THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER SOCIAL CREDIT MLA SHOT DOWN IN FLAMES Social Credit MLA for Shu- swap Willis Jefcoat has been shot down in flames by Local Union presidents Bob Schlos- ser of Salmon Arm and Bill Schumaker of Kelowna, for his idiotic statements on the IWA strike to a meeting of the Armstrong and District Chamber of Commerce. In an open letter to Jefcoat, the two IWA officers politely suggested that he would be better off to know what he was talking about before shooting his mouth off. Jefeoat told the Chamber of Commerce that the IWA strike was a “disgraceful situ- ation.” He went on to say that dollar and cents are not behind the strike and all strikes should be outlawed. He showed his ignorance of the Union’s affairs by stating that $15 of every $18 contri- buted by the members goes to the United States. He went on to say that the 44 cents recommended by Justice Munroe was a mistake and a 36-cent wage boost was ade- quate compensation for In- terior woodworkers. The IWA officers informed him that the minimum Union dues — raised last year by convention action — are $5 per month. Out of this amount only 75 cents a month is sent to the Interna- tional office to help pay for the services provided to Cana- dians by International staff members and officers. They shafted him for his failure to mention what in his opinion, the real strike is- sues were. They pointed out that the Union had made it plain the issue was parity with coastal woodworkers, a fact which appeared to be above Jefcoat’s intelligence to understand. They. pointed out that he and other MILA’s received the _ Same monetary compensation irrespective of the area they represented and asked why IWA Interior members should be treated any differ- ently? They ignored his remark that all strikes should be out- lawed believing his complete ignorance of the subject would waste their time an- Swering. LETTER ALSO SCORES JEFCOAT Editor’s Note: Social Credit MLA Willis Jefcoat’s attack on the IWA Interior strike prompted this scathing letter to the Vernon News. The writer is not an IWA member. Editor, The Vernon News, According to an article in Thursday’s paper, the Social Credit MLA for Shuswap, Willis Jefcoat, is quoted as saying that the current IWA strike is disgraceful and that strikes should be outlawed. It is seldom that this par- ticular MLA says anything worth quoting, but this time he has accurately revealed the level of his intelligence — a level that is much akin to that of his glorious leader from Kelowna. What is so objectionable, and I think stupid, about what he says is that if strikes were outlawed we who work for a living (and that’s nearly everybody) would be com- Qi pletely at the mercy of those who hire people to work for them. Surely this would end up, as it has in the past, as a master and servant society of haves and have-nots. I don’t think Canadians anywhere would like this alternative. I can see nothing disgrace- ful about working men suf- fering the hardships of strike action to improve wages and working conditions, largely for new employees who come into their industry. I’ve never seen politicians yet go out on strike for a pay raise. All they have to do is vote “aye” and they get a nice increase — no negotia- tions, no walking a picket line in the winter. I wonder how many IWA men wish it was that simple for them? HAROLD FOSTER, 3208 -16th Street, Vernon, ieee ee) BROADWAY PRINTERS printers and lithographers since 1911 rr 115 EAST 8th AVENUE VANCOUVER 10, B.C. Telephone 876-2101 COUNCIL SUPPORTS STRIKERS In a meeting held in the Canadian Inn (Kamloops) on January 18, delegates to the - Kamloops and District Labour Council unanimously passed a resolution “reiterating com- plete support of the struggle presently being waged by Southern Interior members of the International Woodwork- ers of America to obtain wage parity with their fellow wood- workers employed in the coastal lumber industry.” Speaking at the meeting Ray McInnes, Secretary- Treasurer of the Kamloops and District Labour Council, said: “It would do well for the business interests in the area to support the I.W.A. in their quest for parity. All earnings of local workers are spent in the community, while profits made by the employers who pay sub-standard wages are merely piled up in some for- eign bank, with no benefit to the community at all.” Bill Fergusen, delegate from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, reading from a brief submitted to the City of Kamloops in support of his Union’s demand for parity with the Metropolitan Vancouver area, stated: “In building construction we find that the Carpenters, Cement Masons: and Ironworkers all receive parity rates with their counterparts in the Vancou- ver area. In road construction a similar situation exists. The Teamsters, the Labour- ers and the Operating Engi- neers enjoy Vancouver area rates. The Electrical Workers employed with the B.C. Hydro receive the same pay whether they work in Kamloops or in the Vancouver area. The Office Employees’ Union (Local 378) has an agreement with B.C. Hydro which pro- vides the same pay rates in Kamloops as anywhere else PICTURED ABOVE are some of the delegates to the Kam- loops and District Labour Council representing 22 Unions with a total membership of wane approximately 4,000 workers. ' TWO of the newly elected officers to the Kamloops and District Labour Council. From left to right: Ray McInnes, Secretary-Treasurer (Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen) and Bob Schlosser, Ist Vice-President (International Wood- workers of America — Local 1-417). in B.C. Some rates for the Oil Workers in the Kamloops area are actually slightly higher than in Vancouver. The B.C. Telephone Company pays their telephone operators in Kamloops identical rates as those paid in the Metro Van- couver area. In addition those workers employed by the Pro- vincial Government, the Fed- eral Government, the Cana- dian National Railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway and a host of other workers re- ceive parity with the Van- couver area.” The Council further dealt with matters such as the di- version of water from the Thompson - Shuswap water- shed, into the Okanagan watershed, the dumping of sewage into Shuswap Lake, the possibility of establishing and operating a public transit system in the City of Kam- loops and various other sub- jects. Delegates elected chairmen for the organization, legisla- tive, finance, strike civic affairs, education, union label ‘and political education com- mittees. Officers elected were Bill Gordon for President (Inter- ' national Pulp), Bob Schlosser for 1st Vice-President (IWA), Lyle Anderson for 2nd Vice- President (C.U.P.E.), Ray McInnes for Secretary-Treas- urer and Frank Capella for Sergeant at Arms (C.U.P.E.). 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