12 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER JUNE - JULY, 1977 1-417's ANNUAL DELEGATED MEETING peeene Se es Pee Bel Local 1-417 President Bill Hobbs and Financial Secretary Kevin Kelly were the only officers unopposed during nominations for officers at the 19th Annual Delegated Meeting held April 30 and May ist, in Kamloops. Nominated for office and whose names will go out on the referendum ballot are: Ist Vice-President - Jack Ker- ssens, Al McLeod; 2nd Vice- President - Ted MacDonald, Carol Baker; 3rd _ Vice- President - Les Lawless, Larry Jensen; Recording Secretary - Ed Robinson, Al Vanderlaan; Conductor - Morris Turmel, Doug Pockett; Warden - Carl Richter, Don Cyr; Six-Year Trustee - Stan Cupello, Wayne McMillan. Other’ business of the meeting included electing dele- gates to the various con- ferences, dealing with fifty- five resolutions, three Reports, six officers’ recommendations and hearing from six guest speakers. Following are the names of the delegates elected to the convention: International Bill Hobbs, Kevin Kelly, Ted MacDonald, Larry Jensen, J,ACK Kerssens, Al McLeod, Vic Fast, Les Lawless, Al Vanderlaan, Doug Pockett ist Alt., Carol Baker 2nd Alt., Ken Schneider 3rd Alt. Regional Ted MacDonald, D. Kevin Kelly, Jack Kerssens, Larry Jensen, Al McLeod, Albert Vanderlaan, Les Lawless, Carl Richter, Morris Turmel, Ed Robinson 1st Alt., Carol Baker 2nd Alt. N.D.P. Jack Kerssens, Don Cyr, Vic Fast, Chris Johnson Alt. B.C. FED. Ted MacDonald, Jack Ker- ssens, Vic Fast, Al McLeod, Al Vanderlaan Doug Pockett, Car] Richter, Carol Baker, Les Lawless, Don Cyr ist Alt., Wayne McMillan 2nd Ailt., Dave Cameron 3rd Alt. Bill King, the former Minister of Labour in the New Democratic Party govern- ment, was the first of the speakers and gave a hard hitting attack on the present labour policies of the Social Credit government. He accused the present labour minister of being gut- less in not telling his cabinet colleagues to stop interfering in his department. He sug- gested that the Anti-Inflation controls would have a bad ef- fect on any collective bar- gaining this year and that labour would be- extremely foolish to sign long-term con- tracts. He told the meeting that labor must demand action from all levels of government on a number of major issues that needed immediate at- tention. These, he stated, were wage controls, the country’s tragic unemployment, and the sky-high inflation. Regional 2nd Vice-President Bob Blanchard, who also con- ducted the nominations, stated that this year’s contract nego- tiations would be tough but that the Negotiation Committee was prepared. He said that the Committee was in agreement in what . would be the priorities and that so far as the Anti-Inflation guidelines went, the Union fully intended to negotiate with the industry as though these restrictions didn’t exist. He added that 1977 would be a banner year for the forest industry and knowing this the IWA was going to fight to en- sure that the membership got its fair share of the profits through a good wage increase and improved fringe benefits. Neil Menard, the Regional 3rd Vice-President, who had just left the Pinette & Therrien IWA operation in Williams Lake which the Pulp and Paper Workers of Canada (PPWC) had tried to raid, in his address roundly scored the officers of this organization for their raiding tactics and failure to attempt to organize the unor- ganized. He told the delegates that if they feel that they are not being properly serviced by their Local Business Agents they should demand action from the Local officers or contact the Regional office. He stressed, however, that under no circumstances should they seek to join another union and certainly not the PPWC which would do nothing for them. He also stated that the IWA was fed up with the raiding tactics of the PPWC and plans were now being prepared to take them on once and for all. The other speakers brought fraternal greetings from their respective Local Unions. The constructive Officers’ Report indicated that the af- fairs of the Local Union had been well handled during the past year. The finances of the Local showed vast improve- ment which was allowing the officers to provide more ser- vices to the membership. Emphasis was being placed on organizing the unorganized workers in the Local Union’s jurisdiction and the Regional Council has placed a full-time organizer, Gil Johnson, at the officers disposal. The Local Officers have been successful in getting a tenta- tive agreement with Weyer- haeuser, Kamloops, to imple- ment a Job’ Training Programme. Two other major operations in the Local, Balco Industries and Evans Products - Savona Sawmill Division, have Job Training Programmes at present. Nicola Valley Sawmills is also showing interest in such a plan. The officers have also been successful in winning a number of grievances and arbitrations in the past year for the members. Following the annual custom, the Local sponsored an excellent Banquet and dance on the Saturday night which was attended by the delegates and their wives, visitors and members of the Local Union, who all enjoyed themselves. | | | { le MAY 6-7, KELOWNA Delegates attending the 5th Annual Delegated Meeting of Local 1-423 IWA May 6-7, in Kelowna, returned by accla- mation nearly all those con- testing the top positions. Elected to office were Pre- sident Bill Schumaker; 1st Vice-President Jack Welder; 2nd Vice-President Des Hickey; Recording Secretary Bill Oner; Financial Secretary Dell Welder; Warden Stan Anton; Six-Year Trustee Jack Lomax. Dell Welder was re-elected the Local’s Regional Executive Board Member and Jack Welder was elected alternate Board Member. . Those running for the con- tested positions and whose names will go out on a referen- dum ballot are: for 3rd Vice- President — Les Goddard and Burns Smith; Conductor — Geroge Duley and Howard Evans. Jack Welder was also re- elected Local Safety Director. Following are the names of the delegates elected to the various conventions and con- ferences: Regional Convention: Stan Truden, Stan Anton, Bill Oner, Les Valouch, Ai Blanke, Jack Welder, Pauli Sofonoff, Jack Lomax, Richard O'Grady. ist Alternate John Keys, 2nd Alternate Ron Beliveau. Iniernational Convention: Dell Welder, Angus Manson, : Les Goddard, Des Hickey, Harvey Bailey, Bill Faminoff, Dick Morgan. ist Alternate Howard Evans, 2nd Alternate Richard O’Grady. B.C. Federation of Labour Convention: Bill Schumaker, Bill Ortis, Norm Owen, Bill Koss, Ben Zilkowsky, Wayne Dynneson. 1st Alternate Jerry Kuch, 2nd Alternate Bob Bourk. Fall Regional Safety Conference: Tim McDaniel, Jack salvino, Bill Babakaiff. 1st Alternate Bill Faminoff, 2nd Alternate Del Cemulini. Spring Regional Safety Conference: Larry Fawcett, Keith Monsees, Bob Furgason. ist Alternate Larry Davidson, 2nd Alternate Rod Lewis. B.C. NDP Convention: Howard Evans, Bellamy, Merv Lewis. Ralph Other business of the con- ference included dealing with a number of resolutions; Of- ficers’ recommendations, ap- proving the Officers’ and Fi- anncial Reports and hearing from a number of guest speakers. Guests speakers were Inter- national President Keith John- son; Regional 2nd Vice-Presi- dent Bob Blanchard; Regional 8rd Vice-President Neil Menard; and the former NDP Finance Minister Dave Stu- pich. Bill Hobbs, President of the Kamloops Local 1-417; Don Davidson, Financial Secretary of 1-405; and Tony Vander- heide, the technical advisor to the Sawmill Rate Determina- tion Committee, were visitors. Johnson in his address spoke on the structure of Interna- tional unions and gave a com- prehensive report on’ the danger of so called right-to- work laws. He suggested that unions in British Columbia should pay close attention to what some people in the Social Credit Party were proposing for labour. He stated that in his opinion there was a grave danger that if given the op- portunity the government would pass a right-to-work law here and labour’s progress would be set back a hundred years. Blanchard gave an excellent report on negotiations and stressed the importance of this year’s contract talks. He stated that negotiations would be difficult this year due main- ly to the AIB controls. However, he said, the IWA was going to negotiate with the industry as if these controls didn’t exist. He also warned the delegates not to view nego- tiations with apathy. He pointed out that the in- dustry was facing a banner year and could well afford to give its employees a healthy wage increase and improve fringe benefits. He concluded by saying that the Negotiating Committee was going to hang tough on a number of issues including a one year agreement; improve- ments to the Pension Plan and one master set of negotiations. fight with the PPWC at Wil- liams Lake, reported on the campaign and how well the IWA Local Unions worked to- gether to defeat the PPWC raid there. He stated that the IWA was fed up with the constant raiding of the PPWC and the Regional officers were now making plans to counter act that union. He also spoke briefly on ne- gotiations and emphasized the importance of all the members in the IWA to support their Ne- gotiating Committee in pressing for one set of negotia- tions. Stupich in a short address stressed the need for unions to become more politically active as a way of fighting for the types of programmes that their members needed. He went on to say that the NDP was sending speakers around to all areas of the pro- vince to convince labour to give its support to that Party. He stated that the NDP was well aware that the IWA was a strong supporter of it but if the Social Credit Party was to be defeated, more support would be needed. The very comprehensive Of- ficers’ Report highlighted the activities of the Local during the past year. It noted that the membership had increased and the Local was in a sound fi- nancial position. Due to the increase in mem- bership and problems caused by some employers, the work load of the officers increased to the point that it was necessary to hire an additional Business Agent. Because of his ability and skill, the former Secret- ary-Treasurer of the Regional Council, Bob Schlosser, was appointed to the position and has proved to be an excellent choice, The Report listed the number of seminars it plans to hold this year and the value to the members of the ones held in the past. As in previous years the Local sponsored a fine Banquet and dance in the Capril Hotel which was enjoyed by all those in attendance. UNION DRIVE ON BANKS On May 6/77, the Service, Office and Retail Workers Union of Canada applied for union certification for the Main branch, Bank of Montreal in Nanaimo. In the past nine months the union has applied for 21 branches including one data centre. The Union is presently awaiting a Canada Labour Relations Board decision that will determine the appro- priateness of branch by branch applications. The CLRB just concluded its hearing on several applica- tions from Ontario banks and the decision is expected shortly. i eM fo a as pr Qe ey eee eS tt—i—i—‘i— NS