The Editor: In past issues of the Lum- ber Worker you have pub- lished letters concerning pub- lic power and road access problems at Tahsis. Now we are asking you to publish an article on the community it- self. As most of us know, from time to time companies large and small employ public rela- tions firms to improve their images to the public at large. Tahsis Company is no dif- ferent! It has from time to time used such agents to pro- mote the Community in which I and my fellow workers live. Now we contend that these images are all very nice but seldom tell it like it really is. Therefore it is the intention of this letter to dispell the image which the Tahsis Com- pany may have created. What we would like to point out is the very limited recrea- tion available in Tahsis. Tahsis has only one rival for the proud distinction of having the largest annual rainfall: Ocean Falls. Our very short sunny period, ap- proximately four months, is even interrupted by many showers. Therefore indoor re- creation is a prime factor in our town. We have available to us four lanes of bowling, a show three times a week and a fine new hotel with all necessary beverage outlets. In addition there is a Royal Canadian Le- gion which can operate only on a Saturday night. A Bridge Club which operates on Sun- day and four pool tables. Quite nice you say; phooey we say; for a population of = Fe . -, é NO, THIS IS NOT A PICTURE of a hall of the late nineties. This is the theatre provided by the Tahsis Company for the fifteen hundred residents of Tahsis. It is also used for grading classes and dances. wer Broken sewer pipes are left unrepaired allowing sewage filth to flow past homes in the Tahsis community. built ee eee THIS IS THE ONLY PARK AVAILABLE AT TAHSIS and is presently used by three men’s teams, one ladies, one soccer club and little league baseball. Unfortunately, this volunteer labour is being taken over to THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER A TALE OF TWO COMPANIES 1,500 people; phooey! We are enclosing photographs of the entire recreation complex. We are justly proud of the fact that in our booming met- ropolis we boast the most run- down dilapidated complex of its kind on the whole of Van- couver Island. However, our Legion is truly a nice hall but too small for the needs of this community, With the thought in mind that indoor recreation is of prime importance the Sub- local IWA officers and com- mittees brought a motion to have $1.00 per month per member deducted to provide, a building fund to this end. The motion was passed unan- imously by the membership. To the outdoorsman in this area there is fishing in abun- dance provided it isn’t destroyed by vessels running aground and/or dumping crude oils in our waters. To which we shouldn’t be too concerned, we are told, if our boats are all covered in a 3” thick slime. We have a little league or- ganization here besides three men’s softball teams. A wo- men’s team and a soccer team. There’s only one small prob- lem this year, there won’t be a field for them to use. There is a picture which we forward to you to indicate the truly wonderful field conditions that won’t be used because of the additional school facilities needed. I would like to add that originally the field was built with volunteer labour by the people then expropriated by Tahsis Company when they found it was necessary to provide the school board with some land. Each and every time the various groups approach this company for an area to be set aside exclusively for recrea- tion all they have ever been met with are honeyed words of promise from the Resident Manager of Tahsis. People can be sustained only so long by promises. There is an unhealthy un- dercurrent of discontent run- ning through this community and no wonder. A recent ar- ticle written by the editor of the Tahsis Times, a weekly publication, explains part of it. In conclusion let us say this: there are many and varied ways a large foreign owned company such as the Tahsis Company could make life more bearable for all its em- ployees who work in this com- munity. But it just doesn’t seem to care. Well, many or- ganizations have been form- ed here to try to move the company on something, any- thing for the people. The task is now ours and as the workers of this com- munity the Union will throw its fullest weight in order to obtain for the people what is only just and right. Watch for a further article and pic- torial study of, according to Tahsis Company’s P.R. people, “A truly spectacular place to live.” T. J. McCRAE, Chairman, Tahsis Sub-Local, Local 1-85, IWA. The Northwood Forest Company at Upper Fraser near Prince George, in direct contrast to the Tahsis Company’s niggardly policy on recreation facilities, recently constructed a fine recreational centre for its one hundred employees. The building contains a shuffle board, pool table, ping-pong tables, writing tables and a separate TV room. The Company must be congratulated for its generous gesture as Upper Fraser is not isolated like the Tahsis community and employees can drive into Prince George which is approximately fifty miles away. EMPLOYEES, members of Local 1-424 IWA, admire their new recreational facilities. ———e cers t } t t } | i / -¥ é ~ 2 5 “ - Kw PHOTO SHOWS pool table, shuffle board, writing tables and one of the ping-pong tables provided by the Company for the amusement of the crew. T.V. PROGRAMME is enjoyed by these employees in the room provided for that purpose. yt Se a oe . 3 COOKHOUSE STAFF at Upper Fraser relax over dinner. We regret their names were omitted by the sender.