Parker of Local 2171 said that local can’t count on workers “being interested 100 per cent of the time.” “You have to bring them in when it’s important - you have to give them something to do,” he said. He cited the 1986 B.C. forest industry strike as a time when his local (then Local 217 in Vancouver) encouraged rank-and- file members to get involved in the fight-back effort. As a result, many activists rose out of the membership and it benefited local union activists for years.@ Get involved in NDP says B.C. Fed leader “We were not supposed to win the 1996 (B.C.) election,” said Sister la Schira, secretary-treasurer of the B.C. Federation of Labour. “The day after the election, Glen Clark poked the media and the ess community in the eye and they said ‘never again is it (an NDP election victory) going to happen.’ And that’s the main thrust of what’s ing (today) in B.C.” hira spoke to sessions of the workshop on political action and the ing of the social democratic movement. She introduced herself start B.C.’s shipbuilding industry. It created over 300 skilled jobs and in an industry that was on its knees. Sister Schira said the labour movement didn’t do a good enough job of “connecting the dots for our members” and pointing out the benefits of the project’s job creation. Schira exhorted I.W.A. members to be come more involved in politics within the N) Dene to have more, stronger and louder voices. She said there has been a decline in union activity in the federal NDP since the late 1980’s when Ed Broadbent led the party, and a drop in labour support for the provincial party since the 1970’s and 1980's, when Dave Barrett was in . Union involvement has dropped off at all levels. “Part of that is for us to fix and for us to ensure tat some of the messages about jobs are foremost, said Sister Schira. Schira said that many union members have been won over by the right wing and there are issues of concern between the trade union leadership and the membership that require debate. Reaching out to the members takes work and dedication. Schira offered an example of the United Steelworkers of America’s “Rapid Response Program” which releases rank-and-file members to work on elections and other political issues. The program has had a huge impact on referendum ballots in the United States and is having an impact in Canada. “We talk a good talk about lobbying but we don’t do enough rank-and - » file lobbying,” she said, noting that the green movement “is beating us at our own game.” Environmentalists conducted a massive fax and phone campaign to stop logging in the “Great Bear Rainforest.” Schira said the NDP and the labour movement used to be good at rank-and-file campaigns. “We have to go back to use those tactics,” she said. m LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 2001/37 e B.C. Fed secretary-treasurer Angela Schira.