WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 3

REGIONAL 2nd VICE-PRESIDENT BOB ROSS

any wage increases. The effect of all these factors had to be very carefully
weighed by the Negotiating and Policy Committees.

As the negotiations proceeded it was gradually realized that the possi-
bility of achieving a satisfactory wage formula was remote and the major-
ity of the committee decided that they should, at the Conciliation Officer
stage, attempt to negotiate a contract that would have as its main feature
a Health and Welfare program for the membership. The reasoning behind
the Committee’s decision was that the possibility of achieving a substan-
tially satisfactory settlement through the medium of a Conciliation Board
was remote and that the best we could hope for, because of the developing
pattern, would be a-status quo recommendation, with possibly a recom-
mendation that a Health and Welfare program be negotiated.

This, of course, would not solve the problem of Health & Welfare
coverage, so the Committee decided to process negotiations at the Con-
ciliation Officer stage with a view to achieving a resolution of the problem
with the inclusion of the type of Health & Welfare program that we had
originally set out to get. As a result of negotiations, a proposal was worked
out which contained a Health & Welfare program on the basis that was
decided by the Wages & Policy Conference, the inclusion of one more paid
holiday in the Agreement, and other contract changes were established to
improve the Agreement.

The value of the Health & Welfare program is in the fact that it will
cover every employee working i in the operations under contract to the union
in the Coastal area. It is completely portable from one operation to another,
it is financed jointly by employer and employee and carries with it coverage
during layoff. It will mean now that instead of having a multiplicity of
plans in the industry paying various benefits, there will be one single in-
dustry plan, set up to take care of the insurance feature of the Health &
Welfare program. This will be administered not by the employer but by a
Committee of 4 Trustees, representative equally of the union and the em-
ployers; and once and for all the question of the right of the employees to
NE a Bay in the kind of welfare benefits that they will receive has been
resolved.

The officers of the Council are firmly of the opinion that the decision of
the Policy Committee, which was supported by the membership, was a wise
one in view of the circumstances that prevailed at the time. It is our opinion
that it was in the best interests of the membership and the organization in
that it will allow us to preserve and strengthen our ability to mount an
offensive at the appropriate time to achieve the future objectives of the
union. We feel that a close study of the records of past negotiations are

Continued from page 2

Officers Report

The Northern Interior was the hardest hit of the lumber
producing areas of B.C. because it is primarily a one-specie
area, producing most Engleman spruce, and this specie was
hardest hit by the recession. Unable to conclude a settlement
before Christmas, we let matters rest until the crews got back
into the operations in late January. The negotiations were re-
opened and a settlement was negotiated in February on the
following basis: 4c per hour effective February 15, 1961, 3c
per hour effective September 1, 1961 and 3c per hour effective
March 1, 1962. This establishes a base rate of $1.79 on March
1, 1962 and at that time both Interior areas will have achieved
parity in wage rates. Again, as in the Southern Interior, other
contract improvements in working conditions were negotiated
as part of the settlement.

The settlements that were negotiated have enabled the
industry to recover somewhat from its restricted position of
late 1960 to the point where it is operating at nearly normal
capacity. This is reflected in the membership strength of the
Interior Local Unions.

Coast Negotiations: The Union’s Negotiating Committee,
comprised of Brothers J. Morris, J. A. Moore, F. Fieber, J.
MacKenzie, J. Madden, S. Thompson and M. Salter opened
negotiations with the Operators’ representatives, Forest In-
dustrial Relations, in the latter part of March. The first per-
iod of direct negotiations was opened with an exchange of
demands and supported by argument. No resolution of the
problem was achieved at this stage and the Committee
applied for and received the services of the Conciliation Offi-
eer, Mr. E. P. Fisher, in the middle of April.

We then went into discussions with Mr. Fisher, both
jointly and separately, to discuss the various proposals and
demands of the parties. At this stage there was an awareness
amongst the Committee that the attitude of the members had
changed considerably from that of 1959, and that this changed
attitude was due to a combination of many factors. There
had been, of course, the recessive situation of the previous
winter which had resulted in considerable unemployment and
layoffs among our membership, both in the manufacturing
and logging sections of the industry. There had obviously
been considerable cutbacks in heavy construction and there
was the decline in market demand for the products of the in-
dustry. Coupled with this was the question of Bill 42 and the
possible effects that it might have on the conduct of negotia-
tions. There were, too, the effects of the continual barrage of
propaganda by the various agencies of the employers, devel-
oping the theory that the province was pricing itself out of
the market and that if we were to remain competitive there
would have to be a freeze on wage increases. It was at this
period that it became known that many unions, particularly
in the trade groups, had settled their negotiations without

CREDIT UNION DIRECTORY
IWA Credit Unions and other Credit Unions
supported by IWA Local Unions in B.C.

Alberni District Credit Union, 209 Argyle Street, Port Alberni
IWA 1-217 ged Broadway & Quebec Streets, ‘Vancouver 10
IWA amare A redit Union, Room 21, 774 Columbia Street, New

Local Katty IWA (Victoria), 904 Gordon Street, Victoria
Chemainus & District Credit Union, Box 229, Chemainus
Lake Cowichan and District Credit Union, Lake Cowichan, B.C.
eso | Credit Union, Box 952, Courtenay
Yuncen & District Credit Union, Box 1717, Duncan

George & District, 1046 - 4th Avenue, Prince George
& District Credit Union, 499 Wallace St., Nanaimo .

District Credit Union, Box 154, Ladysmith, GC.
Ur f Credit Union, 1475 East 43rd, Vancouver
| Salmon Arm Credit Union; Shuswap Ave., Salmon Arm, B.C.

EVERY LOGGERS CHOICE

DAYTONS

THE BEST BOOTS MONEY CAN BUY

SHOE MANUFACTURING
CO. (B.C.) LTD.

2248-50 East Hastings St.
Vancouver, B.C.

Logger Boots + Safety Boots