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THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

The Officers of Regional Council No. 1 take this
opportunity to welcome the delegates to this 34th
Annual Convention. During this week many
resolutions and reports will be dealt with and
decisions made. We are confident that the delegates
after study and debate will develop programs and
policies that will guide the Council through 1972 as an
effective co-ordinating body dealing with the
problems of all the Local Unions in Western Canada.

In 1972 negotiations for amendments and revision
of the master agreements in all bargaining areas
must again be opened and agreements concluded for
the membership we represent. In addition to this
many independent employers must be met and
agreements negotiated.

ORGANIZATION

The Assistant Director of Organization, Brother
Bob Schlosser, will be making a detailed report to
this Convention. The Officers wish to commend
Brother Schlosser for the job done in co-ordinating
the work in his department with the activities of the
Regional Council and reporting to the Regional
Executive Board. The job of organizing has not
become any easier, and coupled in many instances
with defending the I.W.A.’s jurisdiction, the
Organizational Department has had a busy year.

The Regional Council has in the last year spent
considerable time, effort and money defending our
jurisdiction and repelling attacks on our
organization.

The Carpenters raid of Bel-Par Industries
resulted in your Officers and representatives of
Local 1-357 filing charges with the C.L.C. and sub-
sequently making representation before Dr. H. Carl
Goldenberg, the Impartial Umpire for the Congress.
The representations were successful, and Dr.
Goldenberg has ruled in favor of the I.W.A. and the
Congress has adopted his report awarding the
jurisdiction in that operation back to the I.W.A. In
the disputed jurisdiction of the sawmill at Eurocan in
Local 1-71 where the International Brotherhood of
Pulp Sulphite raided the I.W.A. and were certified,
when we appealed to the Congress, Goldenberg and
the C.L.C. awarded the jurisdiction to the I.W.A. and
while the 1.B.P.S. & P.M.W. have largely ignored
Goldenberg’s decision, the last Executive Board
meeting of the C.L.C. acceded to our request and
placed sanctions against International Pulp.

The C.L.C. also at its last Executive meeting dealt
with a request from the Building Trades Council for
justification against the I.W.A. We understand their
request was granted.

We wish to thank those Local Unions who gave of
their time, money and people to the Regional
Council. Without this help.a successful offensive
could not have been mounted against the raiding
tactics of the Canadian Pulp Workers Union in the
jurisdiction of Local 1-424. We appreciate the work
done by those who were directly involved. The time,
effort and money spent did culminate in victory for
the I.W.A.

NEGOTIATIONS

The Regional Officers assisted Local Unions in
various areas in negotiating contracts with in-
dependent employers as follows:

THE PAS, Manitoba
(Churchill Forest Industries, Local 1-184)

Wage increases of (a) 90c hour in a two-year

agreement for hourly rated employees; (b) about

$7.00 a day for piece workers, to bring their daily
earnings to $75.00 by October 1, 1972; and some
very large category increases.

Reduction of work week to 40 hours; addition of

9th statutory holiday; Health and Welfare plan

fully paid for by employer; double time after 12

hours; anda contractor’s clause requiring that all

contractors sign the general agreement, etc.
ASPENITE (MacMillan Bloedel Operation) and
SIMPSON LUMBER CO., at Hudson Bay,
Saskatchewan, Local 1-184)

Wage increase of 90 cents in a 3-year agreement

with additional category increases; substantial

improvements to Health and Welfare and

Vacations; reduction of the work week to 40

hours, ete.

BOISE CASCADE
(Lethbridge, Alberta, Local 1-206) ;

Agreement has not yet been reached. Matters in

dispute to go before Conciliation Board. ,
NORTH CANADIAN FOREST PRODUCTS
(Grande Prairie, Alberta, Local 1-207) :

Agreement was opened during its term to provide

for general wage increase of 10¢ per hour plus

category increases.

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OFFICERS’ REPORT COMMITTEE — Standing left, E. Hall, 1-424; R. MacDonald, Local
1-80; E. Ewert, Local 1-217; B. Beauchamp, Local 1-405; T. Smith, Local 1-357; Seated left,
. Beaton, Loca! 1-288; A. Smith, Local 1-184; H. Hamilton, Local 1-363; B. Parks, 1-118; F.
: , Local 1-347; J. Welder, Local 1-423; B. Thompson, Local 1-71; L. Jensen, Local 1-417.

NORTH WEST PULP AND POWER

(Hinton, Alberta, Local 1-207)
Wage increases ranging from 85c to $1.10 per hour
for hourly rated employees and 15.525 percent for
pieceworkers, plus category increases; the in-
stitution of a comprehensive health and welfare
plan; a sickness and accident plan; the establish-
ment of a 10c per hour shift differential; the ad-
dition of two statutory holidays; vacation im-
provements, and many other important gains.

WELDWOOD, CANIM LAKE DIVISION

(Local 1-424)
The Regional Council assisted Local 1-424 in the
settlement of the strike at Canim Lake which
resulted in parity with the Coast.

WELDWOOD, QUESNEL, Local 1-424, was assisted
by the Region in these negotiations which resulted
in Coast parity being maintained and an expiry
date to put this Weldwood operation at the same
date as the Weldwood plant at Canim Lake.
The Region also assisted in the final stages of

negotiations and mediation of the strike against

North West Pulp and Power at Hinton, Alta. In this

instance the Local’s negotiating committee and the-

crew must be congratulated for the determination
and solidarity displayed in that struggle with their
employer. The strike was won and significant gains
made.

APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING

The Coast Negotiating Committee has had
numerous meetings in the last year to attempt to get
an Apprenticeship Training Program for Filers and
Fitters, and also Steam Engineers.

It was necessary to get the Apprenticeship
Department to request that an Order-in-Council be
approved, designating the trades, and secondly, it
was necessary to get a curriculum to cover the
amount of vocational school training agreed upon
between the employers and the union.

Meetings have been held with the Apprenticeship
Department and F.I.R. and we are confident that an
Apprenticeship Training Program for these trades
will be worked out in the near future.

We have had Filers and Fitters, and also Steam
Engineers, work with the Regional Negotiating
Committee in an advisory capacity, which should
result in a successful Apprenticeship Training
Program for these tradesmen.

SAWMILL EVALUATION (SOUTHERN
INTERIOR)

Since Sawmill Evaluation has been negotiated
and become part of the Southern Interior
Agreement, with the effective date being January 1,
1972, the three data-gathering teams representing
the Southern Interior Local Unions and the Interior
Forest Labour Relations Association with
Evaluators Tony Vanderheide representing the IWA
and John Houston representing IFLRA, Have been
working almost steadily evaluating jobs and
preparing the program for implementation.

This work has been done under the supervision
and co-ordination of Industrial Engineer Lorne
Fingarson. There has been a marked increase over
the estimated 2,000 jobs to be studied. With the ad-
dition of another team of evaluators we are hopeful
of meeting the target date.

SAWMILL EVALUATION (NORTHERN
INTERIOR)

Sawmill Evaluation is also a_contractural

requirement, with the effective date of im-
plementation being May 1, 1972.

The Joint Sawmill Evaluation Committee has met
on several occasions and discussed the mechanics of
the program, the number of people and time
required to do the job within the contract limits.

We are agreed that to do this the gathering of job
information and writing of Job Descriptions should
start not later than January 1, 1972, with at least two
teams in the field gathering information and at least
one team of Evaluators processing the information
obtained. This program will also require some
engineering advice and supervision.

COAST SAWMILL EVALUATION

To meet the requirements of the Coast Agreement
a Committee comprised of Wyman Trineer, First
Vice-President of Region No. 1; George Kowbel,
Business Agent, Local 1-217; and Maurice Walls,
Business Agent, Local 1-357; has been established to
meet F.I.R. :

This Committee has met on several occasions,
and has met with lengthy arguments from the em-
ployers on Factor titles, Factor definitions, and
Modifier structure; and while some progress hb s
been made towards structuring a Manual, the last
meeting ground to a halt with employers adamantly
opposing the factors Production Flow and Lumber
Recovery. Further meetings with F.I.R. have been
scheduled. :

PLYWOOD EVALUATION

As a result of 1970 Coast negotiations Mr. Justice
Nathan Nemetz recommended that an impartial
specialist be appointed to assist the IWA and Forest
Industrial Relations in resolving the difficulties
which have arisen in the Plywood Job Evaluation
program.

On November 30, 1970, Mr. Justice Nemetz ap-
pointed Professor Hugh Wilkinson as the impartial
specialist. On January 19, 1971, Prof. Wilkinson met
with both parties and commenced his work on the
evaluation plan. His report was presented August 1,
1971, and since that time a vast amount of work has
been done to have his report implemented.

As a result of the report a considerable amount of
work had to be done on re-evaluating all jobs ac-
cording to the new criteria and point weightings. The
technical aspects of the report are almost completed
at this time; however, there is a tremendous work
load for the evaluation department resulting from
the administration changes. As a matter of interest,
Prof. Wilkinson recommended that jobs under
evaluation that have not been studied in the last 5
years should be evaluated commencing January 1,
1972. On a check of existing categories it appears that
out of 854 existing categories, 507 will have to be re-
evaluated — that is about 59.3 percent of all
categories on the Coast. In addition to the work load
on the Coast, the Wilkinson report also applies to the
Interior of the province and we must assume that the
same ratio of work will be required in the plywood
mills.

One of the first steps that must be taken is the
training of Review Committees to write the job
descriptions. ~

The Coast Negotiating Committee has met on
several occasions and agreed on a number of ad-
ministration decisions to ensure that we achieve the
maximum benefits from the Wilkinson Report.

See “OFFICERS’ REPORT’’Page 8