THE WESTERN CANADIAN

A SAFE AND
__ PROSPEROUS
oa 197

LUMBER

AUTHORIZED AS SECOND CLASS MAIL, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, OTTAWA, AND FOR PAYMENT OF POSTAGE IN CASH.

Vol. XXXIII, No. 24 VANCOUVER, B.C.

5c PER COPY

2nd Issue
December, 1966

‘MESSAGE

By JACK MOORE
egional President

1966 was a hectic, exciting and in many ways a
rewarding year for the province of British Columbia.
Almost all unions who went to the bargaining table in
1966 came away with exceptionally fine wage increases
and improved working conditions for their members.

We in the IWA on the coast of British Columbia not
only achieved but surpassed the goal for which we
had been shooting since 1946, and that was to have the
same wage structure as our Brothers below the 49th
parallel. In June of this year our wage structure on
the coast will, for the first time in our history, be sub-
stantially higher than the wages paid to the wood-
workers in Washington, Oregon and California.

The IWA Regional Council can also be proud of the

gains made for our members in Alberta, Saskatchewan
and in Quesnel, B.C.

In locking back on the past 12 months the labour
movement can be proud of improving working condi-
tions and the living standards of working people and
indirectly the standards of the whole community.

But 1966 also had its frustrations and disappoint-
ments, Through the use of the ex-parte injunction the
courts jailed four trade unionists and fined 18 others
whose only crime was attempting to assist a group of
workers who had been dismissed by their employer for
protesting unjust conditions.

1967 appears to be a much quieter and less hectic
year, as most of the major unions have signed agree-
ments which do not open during 1967. There is, how-
ever, as far as the IWA is concerned, one area where
our efforts and energy must be concentrated, and that is
in both the northern and southern inerior of the prov-
ince. Most unions, in their 1966 agreements, developed
uniform wage scales for their members throughout the
whole province of British Columbia.

The interior of the province in the woodworking
industry has fallen behind the coast to an alarming
extent, and like other unions which have established
parity throughout British Columbia, our job for 1967
is to establish wages in the interior of B.C. for wood-
workers commensurate with the wages paid their

on the coast. In the year 1967 we should
strive to have a uniform agreement and uniform wage

scales for all woodworkers throughout the province of
This will not be an easy task; but with the deter-
support of the membership in the interior and

iste of their fellow workers on the coast the

IWA REGIONAL OFFICERS and two International executive board members are
sworn in for a new two-year term by Walter Allen, president of Local 1-85 IWA,
during the one-day executive board meeting December 20. Group, left, Walter Allen;

Wyman Trineer,

International

executive board member;

Fred Fieber, secretary-

treasurer; Maurice Corbeil, 3rd vice-president; Jack Moore, president; Jack MacKenzie,
Ist vice-president; Del Pratt; 2nd vice-president; Keith Johnson, International executive

board member.

i

1-367 STRIKE
CONCLUDED

The lengthy strike conduct-
ed by Local 1-367 IWA, Ha-
ney, against the Associated
Cedar Products Ltd., Albion,
has been successfully conclud-
ed with the signing of a Me-
morandum of Agreement.

Included in the settlement
was a revised wage scale
which was approved by a
unanimous vote of the mem-
bership.

Local 1-367 President Cy
Godfrey reported the strike
was brought about by the
company’s poor employer-
employee relationship, and its
refusal to sign the Coast Mas-
ter Agreement.

The plant which is shut
down at the moment is ex-
pected to resume operations

early in January.

[WA CARPET FACTORY

Local 1-423 IWA Kelowna
has organized the first carpet
factory ever organized by the
Union. The firm, Westmills
Carpets Ltd., is located on the
outskirts of Kelowna and em-
ploys seventeen people.

The Local organized the
plant last October and recent-
ly signed a three-year agree-
ment which will provide the
crew with the highest wage
rates of any textile operation
in Canada.

The contract, negotiated by
Local president Bill Schu-
maker with the assistance of
Dell Welder, raised the base
rate for men in the first year
from $1.75 to $2.10 an hour.
The contract calls for a an-
other increase of 17 cents an
hour December 1, 1967, and a
further 23 cents an hour De-
cember 1, 1968.

The female base rate was

raised from $1.15 to $1.60 an
hour.

The highest increase in the
first year of the contract was
for the Dryer Operator, who
went from $2.10 an hour to
$2.68 an hour. He is also paid
an additional 20 cents an hour
overscale.

An important provision of
the new agreement stipulates
that new employees will only

have to work 30 calendar days

to become members of the
Union. The contract has a
bereavement clause which
provides for three days off
with pay in the event of an
immediate death in the family,

The agreement also in-
cludes a ten cent an hour
night shift differential; double

See IWA FIRST Page 2

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