soo | mT DT Lh CASE FOR WOODWORKERS Profits $90 million, wage boost 5 cents Soaring profits have set the stage for a wage drive lM the lumber industry during the coming contract nego- Mations, which will be due to open after the district “Onvention of the Internaional Woodworkers convenion this Winter, According to a survey made VY the provincial trade union “mmission of the Labor-Pro- Stessive party recently, the Motits of five major com- * Pahies for 1955 totalled nearly 0 million in an industry em- Mloying 45,000 workers. This is 1 increase of about $20 mil- 'n over the previous year. of these five companies he (not including those of Becreds of smaller employ- fe oe profits are not pub- aay average over $2,000 for . '¥ Worker employed in the i musty. ‘That's a dollar an hour, deft giant MacMillan-Bloe- $35 praupany, which reported 118,628 profit before taxes furthe ee has announced a hal €r increase for the first repr Of 1956. The 1955 figure pe cated’ an increase of 1954. than $10 million over invent a rate of return on Veg cent tment of. about 35 per typ nese enormous profits are fet of rapidly growing ae at higher prices with Wa es SPonding increase in or employment. P ‘ tn p auction of sawn lumber Creaee,” for example, has in- lagt ed by 33 percent in the Same Ive years. During the Boye ots the index on em- mij, t in forestry and saw- Nor Was almost unchanged ts, .° be more precise, for- Perce? Oyment was down 8 nt, sawmill employment Outpyy Normous profits are the result of rapidly growing up 4 percent and a weighted average of the two up half a percentage point. This means that the average worker in the lumber indus- try is turning out one-third more lumber than he was five years ago, to say nothing of the fact that a good deal of the lumber is being processed more thoroughly than in 1950. Thus the productivity of wood- workers is growing at a rate of more than six percent per year — a fact which | has found little reflection in the wages earned by them. Not only are lumber opera- tors getting more lumber for every Hour of work that they pay for, but they are also get- ting more money for each foot of lumber they sell. The in- dex of lumber and timber prices was 388.2 in 1950, and 441.3 in 1955, an increase of 13.5 percent. In 1956 it has continued to climb, reaching 4544 by August 1. What operators get from their workers can therefore be placed like this, in compar- ison with 1950: From each worker the op- erator receives 33 per cent more lumber, at 13.5 percent higher_ price, - equalling. 51 percent more value. The degree of exploitation involved can be seen from the * Wa Ut, at higher prices, with no corresponding increases in ®S or employment.” fact that while the operator was receiving 51 percent more value for each hour of work, the hourly wage rate had in- creased by only 28 percent in the same period of time. The IWA is now in the second half of a two-year con- tract which provided raises of five cents an hour effective in June 1955 and June 1956. This contract followed a three year period in which the basic wage rate scarcely changed, even in 1952, when the union struck the industry. While other unions, by and large, were also confined to small raises during those years the present year has seen a radically increased rate of in- creases, which, unfortunately, cannot affect the IWA until next summer, when its current contract terminates. The following shows the total of wage increases receiv- ed by the various unions since 1950 (not including — second year increases agreed to for 1957): TWAS Se Geers. 3814 Pulp and Paper ___ 54 Building Labor __-_ 43 Civic. (320s fe 43 OG 2a eS Se 51 Shipyard* +. 2-4. 60 American Can _-_ 60 Street Railway -.. 55% Apart from the civic work- ers (whose basic wage rate is 2 cents less than the IWA but supplemented by numerous fringe benefits) the basic wage rates of the industries in this list run from 7 cents (build- ing laborers) to 29 cents (Am- erican Can) above the IWA rate of $1.59. This is rather startling for a union which only a few years ago was consistently in the forefront as the union -~that set the pattern for wage in- creases and basic wages in this province. The effects of the present cutback in employment in the industry attributed by the em- ployers to falling off of mar- kets in Britain and the U.S. should not be allowed ot be- cloud the evidence supporting the case for a substantial wage increase. The profit and pro- ductivity figures presented in this analysis offer sufficient proof that the industry should pay more to the workers it employs. Here are the facts Productivity Production of sawn lumber B.C. Production per man Employment Million FBM Index Woods Mills Com- per month bined 1950 292.7 100 100 100 100 100 1955 389.0 133 92 104 100.5 132.2 SOURCE: Figures converted to 1950 base from production figures and indices in Can- adian Statistical Review. Wages 1950 WAGE RATE st" sy oe 1.20.5 Add, Adjustment for increased productivity, LOS O2 90. ea ee ee 38.8 1.59.3 Add, Adjustment for increased cost of living, BO SG he Feet pe * 20.9 1955 BASIC WAGE should have been __ 1.80 1955 BASIC: WAGE was ____2----2 > =~. 1.54 Increase justified by productivity and cost of living tor 1955s ee ee ee ee 26 e rofits—1955 BEFORE AFTER TAX TAX MacMillan and Bloedel 35,778,628 18,742,597 Powell River Company 23,752,818 12,197,018 Crown Zellerback 18,000,000* 9,886,000 B.C. Forest Products 7,456,106 3,686,156 Western Plywood 2,175,640 1,112,588 87,163,242 45,624,359 *“ Estimated from known figures for profit after tax. Wage increases Wage Increase Base Rate ‘ 1950-1956 1956 UNION 4 Cents Cents/Hr. IWA 3814 1.59 Civic Employees (Vancouver) 42.7 1.56.7 Building Labor 85553 1.66 Oil 51 1.67 Pulp & Paper ® 54 1.72 Street Railway eee t!.4 1.701% Shipyards .60 1.80 American Can 60 1.88 OCTOBER 26, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE —.PAGE 13 > ———