eee ac cs THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER AUTHORIZED AS SECOND CLASS MAIL, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, OTTAWA, AND FOR PAYMENT OF POSTAGE IN CASH. WORKER VOL. XXIII, No. 2 VANCOUVER, B.C. Sc PER COPY 2nd Issue Jan., 1966 EDITORIAL BAD FAITH HE unprecedented action on the part of the Crown Zellerbach Company in arbitrarily revoking a signed Memorandum of Agreement has now placed in jeopardy the whole system of contractual relations in the forest industry. No other interpretation is possible when it is con- sidered that the Memorandum of Agreement is a sup- plement to the Coast Master Agreement second only in importance to the wage supplement. If Crown Zellerbach is allowed to revoke one section of the Agreement what's to prevent it from reneging on other sections and reverting the present method of collective bargaining back to the days when the ‘law of the jungle’ prevailed? The Regional Council is viewing the matter with the gravest alarm. Not only because of the danger to con- tractual relations but also the detrimental effect it will have on present and future job training programmes. The Agreement revoked by Crown Zellerbach was for a job training programme. The IWA recognizes the importance of these job training programmes in relation to solving the problems of automation and technological change in the industry. Because of this, it willingly entered into an agree- ment with the employers for job training plans after first negotiating certain guidelines. The Union didn’t, how- ever, give management the prerogative to change the guidelines or cancel out agreements at will. ; The IWA now doubts the sincerity of Crown Zeller- bach and suggests that every signed contract the Union holds with the Company is now automatically suspect. - Until the Company proves its good intentions by recog- nizing the validity of the signed Memorandum of Agree- ment, the relations between the Union and the Company will be in a state of flux. _ NO. 1 GUEST at the Annual Delegated Meeting of Local — 4 IWA, Prince George, International President A. F. ‘tung appears highly pleased with the attention he is ving from Local 1-424’s office secretaries Mollie Neal, ft, and Pat Jago. Cc. Z. RENEGES ON AGREEMENT Officers of Local 1-71 Have charged that the forest indus- try companies, acting through Forest Industrial Relations Ltd., have forced the Crown Zellerbach Company to re- voke a signed Memorandum of Agreement with the Local Union. The agreement, signed be- tween the Company and the Local December 20, provided for a job training program covering all the Company’s operations in the Local’s juris- diction. Local President Ernie Freer and ist Vice-President Ben Thompson, who negotiated the agreement for the Local, reported that Crown Zeller- bach officials informed them the agreement was being re- ‘voked because the other com- panies in the industry object- ed to a clause which provid- ed an additional ten cents an hour for instructors of train- ees participating in the train- ing plan. The Company officials ad- mitted to Freer and Thomp- son that the other companies feared the clause would estab- lish a precedent which would force the industry to pay re- muneration to all instructors. They also admitted to the Local Officers that while they personally agreed with the principle of paying such re- muneration, the present in- dustry pressure left them no alternative but to renege on the agreement. They stated, however, that the whole matter could be re- solved if the Local Union was PRINCE GEORGE CONFERENCE Approximately 130 dele- gates, three guest speakers and twenty visitors, attended the biggest and best Annual Delegated Meeting. of Local 1-424 IWA, January 22-23, in Prince George. The conference held in the Simon Fraser Hotel was ad- dressed by IWA International President A. F. Hartung, Re- gional ist Vice - President Jack MacKenzie and Cana- dian Labour Congress Re- gional Director Tom Gooder- ham. Included among the guests were officers from Local 1-71; Local 1-207; Local 1-405; Local 1-417, and Local 1-423. The delegates, representing every Sub-Local in the ninety thousand square mile area of the Local Union, approved See “CONFERENCE”—Page 3 willing to re-negotiate the agreement minus the conten- tious clause. The Local Union received the Company’s written notice of cancellation February 2, which stated in part: “We have already outlined to you our reasons for taking this step. As you must be aware, this company supports the principle of training pro- grams. However, one point we agreed to in an effort to solve a specific local problem has been used by you in an effort to force other opera- tions in the industry to ac- cept the provision which has no legitimate application to them. In these circumstances, Wwe consider if necessary to cancel this agreement, but are prepared to enter discussion with you for the purpose of drafting a revised program.” Freer replied to this by in- forming them that the Local Union was taking the appro- priate stéps to challenge their arbitrary action. He pointed out the negotiated agreement was a supplement to the Coast Master Agreement and con- formed to the principles agreed upon earlier between See “RENEGES”—Page 2 MULTI-UNION MEETING ie Regional President Jack Moore will attend the meet- ng February 23, in Portland, called to coordinate the ne- gotiations of six unions in Canada and the U.S. whose contracts expire around the same time. Unions invited to the meet- ing—one in a series held over the past two years—are the IWA, Lumber and Sawmill Workers, Association of West- ern Pulp and Paper Workers, International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, Teamsters Union _and . the Western Conference of Print- ing Specialty Unions. IWA International Presi- dent A. F. Hartung, who serves as chairman of the inter-union committee, an- nounced that invitations to the meeting had been sent out by J. R. Robertson, vice pres- ident of the ILWU and coord- inator for -the inter-union group. Robertson suggested in his letter that the main point on the meeting agenda should be: “How each of the organiza- tions can assist one another in contract negotiations and any subsequent action that any of the organizations secure an agreement.” takes to ~ On the following day, Feb- ruary 24, members of the multi-union committee will attend the annual Constitu- tional Convention of IWA Western States Regional Council No. 3, on invitation of Regional President Harvey R. Nelson. The regional con- vention will-be held at the Sheraton Motor Inn in Port- land. “The matter of a negotiat- ing program for 1966 will be taken up at this convention,” Robertson pointed out in his letter to coordinating commit- tee members. “This will be the first op- portunity that the committee will have to participate in such matters, and it could well be the most important meet- ing to be held since the Co- ordinating Committee was established over two years ago,” Robertson added. All the unions will go into major contract negotiations within a few weeks, affecting many thousands of workers in the Western United States and in British -Columbia. In many cases, each of the un- ions will be negotiating with the same employers or in- dustry associations. CONTRACT PROPOSALS. The highly important IWA Wages and Contract Confer- ence at which the Union for- mulates its contract demands to the industry, will be held February 25-26, at Wood- workers’ House, Vancouver. The eight Coast Local Un- ions are now preparing their proposals which will be sub- mitted for discussion by the delegates elected to the broad conference. The customary practice at these conferences is to draft a programmatic resolution, in- corporating the main demands .of the Locals. Each demand in the resolution is then discuss- ed, point by point, and if adopted by the majority of the delegates, forms part of the Union’s contract proposals in bargaining with the employ- ers. Approximately 150 dele. gates are expected to att, the two-day meet. ond