THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER ist Issue February, 1968 LOCAL 1-405 IWA Local 1-405 IWA held a mass meeting in the Cran- brook High School audi- torium on January 27, which was attended by ap- proximately 400 striking members and their wives from the various sub-locals in the East Kootenays as well as by the news media and the gen- eral public. Jack Moore, President of the Regional Council and Ron Roley,: the newly-elected In- ternational President, were the guest speakers. Their addresses on the theme of “equal pay for equal work for all woodworkers” on a provincial, national and in- ternational level were very well received by the enthu- Siastic audience and led to a frank discussion by the mem- bership in a subsequent question and answer period. Upon being informed by Union spokesmen of the dirty tactics presently being em- ployed by the Interior Forest Labour Relations Association with regard to withholding in- come tax slips and MSA pay- ments from holiday credits on the heels of the Association’s hollow threat of withdrawing the “Munroe report,” the membership submitted and approved the following addi- tional demands: WHEREAS: It is a common practice for employers in the lumbering industry to use sub-contractors as a means of avoiding contractual responsi- bility by replacing entire com- pany crews with non-union employees, thus displacing Union members who have ac- cumulated many years of se- niority with the Company. AND WHEREAS: There is absolutely no provision in our contract which would prevent the companies from replacing existing logging crews with sub-contractors, despite the fact that these members have “been on strike for several months in support of our de- mands. AND WHEREAS: Some companies are now using the employees of sub-contractors as strike breakers and scabs in an effort to defeat the Un- ion’s struggle for equality of wages and working conditions in the Province of British Columbia. AND WHEREAS: ‘The lumbering industry is one of the few industries in the Pro- vince where it is possible for “non-union employees to -re- place Union members,” where signed collective agreements are in effect. AND WHEREAS: Our membership should not be ex- pected to work with, or han- dle the products of non-union employees, especially scabs and strike breakers. oe i Sef ee: » aoe NS Ia ob. Sar FROM ALL CORNERS of the East-Kootenays, IWA mem- bers and their wives came to Cranbrook by various means of transportation to attend an open meeting sponsored by Local 1-405 on January 27, MASS STRIKE MEETING IN CRANBROOK NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: that the mem- bers of Local 1-405 IWA as- sembled in Cranbrook, this 27th day of January 1968, go on record as deploring scabs and strike breakers of any ind, and re-affirming our Trade Union principles that an injury to one is an injury to all. AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: the Officers are hereby authorised and stand instructed to make the follow- ing new demands on our em- ployers: 1. A Sub-contractor clause similar to that presently in effect in the Construction Trades and other Union Agreements, which provides job security and Union Mem- bership. 2. It shall not be consider- ed a violation of the Collec- tive Agreement for any em- ployee to: A. Refuse to cross a legal picket line; B. Refuse to work on any job or at any Operation in which a strike has been called; C. Refuse to handle any pro- duct produced behind a picket line; D. Refuse to work with any employee who has crossed an IWA picket line. SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE FOLLOWING SUB- LOCALS: Parsons, Radi- um, Canal Flats, St. Mary’s, Galloway, Elko, Fernie, Na- tal, Cranbrook. At the closure of the meet- ing IWA members expressed their relentless determination - to win their fight for -“‘equal | pay for equal work” and their complete confidence in the IWA’s Southern Interior Ne- gotiating Committee by unan- imously passing the following resolution: “Striking members of Local 1-405 IWA, assembled in Cranbrook this 27th day of January 1968 hereby go on record as being in full sup- port of our negotiating com- mittee and our demand for parity with the coast.” RON ROLEY Ron Roley, the IWA’s Inter- national President, spoke on the different wage structures in the forest industry through- out Canada and the United States. He made special re- ference to the low wages pres- ently being paid in the United States’ Deep South and the attempt by employers to enter the “colour-issue” into nego- tiations in order to split the nion r : Speaking on the struggle presently being waged in the Southern Interior of British Columbia the International President stated: “Your suc- cess will be the future success of our International Union. Your struggle has the atten- tion of our entire Interna- tional membership. We are behind you both morally and financially.” EZNER DeANNA, Busin submits resolution on ad JACK MOORE Regional President Jack Moore spoke on the history of the Union’s negotiations with the IFLRA and the “parity” settlements at Weldwood (Quesnel) and Celgar Ltd. (Castlegar, Nakusp and Sid- mouth). Commenting on a statement by a Minister of the Crown that wage parity is essential for Canadian pros- perity Moore said: “If wage parity is good for the national economy it must be equally as good for our own province. “The place to start is in the Southern Interior of Brit- ish Columbia, where giant corporations such as Noranda, Weyerhaeuser, Crown Zeller- bach, Cyprus Mines and Eddy Match have squeezed the smaller operators out of the picture and are now control- ling the interior forest in- dustry, while attempting to create a low-wage area in the province in face of tremen- dous profits.” AFTER THE MEETING the Local Union’s Ladies Auxiliary served coffee and doughnuts.