THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 13 4 The Officers’ Report to the _ Annual Meeting of Local 1-367 + JWA, held September 27, in omg stressed the import- ‘ance of continuing to organize ‘ the unorganized woodworkers 3 jn the forest industry. _ The report stated that while the Local had not been com- - pletely successful in its organ- jging drive, strong gains had been made with a number of new operations signed up and a number of other certifica- tions were pending. Because of its strong inter- * est in organizing, the Local j invited as guest speaker Inter- i national 2nd Vice-President Keith Johnson who heads up * the Department of Organiza- tion. Keith, who took over the Department two years ago on being elected Vice-President, , has devoted this period to re- _yamping the organizing sys- * tem and planning newer and » — fresher ae to pepe with or- » ganizational problems. _ In his address to the meet- ing, Keith reported on some * of the International’s ideas ‘for making the IWA a strong- ‘er union in the future. He ad- . mitted that a number of un- . ion members looked on the International now with deep suspicion. This suspicion he ~ maintained, was neither just- » ified nor warranted. He stated that the Inter- national officers prime con- cern and motivation was to * build a better organization. The key to this was member- ship understanding of the role the International offi- cers had to play if the organ- ization was to function prop- erly. He then went on to praise the fact that new and young- er members were taking a more active part in Union affairs. They should be en- couraged in this, he said, be- cause no union could forge ahead without new. blood and fresh ideas. The importance of greater membership participation in the Union’s affairs was also pointed up in the Officers’ Report which noted with dis- may that fewer and fewer members were now attending Union functions. On the brighter side of the picture, the report noted that the Local’s financial resources had improved which allowed the building of a new local office building and setting aside sufficient money to pro- vide two. $200.00 scholarships each year for sons or daught- ers of Local 1-367 members. The report devoted consid- erable space to the problem of safety on the job. It stated that the Local’s Safety Dir- ector Larry Barnes had been placed on the payroll during the month of May to tour the Local Union with Regional Safety Director Andy Smith, promoting accident preven- tion. | . NDP CONVENTION . SLATED FOR The New Democratic Par- . ty’s 5th Federal Convention 7 will be held October 28-31 in . innipeg. | More than 1,000 delegates ‘ chosen under the constitu- | tional provisions of the NDP _ will draft the Party program for the 70’s and elect the offi- cers at the session to be held +» in the Winnipeg Civic Audi- torium. Cliff Scotton, federal secre- ) tary, said “the orientation will on policy. It is the first | time since the 1961 founding convention in Ottawa that the Party has had the opportunity for this kind of full scale pol- icy discussion. He said four general elec- tions in that period prevented a significant range of review in policy and program which we would have preferred. i This time the Party will be able te devote its full energies to draft the program with rel- | evance to today and tomorrow * that is for the 1970’s. Federal Leader T. C. Doug- las said he will let his name go before the Convention for OCT. 28-31 a final two-year term as lead- er. The Winnipeg location has special significance—it marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike — 1919 — which marked the real beginning of democratic socialism in Canada. Despite claims of Saskatchewan, Tor- onto, and Vancouver, the founding roots of the CCF, forerunner of the NDP, was in that city. Finally, the Cana- dian Labour Congress at its Winnipeg Convention in 1958 adopted its position to sup- port the affiliation of labour . with the CCF to found the NDP in 1961. For the first time the NDP Convention will operate a “panel system,” successfully used by the Saskatchewan NDP. The system will operate in three or four theme areas, to achieve greater delegate participation, improve the quality of debate and put the final touches through debate on a greater number of reso- lutions before going to the plenary sessions. ON THE LIGHTER SIDE A vacationer at a big dude in the Cariboo was real oldtime cow- his own cigarettes. “Bet it took you a long time to twist ’em like that,” said the vacationer ad- miringly. “Aw, it ain’t so much,” the old-timer grunted. “But it shore took me a spell to learn how to get them filters in.” ORGANIZIN , ie: eee oe } G The Local has also pre- pared a booklet on accident prevention which would be available soon to the member- ship, the Report said. On the section dealing with Workmens Compensation claims, the Report stated: “Workmen’s Compensation claims. again require a great deal of attention and resulted in a constant source of frustration. This stems from the bureaucratic arbitrary and procrastinating methods which seem to be the hall mark of this organization.” The Educational plans of the Local were also listed in the Report, which stated: “A union training program was instituted in the past year, with the assistance of Ron Tweedie, CLC Education Director, in the hope that we would be able to give courses on the structure of the Un- ions and their history as well as providing instructions on the presentation of grievances. “We have had some suc- cess with this worthwhile pro- gramme which we discontin- ued during the summer holi- day months. We will again continue with these classes now that fall is here. We would strongly urge all shop Stewards to attend these Un- ion Training Classes so that we may build a stronger and more effective Local Union which will better serve the needs of our members in this rapidly changing technological industrial society.” FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE BOOST? Labour Minister Bryce Mac- kasey will ask the cabinet for an increase in the federal min- imum wage from the present $1.25 an hour to more than $1.50 an hour. If approved, the change in the Labor Standards Code will be introduced in Parliament for debate next spring. ~ Mr. Mackasey made the an- nouncement after a meeting with provincial labor minis- ters to discuss _ possible changes in federal labor leg- islation. At present Ontario’s min- imum wage is the highest at $1.30 an hour for general workers. British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec are next with $1.25, Nova Scotia is $1.15, Prince Edward Is- land and Newfoundland $1.10, Saskatchewan $1.15 and New Brunswick $1.00. A hike in the federal min- imum wage would affect about 5,000 workers under federal jurisdiction who now earn be- low $1.50 an hour. : Douglas Hamilton, secre- tary-treasurer of the Ontario Federation of Labour, said "n increase in the federal min- ‘mum would give added im- petus to organized labour’s campaign with provincial gov- ernments to increase their minimum wages. t oe. OFFICERS OF LOCAL 1-367 IWA, Haney, are shown dur- ing the Local’s Annual Meeting September 27, in Mission. Group left, Morris Nordblad, President; Ralph Funk, Ist Vice-President; Cy Godfrey, 2nd Vice-President; Erik Wood, Financial Secretary; Bill Hayes, Recording Secre~ tary; Mrs. Alice Walsh, office secretary. In the background is Keith Johnson, International 2nd Vice-President, who was the guest speaker at the meeting. REGIONAL PRESIDENT Jack Moore congratulating John Barton, long-time member of Local 1-367 IWA, Haney, who was presented with an !WA Twenty-five year pin during the Local’s Banquet and Dance held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting September 27, in ‘Mission. JOHN BARTON HONOURED — AT LOCAL 1-367 BANQUET One of the senior members of Local 1-367 IWA, John Barton, was honoured at the Local Union’s Shop Stewards’ Banquet, September 27, for his years of service to the Union. Regional President, Jack Moore presented Brother Barton with an IWA twenty-five year pin in a short ceremony follow- ing the Banquet. Brother Barton, now Watchman at Whonnock Lumber Company is married and lives in Whonnock. He started work at the Company in 1947 when it was then the Peter Bain Company. Prior to this he worked at a number of small companies in the Haney area. $50.00 A DAY MINERS’ GOAL W. A. (Tony) Boyle, president of the United Mine Workers, has called for a wage goal of $50 a day for U.S. coal miners. He declared that the goal was not excessive and that the union intended to achieve it by the end of the next contract. The present contract expires in 1971. Bituminous miners’ wages now range between $28 and $33 per day. “If a doctor, a psychiatrist, a lawyer, an actor or other professional is worth $50 an hour or more, the men who risk their lives in the highly skilled work in the coal mines are worth far more than $50 a day,” the UMW chief said.