Regional Ist Vice-President Wyman Trineer and the other three members of the Southern Interior Negotiating Com- mittee, President Wayne Nowlin of Local 1-405; Presi- dent Sonny Alexandre of Local 1-417 and President Bill Schu- maker of Local 1-423, have con- cluded an agreement with the Interior Forest Labour Rela- tions Association which has revised and standardized apprenticeship rates for the A. MANUFACTURING Electrician Millwright Heavy Duty Mechanic Helper Helper (1st yr. of apprenticeship completed) Improver (2nd yr. of apprenticeship completed) Improver (3rd yr. of apprenticeship completed) Improver (4th yr. of apprenticeship completed) following categories. ; The parties agree to revise apprenticeship rates as follows: 1. Sections 2 and 3 of Article XXII of the B.C. Southern Interior Master Agreement are superseded by this Agreement effective December 1, 1974. 2. Effective December 1, 1974, the following hourly rates for apprentices shall apply: Steamfitter-Pipefitter Auto Mechanic Carpenter Per Hour $ 5.604% 5.751 5.9542 6.20% 6.5012 This level applies to ‘‘Steamfitter-Pipefitter’”’ apprentices only. Welder Helper $ 5.6014 Improver (1st yr. of apprenticeship completed) 5.9542 Improver (2nd yr. of apprenticeship completed) 6.2044 Machinist Helper 5.6542 Helper (ist yr. of apprenticeship completed) 5.8014 Improver (2nd year of apprenticeship completed) 6.0014 Improver (8rd yr. of apprenticeship completed) 6.2514 Improver (4th yr. of apprenticeship completed) 6.5544 B. LOGGING 2 Heavy Duty Mechanic Auto Mechanic Blacksmith Per Hour Helper $ 5.6814 Helper (ist yr. of apprenticeship completed) 5.8314 Improver (2nd yr. of apprenticeship completed) 6.0314 Improver (3rd yr. of apprenticeship completed) . 6.281% Welder Helper 5.6814 Improver (1st yr. of apprenticeship completed) 6.0312 Improver (2nd yr. of apprenticeship completed) 6.284 3. If and where applicable, the pertinent requirements under the “Apprenticeship and Tradesmen’s Qualification Act’’ shall apply regarding minimum rates of pay. cian. benefits. Box 40, Telephone: 684-3931 NOTICE JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIAN Sask. Forest Products, Plywood Division, re- quires the services of. a journeyman electri- Excellent working conditions are provided in this new Plywood Plant at Hudson Bay, Sask. Journeyman rates in effect. Full company Both opportunity and challenge awaits the successful applicant. For ful! particulars contact: Personnel Dept., Sask. Forest Products, Plywood Division, Hudson Bay, Sask. SOE OYO Phone: 865-2201 DUMARESQ LOGGERS’ AGENCY 328 Carrall Street, Vancouver 3, B.C, “The Loggers’ Favourite Job Centre” NICK BRONTE THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER MUNRO ADDRESSES LOCAL 1-288 Regional President Jack Munro gave a vivid and highly interesting account of his trip to China when he addressed the Annual Meeting of Local 1-288 IWA (Lumber Inspectors), De- cember 7, at the Astor Hotel, Vancouver. The Meeting attended by ap- proximately sixty delegates reviewed the progress of the Local Union during the past year, approved an extensive Officers’ and Financial Report and dealt with a number of contract resolutions. Because the resolutions are concerned with contract im- provements they cannot be reported on -until after they have been submitted and dealt _ with at the Union’s Wage & Contract Conference next year. The Officers’ Report stated that the Local was having diffi- culty maintaining the size of membership it had last year due to the depressed state of the lumber market but looked forward to improvement in the new year. The officers also expressed concern over the quality of. domestic and export lumber presently being approved and are pressing for greater quality control. A five-man committee from the Local has been set up to study the problem and will report their findings after all the informa- tion has been compiled. President Munro, after re- viewing the progress in the Region since he took office, devoted the remainder of his address to his recent trip to.. Red China. He expressed complete ad- miration for the tremendous social strides made by the Chinese government in im- proving the living conditions of the people in just over twenty- five years. The people themselves, he stated are remarkable for their friendly, cheerful nature and untiring drive for work. Crime like most diseases has almost been eradicated in China and it is the gravest of insults to lock one’s door. WINNER OF THE TICKETS to anywhere in Air Canada’s world plus the $1,000 expense money, Harold McCulloch of Local 1-85 IWA Port Alberni, is shown with Mrs. McCulloch receiving the tickets from Regional President Jack Munro. The McCulloch’s chose Kingston, Jamaica, as their vacation spot. Bill King’s labour depart- ‘’ ment has released information about wage increases achieved by the province’s organized labour force during the past four quarters (October 1, 1973 to September 30, 1974), which shows workers are barely keeping up with inflation. The information was pre- pared by the department’s re- search and planning branch, as part of King’s new program for regular statistically sound in- formation regarding the labour sector of the British Columbia economy. Although the information is preliminary and subject to change as late settlements are brought to the attention of the department, King noted that there were 279 major collective agreements settled over the past four quarters, covering a total of 157,308 employees. Increases in hourly earnings as provided by these settle- ments averaged 16.0% or 87 cents per hour. Skilled employ- ees received a wage increase of 16.9% or $1.03 per hour, while the unskilled job classes averaged increases of 14.8% or 68 cents per hour. King explained that the average wage _ increases seemed to reflect the high rate of inflation, now 12% for the Vancouver area, and also, that many contracts included “catch-up” increases as settle- ments of a year or two ago had not been large enough to keep pace with inflation. During the third quarter of 1974, there were 58 settlements covering a total of 38,885 em- ployees. Average annual in- creases in hourly earnings of 20.5% or $1.04 per hour were provided for in the contracts. Several important collective agreements were during the quarter. The Forest Industrial Rela- tions — IWA coastal forestry agreement covering over 28,000 employees was the largest. Other major settle- ments were the construction labour relations agreement with Local 97 of the Ironwork- ers, and the B.C. Hotels Asso- ciation contracts with the Bev- erage Dispensers Local 835 and the Hotel and Restaurant Em- ployees Local 16. Think about aCommerce Available in multiples of $10.00 — no maximum. CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE for yourself or as a gift. Growth settled ee ee en a ee ee ee