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OVER BG BILUON SeRvep

= Anicon for low-wage jobs.

‘NicJobs’ being recognized as
an official word in dictionaries

One of the world’s most anti-union
corporations has seen seen a word,
related to the type of employment it
provides, enshrined into English dic-
tionaries. This summer, the latest
edition of the Merriam-Webster
Collegiate Dictionary included the
word “McJob” to define “a low-pay-
ing job that requires little skill and
provides little opportunity for
advancement.” One of the compa-
ny’s top executives, called it a “slap
in the face” to the million of workers
employed in the restaurant industry.
But Merriam-Webster says that for
over 17 years “McJob” has
appeared in a variety of publica-
tions, including Rolling Stone maga-
zine, The New York Times, and peri-
odicals in Australia and South
Africa. It is also defined, in much the
same way, in Webster's and
Oxford's dictionaries as well as the
Heritage English Dictionary. The
IWA has also used “McJobs” in its
vocabulary, points out Scott Lunny,
Director of Policy and Information
Services, who put together a course
for youth organizers. “A lot of
younger people, in the 17-25 year-
old range, are stuck in those low-
wage McJob ghettos,” he says. “It’s
up to the union movement to orga-
nize the McJob work force. Most of
these employers, especially
McDonald’s, can afford to pay their
workers more but they will fight any
campaign against the unionization
of their operations.”

Ti

= The BC Federation of Labour and six major union affiliates belong to the Working Opportunity Fund’s board.

Labour fund a growing option

B.C. trade unions on fund’s board of directors

YOU CAN PUT YOUR money where
your heart is and get some pretty
good tax breaks at the same time.

Labour unions all over the country
are involved in various Labour
Sponsored Investment Funds (LSIF)
and the Working Opportunity Fund
(WOF) of British Columbia is regard-
ed as one of the best managed funds
around in its class of assets.

Since 1992, WOF investors, which
receive up to 30 per cent tax credit (in
the form of federal and provincial
credits), have been able to park their
money in socially-responsible invest-
ments in British Columbia.

You can take one of your existing
retirement savings plans and buy
into the WOF, saving on taxes and
avoiding a new RSP contribution.
Overall, the WOF can result in lower
net costs than regular mutual fund
investments and provide better tax
saving advantages.

Today the WOF has venture capital
investments which have created near-

ly 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in
the province, growing over $300 mil-
lion in assets. Most of that invest-
ment, which has come from over
50,000 British Columbians, has gone
to small and medium-sized business-
es that have created jobs and new
opportunities for working people.

The WOF is run under the auspices
of WE Enterprises, of which IWA
national president Dave Haggard sits
on the board of directors.

“The WOF is definately an invest-
ment option that we would encour-
age our members to seriously con-
sider when doing their overall finan-
cial planning,” says IWA Canada
national Secretary Treasurer David
Tones. “Many of our members are
becoming increasingly sophisticated
with the types of investments they
make and the WOF can provide a
nice fit.”

The WOF concentrates its invest-
ments in three major areas: life sci-
ences, information technology and

FILE PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA

advanced manufacturing.

In British Columbia, the New
Democratic Party introduced legisla-
tion for LSIF in the early gos and the
B.C. Federation of Labour and affili-
ates have been enthusiastic partici-
pants. Today organized labour has
seven of thirteen seats on the board,
including chair Ken Neumann,
Director of District 3 of the USWA;
vice chair Dianne Wood, Secretary
Treasurer of the BCGEU; Colleen
Jordan, Secretary Treasurer of the
B.C. Division of the CUPE; Angie
Schira, Secretary Treasurer of the B.C.
Fed; Jerri New, President of Local 378
of the OPEIU; Cindy Stewart, Present
of the HSA of B.C.; and Nick
Worhaug, President of Local 40 of the
Hotel, Restaurant, Culinary and
Bartenders Union. They are charged
with being responsible for the invest-
ments made and establish policies
and procedures under the guidance of
financial advisors. For more infor-
mation check out www.wofund.com

We hope this softwood proposal is a ‘dead duck’

CANADIAN AND U.S. NEGOTIATORS thought
they painted a masterpiece. But as more people see
the fine print, it's more clearly a mess.

The recently-proposed "settlement" of the Canada-
U.S. softwood dispute was presented as an “agree-
ment." As response turned from surprise to shock to

ABOUT THE ECONOMY
BY KIM POLLOCK

horror, it was downgraded to “proposed deal,” then
“U.S final proposal” and finally, “U.S. proposal.”
Hopefully it ends at “dead duck.”

It's a loser. Dave Haggard says it doesn't stand the
crucial test: what kind future does it offer our mem-
bers and our communities? The answer is “none.”

Terms put forward on December 7 cap exports to the
U.S. at 31.5 per cent of the U.S. market, down from
approximately 34 per cent now. A $200 per thousand
board feet penalty would kick in, putting a lid on addi-

tional exports. We would have to use 900 million board
feet of lumber or find new markets or new uses for it.

Americans hold out the carrot of "off ramps," U.S.-
Commerce-Department-sanctioned "changed cir-
cumstances," code for market-driven timber alloca-
tion. That means crushing Canada's Crown-owned
forests into a U.S.-style system where small amounts
of state or federal timber lands go to the highest bid-
der. One industry representative said those "ramps"
look more like the tunnels Roadrunner paints on
canyon walls so Wile E. Coyote will crash.

And we would be stuck with a quota system. The
unlamented old Canada-U.S. softwood agreement
based quotas on exports to the U.S. during a magical
two-year period. If you weren't shipping to the U.S.
then, no matter why, tough. Sucking-up to the federal
government might get you more.

The feds promise better this time, transferable and
more flexible. But allocation of quota is a recipe for
inter-company, inter-provincial bickering — don't we
have enough?

A highlight of earlier negotiations was a proposed
joint Canada - U.S. marketing strategy. As Haggard

suggests, we're all better off with a bigger pie than
sharing a small one.

But joint marketing shrank and now it's altogether
gone. A provincial representative called it a sign of a
"greedy and shortsighted" industry, preferring to cut
the cash we've already paid than serve the common
good.

And the share-out! The World Trade Organization
ruled illegal the so-called Byrd amendment, allowing
the U.S. to tum over duties to complaining
Americans. Yet’ we're agreeing the reward for whin-
ing is 48 per cent of what we've already paid.

Hopefully this won't fly. But it shows what the U.S.
wants. It means we must work hard on new markets
and products. The quota must be net of log exports,
for instance, so a firm that ships raw logs loses at least
that much quota. Governments will have to force
industry to invest the cash in production, not mergers.
We're being pushed around by our biggest customer.
We have to respond by being smarter. Diversification
is clearly an important way out, maybe the only way.

Kim Pollock is the IWA’s Director of Public Policy and Environment

16 | THE ALLIED WORKER DECEMBER 2003