By MAURICE RUSH
“ne naming of a Royal Com-
| Mission to probe the forest in-
dustry, and the tabling in the
legislature last Friday of the
"eport by the task force on mining
| Which recommended the building
o% two copper smelters in B.C., are
"ents of major importance for the
Pople of the province.
| These two events open up
| Possibilities for long-needed
| “Manges in two of B.C.’s major
| Ndustries which could go a long
| "ay to restore public control over
| "sources and lead to new
| “onomic policies which would end
4 he present over-reliance on
"source industries, and result in a
aise utilization of the province’s
Sources to create new jobs and
Processing industries.
| Whether or not these two events
a bring the changes needed to
:. lize the forest and mineral
| Sources of the province for the
| ®eatest public good, depends on
| Whether the NDP government
ends to press forward with
anges in B.C.’s economy long
*manded by the NDP while in
°Pposition, or. retreat before the
| “porate giants in the forest and
Mining industry and thus lose the
| portunity presented by these
test developments.
7 he terms of reference for the
rrestry probe are wide, and in-
wrens are that public hearings
| il be held throughout. the
| "ovince. All groups and interested
:: thes are being invited to appear
nd submit their views. This is the
Sh time since 1955 that the forest
Ustry has been opened up for an
sensive probe. In the 20 years
.£€ the last, Sloan Royal Com-
ISsion vast changes have taken
naa in the industry .which ac-
Punts for about 50 per cent of
‘~- S.economic activity.
nite the terms of reference of
4 forestry probe are very wide,
© crucial issue will be whether

ether or not a new forestry
: icy is needed. The starting point
| 4 any review of forest policy is
nese 95 per cent of the province’s
Fest land is owned by the Crown,
at is, the public.
ace until World War II, and
Toughout most of the war, the
is

resent forest policies bring the,
St returns for the’ public, and _

IN FORESTS, MINING

Crucial resource issues face B.C.

forest industry was dominated by
“cut and get out’’ promoters who
devastated B.C.’s forest lands. The
major issue before the 1944 Royal
Commission which was _ also
headed by Chief Justice Sloan, was
to bring an end to this era of
devastation, and to put B.C.’s
forests under some saner form of
forest management to ensure a
sustained yield. In other words, to
manage the forests in such a way
that new forests would be planted
to replace old ones being cut down
under a plan of reforestation.

Following the 1944 probe, the
Liberal-Tory Coalition government
came to the conclusion that the
way to manage Crown forests was
to turn them over to large com-
panies under licence in return for a
small nominal amount, and their
agreement to reforest public lands
turned over. to them. Rather than
choose to establish a public system
of forest management of public
lands, the big business government
enacted legislation which turned
over millions of acres of B.C.’s best
forest lands to a handful of com-
panies, many of them foreign
owned.

Under this system of forest
management licences (now called
Tree Farm Licences), and other
forms of tenure similar in nature
for harvesting pulpwood, most of
B.C.’s best forest lands passed
under the control of private
companies. This has led to a vast
growth of monopoly in the industry
at the expense of the public, and
smaller forest enterprises. Nor has

» it ensured an adequate program of

forest management. All in-
dications are that B.C.’s forests
are being rapidly overcut, and
some forestry experts point to the
fact that before too many years go
by, B.C. may find itself short of
adequate forests to maintain the
forest industry at this present
level.

In other words, the system of
forest management through a few
large private enterprises, does not
ensure protection of our forests
because the profit motive stands in
the way. In recent years there has
been growing pressure by the
forest companies who dominate
the industry to have the allowed
annual cut increased so that they
can get more trees to make more

money, despite repeated warnings
from foresters that B.C. forest
lands are being dangerously
overcut without adequate
reforestation.

The basic issue facing the forest
industry in B.C. is how to maintain
a proper forest management policy
to ensure a perpetual yield for
future generations, and at the
same time receive the greatest
benefit for the province and its
people from the economic activity
generated by the forest industry
today.

To achieve this objective the
whole system of forest licences to
private companies should be
phased out and _ ultimately
scrapped. In its place public
forests should be managed by
public or Crown agencies —
possibly the B.C. Forestry Service
with enlarged powers. Such a
Crown agency would be able to
ensure that an adequate province-
wide system of forest management
on a sustained yield basis is im-
plemented. In other words, the
public should retain control of their
own resources, and _ these
resources when harvested should
be: sold-to the highest bidder at
auction to ensure the biggest
return to the public.

While there are many issues in
the upcoming probe that the one-
man Royal Commission headed by
Dr. Peter Pearse will have to
address itself to, the basic one is
the need for a drastic and radical
overhaul of forest policies to undo
the harm done by earlier govern-
ments in giving away Crown forest
lands to private companies; and to
adopt a policy which will lead to
public control and management of
public forests for the good of the
public and not the profits of the big
forest companies.

To a large extent, the issue
facing the government in the
mining industry is similar to that
in forestry.

The government task force set
up by the provincial government
came to the conclusion that B.C.
should set up two copper smelter
refinery complexes in B.C. during
the next decade. The seven-
member task force said the
government could on its own
develop the smelter-refinery

complexes, but it recommended

instead that they be turned over
and developed by the private
sector, that is the big mining
companies. L

The report proves that B.C. has
adequate copper resources to
maintain two major smelting-
refinery complexes — one in the
Highland Valley area near Merritt,
and the other on the north coast.
For many years the big mining
companies; who are mostly foreign
owned and who have a vested in-
terest in exporting raw ore and
concentrates to refineries abroad,
denied that B.C. had enough
copper to justify a smelting-
processing industry in_ the
province.

The report by the task force
points out that at the present time

B.C. is the world’s largest exporter

of copper concentrates — to other
countries where it is processed and
refined. Forty per cent of our
copper concentrates have gone to
Japan where it was used to create
industries providing thousands of
jobs and millions of dollars in

wealth added by the refining
process.

For many years copper con-
centrates has been at the top of the
export list of B.C. minerals. We
have exported copper concentrates
valued at more than $100 million
annually. Some years ago a B.C.
mining engineer spoke out against
the export of copper concentrates
and said that if the ore was
processed and refined in B.C. it
would add ten times the value to
B.C.’s economy in terms of jobs
and economic activity compared to
what we received from exporting
the concentrates.

To turn over the building and
administration of the two copper
smelting-refining complexes
recommended by the tast force to
the big mining monopolies would
be a betrayal of the best interests
of the public. Since these com-
panies never wanted copper
refining and processing in B.C. to
begin with, because it would
conflict with their investments

sy elsewhere, often in refining plants,

they can be expected to do
everything possible to keep the

operation of such plants in B.C. at a -

minimal level.

Before its election, the NDP
stood for the building of a publicly-
owned copper smelter in B.C. The
best interest of the province will
now be served by the provincial
government building the two
copper smelter-refinery com-
plexes as Crown corporations.
Along with that it should gradually
phase out and prohibit the export of

copper concentrates, and require °

that all copper mined in B.C. be
refined and processed in B.C:
The decisive issue at stake in
both the forest and mining industry
is public or private control of the
province’s basic resources. In the

“past, big- business - governments

have come down heavy on the side
of the big corporations. The

present probe of the forest industry .

and the report on mining offer the
NDP government an opportunity to
change courses: to put the public
interest ahead of monopoly profits
and open a new chapter in B.C.’s
history by starting to turn the
economy around from a raw
material hinterland to that of a
manufacturing and processing
economy.

jqute B.C. Division of the
een Union of Public Em-
Ve yees met in their annual con-
| a dtion last week and emerged
tmined to overcome problems
_ bargaining coordination to
€Sent a solid front of the 15,000
€mbers of B.C.’s fifth largest
Hon in 1976,
tha here is no greater teacher
trast experience,’’ re-elected
mp ent Harry Greene told the
one than 200 delegates to the
8 Vention at Vancouver’s
diynaton Landmark hotel, ‘‘our
freon will learn a great deal
wan the rich experience of this
TS round of bargaining and:
din 4 greater degree of coor-
wi) wo co-operation and unity
l evolve.”
: United bargaining program
this the key issue for delegates at
: year’s convention after what
_.€ene termed as the “first step”
‘eae direction achieved this

a first step he spoke of was the
aw conclusion to the CUPE
“'8€ conference held in August of

HARRY GREENE |

last year which outlined a common
list of demands for locals to pur-
sue. ‘‘Having adopted these
demands,’ Greene explained,
“locals tended to drift off on their
own to fight for these goals.”” The

’ wage conference marked an ad-

vance over previous years, he
continued, but the union still
lacked a ‘‘well orchestrated, well

~ coordinated, united front approach
- to bargaining.”

Following Greene’s. report
delegates gave unanimous ap-
proval to a strongly worded
resolution instructing - the
executive to convene conferences
to formulate a program of
bargaining coordination in future
negotiations and calling on
delegates “‘to commit themselves
to advocating to their respective
locals full support for the principle
of coordinated bargaining tactics.”

The president’s report noted an
“upsurge of militancy of public
employees in B.C.” as part of a
general movement across Canada.
“For CUPE members in B.C.,”’ the
report stressed, ‘“‘a second factor
adding to the determination of our
members was the long overdue and
generous increases won by
provincial government employees.
They not only caught up to CUPE
in areas where they lagged behind,
but they surged ahead, thereby
raising the sights of other public
employees.”’

Terming ‘“‘political turmoil” a

norm of life in B.C., Greene ap-
plauded the numerous -reforms
introduced by the NDP since 1972
and especially increased financial
aid to municipalities, the main
employers of CUPE members.
“While this has not transformed
the attitude of our employers —
from misers to philanthropists —
as far as employees are con-
cerned,’ he said, “‘it should, over

the long haul, make our fight for:

better working conditions and
wages easier than would have been
the case if such reforms had not
taken place.”

At the same time Greene leveled
“justified and constructive
criticism”’ against the government
over proposed labor legislation.
While joining with the general
labor movement in its criticisms of
the proposals in Bill 84, he picked
out one recommendation as par-
ticularly dangerous to CUPE
members.

In the terms of reference for the
establishment of the Kinnair
commission into the construction
industry it poses the question as to

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 20,1975—Page3

CUPE endorses coordinated bargaining

whether all construction should be
built by licensed firms. Such
legislation would make it illegal for
CUPE members to engage in new
construction of schools, sewers,
roads, etc. “After fighting for
years for ‘no contracting out’
clauses in our contracts,’’ Greene
warned, ‘‘this would be an obvious
reversal and something we must
fight with all our energy.”

The Trident missile base at
Bangor, Washington drew concern
from delegates as a_ resolution

__ demanded the federal government

“protest in the strongest terms
possible”’ the construction of the

- base.

Other resolutions joined with the
B.C. Federation of Labor in calling
for a $4 minimum wage regardless
of age, a massive low cost housing
program, unconditional opposition
to wage controls and for an end to
apartheid in South Africa.

In addition to Greene’s re-_

election, the defeat of ist vice-
president Dave Werlin to Muriel

‘See CUPE pg. 10