nied

AROUND THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

FTQ ask for talks with Charet

@ = The Quebec Federation of
“> Labour president Henri
= Massé sent a message of
FTO congratulations to new

Liberal premier Jean Charet on May
Day, requesting dialogue on many
issues including pay equity, public
sector bargaining, workplace health
and safety and the increasing rate of
poverty in the province. “The FTQ is
taking a cooperative tone in its ini-
tials approaches to the government,
which the IWA believes is the best
way to go,” says Norm Rivard, IWA
national second vice president.

Local 1-207 delegates in Cowtown

AFL held annual in Calgary

Local 1-207 sent six
delegates to the
AFL convention in
early May where
the union received unanimous sup-
port in opposing any changes to
Alberta's forest policy before broad
consultation with unions, communi-
ties and the public takes place —- and

the government has a mandate to

make change. Delegates also
approved a resolution to create a

strategy against workplace drug
testing, to educate the members on
the topic and support local unions
facing it in their workplaces.

B.C. Federation of
em chorus of opposition
complete public review on any such
with the people of British Columbia by

Sinclair calls for delay on Act

Labour president Jim

Sinclair joined the

BCFED to the B.C. Liberals’

changes to forest policy and called for a
changes. The federation president said
the changes “rip up another contract
stripping away community rights to
timber and jobs.”

Labour issues campaign goes
into its second phase
IWA Local 1-184 president Paul
Hallen, says that Saskatchewan IWA.
members should keep up to date on
the Saskatchewan Federation of
Labour's “Labour Issues Campaign”
as it heads into its second and third
phases this spring and summer. The
SFL is encouraging members to be
families, including
health care, jobs, the
tion. You can follow the campaign by
visiting the website: www.tappedin-

aware and involved
preservation of public
tolabour.org

in issues that affect
workers and their

sector assets, a sustainable environ-

ment and jobs, training and educa-

PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA

= ACLC report notes that two-thirds of workers between 55-59 years
old remain active in the Canadian workforce.

Senior workers remaining in jobs

GO TO AN IWA conven-

tion and you'll see that

y most of the delegates are

getting grayer and grayer.

And you'll notice a whole

bunch of new, younger facers popping
up too!

So what’s with all the senior work-
ers? Well, part of the reason is that the
union’s membership is still heavily
weighted in forest industry manufac-
turing.

There haven’t been that many new
jobs created in the past couple of
decades, especially on the Coast. More
and more mills are disappearing and
the average seniority age is creeping
up. In fact, on the Coast of British

Columbia alone, the average age of a
worker is seven years higher than aver-
age member of the Canadian work
force. And fully sixty per cent of B.C.
forest industry workers, in both log-
ging operations and the mills, are
between 40 and 59 years-old.

In the rest of the Canadian economy,
recent statistics show a similar trend
for the graying population. In the age
bracket of between 55 to 59 years, the
percentage of people working rose
from 62.8 per cent 66 per cent
between 2000-2002.

Senior workers are not quitting —
they are increasing in the labour force.

Over the same time period, accord-
ing to the Canadian Labour Congress,

the proportion of workers between
Go - 64 years old rose from 37.4 per
cent to 42.4. Most of that increase, in
the most senior age bracket, took place
last year.

According to an analysis conducted
by the Canadian Labour Congress, one
in three new jobs created in 2002 went
to a person 55 years of age and over.

As the surge in employment rates
for older workers has taken place, the
CLC speculates that the impact of the
stock market meltdown, prior to and
after September 11, 2001, has caused
the loss of retirement funds for many
older workers.

They are getting concerned about
their retirements. Many have chosen to
return to the workforce on a part-time
basis. Almost 31 per cent of women
between 55-59 work part-time while
about 18.5 percent of males do the
same.

The average hourly earning for a
males between 55-59 was about $23.96
last year, which is some $3.58 an hour
above the average of all workers, men
and women, That dropped to $21.37 for
men between 60-64, but still above the
average for all workers. For women
workers in Canada, the figures were
$16.67 and $15.17 for the 55-59 and 6o-
66 year-old categories, respectfully.

The IWA has been working hard to
assist its older members retire with
dignity. During the current softwood
lumber battle with the United States,
national union president Dave
Haggard has been working diligently
on getting federal assistance to help
bridge out senior members.

For instance, rather than waste
money on transition plans that don’t
work, the union says that $150 million
would help about 3,000 workers retire
from the industry, making room to
keep younger workers going, mean-
while keeping labour costs lower.

“A lot of our members would like to
retire,” says Brother Haggard, who also
points out that during current negotia-
tions with the industry, pensions are
once again a big issue for [WA mem-
bers. “The plan was in very good shape
two years ago and we can recover.
everyone else, we have suffered on the
investment side due to the overall per-
formance of the markets,” he adds.

Fed protest for WCB changes
On May 29 the New Brunswick
Federation of Labour led a rally out-
side the legislative assembly in
Fredericton to protest the govern-
ment's refusal to
implement changes

labour and business
representatives.
Included in the WCB's call for legis-
lation are mandatory training of
OH&S committees and enhanced
first aid training. NBFL members
have resigned from the WCB
process as a result. “These were
changes that we asked for by the
business community as well as
labour,” says Local 306 financial
secretary John Richard. “It shows
that the government has no respect
for working people.”

The Pas hosts MFL OH&S
conference for first time
On May 8 and 9 the northern com-
munity of The Pas, home of |WA
Canada Local 324,
@ played host to the
Gor MFLs Occupational
Health and Safety
= Conference. “It was a
big boost for our
community which
has been suffering economically for
quite some time,” says local union
business agent and safety director
Chris Parlow. Hotels, including the IWA-
certified Wescana Inn, saw business
pick up as union reps from across the
province poured into town. In other
news, Local 830 president Jack
Alexander finished his duties as an
MFL representative on a tripartite com-
mittee reviewing health and safety reg-
ulations in late May.

OFL calls for compensation
for workers affected by SARS
Ontario Federation of Labour presi-
dent Wayne Samuelson has called
upon the Tory gov-
ernment to proper-
ly compensate all
workers affected by
the quarantines
related to the out-
break of Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Thousands of people, including pub-
lic health care workers, sent home
due to a possible SARS exposure,
have not been compensated for lost
wages. The WSIB refuses to compen-
sate workers even though premier
Ernie Eves stated that employers or
the WSIB should be turned to. In a
letter to Eves, Brother Samuelson
said the government should take a
lead in the crisis and provide com-
pensation and “give these workers
credit for protecting our society...”

OFL/FTO

16 | THE ALLIED WORKER JUNE 2003