PHOTOS BY NORMAN GARCIA = The softwood lumber sector on the Coast of British Columbia has been hit the hardest and the forest industry is undergoing a fundamental restructuring. Toughing out the IWA Canada is suffering the onslaught of crippling American trade actions and is calling for federal assistance for workers, communities and companies BY NORMAN GARCIA constructive way by offering senior workers early retirement options. ene take a further toll on many more workers, their families and communi- ties before a settlement can be reached. There appears to be no end in sight. The IWA has the federal government to put an assistance package together to help forest industry workers, communities and small and medium-sized companies weather this storm. At the centre of efforts to restructure the Coast, where the impact has been felt the greatest, is a request for early retirement assistance from the federal govern- ment, including substantial financial assistance to the IWA-Forest Industry Pension Plan from the federal government. “Our local unions on the Coast have and are losing thousands of members,” says national union president Dave Haggard. “The industry is bound to restruc- ture itself to survive and whole swaths of workers are being affected. The reality is that we are trying to survive with a 27.2 percent tariff dangling around our neck and this is an extremely difficult time. We are losing jobs and market share every week this dispute drags on.” In addition, the coastal industry has greatly been affected, during the past decade and more, by takeaways from the working forest land base, increased stumpage and logging costs, and loss of markets in Japan and other Asian coun- tries. Haggard says government can help the industry restructure its workforce in a a IS AN EXPANDING concern in the IWA, that the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber war is going to been lobbying the B.C. provincial government and The average age of a forest worker on the coast is about seven years older than the ayer- age Canadian worker. In addition, over sixty per cent of workers on the Coast range between 40 and 59 years of age. The union is looking for federal assistance to help it, the industry and the government, put together a complete package to assist the inevitable transition that will take place. There needs to be enhanced severance packages pro- vided along with adequate pension bridging, and early retirement options, says Brother Haggard. “We are working hard to find constructive solutions to help the forest industry lower its costs,” says Brother Haggard. “If something isn’t done the industry is likely to eliminate more of the younger workforce which it will be needing to increase its future competitiveness.” The union is also pushing for job-training funds and adjustment assistance for forest-dependent communities. Just what amount of funding, if any, remains to be seen, as the Chretien Liberals assess whether or not U.S. lumber interests would deem federal assistance a subsidy. As of press time, the federal Liberals are reconsidering an assistance package that was proposed by the IWA in May. The national president says the forest industry must be treated, by govern- ments, with the same amount of consideration that other industries, such as the auto and aerospace industries, receive on a regular basis. “We think and hope the message is getting through the corridors of power in Ottawa,” says Brother Haggard, who notes that MP Herb Dhaliwal has pushed the issues at the federal cabinet and that B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has been helpful. WTO DECISIONS In late July, the WTO ruled against the U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports 10 1 THE ALLIED WORKER SEPTEMBER 2002