“ [AMAR w . < ‘THE WESTERN CANADIAN & UU Le it i (ys | 1 | B i vi Incorporating Fhe GC. Lambermoréer Official Publication of the Jeterwational Woodworkers of sbmertea Regional Council No. 1 Vol. XXXI, No. 4 B.C. Coast Lumber Industry IWA DEMANDS VANCOUVER, B.C. Sc PER COPY 2nd Issue February, 1964 eS’ TOUT 1. A wage increase of 40c per hour across the board to all employees. 2. Amend Article XIII, Travel Time, to provide for pay from marshalling point to marshalling point. 3. To provide for an Article stating that where a portion of-an operation is con- tracted or sub-contracted, the company signing the agreement will agree that all wages and conditions of the Master Agreement shall apply. 4. To amend Art. XIV, Health & Welfare, to provide for the following: (a) Weekly Indemnity benefits—$50.00 per week for 39 weeks. Eligibility to be based on 7 and 6 on the basis that where a covered employee quali- fies for benefits due to illness, he will be paid retroactive to the first day of disability. (b) Employees who have been covered by Forest Industry Health and Wel- fare Plans 1 and/or 2 for a total of we years, shall be entitled to main- tain full coverage for a period of 6 months. 5. To provide in Article X, Vacations with Pay, for the following: (a) An additional week’s vacation with pay for all employees. (b) That all earned vacations must be taken. Delete all reference to pay in lieu of holidays. (c) To provide payment of Vacation Pay equivalent to regular earnings per week or the percentage rate, whichever is the greater amount. 6. Amend Article V, Hours of Work, to provide for double time for all overtime work. 7. That the rates of pay for Shingle employees be revised as follows: Shingle Sawyers—$2.96 per hour plus 51c per square for all squares in excess of 20 squares, and that junk and wide-way rates be adjusted accordingly. Packers—$2.41 per hour plus 39\4c for all squares in excess of 20 squares. Shake Re-Sawyers—$2.96 per hour plus 51c per square for all squares in excess of 20 squares. lester: and Re-butt, Feeders and Packers rate to be: $2.41 per hour plus 39'4c per square for all squares in excess of 20 squares. 8. Pay days every second Friday. 9. Delete Section 5(b) of Article VII and negotiate provisions for a Standing Com- mittee made up of one representative from each Local affected, together with one Regional officer. 10. That we demand an additional 30c an hour increase in rates for all tradesmen and improvers in the industry. 11. That a complete survey be made of categories and rates paid to Planermen. 12. That we negotiate for a one-year agreement. At Grande Prairie Union Reaffirms Support For Alberta Strikers IWA delegates attending the coast Wages and Contract Conference were not too weary on the final evening of their discussions to pause and reaffirm their support of IWA members trudging the picket line at the planer mill of Ca- nadian Forest Industries Ltd., WHAT‘’S JINSIDE IWA, KEITH JOHNSON, Financial of Local 1-207, made a stir- plea to the delega the IWA Coast ages & Contract Confer- tes at- Grande Prairie, Alta. They were reminded by Keith Johnson, Financial Secretary, Local] 1-207, that the strike is now in its seventh month and has proved to be a feat of en- durance, under sub - zero weather conditions, that ranks high in the workers’ struggle. The delegates who are now preparing to negotiate the de- mands of coast workers were impressed with the fact that one of the large companies involved in their negotiations has shown bad faith toward IWA workers in Alberta. De- liberate attempts have been persistently carried out to break the strike with import- ed scabs and a few defectors. Still worse, declared Johnson, management is now attempt- ing to influence the RCMP and municipal authorities to harass the pickets and make See “ALBERTA”—Page 7 WAGE MEET MAPS WORKERS’ SHARE OF PROFIT PIE By GRANT MacNEIL The IWA is in a fighting mood. The Coast Wages and Contract Conference, February 20-22, was something different ‘in the history of Region I. One hundred and twenty delegates from the coast Local Unions decided to raise their sights and tell the employers that this is the year they must do what they are well able to do. On this point they were completely unanimous and no nonsense. The bargaining “package” ready for the employers on March 16 was fashioned to correspond with the swollen profits of the operators. The debate was sharp demanding from all aes — sawmills, logging camps, plywood plants and shingle mills, There was a reason. One hundred and sixty reso- lutions, from the coast mem- bership, expressing needs which were weighed at the outset of the discussions, made it clear that lumber workers are “fed up to the teeth” with the stale and penny-pinching excuses of management. A spirit of re- volt engulfed the conference which clearly reflected the mood of the men on the job. It was the kind of revolt that possesses free men, long denied their rights, and de- termined ‘to get them. There was no frenzy over the gravity of an oppressive situation created by manage- ment. The delegates took an orderly and realistic ap- proach to their problems. Hard, cold facts, gleaned from official sources, dealing with production, shipments, prices, markets, profits and net worth were first present- ed by Research Directors Joe Miyazawa and Elwood Taub. There could be no doubt, said the delegates, that the industry has never been in better shape. Every- thing is away up, except the number of workers and labor costs. The conference heard In- ternational President Al Har- tung with a ringing challenge for action in line with the best IWA traditions. The vet- eran trade union warrior bluntly warned all and sun- dry to keep their eyes on the See “WAGE MEET”’—Page 8 Moore Hits Newspaper Releases to the press by coast employers attempting to deride the IWA contract de- mands for 1964 were scath- ingly denounced by Regional President Jack Moore, when he was recently interviewed by tee Vancouver dailies. He said: “The statement by the em- ployers that the Union’s de- mands will cost the industry $26 million is a wild guess, impossible of verification at this time by reliable calcula- tions. Suppose it is approxi- mately correct, so what? Four large companies in 1962 grossed $114.9 million in profits. The total for all com- panies is vastly greater. When the 1963 profits are all reported, and totalled, the dividends extracted from our forest resources will prove staggering. Is there anything unreasonable about a share Employers Statements for the workers which will not exceed 20% of these ex- traordinary surplus earnings by the corporations? ‘More wage income pumped into the economy will bring greater general prosperity than big- ger profits for the few.’ “Another statement from the poverty-stricken Mac- Millan, Bloedel and Powell River "Co. claims that the IWA demands are unrealistic because of the company’s need for capital expansion. I point to the spectacular in- crease in the net worth of this company, derived mainly from undistributed profits, and yielding an unprecedent- ed return on the original in- vestment. As the workers have contributed to this ex- pansion out of wages, the time has arrived for a more equitable distribution of in- ” For Negotiations : Extended sessions of the IWA Regional Executive : = Board followed immediately after the recent Wages and = + Contract Conference. Plans were laid for a vigorous = campaign in support of the 1964 demands in the coast = area by way of recommendations to the Regional Policy | = Committee. : Early steps will be taken to inform the Union’s mem- [ bership of the reasoning followed by the delegates who | + formulated the demands. Research statistics which dis- = - close the exceptional prosperity of the industry will be made available through the Local Unions affected.