— THE OLD WOBBLY SLOGAN, “An injury to one is an injury to all,” was up- ated by the crews at Pacific Veneer, Harrison and Chet- wynd when they heeded the _. roving pickets with the story of the company’s scabbing at GRANDE PRAIRIE. The paper carrier and the canteen workers at P.V. also caught the spirit of the occasion. One loner, who stayed on the job, got the message too when he stuck his jaw out too far. The early and longer-than- usual coffee break made Ca- nadian Forest Products Ltd. take a second look at its brag about top-notch labour rela- tions. The boys at Harrison Lake took a whole day’s “holi- day.” * * * Peanuts, or not more than an extra $180 a week would soon settle the strike at Grande Prairie. Most CFPC workers are surprised at the strikers’ modest claims and shocked at the stubbornness of Prentice, Bentley and Co. The strikers said they would settle for the $1.55 base rate paid by the company in its plywood plant next door and by other operators in the area. Who wouldn’t strike after four years on a $1.40 rate? What’s the angle? The com- pany plans to make a pile by working its new 100,000 square miles of forest man- agement licence in Alberta with the lowest wages in the Canadian forest products in- dustry. To do this, it must stomp on the IWA. * % * FACE-TO-FACE with the negotiating officials for their lumber inspectors, the direc- tors of the PACIFIC LUM- BER INSPECTION BU- REAU got a new slant on the dispute about the use of the PLIB grade stamp. The PLIB inspectors had been waiting a long time for just this chance to state their case to the in- dustry instead of go-betweens. Everybody is breathing a little easier now about the threat of a general work stoppage that might be if the inspectors set up picket lines. % a ae EVERYBODY’S LAUGH- ING. The Communist Party organ recently front-paged a glowing account of the “glori- ous victory” won by MINE MILL at Trail and Kimberley. That’s good. Everyone is pleased that Mine Mill work- ers gained 20 cents on a base rate of $1.97! and the 40- hour week. The amusing part is in the inference that no other union has been so mili- tant or ever won a better con- tract, Will someone please re- : : thet it has negotiated this year a base rat up ‘CHARGES REFUTED — PAGE 3 ( H | A Pee | 4 Hol UW We ot i / Incorporating The B.2. Lumberwarher Official Publication of the Jeteraatlecal Woodmorkers of America Regional Council No. 1 Authorized as Second Class Mail, 'Post Office Dept., Ottawa, and for Payment of Postage in Cash. Vol. XXXI, No. 14 VANCOUVER, B.C. ROVING PICKETS 5c PERCOPY 2nd Issue July, 1964 <—>* HONOURED Grande Prairie strikers carry fight to parent company pen Members vote approval of Fisher 37-cent wage hike Northern Interior IWA members have voted to accept the settlement terms proposed by Conciliation Officer Fisher. The Regional Policy Committee had previously recom- mended acceptance. Highlight of the settle- ment was an across-the-board wage increase of 37 cents an hour raising the base rate from the present $1.89 an hour to $2.23 an hour at the end of a three year agreement. Described as the best agreement yet ne- gotiated in the Interior, the proposed settle- ment also provides for an additional 20 cents an hour for thirteen categories of tradesmen following an upward adjustment of rates in new categories. The general wage increase will be made effective upon expiration of the present con- tract, August 31, as follows: September 1, 1964—10 cents an hour. June 1, 1965—9 cents an hour. March 1, 1966—9 cents an hour. December 1, 1966—9 cents an hour. The tradesmen’s increase of twenty cents an hour is to be made effective in two stages: 10 cents an hour on September 1, 1964 and an additional 10 cents an hour June 1, 1965. Boxing Day is to be added to the eight paid statutory holidays already provided in the Interior agreements. One additional week’s vacation with pay is offered to employees with twenty or more years’ service, making a total of four weeks. All work performed on Sundays will be paid overtime rates. The agreemert, when revised, will provide for pay-days every second week. Arrange- ments to this effect are to be completed before September 1, 1965. The seniority provisions of the present agreement will be amended to include a job- posting procedure to be determined in sched- uled joint union-management discussions. Employees elected or appointed to union office will be granted leave of absence. - An amended arbitration clause in the con- tract, agreed upon during negotiations, will streamline arbitration proceedings to save time and expense. ; Negotiators for the Union were Regional 2nd Vice-President Jack Holst and President Ross Inglis, Local 1-424, Prince George. “aD “Best settlement” says Morris While visiting Vancouver on business of the Canadian Labour Congress, Joe Morris, Executive Vice-President of the Congress and former Re- gional President of IWA had praise for the coast settlement secured this year by the IWA. When queried about IWA affairs during a press confer- ence relating to recent Con- decisions, he said: e Fisher settlement in i will be the best settlement that will be achiev- ed by any major industrial union anywhere in Canada this year and possibly even in all North America.” “T know a few union leaders who would like to pick off a. potato like that one,” he said. With reference to public at- tacks on the Regional Officers by the Vancouver Local’s President, Syd Thompson, he said, “He (Thompson) seems to be more in in what he thinks is the matter with the rest of the Union than with the problems of his membership.” Morris expressed the view that the Regional Officers had followed the proper course in devoting their attention to membership welfare. “T think Jack Moore and his colleagues are doing a good job and doing what the job calls for — looking after the problems of the membership.” a r seit Ac pret By Staff Reporter Not a crew member went to work while three pickets paraded before Pacific Veneer Division, Canadian Forest Products Ltd., New Westmin- ster, July 22, as the day shift arrived. For almost one hour the visitors displayed. pla- cards accusing the company of “scabbing” the IWA strike in its Grande Prairie planing mill. ; Two days later, the roving pickets appeared at the CFPC Harrison Lo g ging Division and St. John Lumber Co., Chetwynd. The Harrison log- gers took a “holiday” and the Chetwynd workers an extra long rest period. Investigation by the IWA disclosed that three Grande Prairie strikers had hitch- hiked westward to make known the facts about their struggle to CFPC employees in British Columbia. They succeeded. Interviewed, the _ pickets said that the company had evaded settlement of the strike by recruiting scabs and, while discussions were in pro- gress, had started a second scab shift. Adding insult to injury, a company - backed application had been made to certify a scab company union and dis- place the legally-certified IWA. Sentiment on the picket line had reached the boiling point when it was reported that the parent company would try to smash the strike rather than reinstate any striker in the place of a scab. It is presumed that the roving pickets escaped to Al- berta before they were over- taken by sheriff’s deputies with a court restraining order secured- by angry company officials. Training program revived The Millwrights’ Appren- ticeship Training, shelved during broad negotiations, will now be dusted off, im- proved if possible, and sub- mitted to a membership refer- endum vote in the coast area. At its recent meeting, the Regional Executive Board de- cided to re-constitute the coast Negotiating Committee to undertake further discus- sions with Forest Industrial | Relations Ltd. See “MILLWRIGHTS"—Page 6 ‘ Wityza ts Ee Sey Mo * #