_ THE WESTERN CANADIAN A. o ; 4 ¥ a * Vol. XXXII, No. 10 a : | } > * I; t 4 REPORT By JACK MOORE > Regional President THE almost complete unanimity with which Coast IWA members authorized strike action, if necessary, has placed our negotiations on a more satisfactory basis. The vote was gratifying evidence of membership unity and determination. The Negotiating Committee promptly asserted the Union‘s right to continue direct negotia- tions unhampered by government inter- vention. lt was not “boxed in,” as in- tended. Time was gained for a face to face exchange with the employers at the bar- gaining table to clear the ground on a a\ number of complex issues. BAG This was necessary to make certain that important items in the IWA bargaining package were not swept under the rug to satisfy pressures for any convenient but inadequate set of settlement pro- posals. The Industrial Inquiry Commissioner and the em- ployers have been made aware of IWA determination | ° to get substantially improved wages and working con- ditions. The onus now rests on the employers to abandon * their adamant opposition to all IWA demands and ad- mit the urgent need for higher standards. They must now recognize the alternative. The outlook for an amicable settlement has improved, though days of tough bargaining lie ahead. The mem- bers of the Negotiating Committee have no illusions about the employers’ attitude. By the same token the membership should remain on the alert. “Prepare for » the worst and hope for the best,” is good advice at this stage. Our present objectives are clearcut and have been ’ made known to the Commissioner and the employers. A satisfactory basis of settlement must be reached, ; / if at all possible, before June 14th. q The terms of settlement must be such as to enable _ the Negotiating Committee to accept, otherwise the in- dustry faces a strike situation. The existing contract benefits must not be watered down by certain of the employers’ proposals. The cost to the employers of any proposed settlement bs must yield to the workers a more equitable share of the industry’s increased net earnings. ° We have good cause to expect that reason will pre- > vail in the councils of the employers. It would be fool- . hardy for them to risk any interruption of a booming , and highly profitable production by denying justice to their employees. . The members of the Negotiating Committee will offer neither promises nor predictions at this stage. What can be said is that, backed by the expressed > solidarity of the membership, the members of the Com- - mittee will pull no punches in the effort to win the best settlement in the history of the IWA in British Columbia. ‘Th are now in our favour. aN VANCOUVER, B.C. alt® See 5c PER COPY a WORKER AUTHORIZED AS SECOND CLASS MAIL, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, OTTAWA, AND FOR PAYMENT OF POSTAGE IN CASH. 2nd Issue May, 1966 TALKS IN FINAL STAGE Armed with a 94.17% membership strike authorization vote, the IWA Coast Negotiating Committee immediately demanded and secured direct negotiations with the employers’ rep- resentatives. The public announcement of the vote, which is detailed in this issue (pages 5 - 6), Local by Local and operation by operation, bargaining through Forest Industrial Relations, was immediately followed by the government’s appointment of Mr. Justice Nemetz as an In- dustrial Inquiry Commissioner. The tabulation of the strike vote in operations w here bargaining is conducted inde- pendently of Forest Industrial Relations will not be released until the report of -the Concilia- tion Officer dealing en bloc with the dispute in these operations. Upon tabulation of the vote, the IWA negotiators immed- iately protested to the Min- ister, stating that his inter- vention was ill-timed and had not allowed the necessary di- rect negotiations which, due to the attitude of the employ- ers, had not taken place. No objection was made to the selection of Mr. Justice Nemetz, but solely because of the lack of opportunity to con- front the employers directly with the alternative to genu- ine bargaining. It was also felt necessary to explore the possibilities of settlement on complex issues such as travel time, contract- ing and job evaluation, not easily understood by any ex- cept those engaged in the in- dustry. The full text of the letter addressed to Labour Minister Peterson appears on page 9. Simultaneously the Com- mittee demanded from Forest Industrial Relations Limited that direct negotiations be re- sumed May 30th. During in- formal discussions with Mr. Justice Nemetz he advised that his formal inquiry would commence June 6th. There followed almost a week of intense bargaining sessions with Forest Industrial Relations Limited, during which the positions of both parties were more clearly defined. These developments were immediately reported to the IWA members. All con- cerned were reminded that the present contract expires on June 14th, The outcome of the Com- misioner’s inquiry will not be - known until he reports to the Minister and his report is re- leased to both parties in the dispute. MASS RALLY SETS 1-217 POLICY Over 700 members of Local 1-217 unanimously endorsed a recommendation to submit the 48-hour strike notice to their employers in such a manner that a legal strike could take place June 15. The meeting held in the Pender Auditorium June 4 also authorized the Local of- ficers to rent zone strike head- quarters, Local President Syd Thompson in a report to the members stated that the Ne- gotiating Committee had never worked better together. Interest in the meeting was so great that thirty-five main- tenance workers at Weld- wood-Kent left their job to attend. A report was also made on the recent Lenkurt dispute and a decision was made that Local 1-217 would pay the lost-time wages and or costs of any of its members jailed or fined as a result of charges following the picket line in- cident.