4 10 viduals whose jobs may be affected by such action, the company agrees to the fol- lowing severance plan which the affected individual may elect in lieu of exercising his seniority or “bumping” rights. An employee directly affected by such a move who does not exercise his senior- ity rights, may at the time of his displacement waive all re-employment rights and in lieu thereof accept severance’ pay as follows: “Less than 2 years service, no severance pay; 2 to 3 years service, 2 weeks pay; 3 to 4 years service, 3 weeks pay; 4 to 5 years service,4 weeks pay; 5 to 6 years service, 5 weeks pay; 6 to 7 years serv- ice, 6 weeks pay; 7 to 8 years service, 7 weeks pay; 8 to 9 years service, 8 weeks pay; 9 to 10 years service, 9 weeks pay; 10 to 11 years service, 10 weeks pay; 11 to 12 years service, 11 weeks pay; 12 to 13 years service, 12 weeks pay; 13 to 14 years service, 13 weeks pay; 14 to 15 years service, 14 weeks pay; 15 to 16 years service, 15 weeks pay; 16 years service or over, 16 weeks pay. “A week’s pay shall be construed to mean 40 hours at the employee’s base rate plus cost of living allowance if any, but exclusive of shift premiums or overtime.” SHORTER HOURS While trade unions general- ly favour reduction in the hours of work, bargaining on this question has encountered difficulties. One of the chief difficulties has been the re-scheduling of production in different indust- ries to maintain productivity. Government opposition arises from the desire to increase the gross national product in order to offset the dangers of infla- tion. The introduction of-a short- er work week on a regional or local basis in competitive’ in- dustries is claimed by the em- ployers to expose them to un- fair competition from other areas, Many trade union leaders contend that reduction in the hours of work must be intro- duced by a nation-wide cam- paign on the part of labour with government support. They refer to trade union ex- perience during the early part of the ceatury to secure gen- eral adoption of the eight- hour day and_ forty - hour week. Evidently it has been easier to reduce hours of work in plants where production is on a continuous operation basis. THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER Other problems are encount- ered in plants on a two shift basis. To cut the work week re- quires an increase in the hour- ly rate of pay. The AFL-CIO has estimated that a 2.6% in- crease in the hourly rate is necessary to reduce the week from 40 hours to 39 hours. This means that a 3% produc- tivity increase would permit the same weekly pay for 38 hours and 50 minutes. LONGER VACATIONS Some unions have ap- proached the question by ne- gotiating longer vacation per- iods to reduce the annual work schedules. It is obvious that the AF'L- CIO drive for the reduced work week has not made much headway. Mainly this is because of lack of enthusiasm about a program which es- sentially is a work-sharing program. In some instances, reduced hours have led to more overtime and is regarded by some merely as a device to build up more overtime pay. An 8-hour day appears in 82% of contracts under exam- ination, and about 6% provide for a standard work day of less than 8 hours. Just half of these agreements call for a work day of 7 hours, and a third specify 742 hours. Only a couple of contracts call for 6-hour schedules. Less than 1% of contracts provide for schedules of more than 8 hours daily. All the contracts in printing and publishing provide for daily schedules of less than 8 hours as do more than a third of the apparel contracts and a quarter of rubber and finance contracts. Scattered provisions also appear in furniture, com- munications, construction, re- tail trade, and services. SHORTER WEEK Weekly work schedules are set at 40 hours in 63% of con- tracts. Six percent specify shorter work. weeks, ranging from 35 to 37% hours, while 1% list longer ones, Approxi- mately 30% of contracts make no mention of weekly hours but the 40 hour work week presumably predominates in these. Number of days in the workweek is set at five in 68% of agreements anti most of these specify a Monday through Friday schedule. Two percent of contracts call for 6 days work, most frequently in services. YME WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER Published twice month! *" WORKER as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1. Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC 2859 Commercial Orive, Vancouver, B.C, Editor ~ Business Manager Advertising Representative : member of the IWA in Western Canada in Forwarded to ever. Phone 874-526} igo at Kerr msarrnere. EYOd Fieber ... G. A. Spencer accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. and for payment of tage Authorized as Second Class Mak. Post Office Department, Ottawa, 27) copies printed in this issue. BARGAINING & AUTOMATION 2nd Issue July, 1965 Rubber Workers and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company: “The standard work day shall be a 6-hour day in .any 24 hour period. The standard work week shall consist of 6 days, Monday through Sat- urday.” Under the above clause overtime is paid for time worked in excess of 8 hours in a 24 hour period at 40 hours per pay period week. Ladies’ Garment Workers and Los Angeles Coat & Suit Manufacturers Association: “|, . a week’s work shall consist of 35 hours in the first five days of the week from Monday to Friday. This provision shall be subject to immediate revision to con- form with the hours that may _ prevail in the cloak and suit industry in the metropolitan area of New York. If and when a shorter hour week shall prevail in the cloak and suit industry in the metro- politan area of New York, said hours prevailing there shall automatically govern the number of hours in the work week in this agree- ment.” LB.E.W. Electrical Contractors’ sociation: “Work under this agree- ment shall be on the basis of 8 hours per day. . . in the event that either the Grays Harbour, Lewis Count, Ma- son County, Pacific County, Pierce County, or Thurston County Building and Con- struction Council of the AFL & CIO adopts a 6-hour per day as a work day to be per- formed in the area coming within their respective juris- dictions, then the parties to this agreement agree to meet for the purpose of establish- ing a 6-hour per day as a work day, 30 hours Monday through Friday inclusive as and National As- _ a work week for work to be performed within the area Retail Wholesale & De- partment Store Union and Direct Mail Master Contract Association: “1(a) For the period be- ginning February 13, 1962