ist Issue
April, 1964

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THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

A LOW WAGE SCANDAL

The International Woodworkers of America directs public attention to the low wages
and poor working conditions in Southern Alberta lumber operations. The Union is forced to
the conclusion that the organized employers are determined to depress wage levels for

woodworkers. This has now become a scandal.

Due to the attitude of the employers, the Alberta collective bargaining procedures have
failed to gain just treatment for woodworkers who have protested. The resulting unrest has

led to two strike situations.

The employees of Blairmore Sawmills Ltd., Blairmore, Alberta, have been on strike
since March 9. The employees of Fort Plywood & Lumber Co. Lid., Fort Macleod, have ‘post-
poned a legal strike deadline to allow an opportunity for mediation. This is the first stage of
a struggle that will continue until their circumstances are bettered.

On behalf of the employees involved, the IWA presents the following facts:

were paid a base rate of $1.32Y2 an hour.

They requested a wage increase of 25 cents
an hour. A Conciliation Board recommended an in-
crease of seven cents an hour over two years. This
majority award was rejected by the employees in a
government supervised vote. Under government
supervision they voted to take strike action by secret
ballot. Their picket lines have closed down the

Company’s main operations.
? Co. Ltd., Fort Macleod, were paid a base

@ rate of $1.40 an hour. They requested an
increase of 25 cents an hour. A Conciliation Board

1 The employees of Blairmore Sawmills Ltd.
@

The employees of Fort Plywood and Lumber

- recommended a series of increases to bring the base

rate up to $1.55 an hour, July 1, 1964; seven paid

statutory holidays and MSI coverage on a fifty-fifty ©

basis. The Company rejected the majority award
which was accepted by the employees. A govern-
ment supervised strike vote was requested and re-
corded a decisive majority of the employees in favor
of. strike action.

proof of financial inability to pay the pro-
@ posed wage increase. The employees per-
form work at $1.32Y2 an hour, comparable with the
work performed by British Columbia workers, only
25 miles distant across the provincial boundary, for
a base rate of $1.89 an hour. The Blairmore workers
process the same grades of lumber from the same
species for the same market. The payment of low
wages provides the employer with a profit advan-
tage in the domestic and U.S. markets at the expense
of the employees.

3 Blairmore Sawmills Ltd. gave no satisfactory

and finishes plywood from sheets of veneer

4 Fort Plywood & Lumber Co. Ltd. assembles
@ peeled from logs in British Columbia mills.

B.C. workers are paid a base rate of $1.89 an hour
for the initial processing; Fort Macleod workers are

paid a base rate of only $1.40 an hour for the
finishing stage.

below the average weekly earnings in Cana-

@ = dian manufacturing. A survey made of com-
modity prices has disclosed that the costs of living
in the area are higher than for the higher-paid British
Columbia lumber workers. Surveys made by family
welfare agencies have shown that the annual take-
home pay is dangerously below the standards re-

quired for decent family living.

5 and profits are at an all-time high in the
@ lumber industry. The industry was never in

better shape to meet the legitimate demands of the

lumber workers.

5 The wages paid in these operations are well

Production, shipments, orders on file, prices

interest. The migration of poorly paid skilled

@ workers to higher wage areas will retard the

development of the Alberta lumber industry. Experi-

ence has shown that the family buying power de-

rived from adequate wages stimulates business activ-
ity in the surrounding communities.

7 Sub-standard wages are not in the public

cumstances described above, only because
strike action is now the only remaining alter-
native method of protest. The employers control the
employment opportunities by right of ownership.
When denied satisfactory employment conditions,
workers must exercise their legal civil right to with-
hold their labour until fair conditions are established.
The right to strike is the equalizing factor for workers
in an industrial dispute, but is-invoked by the Union
only as a last resort.

As the employers have failed to take advantage of opportunities for mediation in
these and other disputes in the lumber industry, the [WA proposes to the Alberta Provincial
Government the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry. Labour unrest in the Alberta lumber
industry has reached the point where a full and impartial investigation should be made.

This advertisement is published by the Western Canadian Regional Council of the International Woodworkers of America,

AFL-CIO-CLC, 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C.

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The Union supports strike action in the cir-

HITTITE

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