LABOR

Continued from page 1

plan into action in ‘‘a matter of
hours.”’
When andif it begins depends on
the premier, he emphasized. ;
After a meeting with Federation

officers Tuesday, Kinnaird had-

sought a meeting with premier Ben-
nett ‘‘to get him to use his influence
to get the parties back to the
bargaining table to bring about a
settlement.

He said that he had attempted all
day and evening to reach the
premier but got no response on his

request.

It was not until Wednesday mor-

ning, when Bennett appeared on a
television phone-in show that the
premier gave any response. He said
that if the federation wanted a
meeting, it should put its request in
writing.

Kinnaird deplored that reaction
as ‘regrettable’ but added that the
federation had in fact formalized
its request in a telegram sent to Vic-
toria Wednesday.

Bennett continued to obstruct,
however, insisting again that the
federation had given no new infor-
mation which could provide a basis
for resumed negotiations.

That approach by Bennett and
the provincial cabinet, coupled
with the Treasury Board’s refusal
~ to move from its 6.5 and five per-
cent wage offer over two years has
made it increasingly clear that the
dispute has become a symbol for
the government of its intention to
improve wage restraint — and
perhaps go to the polls over the
move.

The dispute has sparked specula-
tion of a provincial election, fuelled
by suggestions by Bennett that a
fall session would be called at
which new legislation offering
mortgage relief — a blatant elec-
tion plum — might be introduced.

Kinnaird had earlier charged
that the Socred government -had
deliberately obstructed a settlement
of the BCGEU dispute for political
reasons, citing Bennett’s timing in

: soe s e
BCGEU PICKETS DURING ONE-DAY STRIKE . .

JIM KINNAIRD .. . Bennett
playing politics with govern-
ment employees.

announcing the new,
restrictions on public sector set-
tlements the very day the BCGEU
contract expired July 31.

A settlement could have been
reached long ago were it not for the
government’s political motives, he
said.

He reiterated that charge at
Wednesday’s press conference,
emphasizing, ‘‘everyone is talking
about a resolution to this dispute —

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 10, 1982—Page 12

tighter’

everyone, it seems, except the
government.”’

Bennett has skirted any direct
comment as to whether wage con-
trols are at issue in the BCGEU
dispute, limiting himself to
remarks about BCGEU leader
John Fryer, but the government
has moved relentlessly towards a
showdown over the wage limits.

Yet another link to the govern-
ment’s wage control shackles was
added last week with the announce-
ment that a 14.5 percent settlement
negotiated by the Vancouver
school board local of the Canadian
Union of Public Employees would
probably be rolled back by Com-
pensation Stablization Program
commissioner Ed Peck.

That threat has given increased
urgency to the federation’s cam-
paign. The rotating strike strategy
announced by Kinnaird is reminis-
cent of the federation’s support
campaign undertaken in 1981 on
behalf of the Telecommunications
Workers’ Union in its contract bat-
tle with B.C. Telephone.

In that dispute, federation af-
filiates staged a unified walkout for
24 hours in the Nanaimo area and
were about to launch another one-
day regional strike in the
Kootenays when B.C. Tel, which
was also under pressure from the
government and other employers,
announced it would return to the
bargaining table. Subsequent
negotiations led to a settlement.

The issues — and the stakes —
are different in the BCGEU
dispute, but the role of the federa-
tion is nevertheless of critical im-
portance.

Still unknown is whether Ben-
nett will put something more on the
table. to invite renewed talks .or
whether he will continue to move in
the direction he has already in-
dicated — towards a major con-
frontation with his punitive con-
trols program at the centre.

Whatever course he takes, the
dispute will take on national pro-
minence in the labor movement’s

campaign against wage controls.

. they may soon be joined by B.C. Fed affiliates.

'

Che Barker

LOCAL 1-217 IWA.
DEDICATED TO
ONE UNION

IN WOOD

VANCOUVER, 8.C.

‘SEPTEMBER, 1962

By Doug Evans

In recent years Japan has been the biggest buyer of logs
leaving this province. During these years the economy was
buoyant and there was generally full employment in the forest
Industry. However, even during these times our organization
was concerned about government policy on log exports even
though the volume was limited and generally were logs not
normally used by the forest products industry of B.C.

BARKER ARTICLE...

IWA: log exporting
means jobs sists

«Some 75 members of the In-
ternational Woodworkers
dramatized the union’s demand
for a ban on raw log exports as
they picketed outside the Good-
win Johnson dock at Berry
Point Sept. 2, halting log
loading at two ships bound for
China and Japan.

The IWA demonstrators
were from various locals in-
cluding Vancouver, Haney,
Port Alberni, Chemainus and
New Westminster, many of
which have been devasted by
massive layoffs in the forest in-
dustry.

“*T haven’t worked since May
18 and they’re exporting the logs
right out of my backyard,”’
Chemainus local member Lyn
Kistner commented bitterly.

Nick Bos, vice-president of
Port Alberni local 1-85 told the
Tribune that only 200 of some
6,500 members in the local are
currently working.

“We're tired of seeing our
jobs exported by government
and big corporations,”’ he said.

Although the forest giants
have traditionally exported
some logs (usually those not
normally utilized in B.C. mills),
the amount of raw timber going
out of the province has increas-
ed enormously in recent months
as B.C. processing plants are
shut down.

NDP forestry critic Bill King
released figures in July showing
that the provincial cabinet had
approved the export of 445,841
cubic metres of raw logs in the
first half of 1982. That was
more than 10 times the exports

i in the last half of 1981 when

42,000 cubic metres were ship-
ped out.

He called the exports a ‘‘false
and misleading approach to the
problem of unemployment in
the forest industry’ arguing
that ‘‘shipping out our best logs
means we ship out jobs which
we will never get back.”’

King also noted at the time
that MacMillan Bloedel had just
applied to export 100,000 cubic
metres of logs to China.

Among the log shipments

| halted by the unionists last week

was one destined for China

City or town
Postal Code

t
aN
aA

BAN LOG EXPORTS

aboard the Pine Trust. Another — yr own mills.”’ :

RIBLUN

Published weekly at Suite 101 — 1416 Commercial Drive,
Vancouver, B.C. V5L 3X9. Phone 251-1186

is Gb eke. eco oa, eae. 8 86.8

| am enclosing: .
lyr. $14 O 2yrs. $25 0 6 mo. $8 O

log export ban urged.

vessel, the Green Spanker, was
loading logs for Japan when the
picket line went up.

Figures published in the mor-
ning paper the same day listed
the shipment at 37,890 cubic
metres. 4 :

‘“‘These are No. 1 fir,
hemlock and-=spruce logs that
are being shipped out. And
every one of them means a job
going out of the province,”’ said
Vancouver local 1-217 president
Doug Evans.

Evans also highlighted the
issue in the local’s newspaper,
The Barker, in which he called
for a ban on log exports.

In the article published in the
August edition, he emphasized
that because of current market
conditions for the forest in-
dustry, both the numbers: and
quality of logs being exported
has increased greatly while the
legislative safeguards have
become virtually meaningless.

‘Because of the short term
lack of present day demand for
the domestic use of raw logs,”
he said, ‘‘the large forest com-
panies are able to obtain export
permits from the provincial
government advisory commit-
tee (the body that must
authorize most log exports) with
very little or no difficulty.”

He warned that continuing
the present trend of increased
log export ‘‘can only lead to in-
creased long term unemploy-
ment in the forest industry.
—‘**What the government,
forest companies amd wood-
workers employed in logging,
log hauling and booming
grounds must begin to unders-
tand and reaalize is that for
every single person employed in
this section of the forest in-
dustry another four people are
employed in our B.C. mills to
break logs down to a finished |
product...

“Tt is time to discard the
selfish short term gain of a fast
buck for forest companies anda
mere handful of jobs for wood-
workers that are created by in-
creased log exports,’ he said.

_ “Jt is absolutely essential that -
we embark on a long term plan |
which would require that all
quality logs be manufactured i in

—

Vay AY 4 A a ae i

OldO Newl Foreign 1 year $16 0
Bill me later D Donation$..........
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