‘thewestern canadian | lumber worker Published once monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Councit No. } Affiliated'with AFL-CIO-CLC 2859 Commercial/Drive, Vancouver, 8.C. Phone 874-5261 34,000 copies Printed in this issue Editor—Patrick S. Kerr Business Manager—Wyman Trineer Forwarded to every member of the WA in Western'Canada in accordance with convention decisions Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year EDITORIAL [' is astounding and saddening to watch Canadian homeowners submitting passively to Federal Government policies that, by imposing interest rates far beyond their capability, rob them of their homes. The same interest rates are responbile for depriving tens of thousands of Canadians, including thousands of I.W.A. members, of their jobs. As of early April, about fifteen thousand of us have experienced layoffs within the previous four months, with five thousand still unemployed. , rae Worse, the layoffs are increasing in length. Balco in Kamloops laid off a shift in January and the remaining two shifts have just been reduced to a 32-hour week. In Cranbrook, Crows Nest Industries has just announced a total shutdown, throwing about 250 people out of work, and Local Union President Wayne Nowlin is not optimistic about an early return. : On the coast the shingle industry was hit first and hardest, but unless something is done soon, shingle workers will have company from the other sections of the industry. These IWA people will not parade passively into the economic oblivion scheduled for them by Gerald Bouey and three successive Federal Governments. Assisted by their Union, they will raise hell. It is a curious thing that all the measures implemented by the Federal Government to “fight inflation” or “defend the dollar” involve terrible sacrifices for working people, and a doubling or trebling of income for coupon-clippers. Elsewhere in this issue is a strong comment on the sacrifices Canadian banks have made. If no one else in Canada notices this, IVA members will. We urge you to write your Member of Parliament. Talk it up in your plant or camp. Tell the local establishment (the businesses and professional people, the superintendents) it isn’t going to wash. Tell them we are not going to sit idly by while the Federal Government cooks up another depression for us. Tell them that if for the first time they produce a plan for economic struggles which promises an equitable distribution of sacrifice, they will not find Canadian working people unwilling to do their share. But tell them also that if the plan proposes to shift the whole burden onto the shoulders of working people, we will find some way to ensure that the coupon-clippers pay their way too. If woodworkers are destined for economic oblivion, we'll go out with bangs, not whimpers. cal tools in correcting injustice and elimi- nating poverty. The proponents of a so- called “right-to-work” have never demon- strated that they have sought these social aims; if anything this newest campaign threatens to set back social advances many years.” Kostiuk charged that ‘right-to-work’ legislation has had disastrous effects in the 20 American states where it has been enacted. ALBERTA LABOUR PLANS TO FIGHT R-T-W GROUPS The Alberta labour movement has decided to take on Calgary-based right-to- work advocates by launching a campaign to “expose the insidious intentions of those who propose such regressive legislation.” Right-to-work groups active in the United States for some years have recently moved into parts of Canada. Although the groups’ name would indicate a commitment to full employment the real intention is to bust the trade union movement by enacting legisla- tion which would prohibit union shops. AFL president, Harry Kostiuk says the chairman of the Right-to-Work Committee, Robert Schett, should be shown for what he really represents. “He’s an employer working on behalf of employers who stand to benefitin a substan- tial way if such American anti-union shop laws and the problems they create are dumped upon Albertans,” he charged. “Unions have represented workers, and have been one of the most important histori- 4/Lumber Worker/April, 1980 United States Labour Department statis- tics indicated that in 1975 the average wage in normal states was about $195 per week and about $5 per hour. But when right-to- work legislation was enacted the wage rates were reduced to about $169 per week and about $4.20 an hour. The AFL points out that the wage rates are only the tip of the iceberg as far as the living standards of workers in those states are concerned noting that social programs such as health care, education and housing are very badly underdeveloped. The AFL intends to first contact Alberta’s MLA’s in order to counter the right-to-work propaganda. As well Labour Councils throughout the province will be co- ordinating information about the group through a provincial network that is being developed. Alberta MLA’s will be the first to be contacted with regard to the Federation’s position and to counter the propaganda by the right-to-work association. As a oie tes Councils throughout the pro- vince will act as co-ordinators in an infor- mation dissemination network being pulled r. pee 3 says the concept of so-called right-to-work legislation clearly represents a major threat to the continued existence of the labour movement. The term right-to-work is deceptive because it implies the right of every worker to a job. However, the real purpose is to deny employers and employees from agreeing toa union shop clause in their collective agreement. “And this effort will be met head on,” Kostiuk said. BLUE GROSS WARNED AGAIN The Ontario Hospital Association Blue Cross was handed more warnings recently to settle the strike by its office workers or risk losing the business of two more unions. The Ontario Region of Canadian Union of Public Employees representing 105,000 workers and 16 rail unions with more than 90,000 members have told Blue Cross that they will no longer consider the company as a carrier for drug plans and other medical benefits unless it settles with United Auto Workers Local 2078. Both groups condemned the company for refusing to agree to a union security or a Rand formula clause in the collective agree- ment. The UAW Local 2078, whose members are primarily women, have been on strike for their first contract since the fall. Cliff Pilkey, Ontario Federation of Labour president recently wrote the OFL’s 2,200 affiliated local unions and 45 labour coun- cils urging them to drop any benefit plans carried by Blue Cross. He said the OFL was taking the action “to bring Blue Cross management to its senses,” adding that government action on labour law reforms proposed by the Federa- tion to the Davis cabinet last Nov. would have brought an end to such disruptive disputes as Blue Cross, Radio Shack and Butcher Engineering. The Federation has offered to provide assistance to any local terminating existing contracts with Blue Cross. Both the UAW and the OFL have also ended agreements with the company. “Ah what’s a couple of bottles of extract ... if it keeps him on th’ job!”