THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER IWA Rae Eddie, widely-known and respected officer of IWA Local 1-357 New Westmin- ster, is retiring from union office. Eddie, the man who holds the record for the longest continuous service in an elected position in the IWA, steps down as recording sec- retary on Dec. 31. He has been the New Dem- ocratic Party MLA for the New Westminster riding since 1952 and intends to con- tinue his political career. “Tt’s been a very happy ex- perience for me and I’ve en- joyed every minutes of my union work,” he told the Lumber Worker. “I have made a lot of friends in the IWA, friends I hope to keep.” John McRae Eddie was born in Ontario 65 years ago and came to B.C. in 1922. He started work at Fraser Mills the same year as a sawmill laborer. He joined the IWA in 1942, the year the union was push- ing an organization drive. EDDIE STEPS DOWN “When we were organiz- in those days, there was little job protection. That’s when you tried to convince the fel- lows and sign them up be- hind the lumber pile where you couldn’t be seen. — “I remember I was called on the carpet three times in one day over IWA work — but they never fired me.” Fraser Mills sawmill work- ers were members of the Vancouver Local 1-217 at that time. In December, 1942, the New Westminster local was chartered and Rae be- came a charter member. He was first elected to a 1-357 office in 1943, was de- feated in 1944, then re-elect- ed in 1945 and has held an office ever since. He was an automatic trimmerman in the sawmill when he took a full- time union position in 1947. Rae was active in the IWA in positions of plant chair- man, plant secretary and shop steward right from the time he first joined. He has spent Ss 17 years as a 1-357 business — agent and 20 years as a re- cording secretary. He has been a representa- tive from his local on the re- gional executive board and has served several times on — the region’s negotiating com- mittee. He has been an internation- al trustee since 1948 and will stay in that post until 1967 when his present term ends, Rae said he will continue” as a dues paying member of Local 1-357 and hopes to at- tend the local meetings. The Eddies have four chil- dren, three married and one at home. Rae entered provincial pol- itics with a bang. In the 1952 election, he defeated the then Liberal premier Byron “Boss” Johnson for the New West- minster seat and has held it for the CCF-NDP ever since. The Lumber Worker joins with regional officers and oth- ers in saying: “Thanks for a job well done, Rae Eddie.” ‘vy COMPANY UNION FIGHT By CLAYTON WALLS Assistant Director of Organization The Simpson Timber Com- pany recently completed con- struction of a modern “$2.5 million stud mill at Hudson Bay, Sask. The plant, official- ly opened by Premier Ross Thatcher on Oct. 18; will eventually employ 100 work- ers—a large plant for the province of Saskatchewan. The company is a large American firm with head of- fices in Seattle. In the Pacific Northwest, the company has some 6,000 employees, work- ing in its various forest pro- ducts operations which are under various union contracts —IWA, Pulp and Sulvhite, Lumber and Sawmill Work- ers and IBEW. One of the company offic- ials at Hudson Bay, who had aided in forming a company union at Terrace, proposed that the employees in this new plant form their own union, The Hudson Bay and District Forest Workers Un- ion. It is patterned after the one at Terrace. This department has moved in organizers to bring these workers into the ranks of the IWA and at Nov. 23 the IWA had 40 mmebers signed out of the present crew of 55. The company union has made an avplication for cer- tification. The IWA has also applied for certification. In addition, the IWA has filed charges with the Saskat- chewan Labour Board that the Hudson Bay and District Forest Workers Union is a company union. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 7 in Re- gina. According to information received from the Interna- tional office and Regional Council No. 3, itis difficult to understand the company’s BANFF COURSE Two IWA officers and other B.C. union leaders attended the two - week instructors’ course jointly sponsored by the Canadian Labour Con- gress and the Canadian Adult Education Association at Banff. With top-notch course lead- ers from the CLC and the CAEA, the seminar was hail- ed a great success. Among those attending the sessions at the Banff School of Fine Arts were Keith Johnson of IWA Local 1-207, Bob Clair of Local 1-217, John McNevin of the B.C. Federation of Labour and Ron Tweedie, CLC repre- sentative in northern B.C. Alf Nunwieller, a member of the Dispatchers and Tele- graphers Union, is labor’s choice for school trustee in the Prince George civic elec- tion. He is one of seven can- didates running for two school board seats. CLAYTON WALLS switch to “company union- ism.” In the Pacific Northwest, union-company relations are better than average, we are informed. It would appear that the Canadian manage- ment is responsible for the move to form a company un- ion there. The Saskatchewan trade union movement is watching developments at Hudson Bay ‘with some apprenhension. For if the company union is suc- cessful, this will mark the first one in that province. TRAINING PLAN Local 1-80 Duncan has signed a job training pact with Western Forest Indust- ries Ltd. The plan has been accepted by the crew for a trial period of six months at the com- pany’s Honeymoon Bay oper- ation. Officers of Local 1-80 de- scribed the move as “another important milestone in the history of our local union.” “Tt is important because it seeks to cope with a problem that has been festering and irritating and causing other related problems,” said finan- cial secretary Ed Linder. RAIL UNION PROPOSALS MONTREAL (CPA ) Two groups of unions repre- senting 75,000 railway work- ers have submitted demands for substantial. wage boosts and other contract improve- ments to Canada’s railways. The 14 unions involved will press for basic pay boosts of from 55 to 57 cents an hour with additional increases of from 20 to 30 per cent for skilled workers. For the first time in 15 years, proposals from the country’s non-operating rail- way unions are split into three segments. The Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers, which bar- gains on behalf of 23,000 CNR employees, was the first to split off from the group of 15 non-operating unions. Then the seven shopcraft unions representing about 25,000 machinists, carmen, boilermakers, electrical work- ers, firemen, oilers, plumbers and sheetmetal workers elect- ed to bargain separately in an effort to narrow the gap be- tween rates paid skilled trades on the railways and those paid in other industry. The remainder of the non- operating unions embracing 51,000 maintenance of way employees, signalmen, sleep- ing car porters, telegraphers, railway clerks and freight handlers are linked in a com- mittee headed by Richard C. Smith, vice-president of the Transportation Communica- tion Employees Union. Dpca ‘FLY B.C. AIR LINES’ :