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vacations with pay, “make ready” time, better overtime
rates, and maintenance of membership. During this per-
iod the Union was simultaneously: pressing for wage
increases before the War Labor Board and conducting
negotiations with the employers for other contract im-
provements. The travel time granted by the WLB was
later nullified by the employers.

Immediately the war ended, the Union renewed its
demand for increased wages and threatened strike
action. An across-the-board wage increase of fifteen
cents an hour brought the base rate to $1.15 an hour
in 222 operations on the West coast. An industry-wide
strike in British Columbia also won a wage increase of
fifteen cents an hour with the 40-hour week.

Negotiations then assumed the pattern with which
woodworkers are now familiar — determined negotiat-
ing on a regional basis with occasional strikes to back
up the Union’s demands. As negotiating skills developed,
strikes became less frequent.

Steady and consistent progress was made. The 1963
settlements on the West coast provided for an increased
base rate of $2.41-$2.45 at the end of a three-year
contract term. As remarked by the Negotiating Commit-
tee’s spokesman, this represented an increase of two
dollars over the base rate he had originally negotiated.
The base rate established in the coast industry British
Columbia for the same year was $2.08 an hour with
negotiations to open early in 1964.

Attention is focused here on the base rate, as custom-
arily it is accepted as an index of wage increases, al-
ways applicable to the higher brackets. Any complete
tabulation is not feasible in this documentary for several
reasons. Over wide areas the category rates vary with
local conditions and demands and are undergoing con-
stant revision. Many classifications have disappeared.
The wage scales in each area reflect the bargaining
strength of the Union in the area and the special eco-
nomic conditions. The emphasis placed by the IWA on
the base rate demonstrates a firm intention to place
a floor under the wage structure and gain higher wage
standards for those who need them the most.

The IWA has constantly endeavored to wipe out the
wage differentials between regions through co-ordinated
negotiations. In a highly-competitive industry, a lower
wage in one region adversely affects the bargaining in
every other region. Canadian workers deeply resent
wages lower than those paid in the United States as not
justified by differences in living costs. This lower wage
gives the Canadian producer an unfair advantage over
the American producer in the same market. A chief aim
of the IWA is to eliminate such inequities.

Progress made in wage negotiations secured the
general acceptance of time and one half for work per-
formed on Saturdays and Sundays as well as after eight
hours in the day and forty hours in the week. A penalty
rate of two and one half times the regular rate is often

paid for work on statutory paid holidays.

The practice has generally been established of pay-
ing an increased hourly wage rate for night shifts to
compensate employees for the inconvenience and health
risks. Also, |WA contracts now provide for “make ready
time” and “call time.” The travel time provisions for

gained in the war years and. lost immediately
after have been restored in West Coast logging camps.
Compensation is provided for time spent in travelling
from established marshaling points to the work sites. All
these provisions were opposed by the employers and
were secured only after determined pressure had been

exercised by the Union.

A recurring problem has been the payment of piece-
work rates or busheling rates to fallers and buckers. As

_@ matter of policy busheling has been officially opposed

the Union though originally encouraged by the em-
sloyers. The situation was aggravated by the introduc-

of power saws during the war years. The question
ved so contentious that it was, at one stage, referred
n hip referendum, which rendered a decision

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

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to promote an unsafe speed-up and cut actual earnings
under unfavorable conditions. The larger companies have
almost entirely eliminated busheling in their own opera-
tions in the Western States, although they encourage the
practice in logging contracts and in British Columbia.
Where busheling prevails, the Union has succeeded in
introducing contract provisions which protect the fallers
and buckers against loss of income due to unfavorable
conditions.

The Union’s wage negotiations have become more
and more complicated because of the growing concent-
ration of ownership in the lumber industry and the in-
troduction of new factors such as technological change.
Experienced negotiators are now required who must
be equipped, not only with information as to the needs
of the workers, but also all the economic facts relating
to the industry. They must be familiar with marketing
prospects and production costs. Research into such mat-
ters has become a major and indispensable enterprise
of the Union.

The Union has been required to combat attempts to
mislead the public with regard to wage standards. Wage
rates have been quoted to mislead the public with re-
gard to annual income. Much of the work performed in
the lumber industry is subject to seasonal interruptions
which substantially reduce the annual incomes of indi-
vidual workers. Money wage increases have not always
reflected the worker's ability to purchase goods and
services with his wage dollar. The Union has striven
to make the point that real earnings or money wages
adjusted to prices must be taken into consideration.

The Union’s wage problems have not yet been
solved. Nevertheless, the record since 1937 demonstrates
remarkable progress which gives promise of further
progress in the future. ;

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Local 1-417
To Strike
Auto Shop

Members of Local 1-417.
IWA, employed by the Co-
lumbia Auto Customs Lim-
ited, Salmon Arm, have voted
in favour of strike action
after four bitter months of
dispute with their employer.

The government-supervised
vote was held following the
Company’s refusal to sign a
collective agreement with the
Union.

The Local’s officers state no
definite strike deadline has
yet been set but they are
meeting with ‘the crew to fix
a date.

Three times in the past
four months the Company has _.
been charged by the Labour
Relations Board with illegally
dismissing employees. In each
case the Board ordered the
firm to reinstate the em-
ployee with back pay.

The Company reinstated
the workers but refused to
pay the back wages until the
result is known of their ap-
plication to the B.C. Supreme
Court for a writ to quash the
Board’s orders.

Not Ditferent

“He doesn’t,” the boy said
audibly to his sister.

“Doesn't what, dear?” said
the girl.

“Why, he doesn’t drink any
different from anyone else,

and Pop said he drank like a
fish.”

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