2) . ¢ lum oer worke Vol. XLVI No. 3 VANCOUVER, B.C. ISSN 0049-7371 MARCH, 1978 REGIONAL 2nd VICE-PRESIDENT Bob Blanchard dis- cussing at special delegated meeting of Local 1-206, terms of the merger between Local 1-206 and Local 1-207. The meeting held in Lethbridge, Alberta, February 18, unanimously en- dorsed the merger conditions. Group left, Neil Menard, Regional 3rd Vice-President; Blanchard; Larry Feather- stone, Financial Secretary of 1-206; Tony Simpson, President of 1-206; Bob DeLeeuw, Financial Secretary of 1-207; Joe Pirker, President of 1-207. -BERTA LOCALS IREE TO MERGE ere Sew 1 eneiatonne of Local 1-206 IWA, Fort Macleod, Alberta, voted by 138 to 41 during the first week in March, to merge with Local 1-207 IWA, Edmonton, Alberta, The merger was necessary due to the declining member- ship of Local 1-206 and the im- possibility of one full time per- son properly servicing the large area the Local Union covers. The Regional officers aware that the Local was in trouble suggested that it merge with the larger IWA Local in Alberta. The officers pointed out that there were a number of advantages for both Locals if they were to affect such a union. Officers of the two Locals agreed to the proposal and Regional 2nd Vice-President Bob Blanchard and 3rd Vice- President Neil Menard were PERMIT No. 2075 VANCOUVER, B,C. ' Deere eslisigsateaiendimmtetieeas { i Vancosver. B.C. THE LUMBER WORKER RETURN REQUESTED 2859 Commercio! Dr, Ss) saininicd fi work with the Locals and plan the merger details. After the details had been ironed out, Blanchard and Menard met with the officers of the two Locals and members of Local 1-206 at a special dele- gated meeting February 18, in Lethbridge, and reported to them the merger conditions and how the vote of 1-206 members would be conducted. One of the principle condi- ‘tions of the merger was that Larry Featherston, Financial Secretary of 1-206, and full time Business Agent, would remain as Business Agent. He would, however, move from Fort Macleod to Edmonton and work closely with 1-207’s full time officers President Joe Pirker and Financial Secre- tary Bob DeLeeuw. The three officers working out of a central location would give all operations in the Local. equal opportunity to call on their services. One aspect of the merger which the Regional officers thought could be a problem was that the dues formula of 1- 207 is one half hour at the base rate higher than the dues in 1- 206, To ensure that this factor wouldn’t outweigh the ad- vantages of merging, the Regional officers volunteered to address the crews in all 1-206 operations prior to the vote. They also stipulated that the crews in the operations would conduct their own ballot and count the results without inter- ference from Regional or Local officers. Everyone is pleased with the results of the vote and the Regional officers are now confident that all IWA mem- bers in Alberta will benefit from the merger. FOR $12.50 IWA MEMBER OFFERS TO BUY. IWA member J.J. Conchie of Local 1-405, Nelson, has offered to buy from the provincial gov- ernment the crown-owned Kootenay Forest Products” plant where he works, for $12.50. Conchie made the offer March 17, in a telegram to Fin- ance Minister Evan Wolfe after hearing that the Minister had suggested the market va- lue of the plant was worth only $1.25. Wolfe further stated that the plant had accumulated a de- ficit of more than three million dollars since the NDP govern- ment ‘had bought it out from the Eddy Match Company in 1974. Conchie said the offer was a serious one but so far he has had no answer from the gov- ernment. He stated that he be- lieves the profit picture of Kootenay Forest Products is being vastly underrated and he and his fellow. workers are tired of the plant being used as a political football by the pro- vincial government. Conchie’s views are shared by two other IWA members Klaus Offermann and Gary McCandlish, who are worker- directors at KFP. The follow- ing is a copy of the press re- lease they wrote giving figures that show that the operation is far from a ‘‘white elephant’, as Wolfe has suggested. On Friday, March 10th, a Daily News item titled, “Millions Injected Into Crown Corp.’’, reported Finance Minister Wolfe making the fol- lowing points: (1) K.F.P. is valued at $1.25. (2) K.F.P. has had an accu- mulated deficit of more than $3,000,000 since 1974. (3) K.F.P. has not been a profitable operation. Although the statement implied a current acrued de- ficit of over $3,000,000, it must be assumed that Finance Minister Wolfe was, in fact, re- ferring to the former deficit of $3,123,054 in 1975. It is useful at this time to place that former deficit into its proper historical perspec- tive. In 1974, K.F.P. had for years been underfinanced and mis- managed by Eddy Match, to a point below viability, at a time when the North American lum- ber market entered its worst slump in recent memory. In CROWN-OWNED KFP OPERATION response to representations made by the workers of K.F.P., the owners accepted their social responsibility and maintained full employment at K.F.P. in spite of disastrous market conditions. Since then, K.F.P.’s deficit has been decreasing rapidly to a point where, according to Coopers & Lybrand audited financial statements, K.F.P. had a deficit of $1,907,055 at the - end of 1976 and a deficit of $1,062,656 year end of 1977. As of February 28, 1978, K.F.P. financial statements already reflect a further decrease in that deficit to $596,523. In respect to the profitability of K.F.P., it must be pointed out that according to the nine- See “OFFER”, page 2 _ JOE MORRIS HONOURED BY MANY B.C, FRIENDS } | ea eree Canadian Labour Congress ' President Joe Morris was honoured at a testimonial ban- quet March 15, at the Sheraton Landmark Hotel, Vancouver, by some of his many friends in the British Columbia labour Movement. Morris retires this year as Congress President and the dinner was organized by the CLC-B.C. Section and the B.C. Federation of Labour, so that B.C. trade unionists could pay him tribute for his contribution to the working people of Canada. - Some three hundred q poole Pup, - e ‘Sar CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS President Joe Morris is shown with IWA officers at the testimonial dinner held in his honour March 15, in Vancouver. Group left front — IWA In- ternational President Keith Johnson; Morris; Regional President Jack Munro. Left rear — Local 1-80 President Roger Stanyer ; International 1st Vice-President Fernie Viala. attended the dinner and listened to a number of speakers talk about Joe’s achievements. Included among the speakers were IWA Regional President Jack Munro; Syd Thompson, Presi- dent of Local 1-217 IWA; John Fryer, General Secretary of the B.C. Government Employ- ees Union; and Don Dumphy, former Steelworker and B.C.’ Federation of Labour officer. During the evening Joe was presented with an electric organ and a handsome burl table and clock.