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ON _ SENIORITY RIGHTS

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

1-417 WINS ARBITRATION CASE
AGAINST H. K. PLYWOOD COMPANY

An Arbitration Board in
Vancouver ruled January 17,
that Local 1-417 IWA, was in
its right to protest the attempt
by the H. K. Lumber Com-
pany (a subsidiary of the
Federated Co-operatives
Ltd.) to transfer an employee
out of the bargaining unit into
the parent company and later
return him back to the old
job with all seniority rights.

The Company’s action pro-
voked a one-day work stop-
page by the crew last Oc-
tober, and resulted in the
grievance going to arbitration.

The head office of the H. K.
Lumber Company and the
B.C. office of the parent com-
pany are in the same building
at Canoe and some of the of-
ficers and staff perform func-
tions for both companies. The
Union is separately certified
for the employees of each of
the companies and has sepa-
rate agreements.

Some time during 1966, the
parent company established a
new position of sales co-ordi-
nator and employees of both
companies were invited to
submit applications for the
position.

The successful applicant

was Les Pointer, a Glue
Mixer-Inspector. He was told
when informed of the job that
he would not require leave of
absence as he would be re-
garded as supervisory worker
and would be covered by the
provisions of the Collective
Agreement. The Company
suggested he see the Union
anyway, which he did and
was given a retirement card
from the Local by President
Bob Schlosser.

He started his now job on
January 30; 1967. However,
the Union was on strike from
October 3, 1967, to May 13,
1968, during which period
there were no sales and con-
sequently no need for.a Sales
Co-ordinator.

During this strike period he
was given a variety of jobs to
do. When the strike ended he
continued to help out in the
office until October, 1968,
when he was instructed to re-
turn to his original job as
Glue Mixer-Inspector. He was
informed by the Company
that he would retain his
seniority rights at the old job.

The Company argued it had
the right to do this under the
Collective Agreement covered

by Article X, Section 9 which
states:

“In any case where an em-
ployee has been transferred
by the Company to supervis-
ory position and at a later
date ceased to be a super-
visory worker and the Com-
pany desired to retain his
services, it is hereby agreed
that the reinstatement can be
made within the bargaining
unit, provided however, that
supervisory workers rein-
stated in the bargaining unit
must return to the job held
at the time of their promo-
tion to a supervisory posi-
tion.”

The Union pointed out that
they were two separate com-
panies with two different
agreements and therefore the
employee could not retain his
seniority rights.

The Board, after hearing a
number of witnesses and
studying other cases of em-
ployees moved into super-
visory positions and back by
the Company, ruled that
Pointer was not on leave of
absence from the H. K. Lum-
ber Company and consequent-
ly lost his entitlement to all
seniority rights.

FARMERS' INCOME BELOW AVERAGE

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The Ontario Conference on
Agriculture 1969 sponsored
by the Ontario Department of
Agriculture and Food heard
that about half of Ontario
farmers do not receive in-
comes adequate to meet their
basic needs while about two-
thirds do not receive incomes
sufficient to enjoy “luxury
needs”, most of which are
now considered part of the
Canadian way of life for ur-
ban dwellers.

The conference had before
it an extensive report from a
Special Farm Income Com-
mittee chaired by Deputy
Minister of Agriculture Ever-
ett Biggs which calculated
that, to meet current basic
needs, an average farm in-

_~ come would be in the range

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of $4,000 to $4,600.

“The average farmer re-
ceives less than $1.00 an hour
for his labor.”

Rates of return on farm
capital run around three per-
cent compared with 15 per-
cent in Ontario manufactur-
ing industries calculated on
the same basis.

INFERIOR FACILITIES

“Tow incomes have serious
social implications,” the con-
ference was told, such as in-
ferior educational facilities
and teaching.

“Proper education for all of
our young people can make a
much greater contribution to
growth than most other
policies.”

The farmers are themselves
largely to blame for their
troubles, said the Farm In-
come Committee. Too many
farmers are living in a world
of the past and have refused
to recognize the importance
of organization to improve

their lot.

.

On top of all this, “farm-
ers carry a major burden of
taxation in Ontario” due to
the property tax which pro-
vides a large proportion of
educational costs.

GOLDEN HORSESHOE

But when farmers want to
leave farming and seek em-
ployment elsewhere, they find
that industries have been con-
centrated in the “Golden
Horseshoe” around the west-
ern end of Lake Ontario, and
have not been developed

~ rapidly enough in other parts ©

of the province.

As a result, the industrial
base of many rural commun-
ities is collapsing.

It is essential, therefore,
that public policy makers be
more aware of the social ob-
jectives of farmers in the
future.

b

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Farmers must have higher
incomes, and returns on re-
sources comparable with
other sectors of the economy.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

The Special Committee,
therefore, expressed its sup-
port for changes in the agri-
cultural industry and in the
economy to provide adequate
incomes for all families with
minimal direct government
support.

Since such changes will
take time, society should pro-
vide income support for these
families until such time as the
proposals suggested are im-
plemented and have some ef-
fect. J

.
IN STOCK AT

Take it
easy!
‘

328 Carrall Street, Vancouver, B.C.

NOW I DON’T WANT YA TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK

... TAKE A BREATHER ..

. EVERY HOUR!

MORE MERGER TALKS

Talks about a possible
merger of the Canadian
Brotherhood of Railway,
Transport and General Work-
ers and the Brotherhood of
Railway, Airline and Steam-
ship Clerks have passed the
exploratory stage.

CBRT president W. J.
Smith said the exploratory
talks were so encouraging
that the only recommenda-
tion possible was to proceed
to the next stage of working
out possible terms for an or-
ganic merger.

The BRASC is an interna-
tional with 280,000 members,
18,000 of them in Canada.
The CBRT & GW has 35,000
members.

Mr. Smith said the BRASC
assured that any merged
group would allow the CBRT
to retain its present structure,
its non-railway members,
election of Canadian officers
by the Canadian membership
and autonomy to determine

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collective bargaining, griev-
ance and domestic social, eco-
nomic, political and cultural
policies.

Also pledged by the Ameri-
can union was the continua-
tion of the CBRT’s research
and education programs, pub-
lication of its official journal
Canadian Transport and -the
right to participate in political
activity. Continued recogni-
tion of the “French fact” and
the servicing of French Cana-
dian members in their own
language were also assured.

Exploratory talks have
gone on since last September.
The detailed negotiations are
to begin within the next few

months.
SSS

TRAGIC TOO

0

A short bedtime story:
“No!”

with fingertip controls,

Evinrude outboards.

(0)

MU 4-1822