ALLAN KENNEDY, pictured hese at work in a photo taken some
years ago, has had more than his fair share of falling accidents

By ALLAN KENNEDY
ROFESSION
may seem a

high-toned word

to some of you

fallers out there

who have been at
it for 20 years or sa and are
jaded enough to consider it
pick and shove] work.

Just hand your saw to some-
one who wants to learn and has
no experience at all. Within 60
seconds you will realize you
know a lot more than you
thought you did about staying
alive,

My falling experience was
mostly contract, piece work, right
of way, by the acre or going right
back to the good old days with a
scaler in the woods. That was the
free enterprise system.

Now it appears {he | Workers’
Comperisation | Board, is, 'P anning

tely,

The WCB is now creating a
new insurance class for indepen-
dent fallers and buckers, separa-
ting them from from the rest of the
forest industry.

That will more than double the
insurance premiums of fallers,
costing a typical faller an extra
$6,000 to $7,000 per year.

When I started it was the old
push and pull saw. People some-
times say what a hard and danger-
ous occupation that must have
been, Not really, For one thing,
the saw weighed next to nothing
compared to the machines at that
time.

Jt was much safer because the
volume of woed you fell to make
your pay was approximately one-
tenth of what had to come down
with the advent of the chain saw,

The companies simply dropped
the falling price from $7.50 to
$1.75 within a four-year period.
That left the faller with a big
heavy machine to ruin his back
with. ,

f course with 70 trees coming
dow as compared.to seven with
the hand fiddle, there were that
many. more chances to get hit. But
your pay stayed the same.

The next move the companies
made to save a few pennies was
to supply the saws to the fallers
‘when they became reliable en-
ough so they didn’t need to be
_worked on every night to be avail-
able the next day. This eliminated
your saw-pay.

What surprises me is how
many peaple think so what if the
WCB raises the insurance rate?
The employers have to pay, not
me, they might think,

There. is no falling contractor
out there who can afford to keep
you if he can’t get that WCB
money.cut of your sweat,

Hang on, the worst was yet to
come, The companies dropped the
scale: system and went ‘to-day
wage fallers.

This move changed any moti-
vation a fallery might. have in

. doing a high quality and high
quantity job into a boring dull re-
petitive chore.

This in turn escalated the acci-

_ dent-rate simply because some of
the old timers quit, Some of them
stayed on but cut their production
to ‘the amount. of wood which.
would approximate the amount.
they: were being paid as if they

1 were still on n contract work,

Fall ¢ on
your

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - A5

and experiences, All that and more has given him a penetrating
analysis af the changes that have affected the falling business.

knees

"any pipe iF ue! tings

Yo ges;

| “Changing: regulations,. pay and:

to, price. y.ou,.out of a job cpmple:. Ved

er tin OV, SIP y Apo

equipment have nickle-and-dimed
the real professionals out of the
woods, says a longtime logger.

i

THAT'S TIM Kennedy, ¢ one of four sons of Allan Kennedy.
Three of those sons followed him into the falling occupation.

This could usually be done by
10 or 11 a.m. which left the rest of
the day to fall asleep on your feet
and have most any kind of acci-
dent becaiise of your mind was

money, As it turned out it had the
opposite effect.

Then the companies gave one
man the labour contract, thus eli-
minating any responsibility for

‘ienced fallers to

not on your them for the
work, 4 price of com:

An as it The companies pensation. i
usually took two WCB has raised
or three inexper-. thought they would get this price to the

a high quality failing

amount that it
will drive most

get the same and bucking job for
production of Jags money. As_ it
one old-time

faller on con-
tract, it is easy.
math. to figure

turned out it had the
opposite effect.

falling contrac-
tors out of the
business I be-

lieve,
The next step
was the WCB

the more men in
the. woods, the more injuries will
occur.

The reasons for these changes.

are’ this, The’ companies thought
they: would get a high quality fall-

ing. and bucking job for less -

also pushing for day wages be-

cause the faller would: have no.
reason to take chances: he. might ”

take if he were on Plece work, .

_ Wrong again,

‘The fallers ] knew were 2 very

Allan Kennedy

aware of the danger involved, and

., they , kept, their, body, in as good |
: shape, as their, tools! » ka
Most men JT knew worked it-as -

a business. I'm sure they all knew
that if you broke your leg on Mon-
day you were not going to make
much money on Tuesday.

When I started falling, due to
my inexperience, I totally
smashed three saws in a week at
$600 per saw. My pay for the
piece work falling amounted to
around $20 a day.

What I am saying is that it cost
me fo gain the experience I had
when we were later forced onto
day rate.

Now for the young man who
can’t fall enough wood to make
your noon fire. He’s paid the same
pay as you fallers out there with
20 to 30 years at it. Also the
young fellow gets the best timber
and the best ground so he will be
safer till he learns.

Meanwhile you get to drag
your tired old bones up the cliff on
the other side of the road into the
big rotten snags and old leaning
cedars, So, your experience is
working again you. ;

When I] was falling plece work,
it was a challenging and interest-
ing job. To me it was a serious
game and payday was the way we
kept score.

Steep ground, mosquitoes, yel-
low jackets, hornets, no-see-ums,
decp snow, icy ground and fresh
windfalls were just nasty things
that you simply ignored on con-
tract. On day wages they made a
long miserable day even longer.

If you did happen to hurt your
self to hell with the WCB. When
you got back to work, you just
worked a little harder to make up
for lost time.

[ think that whoever was re-
sponsible for day wage falling
made the job much more danger-
ous simply by taking the man’s
mind off his work and his interest
in production and quality.

Two hours inte my first day
wage job I broke my leg and spent
the next three months in hospital
irying to remember what hit me.

Just imagine what a dull game
hockey would ‘be if the players
were paid a flat rate, rookie or
star, There would be no more
Bobby Orrs or Wayne Gretzkys
without the incentive to add a lit-
tle more finesse, speed, and flash
forthe extra pay and perks that ga
with {t,

Born in Toronto and raised in

_ the Cariboo, Allan Kennedy has

. lived in Terrace since 1950, He's
now. retired,

a E(th:

ene
CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

The Mail Bag

Gas hearing turnout
termed as ‘pathetic’

Dear Sir:

I was dismayed at the pathetic turnout of the
general public at hearings before the Brilish
Columbia Utilities Commission and Pacific Northern
Gas, held at the Best Western Inn, March 5-9,

The hearings were requested by Pacific Northern
Gas to seck approval of an exorbitant price increase
levied on their customers-in the past year.

] counted no more than six residential users present
throughout the four days | attended.

However Eurocan, West Fraser, Skeena Cellulose
and Methanex were well represented.

Of course these industrial users have only their
shareholders’ interest in mind.

I should mention that the mayors of various
Surrounding towns, presented excellent submissions
on behalf of their constituents to the commissioners.
The mayor of Telkwa described how a senior citizen
in her constituency was on the verge of a nervous
breakdown after receiving an $800 gas bill.

Pacific Northern Gas has informed the utility
commission that they again wish to appear before
them on, or before October 2002, to request yet
another price increase ta deal with future projected
expenditures.

It would seem that PNG is determined to speed up
the rate of self destruction. ,

A Eurocan representative described them as
already being in a death spiral. Either way it could
possibly force residential customers to switch an
masse to alternative fuels to heat their home. Some
are already in the process of doing so.

Testimony was presented to the utilities
commission that, in previous years, Pacific Northern
Gas detained work crews and equipment out on their
pipe line for weeks after their scheduled maintenance
had been completed, for no other reason that to
deplete their budget, giving the company the means
io ask for an increase the following year.

When asked specifically if they presently
continued this practice, PNG chose nat to reply.
Given permission by the commission chairman to
question this testimany they also refrained from doing
80.

Eurocan and West Fraser have informed the B.C.
Utilities Commission that they have already started
the process of switching to an alternative fuel to run
their operations.

I am sure the public in general realizes that
Methanex has severe problems meeting commitments
to their customers, although it was stated they are
still managing to do so. The possibility of the loss of
120 jobs in Kitimat, plus the spin off local business in
the area, does not create a very optimistic situation.

However, I personally fail to see why the public

‘ shauld be forced to shoulder this responsibility by

having to absorb an exorbitant increase in the price of
natural Bas.
The spin off from higher energy prices affect the

"pate ‘of ‘inflation’ ‘énormously., For example,” if the
present application by Pacific Northern Gas for‘a ‘ate
increase is approved the Terrace Best Western Inn’s
gas bill would increase by $30,000 a year, forcing
further increases for eccommodation and meals.
Municipalities may have to raise taxes to cover
heating costs in municipal buildings and so forth. The
domino effect would be endless.

Working people in the northwest have been
stretched to the limit financially. We cannot afford
any further price increases, period.

Many people have left this area and the near future
will bring about {he expiration of many union
contracts.

There is a likelihood there will be a series of
strikes the likes of which have not been seen for
many years.

Fred Glover, Terrace, B.C.

Woods jobs can and must
be sustained in this area

Dear Sir:

I would like to see the government facilitale
secondary industry to increase the jobs available from
logging.

It is true that it would take some funds to re-train
workers and help them get started but the long-term
benefits would be enormous.

As it is, we are just hastening the rude awakening
that will come as we realize that forestry is only a
sustainable industry when the rate and method of
logging allows healthy regrowth soon enough to be
there when we need it, Thal is not happening now.

Jobs can be sustained and restored at the same
time as we revise logging practices to allow a
continuation of this resource. This is money much
better spent than trying to keep this sinking ship
-afloat.

Pat Carson, Terrace, B.C.

Columnist’s offerings
are defended
Dear Sir:

Please print more of Charlynn Toews' columns, not
less. She hes a great sense of humour and a fabulous
style of writing, Her column is one of the things |
look for first when The Terrace Standard arrives in my
mailbox.

John Saunders, who complained about her column,
needs a sense of humour. We all need much more
humour in our lives, And thanks to writers like Char,
every time her column appears in the paper, a lol of
smiles also appear. Keep up the good work.

Marie Nagel, Wells, B,C.

About the Mail Bag

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address is 3210 Clinton St., Terrace, B.C. V8G
S5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail

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ae