IN THE CROSSHAIRS ° 10-11 THE ALLIED VOL.68 NO.3 AUGUST 2003 NEWS FROM THE INDUSTRIAL, AND ALLIED WORKERS OF CANADA Pattern agreements rejected in parts of Interior and accepted in others IN B.C. THE IWA is facing a unique situation in forest industry negotiations. Although a six-year pat- tern agreement was reached in the southern and northern Interior regions, some local unions have rejected it and others have accepted it. The southern agreement with the Interior Forest Labour Relations Association (IFLRA), covering about 5,000 IWA members in Locals 1-405, 1-417 and 1-423, was rejected by a col- lective vote, even though two of three local unions (Cranbrook and Kamloops) accepted it (see page 18). In the northern and central Interior regions, the Local 1-424 membership is strongly voting against the pattern agreement, mill-by-mill. Deals with the Council on Northern Interior Forest Employment Relations (CONIFER), covering some 2,500 workers have been largely rejected as well as agreements with Canfor oper- ations and Weldwood mills. Canfor covers about 1,700 IWA members while Weldwood covers about 1,500. Williams Lake Local 1-425 has rati- fied agreements with Weldwood and CONIFER bargaining units in its jurisdiction. It rejected a vote at a West Fraser mill in town and later rat- ified a deal on a re-vote with changes. In late July the IWA Provincial Negotiation Committee met to deter- mine the next steps to be taken. The union invited the IFLRA back to the bargaining table where they met in Kelowna on August 14. A meeting was also scheduled with Forest Industrial Relations for August 20, fol- lowing an IWA victory at the Labour Relations Board on August 6, which directed FIR to get back to the table with the union. The PNC will continue to seek a pattern agreement. It has been charged with numerous duties, includ- ing putting the pension plan on a solid footing, getting wage increases, pre- serving benefits, job security issues and dealing with the industry's demands for more flexible shift scheduling. NO “FREE TRADE” IN FOREST PRODUCTS AS AMERICANS TRY TO LIMIT IMPORTS It looks like there’s no deal with the U.S. TALKS BETWEEN CANADIAN and American negotiators on the softwood lumber dispute broke down in late July/early August as a proposal, floated out by top trade negotiators in both countries, was rejected. The Americans are out to drive down Canada’s 34 per cent share of the U.S. market down to 30 per cent, then demand changes to provincial forest policies across Canada to meet their needs. At best, both sides were talking about an interim five-year agreement limiting tariff-free exports from Canada with a period for negotiated policy changes to Crown-administered woodlands. The Americans want to limit the six non- Maritime provinces to 15.1 billion board feet of tar- iff-free shipments annually. Canada wants a greater share of the U.S. market on a tariff-free basis as a bare minimum for any negotiated settlement. Canada currently ships about 19 billion board feet into the U.S., despite average 27.2 per cent counter- vailing duties and anti-dumping tariffs imposed by the Americans last year. Over $1.5 billion in penal- ties have been paid by Canadian producers. As part of the deal the Americans want to slap duties ranging from $50 - $125 per thousand board feet on shipments over the six province’s allotment. “The Americans want to limit Canadian lumber,” says IWA National President Dave Haggard. “They don’t want free trade by any stretch of the imagina- tion.” Brother Haggard says U.S. President George Bush’s domestic economic agenda is in ruins and that Bush will be catering to big business lobby groups like the U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, for political support, from now until the 2004 election. One feature the IWA does support about the so- called framework is the establishment of a bi- national panel to market North American forest products to the world. Brother Haggard has been in the forefront of lobbying to get the forest industry in both countries to work together with labour and gov- ernment to grow global markets for softwood. FILE PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA = Many sawmills and logging operations across Canada are functioning at reduced capacity or are closed completely. The IWA estimated that over 10,000 of its members were out of work, by late July, due to the effects of the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute. Settle the lumber dispute! Canadian and American unions make submission to U.S. Commerce Department to outline an alternate path to resolving lumber dispute forest unions and two FO U national labour federations in Canada and the United States joined on July 25 to make a joint submission outlining an alternate path for a long-term resolution to the ongoing lumber dispute (for details check out the IWA Canada national website www.iwa.ca). The common-front proposal, made by the IWA, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, and the Canadian Labour Congress, along with the International Association of Machinists’ and Aerospace Workers’ Woodworkers Department, the Paper, Allied-Industrial and, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union and the American Federation of Labour - Congress of Industrial Organizations, was a response to the Commerce Department’s request for submis- sions on its approach to end the trade case. It’s the only multi-party, cross-border agreement on a solution. It calls for graduated export tax, sover- eignty over forest policy by Canadian provinces and the creation of a binational panel to jointly market North American wood products. “The IWA has well over 10,000 members out of work today because of the punishing tariffs on softwood exports to the United States and you can add to that thousands of CEP members,” says national IWA president Dave Haggard. “There is no doubt that we need to end this dispute soon.”