THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER IN TERRACE ARBITRATION CASE wa) TWO LOCAL 1-71 MEMBERS AWARDED $1,400 EACH Two employees discharged by Skoglund Logging Limited March 3, 1967, won job rein- statement with lost-time wages through the efforts of Local 1-71 president Ernie Freer and business agent Gordon Davis. An arbitration board meet- ing in Terrace May 9-10 ruled that the men had been im- properly dismissed after studying information on the case presented by the Union officials. The two employees, Syl Coupland, 2nd loader, and Philip Clout, chaser, were fired by the foreman shortly after Coupland’s power saw was destroyed by a ‘cat’. The men had been bucking and limbing the logs coming into the cold deck on March 3. At approximately 2:15 p.m. a cat was waiting with a load of logs for the grapple opera- tor to clean up the deck. As the logs on this load did not require limbing, Coupland went for coffee, on the way laying his power saw on the ground in an area free of cat tracks, A few moments later the cat pushed its logs into the cold deck and on its return ERNIE FREER trip for more logs ran over the saw. Coupland and an- other employee attempted to warn the cat operator but their arm waving and shout- ing went unheeded. Because it was impossible for one man to buck and limb all the logs coming into the cold deck Coupland took the crummy back to, camp — one mile away — for a new saw. Meeting the foreman in camp GORDON DAVIS he told him what had occur- red and was instructed to re- turn to the work site without the saw which the foreman said he would bring later. When the foreman arrived with the saw Coupland went back to work until notified he was fired. When asked why, the foreman replied “for tak- ing a vehicle to camp.” Clout, who was also chair- man of the grievance commit- tee, and who had been listen- ing to the discussion was then soundly cussed out by the foreman and told that he was Fred too for “sluffing” on the job. At the hearing the Com- pany officials attempted to ar- gue that both men were un- cooperative and that Coup- land had jeopardized the safe- ty of the crew by taking the crummy. They also stated that Clout was belligerent and Coupland was rough on Com- pany tools as demonstrated by the manner in which he left his power saw exposed to danger. Local 1-71 officials refuted the accusations by submitting to the board affidavits from other crew members which stated that the two men were co-operative and reliable workers. The Union officials were also able to prove that the foreman allowed the cat oper- ator to use the crummy dur- ing working hours, and the dismissals were the result of the foreman losing his temper. The board confirmed. this by stating: “There is, of course, evi- dent of belligerency and bad language on the occasion of the discharge. However, the evidence is quite strong Barg (the foreman) was very angry and was swearing very hard, even the scaler who was used to the colorful language of the woods stated he was shocked, that he had never heard a foreman speak to his men like that. “The arrival of Clout prob- ably added fuel to the fire and Clout likely did his share. It is interesting to speculate whether Clout would have been. fired if he had stayed away from the scene. It was natural, however, that he would want to know what was going on; he was the new chairman of the grievance committee and this was the first man Barg had fired.” It concluded by stating: “The board finds the an- swer to the question before it is ‘No, there was not proper cause for discharge of S. Coupland and P. Clout on March 3, 1967.’ It is so awarded.” Each of the two men ‘re- ceived approximately $1,400 in lost-time wages. FROM PAGE 1 “INTERIOR TALKS BREAK DOWN" “On your behalf, the ne- gotiating committee said “no.” “We will apply for a Concil- iation Officer as required by law. In Kelowna, the Southern Interior employers tabled pro- posed contract amendments which included: A reduction in travel time pay for loggers to the base rate. Increased board and lodging rates by the same percentage as any increase in the base rate. Limitation of any wage in- crease for boys and females employed in box factories. Retention of seniority for employees transferred outside the bargaining unit. — : Limitation of seniority rights during layoffs. IWA Southern Interior ne- gotiators Jack Moore, Bill Schumaker, Jack Munro and Bob Schlosser indicated that these proposals were totally unacceptable. Emphatic support for the union’s parity demands has been evident at meetings ad- dressed by the spokesmen for the Negotiating Committees in the Northern and Southern Interior. : A report on negotiations by Regional President Jack Moore was heard by 250 IWA members and wives at a meet- ing in Grand Forks June 10th under the auspices of Local 1-423 and by a similar meet- ing in Oliver June 17th. President Moore said, “These negotiations represent a determined effort by the en- tire union to eliminate sub- standard wages in the Inter- ior lumber industry. What has been done for other unions in other large Interior industries must now be done in the In- terior lumber industry. The present gross discrimination ‘can no longer be tolerated. “Parity with the Coast is long overdue,” he said. “It is morally justified because In- terior woodworkers work as hard and produce as much per man-hour as their fellow workers at the Coast. They deserve the same living stan- dards.” Citing facts derived from a survey of living costs in the Interior as compared with those at the Coast, he said, “Interior woodworkers now en, si suffer a double penalty. They are paid 50 cents an hour less than Coast woodworkers, and must pay 10 per cent more for household goods and services. Quite apart from this, the con- sumer price index has risen 9% since the present contract was signed and now stands at an all-time high with fur- ther increases in sight. Fi- nance Minister Sharp,” he said, “has predicted another substantial increase in prices, with which the union’s ne- gotiators must reckon. “Wages have always lagged behind prices,” he said. “Un- der present circumstances the increased output per man- hour has lowered the labour cost per unit of production. Any existing price inflation is a profit inflation for which wage increases have not been the determining factor.” The Regional President call- ed for the support of the busi- ness community. “Depressed wage income will hamper eco- nomic growth in the Interior. Higher wage income through- out Interior communities will enormously stimulate busi- ness activity,’ he contended. “Purchasing power in the hands of the workers must _ keep pace with increased pro- ductive capacity to maintain sound economic growth and community prosperity. “Increased wage spending by woodworkers on house- hold necessities should be ap- plauded by local merchants everywhere in the interior.” This advertisement is not published or displayed by the Liquor Control Board or by the Government of British Columbia. APilsener by any other name _ 18 just another. beer!