PMs * THE WESTERN CANADIAN / LUMBER ie AUTHORIZED AS SECOND CLASS MAIL, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, OTTAWA, AND FOR PAYMENT OF POSTAGE IN CASH. Vol. XXXVI, No. 5 VANCOUVER, B.C. 5c PER COPY >>" + oe ag eae Pease ace Re REGIONAL PRESIDENT Jack Moore addressing the Ply- 4 » wood Seminar conducted by the Regional Council March 17-18, in Kamloops, for plant review committees in South- ern and Northern Interior operations. Group at head table from left, are, Tony Vanderheide, Regional Plywood Evalu- ator; President Moore; Wyman Trineer, Regional 2nd Vice- President; Al Busch, Regional Plywood Evaluator. PLYWOOD SEMINAR HELD FOR PLANT REVIEW GROUP Regional Council No. 1 con- ducted a seminar for plant re- view committees in Southern and Northern British Colum- bia plywood operations in the David Thompson Motor Hotel in Kamloops on March 17 and 18. Regional Evaluators Tony Vanderheide and Al Busch were in charge of the seminar and dealt at great length with such subjects as: © History of job evaluation within Regional Council No, 1. © Analysis of the B.C. Ply- wood Job Evaluation Man- ual. © Contract clauses pertaining to Plywood Job Evaluation. -® Working relationship be- tween the Evaluator, the Local Union and the Union members of the plant re- view committee. A session of rating “ficti- tious” categories coupled with the completion of a “question- naire” on plywood job evalua- tion by the seminar partici- pants resulted — in the opin- ion of all concerned — in a IWA By GRANT MacNEIL Elimination of the two-rate system in paymrent of wages to loggers fighting forest fires was urged by Jack MacKen- zie, 1st Vice-President and Ray Haynes, Secretary-Treas- urer, representing the B.C. Federation of Labour before the Select Standing Commit- tee on Forestry and Fisheries of the B.C. Legislative As- sembly, March 20th. They proposed the adoption of the wage scale for all forest fires as set forth in the fire fight- ing supplement appended to the IWA Coast Master Agree- ment. As a result of IWA pres- sure on former occasions, the Forestry Department had rec- ommended to the Committee an amendment to the Forestry Act increasing the rate for emergency fires by 50 cents better understanding of the difficult task of the Regional Evaluators. Guest Speakers Regional President Jack Moore opened the conference and spoke on the history of collective bargaining and the social function of Unions in general and the IWA in par- ticular. Regional 2nd Vice - Presi- dent Wyman Trineer chaired the meeting and upon comple- tion of the work of the Re- gional Evaluators dealt at length with the subject of “Job evaluation versus rate revision.” Labour Film Regional Director of Educa- tion Clay Perry showed the seminar participants the film “With these hands” depicting the past struggle of working men and women for recogni- tion of decent wages, hours of work and working conditions, also leaving with the class the message that this struggle con- tinues on a daily basis in dealings by Union leaders and the memberships they repre- sent. DEMANDS UNIFORM FIREFIGHTING RATES an hour establishing a rate of $1.75 an hour. By adding the board allowance of $4.50 a day, when meals are not supplied, the effective basic rate of $2.31 an hour as com- pared to the basic IWA rate of $3.15 an hour for company responsibility fires would be established, the Department claimed. Because of the increasing reliance on experienced logg- ers with mobile equipment in major fires, the Federation representatives contended that an injustice was caused when logging crews were ordered to fight fires under the super- vision of the Forestry Service when the basic IWA rate of $3.15 an hour would be cut to $1.75 an hour. The Federation spokesmen urged that the recommended increase of 50 cents an hour be made effective immediately . tion of the charges. The native Indians have charged that over the past eighteen months, the RCMP have physically assaulted thirty-six of their young peo- ple on the reserve, whose ages range from eleven to twenty years. The police have denied the charges which are under in- vestigation by the Attorney General’s department. The department’s snail pace atti- tude in the matter has given time for bad feeling to spring up in the Sechelt community which is now split into two opposing camps. The emergency resolution, drafted by Ed Gill, Local 1-71 pa ef! ERNIE FREER President Local 1-71 but that steps be taken to es- tablish a uniform rate for all fires as already negotiated by the IWA for company-respon- sibility fires. The hazardous and arduous nature of firefighting, the long hours, and damage to protective clothing were em- phasized. The suggestion by the Department that a higher rate would encourage arson to create a public payroll was discounted. Terms of Reference The Federation had prev- iously protested the limita- tions placed upon the Com- mittee’s terms of reference. Only slash burning, firefight- ing wages and mining devel- opments had been specified. The Federation recommended that in future the Standing Committee be allowed liberty to deal with all phases of for- ~ LOCAL 1-71 REQUESTS IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATION OF NATIVE INDIAN CHARGES Deeply concerned over the obvious reluctance of the Provincial Gov- ernment to speed up its investigation into the alleged police brutality to native Indians in Sechelt, members of Local 1-71 IWA living in the area, passed a resolution which demanded an immediate and impartial investiga- Trustee, was presented at the Gibsons Landing - Sechelt Sub-Local meeting March 18. Following the meeting’s ap- proval, it was then referred to Local 1-71’s Executive Board meeting March 22, for its ap- proval. There is no doubt the Board will approve the reso- lution. Upon approval, the Lo- cal will then request the sup- port of the B.C. Federation of Labour to aid it in its efforts to have the charges quickly investigated and the findings made public. Local President Ernie Freer when questioned on the Sub- Local’s action, stated -that he ED GILL Presented Resolution est management likely to af- fect employment levels and the development of secondary industry. “It is in the public interest that the workers should share more equitably in the rewards of increased productivity”, said the Federation’s submis- sion, and his fellow officers were delighted because they had been disturbed by the brutal- ity reports. A number of the native Indians in Sechelt and other Coastal areas are mem- bers of Local 1-71, he said, and the Local Union is as much interested in seeing their rights protected as any other members. He went on to say that the Local has always had a good working relationship with the native Indians, particularly in Sechelt, where the Band Man- ager Mr. Clarence Joe Sr., a long-time member of the IWA has gone out of his way to support the Union. Freer added that while the Local finds it hard to believe the brutality charges could be groundless, it is in no way attempting to insinuate the RCMP are guilty. All the Lo- cal is asking is that the native Indians be accorded the op- portunity to have the charges - proved or disproved by an impartial body. Freer’s views are shared by responsible people living on the Sechelt Peninsula. They point out that there have been too many unexplained inci- dents where Indian children showed signs of physical as- sault. Among these is Eileen Glassford, a teacher on the Peninsula. She stated in a let- ter to the Coast News, “For (Continued on page 3) Slash Burning It was recommended by the ; Federation that slash burning be eventually eliminated. Ref- erence was made to official statistics indicating that es- cape slash burning fires was the chief cause of major fo: (Continued on page 7) LUMBER WORKER TO PUBLISH MONTHLY Because of the new postal rate increases which take effect April 1, the Regional Executive Board has decided to cut back publication of the Western Canadian Lumber Worker to one issue a month. The Lumber Worker’s Editorial Board is meeting early in April to discuss format changes, the use of colour and — the feasibility of going to a better class of stock in place of the present newsprint.