pee a A Labour Logging p Continued from page 1 $67,000 against Fletcher-Challenge — but it only moved in to investigate when the union drew the forest service’s attention to the problem, Routley said. “We contacted the forest service and told them we were going to be videotaping the woodwaste. That’s when they came in,” he said. The company subsequently sent loggers into the area to harvest the timber which had been left on the ground. Routley said the union estimated that some 1,600 truckloads of logs were left on the ground to rot in the area — one truck- load for every hectare of land harvested. Lyn Kistner, a logger at the Renfrew Logging Division and a member of the Task Force, said that members were cur- rently videotaping areas logged by two of Fletcher-Challenge’s logging divisions, Caycuse and Renfrew, and would be draw- ing public attention to the crisis at a demon- stration outside Fletcher-Challenge’s offices in Vancouver set for Nov. 25. Among those taking part in the demon- stration will be many of the 310 workers from Fletcher-Challenge’s Youbou mill which was shut down this month, sup- posedly because of 'a shortage of wood. And there are other operations affected by log shortages, including the Fletcher-Challenge operation in Lumby, which was also shut down, putting some 90 workers on the street. The log export problem is also highligh- ted by Fletcher-Challenge’s practices, Rou- tley said. “They could buy logs from MacMillan- Bloedel — but they say it’s not as profitable to do that. And instead MacMillan-Bloedel is exporting 60 per cent of its dryland log sort in that area,” he said. Kistner emphasized that B.C. Forest Products, which Fletcher-Challenge merged with Crown Forest following its takeover of the two companies, exported 500,000 cubic metres of whole logs last year. “The log shortages are: a created problem — created by the companies,” Routley said. “And if we’re going to sur- vive, we’ve got to stop wasteful practices and see to it that the companies process every log they cut.” One of the objectives of the task force is a change in the Forest Act to force the com- panies to pay for standing timber. As it stands now, said Routley, the companies “don’t have to pay until the timber arrives at the dryland sort. So there’s no incentive to log properly.” And the increasing privatization of the forest service has resulted in more wasteful logging practices being overlooked, he said, charging that the service “is privatized to the point that the foxes are looking after the chicken house.” : Ina statement adopted last month, [WA- Canada Local 1-363 also spoke out against wasteful logging practices and overcutting by the forest companies and called for the establishment of a royal commission on forestry, “one with teeth to have changes implemented to save our forests for jobs in the future.” The statement, adopted Oct. 16 and sub- sequently carried in local newspapers, noted that the multinational forest giants “are try- ing to set up the environmental groups as scapegoats for wooodworkers to rail against to divert~attention from the real problems facing us.” *Key among those problems, it said, is the “alarming overcutting” whereby the com- panies harvest 97 million cubic metres per year while growing only 55 million cubic metres. It called for the appointment of a royal commission and the establishment of a land use committee “with representatives from all constituencies concerned with proper forest land management to make recom- mendations in the interests of all concerned groups.” 12 e Pacific Tribune, November 21, 1988 ractices threatenin Close to 150 members of the Pension- er’s Association of the International Longshoremen’s dnd’ Warehousemen’s Union demonstrated outside the offices of the B.C. Maritime Employers Association in Vancouver Wednesday to protest the employers’ refusal to negotiate a decent pension increase as directed under federal back-to-work legislation two years ago. “These guys are sending a message to the employers — that it’s time they got serious about their obligation to the pen- Pensions : sion fund,” said ILWU Canadian Area secretary Gordie Westrand. Longshoremen were forced back to work under federal legislation which ended the industry strike in 1986 and _ imposed a collective agreement on the ILWU. Under the imposed contract, the BCMEA was instructed to make “sub- stantial additional contributiéns” to the ILWU pension fund. But the BCMEA has refused to bring TRIBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN pensions into line with those paid long- shoremen in Seattle or grain and coal port workers in B.C. ILWU pensioners receive amaximum of $550a month — compared to the top rate of $1,050 for grain workers — and have not had an increase since 1985. Westrand said the union was pressing for a basic pension of $750 up to 1988, coupled with built-in increases after 1988 to enable pensioners to keep pace with others in the industry. ——— Backing its contention with a detailed report it has just released, the B.C. Federa- tion of Labour this week reiterated its stand that the Industrial Relations Council and Bill 19 are not working and should be scrapped. “The facts are all there in the report — and they show very clearly . . . that the qual- ity of decisions coming out of the IRC are suspect, they show bias and leave us little alternative but to say ‘we told you so,’ ” B.C. Fed president Ken Georgetti told a news conference Thursday. -The 39-page re- port, which analyzes several key IRC deci- sions as well as the personnel and func- i tions of the IRC, | covers the first year of operation of the | council, set up under Bill 19. It is based on submissions. from unions and labour lawyers as well as reports from business analysts and public affairs commentators. It notes that the relative calm in this year’s major bargaining round has left the false perception that there is “labour peace,”in the province — which the gov- GEORGETTI ernment has attributed to the existence of Bill 19. But, the report warns, “contrary to what the public as a whole may think, Bill 19 and actions of the IRC are creating a simmering pot of labour unrest.” Because the IRC has been discredited in the labour relations field, IRC vice-chairs have little or no expertise in labour laws, it notes. In addition, decisions are rendered with “a total disregard for past decisions,” important rulings are delayed for months and decisions frequently “consistently favour” such renegade unions as the Cana- Fed report bares failure of IRC dian Iron, Steel and Industrial Worke Union. The Building Trades, particularly, has been the victim of both the punitive section of Bill 19 and the operation of the IRC, th? report says. Georgetti told reporters that the boycot! of the IRC would continue but he warn¢ that the legislation could “not continue for much longer. ; “Sooner or later Bill 19 and the IRC wi result in a major industrial relations uphe* val,”’ he said. He reiterated the federation’s appeal ! the premier to “‘sit down with him at a? time and draft new legislation.” INTRODUCTORY SUBSCRIPTION OFFER $6 for 6 months FIRIBONE Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 Name lam enclosing 6 mos. $61 . Seca ee Pe ee ee es ee ee ee . Pe - re pee oe ee ee, a en Postal Code 1 yr. $20 oO . oe ee 8 8 ome