The recent disclosure that
MacMillan Bloedel plans to close
its Vancouver Plywood operation
is part of the pattern indicated
earlier by the announcement that
the International Nickel Company
intended to lay off hundreds: of
workers in Ontario and Manitoba.

Both corporations are
multinational operations. Both
have exploited the natural
resources of this country and their
employees to amass huge profits.
Both have been treated very
generously by governments over
the years. And both corporations
have made huge investments in
other countries, instead of using
their profits primarily to provide
more jobs for Canadians.

These corporations are typical
examples of how the corporate
elite is more interested in super
profits than the welfare of the
working people and the com-

‘munities they live in.

The current campaign of the
B.C. Federation of Labor to draw
attention to unemployment as a
major social issue and to advance
labor’s program for jobs is likely to

B.C. forests inadequately stocked

Continued from pg. 1
MaeMillan Bloedel, B.C. Forest

Products, Crown Zellerbach, and
others, under the terms of the
present tree farm licensing

program, are free from respon-

sibility for .re-foresting. In fact,
when companies do participate in
reforesting, the costs incurred are
subtracted from the company’s
stumpage rates in the following
year.

At the recent conference of the
Canadian Forestry Association,
professor G. F. Weetman of the
University of New Brunswick and
a leading expert on Canadian

forest reserves, said 12 percent. of -

Canada’s forests are un-
derstocked.

Weetman also revealed the
startling figures that in B.C. each
year 500,000 acres of forest are cut

and only 120,000 acres are replaced

through planting. In addition, he
said, there is a backlog of 10
million acres in the province that
has been inadequately stocked in
the past.

According to Bishop, the com-'
panies do a ‘‘remarkable job” in
reforesting the lands that are
owned outright by the private
forest companies. But 95 percent of
B.C. forests are “‘crown land” and
leased to companies to be formed.
“Once land is cleared, the
responsibility for it reverts back to
the crown,” Bishop said.

The timber shortage will force
action on a number of fronts,
Bishop said; there will be an-:
nouncements of reductions in
allowable cuts, and there could be
pressure to reverse the trend
towards building up British
Columbia’s ecological reserves.

The pressure to allow forest

companies the right to farm
provincial parks and reserves, and
to prevent future reserves. being
established, is already felt. That
kind of solution to the forest crisis,
however, would grant the com-:
panies free reign to cut up crown
land and leave barren lands behind
unsuitable for the future needs of
the province.

Clearly, some pressure of
‘another kind is needed, from the
IWA and peoples’ movements to
force the Socred government to
revamp forest policy so as to make
the forest corporations responsible
for the replacement of B.C.’s most
important resource.

Millions of dollars are required
now in a massive tree farm
program to avoid serious cutbacks
in the woods industry and the loss
of thousands of jobs.

Export of jobs seen in layoffs

Continued from pg. 1

“For years, Mac-Blo has been
exporting hundreds of millions of

dollars abroad — to South
America, Alabama, Scotland,
England, France and _ the

Mediator’s
report down

Federal mediator Henry Hut-
cheon’s report on the B.C. Tel
lockout has proposed what appears
to be substantial concessions to the
company on the central issue of
contracting-out.

The report, released Wednesday
as the Tribune went to press,
proposed that 33 job classifications
be subject to contracting out.

The union position, backed by the
Hall Report, has been to retain the
existing clause that limits con-
tracting out.

While the union considered the
Hutcheon Report, it announced
that it was appealing court
decisions limiting picketing at B.C.
Telephone operations.

Netherlands — to buy up and
develop forest industries.

“Rather than exporting capital
to build modern plants in low wage
areas outside of B.C., the company
should have been compelled to
invest in new equipment, to keep
its operations up to date, diverting
to new products, and broadening
the base of manufacturing and
processing in B.C.,’’ he stated.

“Instead it wants Vancouver
Plywood workers to pay the price
for its profit-hungry policies. How
cynical and callous can this giant
corporation get?”

MacMillan-Bloedel’s action in
announcing the plant closure has
come under particular fire since
the huge forest company — the
giant in the industry — has built its
empire on the exploitation of B.C.
timber. It continues to receive
major concessions in tree farm
licences from the. provincial
government despite long standing
demands for radical changes in
forest tenure.

Rush stressed that Victoria ‘‘is in

a position to put major pressure on-

Mac-Blo to continue its operation
at Vancouver Plywood.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUARY 27, 1978—Page 8

“Tf the company insists on going
ahead with this heartless and
irresponsible action, then the
provincial government should not
only take over the operation but
should also serve notice that it will
phase out existing tree farm
licences currently held by Mac-
Blo,”’ he said.

Syd Thompson, president of

Local-1-217 of the International
Woodworkers of America which is
certified at the plant, had earlier
made the point that the govern-
ment “basically controls. the
timber in this province and they’re
the ones that can put the pressure

n.’’ Thompson also blasted the
company for its failure to put new
investment into the operation.

The IWA held meetings this week
with officials from MacMillan
Bloedel and the _ provincial
government to discuss the closure.
A three-part committee, made up
of representatives from the union,
the company and the government
is to conduct a complete _in-
vestigation into possible alter-
natives while another committee is
to work with federal manpower
officials to look for alternative
employment.

be intensified as a result of the MB
announcement.

The overall plan of the
Federation calls for municipal
lobbies, letters to members of
Parliament and the pravincial
Legislature. It would be logical to
single out the MB layoffs to
dramatize the situation created by

LABOR
COMMENT

BY JACK PHILLIPS

plant closures. The premier of the
province has stated that the
proposed layoff is ‘“‘not acceptable
to the provincial government.” A
strong delegation to the Vancouver
city council calling upon that body
to also take a position against the
proposed closure should be on
labor’s immediate agenda. It
would be logical to have labor
representations now to every MLA
and to every MP from British
Columbia. Vanply workers should
know where they stand on the
proposed layoffs.

We might also suggest the IWA
should use its connections in every
community and in every labor
council where it has a presence to
win the broadest possible support
for a demand on the provincial
government to keep Vancouver
Plywood in operation, with a
guarantee that no worker will lose
his job.

While if would be wrong to be
negative in respect to premier Bill
Bennett’s statement in opposition
to the announced layoff, it would be
very foolish merely to sit back and
wait for the premier to solve the
problem especially since forests
minister Tom Waterland has ac-
cepted that there ‘“‘will be jobs
lost.”’ If the IWA, supported by the
labor movement as a whole,
swings into action, the premier and
his government will be more likely
to match their words with positive
action.

e

A- committee of union,
management and government has
been set up to “‘investigate ’ the
situation. The terms of reference
seem to indicate that Vanply
workers would be ill-advised to
place undue reliance on that body.
In the last analysis, the workers
should be prepared to fight for
their jobs, because the MB
directors have voted unanimously
to close the mill. If they refuse to
reverse their position, the fight will
move on to a new stage.

If nothing satisfactory comes
from the investigation, the union
might consider a one-day work
stoppage of all MB operations and
a large, representative lobby to the
legislature. Perhaps the leadership
have already thought of this?

The December issue of Labot
Research Bulletin, published by
the provincial labor ministry offe!
some very revealing statistics:

o In the past 12-month period, the
B.C. labor force has expanded by
19,000 persons, while employmett
in this period increased by only
8,000.

o In 1973, 30,540 more persons}
moved to B.C. than migrated
other provinces.

e During 1975: and 1976, 8,84)
more people left B.C. than entered.

The summary by age fol)
November, 1977, showed an overall]
unemployment rate of 8.5 percent,
with the rate standing at 13!
percent for those age 20 to 24 and)
18.7 for those 15 to 19.

These, of course, are officidl|
government statistics and must bé]
treated with suspicion. For
example, spokesmen for the B.C:
Federation of Labor believe the)
true picture in B.C. would show at
overall unemployment rate of 10
percent plus, in place of the official)
8.5 percent.

®

The climax of the B.C!
Federation of Labor campaign is 10’
be a mass rally in Victoria
coincide with the opening of thé
legislature on March 30, to be)
supported by local rallies al
Unemployment Insurance offices
throughout the province.

With the threatened layoffs in
lumber and in steel fabricating, 0?
top of the massive unemploviiaae
in construction and other it)
dustries, every labor council in the)
province should pull out all stops 12)
preparation for March 30. zt

Along with the fight to compél
MB to keep Vanply operating wit)
no loss in jobs, organized labol)
should fight for legislation 10)
protect all workers against layoffs:
For example, employers should bé/
compelled to give one year’s notice |
of intended layoffs and to negotiate |
with the union(s) representing the)
employers. There should be 4
provision of one month’s severancé |
pay for each year of service, plus’
90 percent of earnings for the
duration of unemployment.

Nationalization under
democratic control should also be’
pressed because it would make)
possible a planned development of
our natural resources and/
secondary industry. Without such 4 |
development, our industrial basé |
will contract rather than expand.

In the immediate case of Vanply, |
MB should be told firmly by the)
provincial government that n0
layoffs will be tolerated. After all,
it is the provincial government, in
the name of the people, that.
provides trees for the lumber
bosses and decides how much (or |
how little!) they pay for the ex- |
ploitation of this great resource. If
the end result of corporate ex-
ploitation of our resources is
massive unemployment, the the
corporations should forfeit theif |
right to utilize these resources.

Back the paper that fights for labor —
PACIFIC TRIBUNE

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