THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER poe Sip Please | To refute the obvious employer propaganda contained in the “personal and confidential” brochure sent out by the MacMillan Bloedel Company to all its em- ployees, the Research Department of the Regional Council prepared the following statement and comparison to show the Company has woven too much fiction into its so-called tacts. 4 Praise MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. from whom all blessings flow .. . Chairman J. V. Clyne asks all MB workers to sing this doxology with fervent gratitude as each one reads the “personal and confidential’ brochure glorifying the benevolence of the multi-million dollar cor- poration. Lo and behold, the MB corporation has provided a personalized benefit program that assures every one of its workers “security today” and “independence in the future’’ — a glamorous fantasy that bears but little relation to the hard cold facts. ; Quite obviously MB Ltd. kelieves that its army of workers needs a large dose of soothing syrup especially during negotiations. It is quite as obvious that the company’s public relations experts have adulterated this dose with ingredients that make it more of an emetic than a wholesome tonic. They have forgotten that a grateful attitude to- ward the Company cannot be induced by anything less than “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” ~ FICTION vs. FACTS FICTION One element of security today rests on the medical and hospital services provided. FACT The prepaid medical services plan for which the employee pays half was secured only after prolonged negotiations to overcome the opposition of the Company's bargaining representatives objecting to a fifty percent contribution. It makes no provision for drugs, dental, and optical care nor extra treatment facilities. The Company benefits more than the em- -ployee through the resulting increased production. Hospital kenefits under the BCHIS were not initiated by the Company and apart from this the patient’s one dollar a day is paid for by him. These benefits were long opposed by employers. FICTION The Company provides additional security through a weekly sickness indemnity of $50 for 39 weeks. FACT This is part of the Health and Welfare Plan written into the Master Agreement on a 50% contributory basis after years of negotiations to over- come the employers’ opposition. FICTION The Company’s “benefit” program includes Workmen’s Compensation. FACT Workmen’‘s Compensation is strictly a provincial government scheme, secured on demand of Labour members of the Legislature despite employer opposition. Investigation has disclosed that compensation benefits are inadequate for the actual needs of the injured. The Company has done nothing to improve the situation and support increased benefits. Assess- ments upon the Company levied under the Workmen’s Compensation Act are passed along to the consumer. The group insurance for total disability is a negotiated fecture of the Health and Welfare Plan in the contract, 50% employee-supported. The Company now claims credit for a benefit its bargaining representatives originally opposed in negotiations with the 1.W.A. FICTION Independence in the future is assured through a combination of pension schemes. FACT The Company Pension Plan is so inadequate and restricted that many workers elect not to participate. It is administered to the advantage of the Company and its provisions are non-negotiable. > [THE GREAT PERPETUAL PROSPERITY MACHINE —— BYIMC. pau a 0 wear NU —_— so The Company cannot truthfully add the Canada Pension Plan to its benefit program. The advent of this plan was delayed and limited by the employers’ political spokesmen, and was seized upon to lower Company contributions to its private plan. The Old Age Security scheme was never fostered by the Company. It was forced upon a reluctant government by labour members in the House of Commons. Even in combination, these two retirement pension schemes provide merely a beggarly pittance for many — a far cry from “independence.” FICTION The Company’s benefit program provides total life insurance protection of $110,510. FACT Group life insurance protection of $5,000 is now provided only be- cause of I.W.A. negotiating pressure. Workers pay 50% of the premiums. The MB pension plan does not adequately provide for retirement, and requires employee contributions. Travel Accident Insurance is only available to those travelling on Company business, and is not available to the average employee. The Canada Pension Plan is contributory and is in effect only by decision of the Canadian Parliament. Its benefits are admittedly inadequate even in combination with the Company private pension plan. The Company can ill afford to brag about a typical $65 a month widow’s pension under the Canada Pension Plan or $122 monthly under the Workmen’s Compensa- tion Act. These subexistence allowances never stemmed from Company generosity and were kept at these low levels by big business pressure on senior governments. FICTION In nine ways, the Company implies that it adds large sums annually to the total value of major benefits in its very own program of employee security and independence. FACT Five of the nine items so listed are available only because of years of persistent negotiations by the IWA. Six of the listed items are conditional upon the employee’s contributions. One is non-existent for the ordinary worker because only executive personnel benefit. One typical brochure in hand gives the sum of $674 as the total value of benefits made available to the employee to give assurance of “security today and independence in the future.” One vitally important omission is made. All features of the Company’s so-called benefit program depend on the employee’s wage income. The Company’s glorified benefit program proves an empty dream to the great mass of Company employees whose wages do not yet permit an acceptable standard of living today. ¢ g of yet pe 7 € "...Nothing But the Truth, ! ,