- OCTOBER, 1978 ¥ INCOME 4 Representation will be made i to the federal government by the Regional Council urging that the present income tax exemptions be amended to allow married persons exemp- tions of $10,000; single persons $5,000; and dependents $3,000. FOREST The IWA, concerned over the inadequate reforestation in Canada, will demand that federal and provincial govern- ments assume their re- sponsibilities and immediately commense comprehensive programmes of reforestation and silvaculture of the coun- try’s forest areas. a ee ie - i a CT 2 UIC The Minister of Unemploy- _ ment Insurance was roundly { scored at the convention for instituting changes to the Act which was causing needless hardship to UIC recipients by | forcing them to accept sub- | standard wages and condi- tions. JOBLESS Angered at the high level of | unemployment in Canada, the convention delegates over- _ whelmingly passed a resolu- E tion demanding that the federal and provincial govern- ; ments immediately initiate _ programmes and policies to _ felieve the unemployment problems and achieve satisfac- tory full employment levels. * DENTAL - The Regional Council is » petitioning the College of _ Dental Surgeons of B.C. re- questing that dentists accept ____ the various dental plan cards - for payment of dental work. Too many B.C. dentists are requiring patients to pay the total dental bill and will not ac- cept the group dental plan cards. Union membership _ in- ereased by 4.1% or a total of 3,277,968 in 1978, compared to 3,149,213 for the same period in 1977, reported Labour Canada in its report on Labour Or- ~ ganizations in Canada 1978. Union members in 1978 pe ie 31.3% of the total force and 39.0% of non- agricultural paid workers. _ Both figures are higher than the 1977 statistics, increasing from 31,0% and 38.2% "Tn 1978, 67.2% of the total = ip were in unions af- or directl the Canadian tenses THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER “HALL Regional President Jack Munro has been ordered by the convention to appoint a com- mittee for the purpose of making a feasability study on the Union setting up its own hiring hall. The committee is to report to the Regional Executive Board if the study shows such a hiring hall would be beneficial to the Union. OFFICE Convention delegates have instructed the Regional Execu- tive Board to take the neces- sary action required to provide the Regional Council with new office facilities. i This action was necessary because the present offices of the Regional Council are in- adequate and a number of staff people are located in other buildings. STAFF All future staff appointments to the Regional Council must come from the ranks of the IWA and the positions must be advertised in advance throughout the Regional Council. However, exceptions will be made where special require- ments are needed. PLAN The Regional officers have been ordered to conduct a serious study on the feasibility of the Union administering the IWA Health & Welfare Plan. The study report will be made to the 1979 Regional Wages & Contract Conference. RIGHTS The Regional Council has been instructed to develop a uniform indoctrination pro- gramme-for use by the Local Unions and plant and camp committees in informing new IWA members of their rights under the Master Agreements. UNION MEMBERSHIP UP IN CANADA bership in affiliated federa- tions, a further 2.3% of or- ganized labour was affiliated to other central labour bodies. The remaining 25.1% of union membership was repre- Sented in unaffiliated, inter- national unions or independent local organizations. Unions with headquarters in the United States accounted for 47.4% of the total Canadian membership compared with 49.0% in 1977. Currently the largest union is the Canadian Union of Public Employees with 231,000 mem- bers followed by the United Steelworkers of America with 199,000 and the Public Service Alliance of Canada with LOCAL 1-207 DELEGATES pose for their pic iy} mi Ky ture with International President Keith John- son, who was a former President of 1-207. Group left, Esther James, Jean Lapierre, Keith i Johnson, Bob DeLeeuw, Joe Pirker, Larry Featherstone, Keith Finnen. The following ‘‘Troubled Employees Policy’? which was drafted by the Regional offi- cers and approved by the Regional Executive Board and ratified by the Regional con- vention: The I.W.A. has been very conscious of and concerned about the ‘troubled employee’ for some time. We are dealing with grievances resulting from problems our fellow employees have resulting from something that is troubling them off the job. The most serious of these problems is alcoholism and drug abuse. We are pressed to help find solutions to family crisis and economic, social and psychological problems caused among other factors by exces- - sive drinking and drug abuse of the family head, his wife or children, or in some cases all three. It has been proven be- yond a doubt that alcohol and drugs can bring about a pro- gressive deterioration of fine people who somehow have gotten on the downward slope from a normal daily life to a very troubled one due to exces- sive drinking or drug abuse. Among workers, as among other groups in our population, drinking or drugs is an accept- able form of relaxation. Many workers and their spouses find pleasure in either of these drugs and maintain many of - their social contacts through them. Alcohol or drugs often provide the needed respite from the tensions of the pro- duction line. Most people suffering from abuse of alcohol or drugs live normal lives in society and have homes, families, and a regular full-time job. This can make it very difficult to identi- fy a troubled employee. We should not go out and train our people to become ‘Sherlock Holmes’’ types but they should have the ability to be able to notice a troubled employee as early as ible. The following shall be the policy of the I.W.A. with re- spect to assisting the troubled employee in this Industry: 1. The I.W.A. recognizes that alcoholism and drug abuse are illnesses and that re- covery is both possible and probable. Experience has shown that identification procedures, treatment and follow-up established in . industrial environments — with full union support and - assistance — can form the basis of a successful pro- gram. 2. The I.W.A. shall endorse and support comprehensive joint labour-management programs funded by indus- try in each I.W.A. Local that: (a) assume the cost of any necessary medical care treatment, out-center, and other costs connected with counselling and training of Supervisors and union job stewards. (b) ensure that all em- ployees are covered by Health & Welfare benefits while undergoing treat- ment. . (c) protects the individual’s job while he or she is under- going treatment. (d) maintains. strict con-- fidentiality for the partici- pant. (e) leave diagnosis trained professionals, (f) makes participation in treatment voluntary with - referrals to qualified public or private agencies. (g) establish means of full treatment through co- operation with recognized organizations, such as AA, and a program of follow-up. It shall be the Policy of the I.W.A. to do everything humanly possible to learn to detect and help troubled employees as soon as possible. to BIG LABOUR RALLY | SCORES FEDERAL BILL By DOUG SMITH The Public Service Alliance of Canada’s campaign to stop a bill that would tie public ser- vice salaries to increases in the private sector received a large boost in Winnipeg recently. A really of 500 trade union- ists unanimously sanctioned a general strike as a move of final resort to block passage of Bill C-28. Andy Stewart, PSAC presi- dent, and Jean-Claude Parrot, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, ad- dressed the crowd. Steward said the bill would mean the continuance of wage controls for public sector workers. He pointed out that the bill would destroy the very existence of labour unions by removing collective bargaining from their hands. According to Parrot, in- dustrial action will be needed if the unions are not able to kill - the bill with press releases and demonstrations. Parrot said if the govern- ment destroys the public sector unions it will then go after those in the private sector. The bill also gives the government the right to as- sign new duties and classi- fications to employees, place employees on temporary lay- off, lock out employees during a strike, and ban strikes in es- sential services during an elec- tion campaign, The New Democratic Party, along with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, supports the campaign to defeat the bill. Stewart said Bill C-28 may be | withdrawn but he expects the government will try to pass the Same regulations through one or more different bills, :