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IWA

Delegates to the Annual
Meeting of Local 1-288 IWA
(Lumber Inspectors) Decem-
ber 3, approved a resolution
which will provide inspectors
retiring at age 60, a life in-
surance benefit of $500.00.

All members who have re-
tired back to October 1, 1961,
will also be entitled to the
coverage.

The money will be paid
from the Local’s Welfare Fund
(senior retirement section)
which was set up in 1961 and
now has a healthy surplus.

The delegates also approved
a resolution which will ex-
empt members paying dues
into the Fund on retirement.

Both resolutions must be
submitted to a referendum
vote of the membership.

The meeting, held in the
Blue Boy Hotel, was attended

* by approximately fifty dele-

*

-

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gates from all areas of the
Province. The guest speaker
was International president A.
F. Hartung. Other guests in-
cluded Regional secretary-

treasurer Fred Fieber and Lo-
cal 1-217 president Syd

Thompson.
A resolution to have the

4 Local pay part of the cost of

s

sending a member to the La-
bour College in Montreal drew
a lengthy debate from the
delegates. The meeting finally
agreed to an amended resolu-
tion which stipulated that the
Local would pay part of the
cost provided a bursary or
scholarship was obtained.
The meeting also unani-
mously endorsed a resolution
submitted by the executive
officers recommending that all
members of Local 1-288 do-

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

nate $2.00 to the B.C. Federa-
tion of Labour Defence Fund.

Two resolutions recom-
mending salary increases for
the financial secretary and re-
cording secretary were also
approved.

The increasing number of
accidents to members on the
job provoked an extensive
discussion. The officers report-
ed that the majority of these
accidents were caused by ve-
hicles in the mills and plans
were now being drafted to
remedy the problem.

President Beaton in his re-
port stressed the need for the
members to take greater in-
terest in political action. He
stated in part:

“As president of this Local
I feel it is my duty to raise
the subject of political action.
I realize it would be easy to
confine our activities to our
own organization but today
we cannot afford that sort of
luxury.

“The pace at which our
economy is changing because
of automation and technology,
is fantastic. Unions are
powerless to control these
changes, therefore we must
take political action to see
that the proper controls are
laid down for the protection
of the workers.

“The present government:

in Victoria has embarked on
the greatest economic expan-
sion we have ever known.
More people are coming in to
B.C. to work than into any

-other Province in Canada.

This is good while there are
jobs to be had. But what hap-
pens to these workers when
the projects are completed?

1-288 ANNUAL MEET

“People who have studied
the problem state that the
secondary industries will take
care of the situation. I fail to
see how these secondary in-
dustries can solve such a mas-
sive problem and suggest to
you that tor this reason we
must work to elect a govern-
ment that is prepared to fight
for our interests.”

Beaton also pointed out that
the present government has
encouraged the employers to
seek injunctions in labour
disputes. He stated in the case
of the Lenkurt dispute, the
Attorney General’s Depart-
ment instituted proceedings

. against those involved in the

picketing. As a result we have
members of our Union in jail.

He concluded by recom-
mending to the delegates that
they take a greater interest
in political action because it
was now the only avenue left

- open for labour to effectively

combat the employers.

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ROD BEATON, president of Local 1-288 IWA, making his
presidential address to the Local’s Annual Meeting De-
cember 3. Officers from left: Ron Grant, financial secretary;
Jack Radford, 2nd vice-president; Rod Beaton; Norm Carey,
Ist vice-president; Ernie Smith, recording secretary.

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