THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER MARCH, 1978 ayithewestern canadian (Word) 34,000 copies printed in this issue lumber worker Published once monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1 Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 Editor—Patrick S. Kerr Business Manager—Wyman Trineer Forwarded to every member of the 1WA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. HE recent statement by Finance Minister Evan Wolfe that the market value of the crown-owned Kootenay Forest Products operation in Nelson is worth only a $1.25, is an appalling remark and demands clari- fication by the Minister. Also, his assertion that KFP has a three million dollar deficit has been completely refuted by the two IWA members who sit on the Company's board of directors. They claim — having access to Company financial statements — that the true deficit is just over half a million dollars and if it hadn't been for a decision to market some lower grade lumber at the end of last year, KFP would have now shown a mo- dest profit. For the Finance Minister not to know the financial picture of a crown-owned company suggests that he is either an incompetent minister or worse still, is playing politics in an attempt to discredit the former New Democratic Party gov- ernment. It was the NDP government in 1974 which bought out KFP from the ‘Eddy Match Company to prevent closure of the plant and loss of two or three hundred jobs. It’s a matter of record that the Socreds, while in opposition, condemned the _ pur- chase. As government, they have openly criticized all the crown-owned com- panies purchased by the NDP gov- ernment and have done little to Uj / Yi) y yy aie F 5 Wf i yy @ BAT: sl, ail Ya better leave yer door open on this one. . snoose chewin’ west coast logger! Yi at . He’s a imul hei hb f up- sauina the operations or providing. LUMBER WORKER | TENDERS APOLOGIES additional capital when needed. If Mr. Wolfe made his statements for political gain, he should be heavily censured. His remarks are bound to have a detrimental affect on the morale of both the KFP em- ployees and management who have worked hard to make the operation financially successful. In our opinion, if Mr. Wolfe has nothing better to do then run around making irresponsible statements, he should go back to his car business and let someone with more respect for the truth take over his finance portfolio. { (ee | ify WALTER YOUNG ARTICLE “TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT” | | | The Editor, I read in the last issue of the Western Canadian Lumber our environment, but they are trum of the labor movement. nevertheless necessary. They They are all vital to the are a part of the unavoidable working class and its potential Worker an article by Walter Young which appears to me a tempest in a teapot. I cannot say how correct he is in his criticism of the leaders of the B.C. Federation of Labor. I do not believe there is any. solu- tion in retreat. Whatever happened in the Winnipeg General strike or other strikes may not be lovable as a part of CANADA HIKES ILO CONTRIBUTION Canada will contribute $200,000 annually to the budget of the International Labour Or- ganization in addition to its t contribution. The grant will help to pay the deficit in the organization caused by the out of the U.S. last November. Canadian Labour Congress president Joe Morris, ILO chairman, had asked the government to make the increased contribution. struggle that labor has had to and has to carry on. That government should try to out- law this form of struggle is after all only another part of the class struggle. And this will go on for as long as we have capitalism and its trans-na- tional corporations and gov- ernments. We should not overlook the fact that the field of struggle is a broad one, beyond the strike struggle. The struggle for unity against war, for peace, against unemployment, for health and education. The struggle to prevent the giveaway of our natural re- sources, the mining of our forests, the stripping of water- - sheds, and turning these into deserts. They are where our salmon spawn. Reforestation, and manage- ment of our forests, the elimination of social insecurity and poverty, adequate housing. These are the issues, many, wide and vital. They all fit inside of the idelogical and economic and political spec- allies. There is no force better equipped to undertake this struggle than the trade union movement, with all its organizational facilities and forces. They are issues con- fronting every community, and what community hasn’t a union local. All issues of course cannot be settled to the satisfaction of all, but they can be settled’ in the interests of the majority. Time and history changes the methods of struggle. Whatever the methods adopted that will have to be determined by the principles and objectives, and people involved. The issues of the day are so many and labor’s potential al- lies so many that a united movement should never need to fear defeat, either on the political or economic field. It is a question of live and learn from our experience. The labor movement cannot afford to re- treat because of obstacles. Every time it does, somebody gets hurt and it’s not the fi- nancial institutions. Hjalmar Bergren The Editor: I am writing in response to the letters to the editor that appeared in the February issue of the Lumber Worker. The two letters I am referring to were from Bro. Ernie Knott, 1-118, and Garth Brown, 1-217. Although I am a= firm believer in the freedom of expressing one’s view there’s one thing about Bro. Brown’s letter that is puzzling. In Bro. Brown’s letter he refers to Bro. Knott’s letter of reply. I didn’t know that. Bro. Brown was the editor of the Lumber Worker, or in fact was even on the staff of the news- paper. How then was he able to reply to a letter sent to the editor of this paper but not appearing in print until the same time his letter was. This would indicate to me that letters to this publication are being passed around to read and reply to before being printed. Although I don’t agree with some of the positions taken by Bro. Knott at times and don’t share the same political beliefs that he does, I feel he was done an injustice in this case. I hope the editor and staff of this fine publication will show more discretion in the future. Dennis David IWA Local 1-118 Editor’s note: The writer is correct and we tender our apologies to Brother Knott for allowing. the two letters to be published at the same time. We would also like to state that it is not the policy of the Lumber Worker to pass letters to the editor around before publishing them. We will give a full explanation of what occurred in the next issue. : _ a a a a aaa VICE-PRESIDENT MENARD AT IRMA CONFERENCE Regional 3rd Vice-President Neil Menard was invited by the Industrial Relations Manage- ment Association of British Columbia (IRMA) February 23-24, to be on a panel at Har- rison Hot Springs dealing with Labour Relations Board de- cisions. Other members of the three- man panel were E. R. (Ed) Peck and R. J. (Jim) Clifford. Purpose of the panel was to give personal interpretations of some of the controversial LRB decisions made during the last few years. : LABOUR UNDECIDED ON NUCLEAR POWER Labour is still undecided on the issue of nuclear power, the recent CLC jobs and the en- vironment conference showed. Although a workshop on jobs and energy agreed that ‘‘in the most fundamental way, energy means jobs,’’ another work- shop on the nuclear question said labour does not yet have enough information to make a decision on whether to support or oppose nuclear develop- ment, despite the number of jobs involved. The trade union movement should continue its dialogue with people on all sides of the issue ‘‘to learn to ask the right questions so it can find the right answers . . . study these answers and make policy on the basis of facts and facts only,” a workshop report said.