JUNE-JULY, 1974 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER LL I I TE TT Improvements have also been made in rates for call time where no work is avail- able and severance pay for permanent plant closure. After years of fighting the Union was finally successful in negotiating a dental plan 75% paid by the employer and 25% © paid by the employee. The plan will cover 80% of the basic den- tistry, 50% for crowns and bridges, and 50% for orthodon- tics, to a lifetime maximum of $500. Another demand the Union was successful in winning was a contractors and sub-contrac- tors clause which provides that the parties will agree to all tractors as well as the sawmill wage curve. The new contract calls for a twelve percent, minimum 65c per hour wage increase, a COLA clause to proect the members pay cheques from in- flation, a dental plan, improve- ments to the sawmill and ply- wood evaluation programs, improvements to the health and welfare program and the long sought contractors and subcontractors clause, in a one year agreement. The contractors / subcon- tractors clause is something the IWA has been seeking for a long time. The clause negotiat- principles of the master agree- ment. A sawmill rate determina- tion program will be imple- mented for the sawmill section which will provide upward wage revisions for an estimat- ed 94% of the workers. Other contract gains in- clude: @ Improved fare allowance for loggers. @ Annual caulk boot allow- ance. @ Travel time improve- ments for loggers. @ Maternity leave for fe- male employees. @ Logging grouping for all categories not revised in 1973. ®@ Seniority improvements to provisions of reduction of forces and recall procedure and job posting. @ Tool insurance. @ Company payment for first aid tickets. @ Improvement to the ply- wood job evaluation program. A special bulletin containing the complete text ‘of the Mem- orandum of Agreement was is- sued by the Coast Negotiating Committee prior to the mem- bers voting. This bulletin will be useful for reference purpos- es due to the time required to print the Master Agreement in booklet form. Members who failed to re- ceive a copy should contact their Local Union. ed in the Southern Interior will now prevent illegal union bust- ing in the contractor / subcon- tractor area of the industry. Under the old system contrac- tors and subcontractors could avoid union organization by simply closing up shop, laying everyone off then reopening sometime later under a differ- ent name. The contractors would also lease their equip- ment to their employees and call them owner operators thus avoiding organization. Under the agreement just negotiated a committee of both union and management will be set up to look into cases where the union feels these under- handed tactics have taken place. Should the committee agree that the contractor or subcontractor has acted im- properly his contract with the parent company can be revok- ed. The clause also states that the parent company will act- ively encourage their contrac- tors and subcontractors to or- ganize. All in all the new Southern Interior agreement is a good and fair settlement for all con- cerned. The union didn’t get all it asked for but definitely achieved most of the important goals set. WOODSWORTH ARCHIVES -PROJECT July 29, 1974 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of James Shaver Woodsworth, a founder and first leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Woodsworth served as a Member of Parlia- ment for Winnipeg Centre from 1921 until his death in 1942 and is nationally acknowledged as the originator and advocate of much of Canada’s current social legislation. In conjunction with this cen- tennial, some older members of The Ontario Woodsworth Memorial Foundation (many of whom were active associ- ates of Woodsworth) have set up an archives project to collect, record and publish re- miniscences of political, labour and general reform move- ments in Canada during the early and middle years of this century. The project has been awarded a federal government = of $10,000 under the New *s Programme. atatersel (such as docu- a ‘es, and _ inter- ed by the Woods- Sweat serine Pro ect will “ J. S. Woodsworth, 1874-1974 sketch by David Annesley, Beaverton, Ont. the benefit of schools and colleges. The Project also foresees the establishment of a Speaker’s Bureau. This would use as re- source persons, retired offi- cials and other participants from the political and labour scene of the past. Project Committee Chair- man is Charles H. Millard, former National Director for Canada of the United Steel- workers of America, and twice a CCF member of the Ontario Legislature for York West. Readers who have informa- tion about Woodsworth’s life and work, or about organiza- tions such as unions and local political associations active on the ‘‘democratic left’’ are urged to get in touch with: Ont- ario Woodsworth Memorial Foundation, c / 0 43 Southwood Drive, Toronto, Ontario. M4E 2T8. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union mem- bers remain on strike at Nel- son’s Laundries, Vancouver and Nanaimo Plants and Cana- dian Linen, Victoria Plant. “‘This strike is in its 8th week at Nelson’s and the 7th week at Canadian Linen with no end to the dispute in the foreseeable future’ said Representative, Al Peterson. “Talks, which were headed up by Mr. Clive McKee as a Mediator, were held during the past two weeks. No progress was made during these discus- Sions,’’ Peterson said. ‘The Employers now appear to be trying to intimidate our mem- bers into accepting a settle- ment on their terms with the threat of closure of these Plants. Our Members and the Union will not be coerced or in- timidated into accepting sub- standard wages and conditions by any threats of the Employ- ers,’’ stated Peterson. Our members are prepared to maintain the picket lines until ‘‘Hell Freezes Over’’ to obtain adequate wages and conditions. The Union is seeking wage increases on existing rates from $2.92 per hour for the plant workers to $4.98 per hour for drivers and various fringe benefit improvements. There are 130 members involved in the dispute. EMPLOYEES EXPERIMENT WITH SHORTER WORK WEEK Most.employees of the Manitoba Health Services Commission are involved in a 19-week experiment with longer hours and a shorter work week. Aim is to provide the public with more hours of daily service. To doit, employees will work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with a 50-minute break for lunch, and a four-day week — either Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday. The plan was approved jointly by the management committee of the Provincial Cabinet, the Commission itself, — and the Manitoba Government Employees Association. ORGANIZATION REPORT LISTS NEW OPERATIONS By FRANK STICH IWA International Assistant Director of Organization Local 1-85, Port Alberni, B.C. received certification for Omni Communications Ltd. on July 12, 1974. This is a unit compos- ed of the employees engaged in the installing and maintaining radio communication equip- ment in the forest industry and in the Province of British -Co- lumbia. This is a new company recently formed and at the time application for certifica- tion was made employed 5 men. In other certifications grant- ed recently were: Local 1-367, Cheam Construction Ltd. of Hope, B.C. This is a logging company with 23 employees. Local 1-71, Kitwanga Lumber Co. Ltd. at Kitwanga, B.C. This is a sawmill and planermill employing 53 employees. Local 1-424, McMillan Contractors Ltd. at 100 Mile House, B.C. a sawmill and planermill con- sisting of 54 employees. ALBERTA Local 1-207 received certifi- cation for A & V Logging Ltd. on June 25, 1974. This is a small sawmill situated at Peers, Al- berta and employs 14 men. During this organizing cam- paign, one employee was fired by the company. Unfair charg- es were laid by the Local union and at a hearing in Edmonton on June 25th, the Alberta ~ Board -of Industrial Relations upheld these charges and ordered the employee re-in- stated with back pay. An application for certifica- tion on June 19, 1974 was filed with the Alberta Labour Rela- tions Board for Banff_ Mining and Quarrying: Ltd: “Evans- burg, Alberta. This application is presently pending. A hearing on this application is scheduled ° to be heard on July 31st when a decision is expected. This op- eration consists of 22 employ- ees and is engaged in the pro- cessing of peat moss. Expan- sion of this operation is propos- ed in the very near future. SASK. AND MANITOBA Harold Massey Jr. from Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, has been added to the organiz- ing staff on a temporary basis to organize in the Sask. and Manitoba local unions. He was successful in organizing Hom- co Industries Ltd. at Estevan, - Sask. and applied for certifica- tion on June 11, 1974. On date of application 109 employees were working in this operation. This application is pending at the present time. At the time of this writing, Harold is working in the Manitoba local union. COMMISSION SUPPORTS LOCAL 1-357 MEMBER A decision by the British Co- lumbia Human Rights Com- mission has been hailed by Len Guy, secretary-treasurer . of the B.C. Federation of Labour, as a milestone in the fight for equal employment opportuni- ties for women workers. Last spring, Linda Arksey of Surrey, B.C., began work at the CANFOR plywood mill in New. Westminster. The day after she started, she was fired by a foreman, who said, “This is no place for a woman,”’ and, “J don’t want you to get muscles like a man.” Her complaint to the Human Rights Commission was sup- ported by evidence from IWA Plant Committee Chairwoman Marj Storm, a member of the Fed’s Women’s Committee. Also giving evidence was Plant Committee member Bill John- son. The case was presented by Carolyn Gibbons, the Fed’s le- gislative director. The Commission found CAN- FOR in violation of the Human Rights Act, and ordered full re- instatement with pay. LOCAL 1-184 SIGNS MID-CONTRACT AGREEMENT Local 1-184 IWA, has signed a middle of the contract Agree- ment with Woodlands Enter- prises Ltd., Prince Albert, Sas- katchewan. The Union asked the Com- pany to open the Agreement on Schedule “A” to negotiate an increase in line with the esca- lating cost-of-living. The result of the negotiations gave an across the board wage gain to the hourly and day workers of 50 cents per hour and 10 cents per square for all piece workers.