12 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 38,000 copies printed in this issue. Published twice monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOQDWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Council No. 4 Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 Editor — Pat Kerr Business Manager — Fred Fieber Advertising Representative — G. A. Spencer Forwarded to every member of the IWA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2,00 per year. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, and for payment of postage in cash. Gp? EDITORIAL VOTE DOWN REPORT ype IWA Negotiating Committees’ "unanimous recommendation to re- ject the settlement terms proposed by Mr. Justice Craig Munroe was made only after a careful weighing of all the facts. This was the year the Union believed that the present wage discrimination ex- isting between the Coast and Interior woodworkers could be eliminated. No- thing has altered this thinking. With all due respect to Mr. Justice Craig Munroe, the IWA cannot concur with his statement that, “at the present time the economic position of the forest industry in the Interior of this province is markedly different from that of the forest industry at the British Columbia coast and in the United States Northwest, and that the wages paid. in these areas cannot be determinative of the wages that can be paid in the Interior.” This point has never been proven to the satisfaction of the IWA. The Union feels that its brief presented to the Com- missioner on the economic position of the industry, demonstrated conclusively that the operators could well afford to meet the wage parity demands. So positive was the Union of its case, that it offered to remove from broad negotiations, any of the Interior com- panies who would submit their financial reports to impartial accountants showing financial inability to pay the wage demands. This offer was rejected outright by all the companies both large and small. The Munroe Report has left the IWA with no alternative but to recommend its rejection to the Interior membership. Its proposed wage terms would leave In- terior members 30 cents behind coast woodworkers for the first eight months of the contract. For a period of a month and one-half, the first increase of 12 cents would bring them within 18 cents - of coast parity. However, by then coast woodworkers will be back in negotiations prior to the expiration of the Master Agreement June 14. Any substantial wage gain won by them places the Interior members once again in a second class status. For Interior members to accept the Munroe terms of settlement means bluntly that the prospects of their winning coast parity in the future would be almost all but impossible. For these reasons alone the negotiat- ing committees had no choice but to recommend rejection of the report. "THE BLAME LIES WITH OPERATORS” The. following open letter purchase retail price. So every month if you can meet was addresed to the Interior lumber operators from . an IWA member's wife at Waldo, _ Northern B.C.: Dear Sirs: ‘I, as a housewife and mother of four, disagree with the proposed, 26c an hour in- crease as being fair. What are you trying to do? Starve peo- ple or make living conditions like the hungry 30’s? First, it is not the fault of the interior workmen, they do not have more modern equipment to work with like their fellow workers at the coast. The BLAME lies with the OPERATORS. They don’t want to install more conveni- ent equipment which would insure a larger output. Our interior workers are now ex- pected to compete with the output of the coast. Also mo- dern equipment would help ease working conditions for the men and make much hap- pier workers. Next, operators point out that the coast can produce lumber at a cheaper rate than the interior. The Interior sells more planed lumber than the coast, which adds to the cost. True. But, interior lumber operators also charge more for this planed lumber, so the extra cost is included in the what are they losing? Noth- ing! Interior lumber is sold largely to American buyers. Now if the Americans can af- : ford to buy our lumber when they have their own lumber industry, I am sure they won’t mind paying a little ex- tra. Very little lumber of the ; interior goes abroad. Another thing, the opera- tors themselves should try living on wages at the present basic rate. The’cost of food (a necessity) is continually ris- ing, the cost of clothing is getting ridiculous (forcing many children to be clothed cheaply). Are the men to go to work improperly clothed for the coming winter and on half-filled stomaches? The basic rate at present leaves quite a gap in the family bud- get. You try living on a month’s wages at the present basic rate, then pay food, clothing, heating expenses, medicine (pills, etc.) and pay dental bills, then rent, light, water. Most workers have to drive to and from work; so buy gas, oil, tires and keep your car in working order. Any extra conveniences like a new home and furniture you finance for twenty years and wonder the payment. I ask you, are not the workers entitled to a few conveniences: of life, or is that only for the operators? If you have the commissioner, (Mr. Munroe), look at the facts from an economic point of view, make sure he also looks from the economic view of the workers as well as the operators, so there will be a “completely” fair settlement. At present, the mere cost of existence is rising steadily, how much more will it rise in the next two years? Also, remember most of your work- ing men are family men with children to educate, which is an expense which is also ris- ing year after year. I fear for our children’s future if we are not treated more like hu- mans with a brighter future ahead. Mr. Williston should live in the interior under the same conditions as the working man. Then talk economics. But then Mr. Bennett’s gov- ernment is only the coast and the rest of us don’t exist; ex- cept for taxes. Didn’t he sell out our Kootenay water sys- tem and still hasn’t done any- thing for the people on the Kootenay, who will be flooded by the Libby dam? If the lumber operators do not make a large profit on MOORE SEEKS TO AVERT : ARMISTICE DAY CONFUSION The following is a copy of the letters sent to the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premier of British Columbia by Regional president Jack Moore, in the hope of avert- ing on November 11. the type of confusion created during the last July 1st holiday. “Dear Sir: “Armistice Day, November 11th, falls on a Saturday this year, and because of the tre- mendous confusion surround- ing the July 1st holiday this year (which also fell on a Saturday) the International Woodworkers of America in Western Canada would re- quest that you proclaim Mon- day, November 13th or, con- versely, Friday, November 10th as a holiday. “As a result of the confu- sion on July 1st some people - observed a holiday the fol-- lowing Monday while others.\ | did not, and in some areas_ |, only part of a crew showed up for work, the others be-- lieving that a holiday had- | been declared by the Federal government. ee. “This confusion should not- be allowed to happen again- , on November 11th, and every- \ one should know well in ad-~ vance that either the follow-- ing Monday or the preceding_ Friday has been declared a holiday. “Thanking you for your- consideration, I am "i Respectfully yours,” J. A. MOORE, c President ~ the forest products at pres- ent, then a lot of the trouble must be with poor manage- ment. Doesn’t’ the working man pay your way? Also some working condi- tions are hazardous and dan- gerous. My husband could have been killed three times now when he pulled the switches to start the ma- chinery. The operators don’t want to pay a fair wage and yet the men have to work in dangerous conditions because lumber operators don’t want the expense of safe working conditions. Their profit might not be as high. Why should the men risk their lives day in and day out for a few who sit back and mostly give or- ders. I guess a man’s life means very little compared to dollars and cents. I beg the operators and all concerned with our industry to take a long hard look at the facts of the living condi- tions of your working men and do more for his benefit such as: F 1. Safer and more conveni- ent working conditions. ONE OF MANY 2. Better pay to make life~ more worth living. - These are vital to the work-_ ing man. Give our men their — 50c an hour increase and have a better standard of living to- ' be enjoyed by all. Also a note to the union. I believe they should work for not only better wages and~ benefits for the men they rep-- resent, but do something. about stabilizing the cost of _ our main essentials such as food and clothing. As the- wages go up the cost of liv-- ing seems to be one step ahead. How can the working™ man gain under such condi-- tions. . Wife of hard working woodworker ee Ee) “I never take my troubles - home with me from the of- _ fice.” “I don’t have to either; ~ mine’s usually there at home -_ waiting for me.” “