(Ma LABOUR AND ECONOMY PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA = Prices have dimbed to near records, North American lumber market heats up job recovery in mills Union certified sawmills are, for the most part, have been going full throt- tle during spring/summer months, adding much needed jobs and secur- ing more hours for union members. In early August lumber prices hit an 11-year high benchmark spruce-pine- fir hit the $464 per 1000 board feet level. The red hot prices, fueled by a boom in North American housing and construction, are bound to taper off in the fall and winter months. “All over the country, our sawmills and planer operations are going pedal to the metal with extra shifts and/or extended hours to take advan- tage of this upward blip in the mar- ket,” says USWA - IWA Council chair- man Norm Rivard. “Even with the punishment of U.S. tariffs and the rise of the Canadian dollar, our mills have been able to make good prof- its.” Rivard points out that sawmills in the B.C. Interior region that are processing timber from mountain pine beetle infested regions, are doing particularly well. Although tim- ber from these areas is often harder to mill, its low cost has added to the bottom-line of such large companies as West Fraser and Canfor. Even mills on the B.C. Coast are pushing the wood into the U.S. market. Logging operations are doing when- ever they can, weather permitting. The lack of shipping vessels (trains, transport trucks, etc.) has seen the supply line to the U.S. run short. “No one could predict these kinds of con- ditions,” add Brother Rivard. “We just hope it lasts!” FILE PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA = All signs say that there is likely to be a drastic shortage in skilled trades in northern B.C. within the next decade. Remedying the skill shortage Local calls for greater commitment apprentice training THERE'S A NEW INITIATIVE underway to train workers in skilled trades in the north of British Columbia. The Prince George-based College of New Caledonia College has embarked an apprenticeship program in partner- ship with a local steering committee of industry and employers. Northern B.C. Local 1-424, with its headquarters in Prince George, has been encouraging the program and hopes to play a future role on the pro- gram’s steering committee, which will oversee the program which is designed to benefit industries and communities in North Central B.C. “Not enough has been done in recent years to train-up the number of skilled trades that are required for the forest industry and other industries in the years ahead,” says local union president Frank Everitt, who points out that last spring the B.C. Liberal government of Gordon Campbell scrapped the comprehensive Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission (ITAC) and replaced it with a “credentials system” which can offer part of, rather that full trades apprenticeship certification. The ITAC saw employers and the com- mission sign a contract which com- mittee the employers to seeing full apprenticeship training. The federal government of Canada has stepped in to fund, in great part, the CNC initiative. “In the north, as well as in other parts of the province, we are seeing an aging workforce, especially when it comes to skilled trades,” says Local 1-424 second vice president Randy Holubosh. “The demographic is shifting and indus- try, government and labour have to work together to address these issues.” Inan ITAC study from 2001, it was predicted that about sixty per cent of new jobs in the next decade will be in trades, technical and skilled occupa- tions. There are already shortages of electricians, plumbers, millwright and mechanics. “We want to see full trades appren- tice programs in the industry, not watered-down trades,” says Brother Holubosh, who notes that the forest industry must also commit itself to training middle-aged apprentices who have a commitment to the employer, their families and communities. “Often workers who have been around the industry for 10-20 years or more have a greater aptitude for apprentice training. Many of them already have a greater understanding of how systems work,” says Holubosh. The union also hold strong that there must be no end-runs around seniority — if a worker has seniority to enter into examination for the pro- gram, they must be considered. With all of the cutbacks and sliding commitment of industry to maintain and enhance apprentice programs, the local union greets the CWC initia- tive. The program should be launched in the Spring of next year. “We hope to see the forest industry step up to the plate too and encourage full apprentice programs,” he adds. FOR GOOD OR ILL WEYERHAEUSER is the kind of company we will see more and more of in the com- ing years. This is why IWA Canada has merged with the United Steelworkers. Weyerhaeuser is based in Federal Way, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. But it began life in the Great North Woods of Minnesota. ABOUT THE ECONOMY BY KIM POLLOCK Over the course of nearly a century, it cut its way across the United States, giving birth along the way not only to Boise Cascade and Potlatch and other companies but also to today’s integrated Weyerhaeuser itself. When the company reached the Pacific Northwest, was nowhere else to go! This gave rise to a rein- of sorts: Weyerhaeuser became the "Tree-plant- ompany,”" settling down on a huge patch of private mainly a legacy of railroad land-grants similar to ‘Canada and its provincial governments handed the CPR. The company estimates that since 1900 it has harvested timber on some 4 million acres. Today it’s the world's largest timberland owner and lumber producer and a diversified manufacturer of pulp, paper and wood products. Total timberlands: 37.6 million acres (15.0 mil- lion ha), including 30.5 million (12.2 million ha.) in Canada and 7.6 million (3.0 ha.) in the U.S. Worldwide operations: 44 U.S. states, four Canadian provinces; Germany, Belgium, Italy, France, Greece, Spain, England, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, South Africa, Hong Kong; Russia, Japan, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand. Weyerhaeuser is the largest exporter of raw logs from the U.S. and along with TimberWest, one of two largest exporters from Canada. The majority of U.S. exports go to Asia, especially Japan and China. But Canadian exports go the U.S., where they help Weyerhaeuser to bypass the U.S. tariffs on Canadian lumber since logs cross the border free, whereas lum- ber is subject to US protectionist duties. Steelworkers, president Leo Gerard has vowed to help IWA fight both log-exports and U.S. lumber protectionism. Companies like Weyco, with record profits in the sec- Workers of the world unite to take on Weyerhaeuser! ond-quarter of ‘o4, are the wave of the future. In Canada, we have seen several huge mergers aimed at creating competitors to Weyerhaeuser. On top of its vast forest land and manufacturing operations, Weyerhaeuser owns a shipping company; a mortgage-banking compa- ny that assists with the operations of its property-devel- opment company and a large data-processing firm. All total, Weyerhaeuser and its subsidiaries held assets totalling $28.1 billion by the end of ‘03. It takes more than the strength of 55,000 Canadian workers to fight a mega-corporation like this. That's why we needed to join forces with a union like United Steelworkers of America. It's also why we need more joint efforts like the recent session that brought together leaders of IWA, Steel and its US pulp-sector ally PACE. That session planned strategy on Weyerhaeuser. I suspect there will be more such meetings in the future, perhaps even including unions in Europe, Latin America and other parts of the world in which firms like Weyerhaeuser operate. Workers of the world, unite! Kim Pollock is a USWA - IWA Council Representative SEPTEMBER 2004 THE ALLIED WORKER | 15 .