during his lifetime and during
his terms as president of the
Canadian Labour Congress.”

In another resolution
adopted unanimously by the
2400 delegates, the CLC vowed
to organize special campaigns
against any federal member of
parliament who supports the
continuing wage controls in the
public sector contained in the
amendments to the Public Ser-
vice Staff Relations Act.

Over 200 demonstrators from
the Public Service Alliance of
Canada, the Canadian Union of
Postal Workers and the Quebec
Federation of Labour took to
the streets to make it known
they wouldn’t stand for more
wage controls. ;

The emergency resolution on
the PSSRA amendments said
the average comparability
bargaining formula contained
in the bill represents ‘‘a serious
threat’? to both public and
private sector workers.

‘It’s stated purpose is to
slow down the rate of wage
growth in both (the public and
private) sectors,” stated the
resolution. ‘‘(Average com-
parability) also ‘means that
governments will have a keen

interest in keeping down -

private sector wages as a way
of keeping down their own
wages.”

An economic policy
statement adopted by the con-
vention called for ‘‘a system of
social and economic planning
with a national industrial stra-
tegy as its centrepiece.”

The Congress vowed to
develop sectoral economic
strategies to advance its own
plan to get the economy back
on track.

A series of executive council
position papers provided what
McDermott called ‘‘the guts of
an economic strategy’’, as the
policy document warned that
“the controls program is leav-
ing behind an economic legacy
that amounts to unmitigated
disaster.”

The document charged the
government’s reaction to un-
employment has been ‘‘mani-
pulative and deceitful’ and
warned that “by deliberately
allowing unemployment to
rise, (the government) has
robbed and cheated people of
the opportunity to maintain
their dignity through work at
decent wages.”

An emergency resolution
passed on the convention’s
final day warned that any fur-
ther move by employment
minister Bud Cullen to tighten
unemployment insurance
benefits would be met by a
Congress that would use
“every possible means’’ to
fight the changes.

To give the CLC more power,
delegates votes to commit
themselves to organize the un-
organized and gave the Con-
gress a 25% increase in per
capita fees. The extra money
will be used to. expand CLC
staff and organize trade de-
partments dealing with every
jurisdiction.

But the delegates narrowly
defeated a resolution to insti-
tute a “weighted voting” pro-
cedure which would have
allowed larger unions to have

more delegate votes on crucial
issues.

The delegates approved by a
margin of over 90% a policy
document affirming Quebec’s
right to self determination and
calling for negotiations ‘“‘to
establish a new relationship
between the two founding peo-
ple(s) of our country.”

Opposition forces at the con-
vention were led by the Cana-
dian Union of Postal Workers,
who submitted a program of
action to the delegates which
called for .militant action
against government and em-
ployer attacks on the labour
movement.

The CUPW delegates charg-
ed the policies submitted by
the convention leadership did
not go far enough in setting out
an action program to guide the
movement.

The CUPW delegation re-
ceived the consistent support
of about 10% of the delegates.
CLC president Joe Morris de-
nied that he had ever termed
the CUPW delegates ‘‘com-
munists,”’ as had been re-
ported by the commercial
media.

And McDermott noted that
although there had been divi-
sion on a number of issues, the
convention was united on the
important ones.

FROM PAGE ONE

“LOCAL 1-424"

the Liberals, Conservatives
and Social Credit held power,
working people could expect
vast unemployment and high
inflation.

Following are the delegates
elected to the Regional Con-
vention and Safety Con-
ference:

NORTH LINE: : :
Bro. Bill Haggerty; Bro. Ken
_ Andres; Bro. Herman Nelson;
Bro. Roger December

SOUTH LINE:

Bro. Chuck Gutfriend; Bro.
Frank Everitt; Bro. Ron
Stewart; Sis. Irene Cleave.

EAST LINE:
Bro. Alan Fuller; Bro. Al

Mason.

WEST LINE:
’ Bro. George Deschene; Bro.
Mervin Jackson; Bro. Sucha
Deepak; Bro. Bill Watt.
TOWN: tts
Bro. Don Good; Bro. Carl
Mueller; Bro. Machandar S.
Randhawa.

STAFF:
Bro. Gerry Wolfram; Bro.

Jack Higgins; Bro. Toby
Mogensen.

Alternate Delegates to the
Regional Convention:

Bro. Klaus Kindermann, No.
1; Bro. Bruce Drummond, No.
2; Bro, Gordon Spratt, No. 3;
Sis. Kathy Gardner, No. 4;
Bro. Gerhard Enns, No. 5; Bro.
Joe Bonin, No. 6; Bro. Dale
Attwood, No. 7; Bro. Amarjit
Sandhu, No. 8; Bro. Walter

Zwahlen, No. 9; Bro. Dean
Hewitt, No. 10.

SAFETY CONFERENCE:

Bro. Don Murphy; Bro. Tom
Bray; Bro. Don Good; Bro.
Carl Mueller; Sis. Irene
Cleave; Bro. Harjinder S.
Hundle.

ALTERNATES,

Bro. David Kunkel; Bro.
Dave Fuson; Bro. Abe Wiebe;
Bro. John Tennant; Bro. Jack
Lauer.

The Officers’ Report covered
the general business conducted
by the officers and staff during
the past year. The Report
noted that there had been a
marked increase in the
number of educational and
safety seminars both designed
to make the members better
informed on union matters and
more safety conscious.

A great deal of time was
spent by the officers in as-
sisting members gain U.I.C.
and compensation entitlement.
The Report stated that due to
the changes to the UQI.C.
Regulations, it was highly dif-
ficult to win cases.

The report of the Safety Di-
rector while showing an im-
provement in the general ac-
cident picture, also listed the
deaths of two members killed
in industrial accidents.

The Safety Director placed
the blame for the bad accident
record of a number of opera-
tions on poor safety super-
vision.

OTTAWA (CPA) An
organization representing
40,000 railway pensioners and
employees who will soon retire
says the Canadian National
and Canadian Pacific railways
owe almost $2 billion to their
employees because the com-
panies haven’t been putting
their full contributions into the
pension fund.

_J. Earl White, president of
the Canadian Railway Em-
plyees’ Pension Association,
told a Commons committee
that “the company is making
tens of millions a year strictly
because of inflation but they
continue to pay flat rate pen-
sions.”

White said many of the
pensioners are now forced to
apply for income supplements
or welfare to meet living costs.
costs.

NDP transport critic Les
Benjamin said the companies

have long failed to pay the

money. owed and commented
that “it would be called
stealing’ in any other organi-
zation.

| ee aS RICE RTS SIT Te ES OR EA SS TE |

And don’t forget: horse-
sense, friends, is the thing a
horse has that keeps him from
betting on people.

Z THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER APRIL-MAY, 1979

KFP WORKERS |
HOLD ODOR PROTEST

NELSON — Militant IWA
members in the Kootenay For-
est Products sawmill sat
down on the job to protest
working conditions. A de-
vastating odor began to per-
meate the working environ-
ment at approximately 5 P.M.,
by 7 P.M. IWA members in the
government-owned operation
were reduced to vomiting and
wearing their ear noise reduc-
ing plugs in their nostrils. It
was at this time that the work-
ers began their sit down strike.

KFP management speedily
arrived on the scene as did
IWA job stewards and Union
officials. In a commendable
display of Union-Management
co-operation, it was decided to
call in the Nelson City Police
Dog ‘“‘Rocky’’, to locate the

source of the smell. After ex-

tensive searching by the police ~

dog, KFP management and
workers, the offensive source
of odor was discovered ... A
nearby resident up wind of the
KFP sawmill had spread ex-
tremely ripe manure on his
garden. KFP manager and
Nelson City Police spoke to the
resident and asked the indi-
vidual to till his manure under-
ground, while 30 [WA members
inspected the garden and de-
termined that this area was in
fact the source of the smell.

An unidentified IWA mem-
ber told this reporter that the
incident is now being referred
to as the “C...... S...”” walkout,
while other sources maintain
that the source of odor was def-
initely bovine not foul.

The IWA has publicly con-
demned a report recommend-
ing the permanent closure of
the rail line between Fort Saint

John and Fort Nelson in B.C.’s:

Northern Interior.

Regional President Jack
Munro stated that there was no
way the line should be closed.
He said, “First of all at a time
when we need every job we
have in this Province, the eli-
mination of the several hun-
dred or so jobs in the forest in-
dustry alone is unacceptable,
not to mention those who will
lose jobs in the service and
support industries. If we want
the resourcés of the North and
the jobs they will create, then
that line must remain open.
Without the railroad, the nor-
thern part of this Province will
stagnate and will be of benefit
to no one.” é

“The Government receives
$362.2 million a year out of that

area from gas andoil alone and
they want to risk that income
because the rail line may lose
$12 million a year for 5 years
... that’s just plain stupid,”
Munro added. :

Munro said that two weeks
ago the Economic Develop-
ment Minister Don Phillips
was hammering the IWA be-
cause ‘our members don’t
want to work a seven day pro-
duction schedule at a mill on
Vancouver Island, a move that
might create forty jobs if they
could keep the mill together
long enough to produce seven
days. Now that same Minister
is prepared to consider a move
that will eliminate several
hundred jobs in the forest in-
dustry and prevent the de-
velopment of any new jobs in
the Northern Interior area.
How can the people of B.C.
have faith in a Minister like
that,”’ Munro said.

IWA WINS ALBERTA

CERTIFICATION BATTLE

The Appeliate Division of the
Supreme Court of Alberta in an
unanimous Decision April 4,
1978, upheld the IWA’s certi-
fication of the Norfab Homes
Ltd., at Fort Macleod, Alberta.

The battle for certification
has been fought since October
of 1976. At that time the em-
ployees of the plant requested
the IWA to represent them in
place of Local 1525 of the
United Brotherhood of Carpen-
ters and Joiners.

Local 1525 challenged the
IWA application in the courts
on grounds that a new agree-
ment had been negotiated by
the Local and the Company
prior to the expiration of the
old agreement.

It was argued before the
courts that this barred any ap-

plication for certification. The
argument was successful and
the IWA’s application was dis-
missed.

However, in December 1976,
following an appeal by the
IWA, the courts referred the
matter back to the Alberta
Board of Industrial Relations
who on March 24, 1977, granted
outright. certification to the
IWA.

Local 1525 launched an ap-
peal in the Supreme Court of
Alberta on June 29, 1977, and
was successful in having the
IWA’s certification dismissed.

The IWA immediately ap-
pealed the decision and now,
hopefully, the membership of
Norfab can be serviced in the
proper manner now that the
certification battles are out of
the way.

BONUS SYSTEM SCORED

Dave Patterson, president of United Steelworkers’ Local

6500, says miners should refuse to participate in the Inter-
national Nickel Company’s bonus system in order to reduce
layoffs.

'