FIR's “operation undersell’” the IWA _ FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1968 Benyon demands changes in B.C. resources polic An appeal to the voters of North Vancouver-Capilano to use their vote next Monday ‘‘to end the foreign plunder of B.C.’s natural resources and utilize them instead to provide jobs.and a new deal for the people of this rovince’” was made by Jim eynon, Communist candidate in the byelection, over Radio CFUN. <‘The effects of the Bennett jveaway of our lumber, Columbia River waterpower, minerals, oil and natural gas are now coming home to roost” he charged. “Too many of our eople are jobless. Many more of s live in fear of layoffs. B.C. dro rates (already among the pighest in Canada) have been raised. Washington State users of B-C. gas pay less than we do where the gas originates. And _ eople, like you and me, have to carry the tax load instead of rich, profit-making industries”’ Beynon declared. «‘And closely linked to the urrender of our natural esources to powerful U.S. and apanese trusts is the enactment of anti-labor legislation (Bill 33); ‘ne new amendments to the ublic Schools Act which whittles away at School Board autonomy and threatens to ndermine educational standards and increase the al ready, unduly-heavy proportion of school taxes borne municipal ratepayers. These easures, and the withholding of necessary social expenditures for hospitals, housing and eople’s welfare are aimed at P aking this province a tax-free aven for foreign exploitation’”’ Beynon said. «*Socred and the other .festablishment’ representatives government take every opportunity to surrender our esources and express support or continued Canadian sub- ervience to United States ~prinkmanship”’ he charged. «Brinkmanship, like their criminal aggression in Viet- ~ - North vancouver. nam, which has helped drive prices, rents, interest rates and taxes to the highest point in oUr history, The housing shorta8© has never been worse. Rents, high... jnterest-rates-and. land speculation have put housing oUt of the reach of the avera8¢ Citizen today.” JIM BEYNON, Communist ParfY candidate in the Vancouvé™ Capilano provincial byelectio™- Beynon js 4 shipyard worker, gn active grade unionist, and ©% Native jndian, deeply consern@d with the future of his people. ‘‘The Communist Party stands unequivocally for termination 2 both he giveaway of o¥F resoyrces and Canadia” involvement in U.S. aggressiOn — ang as your MLA I will fight for sych a declaration by the Legis]ature on your behalf,” fe pledgeg. ‘ Beyngn outlined his proposals for g new tax deal wi : introdyction of the principle . ‘ability to- pay’; sharp+Y increaged taxation of resour?© consuming industries; tax Penalties against those shippi#& raw...gnd semi-process@ Materjals out of B.C. for manufacture and elimination © the Sales Tax. He promised eaf y action gn removal of restricti7® labor jaws; to fight to end «pre discriyyination, neglect ah humijjation of the Nati¥© ‘people and a program to mé© the eqycation, health, housi18 and transportation needs Pacific Tribune VOL. 29, NO. 28 By Bruce Yorke <> TLEMENT 10c LUMBER MONOPOLIES OFFER A ‘CHEAP’ SET A week ago, in a full page advertisement, Forest Industrial Relations (FIR) offered the I.W.A. a fifteen cents per hour wage increase effective June 15, 1968 and another fifteen cents an hour a year later. Subsequently they upped this offer by another three cents in both years — eighteen and eighteen. This is a “cheap” offer. It is cheap because it is below the average wage settlement The Canada Department of Labour, in its Collective Bargaining Review No. 3, reports for the first quarter of 1968 that: “Contracts for terms of approximately two years provided for increases in wages ranging from eight per cent to thirty percent — a weighted average increase of sixteen percent during the life of the contract.”’ These increases are calcu- lated on base rates, that is, labour rates in effect immed- iately prior to the settlement. ’To match the average increase the F.I.R. offer needs to: be sixteen percent on the I.W.A. base rate of $2.76, or 44¢ over the two year period. Hence the: new offer is 8¢ per hour below the average currently being obtained throughout the country for 2 year agreements. Total ‘‘Cost’’ to the Industry (according to F.I.R.): And the Real Story According to the full page ad (after the elimination of considerable padding) the original wage offer would ‘‘cost’’ the industry $22.5 millions. Accepting this figure as correct, then the new offer would “‘cost’”’ $27.0 million. But, if the new offer matched the average being obtained across the country, it would ‘‘cost’’ $33.0 millions. Consequently the new offer represents a saving of $6 millions for the industry. The ‘‘cheap’’ wage settlement offered means $6 millions more f' for the big monopolies like MacMillan Bloedel, Crown Zellerbach, B.C. Forest Products — giants whose profits are already mushrooming from record high lumber, plywood and shingle prices. Moreover, the offer will *“cost’’ the employers very little - being made across Canada in 1968. if anything, since increased man- hour productivity in the industry will in all probability effect a reductign in unit labour costs. On the other hand, from the point of view of the thirty thousand woodworkers, the offer provides very little real improvement. The average rate in the industry is approximately $3.20 per hour. Thirty-six cents per hour over two years is equivalent to a 6% rise per year, but the rise in the cost of living will cut very deeply into this. | The official cast of living index has been rising at an annual rate of 442%. Hence, the likely real gain to woodworkers would be approximately 142% per year. More Public Pressure Needed — F.I.R. and the lumber monopolies are attempting to reap the benefits of “‘Bill 33” without its formal use. All the talk about protecting the ‘‘public interest’’ is turning out to be nothing more than a massive “‘snow”’ job designed to swell the coffers of the big lumber tycoons. Robert Bonner, ex- Socred attorney general is now second in command at MacMillan & Bloedel. The - connection is obvious. At the time of writing, FIR is refusing to negotiate further on other contract demands, principally holidays. By this tactic they hope to distract woodworkers attention from the relatively cheap wage settlement offered. It would appear therefore that moré co-ordinatéd pressure from below, including taking the real facts in the case to the general public, and the IWA rank-and-file membership will be necessary in order to obtain a satisfactory settlement and to protect the living standards of those who work in B.C.’s largest industry. Meantime the picture at a glance at press time shows IWA membership walking off the job in increasing numbers, motivated by sheer disgust at negotiation delays; an IWA leadership announcing acceptance of FIR’s “cheap” settlement and appealing to Premier Bennett to help get FIR’s ‘Man Friday’ Joe Billings back to the bargaining table, and pleading with IW ‘tiembership to “‘stay on the job’. As one IWA leader described the situation. ‘It sure looks like a dog’s breakfast’. =