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00d eee ae City, in the town of St. Basile, is a
th Which employs 60 workers. The workers are
fe, Mteration of ‘National Trade Unions,
ius are seeking .o bring the company, Preci-
Limited, into the 20th cane sted
& of the conditions under which the workers
ork we are reprinting part of a report of Paule
Mpagne which appeared in the CNTU journal,

need $10,000 to get going again,
but that he didn’t have that kind
of money. This is what happened,
under the supervision of the
mayor of St. Basile: The Caisse
Populaire loaned Martin $10,000,
which was endorsed by local
people, including the factory
employees! A hundred parishion-
ers signed notes for $100 each,
and Martin undertook to repay
the money within three years.
So far he hasn’t paid back one
cent.

After obtaining this’ loan that
his own employees underwrote,
Martin went: to Ontario to get
new machinery. For one month
the parishioners—and particular-
ly the employees—donated. their
labors free of charge, clearing
the property and the building
site before construction began.

Some gesture of appreciation

1867 or 1967?

is still awaited from Martin. He
hasn’t started treating his em-
ployees any better.

Today the mill where the em-
ployees toil is still unfinished.
I visited it at the beginning of
February, when winter was at
its worst, and I saw the con-
struction wasn’t completed.

The doors were badly fitted,
allowing the cold air to rush in.
There were no windows, but
only holes covered with polye-
thylene. There was no insulation
in the walls nor in the ceiling.
It was so cold in some parts of
the plant that ice several inches
thick formed on the walls. By
contrast, other sections were
suffocatingly hot.

It is a dirty plant, where rats
and mice roam at will. (During
one night shift an employee shot

36 of them, and another hit 22, .

with a rifle.) I remember an ill-
fitting cupboard door on which
appeared the words: “Close the
doors tight so rats can’t get
through...”

The toilets have been slightly
improved since a government in-
spector visited the mill last fall.
During his visit he found that a
toilet was a hole bored through
the wooden floor, above a small

stream that flowed beneath a
section of the building (a primi-
tive way of putting running
water to work). Today there are
two toilets, whose piping func-
tions badly and which are incre-
dibly filthy. Both are located in
the lower section of the complex,
which includes two  unjoined
structures. To reach the toilets,
the employees working in the
upper structure have to get
dressed up, walk the length of
their section, go outside to reach
the second one and walk its
length too. , ;

The distance no doubt ex-
plains why the owner forbade
his employees from going to the
toilet during working hours. One
woman was fired last October
for going to the toilet and get-
ting a Coke from a vending ma-
chine during her work shift. The
case is in arbitration:

Continual danger

Much more could be said.
Practically everything that goes
on in the plant is unbelievable
unless you have seen it with
your own eyes.

Here are some of. the remark-
able features:

Les miserables’ of St. Basile

In the area called: the “heat-

-ing” section, the most striking

thing that greets you is the
furnace. The fire is situated: be-
neath the floor, and wood is
dropped into it. To do this, you
have to draw on a steel wire
Which in turn moves a steel
plate sitting over a hole in the
floor. There is no protection
around this opening. A man who
made a false step-in the cramp-
ed space could fall into the
furnace, which is hot enough to
send some warmth to both sec-
tions of the plant complex.

In all corners of both sections,
electric wires are exposed. There

_are no longer any doors on the

high voltage boxes and wire ends
dangle from them.

One thing about the employ-
ees at Precision Panels. Their
morale is very high. The mas-
ters can try as they will to crush
them by financial exploitation
and miserable working condi-
tions. They will not bow. They
are nobody’s slaves, and stoutly
maintain their dignity and their
pride as workers. They are bet-
ter people and more worthy than
the big wheels (Martin and the
mayor) who treat them with
such disdain.

THE BOSS WRITES A LETTER:

‘This is my final offer’

and at times which will not interfere with production.

The Quebec: Office of your union has made demands

upon the company for wage increases exceeding $0.30 an
hour, retroactive to April 1966. I have informed the Quebec
office that unless this demand is reduced I shall be unable
to meet it, because it would be a complete waste of time.

Any retroactivity is completely out of the question,
and I will not dicuss it under any circumstances. The com-
pany operates under terms of an agreement with its ordi-
nary creditors, to whom payments are behind, and I can-

I am now seeking for the first and I hope the last time,
to avoid costly negotiations; costly because they draw three
or four employees from their work. I am convinced that in
making my offer this way I am acting in the interests of all.
I have no intention whatever of interfering with union ac-
tivities, but under the circumstances I am acting in the best

interests of everyone.

t

I said that this was my final offer, and so it is. Later

- not agree to pay any additional arrears under any circum-

stances.

On the other hand, I realize that the cost of living con-
tinues to rise and that salaries must also increase. Fortu-
nately, the wages we pay compare favorably with those
paid in our type of industry at St. Basile. Consequently,
you have not yet suffered unduly from the inconveniences
caused by the destruction of our mill by fire, and by sub-

sequent troubles.

Any increase in any industry must be compensated for
by increased productivity. It is always difficult to obtain
the necessary increased productivity after having granted
a salary increase. Nevertheless we are bound to try. —

I want to tell you what I can offer you—and this is the
company’s first and last offer. I ask you to let me do my
work so that these increases can be realized. I cannot do
my work if I am busy discussing contract terms with the
people of your union’s Quebec office.

We are able to offer a general increase of $0.30 an hour

effective as follows:

$0.05 an hour at time of acceptance.
$0.05 an hour six months after acceptance of the first

$0.05 an hour.

$0.05 an hour every six months until the increase of

$0.30 is attained.

“We cannot and will not go beyond this offer under any

circumstances.

When the matter of money is settled; we will be able
to negotiate the other clauses of the contract in good faith

negotiations, arbitration or any other discussions will not
alter my position in this matter. Your ultimate recourse
might be a work stoppage or a strike. Let me inform you,
assure you and warn you that the next work stoppage at
Precision will be the last. A work stoppage for any reason
whatever will provide me with the necessary: grounds to
close the mill permanently, and get rid of a burden of debts,
responsibilities and work that I find increasingly difficult
to bear. :

You all know what happened at St. Casimir when an
outside Uhion took over the mill, etc. It was a much better
mill than ours, and nobody bought it. You would have to be
very fortunate indeed to find that someone is interested in
acquiring our “half-built mill” once it is in the hands of a
union.

; As long as the slightest chance remains, I am disposed
to fight to the end to keep the company in operation and
continue to pay the highest wages in this type of industry.
I am very much heartened by the display of good will and
cooperation that the mill employees have given since last
August. I sincerely believe it would be possible to increase’
productivity enough to meet the $0.30 an hour that I offer
you. I believe that you should consider this offer very care-
fully in the interests of your families, yourselves and your
industry.

Yours most faithfully,
E. M. MARTIN,
: President and General Manager.
PRECISION PANELS INC.

May 12, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5