_ Manitoba loggers
__ continued from page thirty-two.

a ae eDelP, eney were Ene deeper into
_ debt, unable to pay their workers proper wages
and benefits. a ae .

Since then, with the I.W.A.’s assistance,
there has been a long struggle for justice to get
a full wage and benefits package, including a
pension plan.

Just this past summer the I.W.A. assisted a
crew in avoiding having its equipment
repossessed.

‘Now there is more support and stability for
us — we have a voice with the union on our
side,” said Ehman. “For too long I think
companies have been playing with people that
live and work in the North.”

Brother Arcand said that the system that
Tolko uses today to calibrate rates has been
insufficient to allow contractors to survive.

In Moose Lake, the contractors have an
obligation to train local people, some who have
not worked on or maintained equipment before.

“The company has never recognized the
restraints that Moose Lake Logging faces and
that lack of recognition is shown in the rates
they give the contractors,” said Arcand.

“In our view, Tolko has taken advantage of
the situation and we have actually seen very
productive logging crews nearly go broke in
recent times.”

“Now we're out to put Moose Lake on a good
footing and there is a real serious reluctance
that Tolko is showing at the table,” said Arcand,
who also acknowledged that the company has
put better supervision and coordination in the

£

Mercredi.

bush and is showing some willingness to work
with the union to keep the crews working in the

current economic downturn.
“In Manitoba, however, we are seeing what
happens when one employer has got a lock on
what goes in an area,” said

Operator Ernest Bercier.

2 With over 20 years of bush experience is feller buncher

Arcand. “The rates it pays
for wood are basically what
it dictates. Even if a
contractor can take ona
legal fight with the
company over rates, they
have to pay for it out of
their pocket. Even if they
win, Tolko can withhold
work, withhold monies and
eventually the issues go
away.”

“At one time the company
let the crew at Moose Lake
sit and be forced into
submission by an
agreement that was sub-
standard,” added Arcand.
“Tt didn’t work out because
of the tenacity of the Moose
Lake Logging company and
its contractors, who
suffered a lot of financial
hardship while the dispute
was going on.”

Local union president
Terry Derhousoff said that
Tolko’s agreements with
its contractors are “too
open-ended.”

“The company can change
the amount of wood that is
hauled at any time,” he
said. “They (Tolko)
basically set all the rules
and regulations and try to
exercise whatever they see
is their right to change
them on the go.”

Brother Derhousoff said
what happening at Moose
Lake Logging is very
important for the I.W.A.’s
future presence in the bush.

“What our union achieves
there will set the pattern
for the rest of the province
and other contractors to
follow if they want to make
progress,” he said. “Now
that they (Moose Lake
Logging) are working
towards full ‘Schedule A’
rates, if one gets it, the
other ones (contractors)
will be after them too.”

LOOKING FOR ECONOMIC
DIVERSITY

To lessen its dependency
on Tolko, the Mosakahiken
Cree, which are one of five
bands that belong to the
Swampy Cree Tribal
pane is looking for some

e At the Moose Lake Logging office are (l.) forwarder operator Arnold Buck and foreman John

i

new economic activities for itself and Moose
Lake Logging. It is trying to negotiate an
agreement with the province, Tolko and other
stakeholders, in order to obtain its own quota of
both softwoods and hardwoods.

“Since Moose Lake is under extreme financial
dependence to Tolko because it has no current
economic alternatives, it needs other economic
activities,” said Arcand.

They want to develop at least a primary
manufacturing facility for wood and have
identified potential markets for hardwood
products. Currently, Tolko by-passes hardwoods.

“There is a lot a stick-handling to be done to
reach some new agreements and we are there
to help out,” said Arcand.

Other Swampy Cree Tribal Council bands
have no formal relationship with the I.W.A.,
but Arcand hopes that will change.

“The council has been somewhat wary of
dealing with a big union,” said Arcand. “Many
are waiting to see what will happening with the
Moose Lake crew.”

“We were trying to organize all of the Swampy
Cree, but we’ve put that on hold for the time
being,” he added.

The Swampy Cree has developed its own
expertise in assisting bands such as the
Opaskwayak Cree Nation in The Pas, develop
projects and commercial activities.

“We hope that our agreement with Moose
Lake Logging will eventually establish us with
First Nations Cree all over northern Manitoba,”
said Arcand. “There is a ton of work to do and
the I.W.A. is committed to taking a long-term
approach.”

He added that “if we can stick together and
work as a group, we can get the rates up and
First Nations people will get a better deal on
the job.”

“Moose Lake has one of the most unique
collective agreements in Canada. It has members
from the only native band that we know of that
has this type of an agreement with a trade
union,” said Arcand. “We want to work with
them to make it work.”

In the realm of resource development, Local
324 has a committee which is advocating a
shared resource approach for the province.

“We don’t think that any corporation should
have total control over our resources,” said
Manitoba Federation of Labour vice-president
Gordon Landriault, himself a former Moose
Lake Logger. “They belong to the people of
Manitoba, including the First Nations.”

The union is lobbying government decision-
makers and community leaders to come on side.

At this point in time, it is hoped that Tolko
will obtain 200,000 cubic meters of annual cut
south of the 58rd parallel in the Swan River
Valley in exchange for as much as 200,000
cubic meters in northern Manitoba that can be
used for community development opportunities.

CHANGES WITH MOOSE LAKE CREW

Most of the Moose Lake Logging crew comes
from around Moose Lake itself and the isolated
community of Crossing Bay, which is located in
the 58rd Forest Section. It is about an hour an
a half drive northeast of The Pas. ‘

From 1972 to 1992, when jobs were more

continued on page thirty-four

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER 2001/33