_ shooting

With both the Provincial
Government of B.C. and the
Federal Government in the
second year of their tenure,
your Officers see the necessity
of stepping up the activity of

the Political Education

Committee and again
recommend that Local Unions
continue to participate in their
local constituencies and assist
in building a strong militant
progressive party. We reiter-
ate our support of the N.D.P.

EDUCATION

The year of 1976 has seen a
significant increase in the
number of schools held in the
Region. It is quite possible that
owing to the fact that there was
a two-year contract in effect,
the various Locals were able to
devote more time and effort
into putting on more schools.

An additional feature this
year was the implementation
of a week-long school for
I.W.A. members at Harrison
Lake and a week-long school at
Waskesiu, Saskatchewan. Both
of these schools were very well
received and it is our hope to
continue with this feature on an
annual basis. A wide variety of
subjects were covered at the
week-long schools and staff
from the various departments
of the Region discussed
matters of safety, pensions,
economics and organizing
techniques, etc.

Throughout the year, the
International Education
Department was always ready
to assist whenever called upon
and their participation is
always very welcome.

Since last January, schools
in which this department has
participated were held in:
Prince Rupert, Stewart,
Cranbrook, Terrace, The Pas,
Prince George, Prince Albert,
Victoria, Harrison Hot

Springs, Haney, Calgary,
Waskesiu, Duncan, Gibsons,
Squamish and the Queen
Charlottes.

A program of Union
Education has been launched
at Capilano College and it is
hoped that the utilization of
these facilities will prove most
beneficial to all concerned. We
believe that in some way this
program helps to fill the
vacuum that exists with the
continued absence of our once
proposed Labour Education
Centre, which seems to have
been shelved for the present
time.

During the seven months

since the last Convention, the ~

Regional Public Relations
Department has been kept
busy. As in years past, the
department has endeavoured
to maintain a series of ongoing
projects. These projects in-
clude speaking in public
schools and assisting students
at all levels of the education
system with papers and
reports on the I.W.A. and the
union movement generally.
We have kept up our work
with other trade unions who
have had specific publicity and
public relations problems; in
particular, the Canadian Union
of Postal Workers and _ the.
United Farmworkers Union.

LOGGING MUSEUM

The culmination of two years
of work was realized in June.
with the opening of the I.W.A.
Carling O’Keefe Outdoor

ing Museum at Shannon ~

Falls. This project has been
designated as an ongoing one
by both Carling O’Keefe and
ourselves, and it is hoped that
the Local Unions will continue
to seek out old equipment and
inform us of these items.
The museum is a
tremendous Public Relations
ect of which we are very
and which never would
ve been realized without the
fantastic efforts of Carling
O’Keefe to see the project a
reality. Every member of the
union should make an effort to
get to the park to see the fine
things which have been ac-
complished.

Tom Fawkes has just

_ returned from three weeks in

Arkansas where he assisted in
a one-hour colour
documentary on location. This
documentary entitled ‘129
Days Against the Giant”’ is the
tory of the I.W.A. in the
thern U.S. culminating with
strike against

the steps unions, including the
I.W.A., are taking to have
those laws changed. The role of
black people and women in the
work force are also examined
in detail during the program.
The final part of the program
deals with the social conditions
of the south and the steps being
made by the union to rectify
the social inequality that
southern workers have been
forced to live with.

SAFETY

During the period since the
38th Annual Convention, your
Regional Safety Council has
increased efforts in a number
of fronts to maintain the
ongoing programs, to extend
safety education in new fields,
and to present study sessions to
an evergrowing list of local
union areas.

The 1976 Spring Conference
at Prince George was a
resounding success in the
matter of extended safety
education. While the quality of
instruction in these events
certainly deserves com-
mendation, we want to com-
pliment Local Unions for their
fenerous participation which
produces a real sense of ac-
complishment to the planners
and is aes gis to the many
delegates engage in such
classes. ~ :

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

I.W.A. members involved in
C.L.C. schools in The Pas,
Manitoba; Waskesiu,
Saskatchewan; Harrison Lake
and Nelson, B.C., have ex-
pressed their appreciation for
the opportunity to take part in
these sessons which featured
I.W.A. oriented safety and
health education.

Your Regional Safety and
Health Department has also
been directly involved in a
great number of ‘‘on job site”’
tours designed to assist local
unions in extending their
safety programs.

A great deal of effort was-

expended on Compensation
Board hearings concerning
new proposals to amend the
Compensation Act and the
Regulations. Results of those
deliberations are currently
pending.

Ominous signs have been
observed indicating that the
provincial government is
under pressure to implement
adverse changes to the
regulatory system and to
devise changes to the W.C.B.
administration, which, if
successful, would produce a
detrimental atmosphere
toward the consideration of
workers’ claims for work in-
juries, and could set the whole
appeal system back into the
undemocratic procedures
experienced up to 1972.

Your Regional
Executive Board adopted.a
unanimous position as a result
of a careful study of the
matter, and presented a
definitive and positive positiion
to the agency commissioned by
the government to produce the
study and. recommendations.
While the results are as yet
unknown, the strong positive
position taken by your
Regional Council will no doubt

have considerable bearing on
the outcome.

RESEARCH
Since the January 1976
Regional Convention, the

Regional Research Depart-
ment has continued to provide
most of the services listed in
the Officers’ Report to that
Convention.

In March 1976, the Regional
Department co-operated with
the International Union
Research Department in the
preparation and presentation
of the Research Report to the
International Convention. The
International Research Report
later served as the substance
for a number of local union
schools within Region 1, as well
as the I.W.A. — C.L.C.
Leadership School which was
held at Harrison Lake in
March.

The Regional Research
Department has also continued
to provide a variety of services
to the Region and the Coast

Negotiating Committee,
particularly with the in-
terpretation and _ imple-

mentation of key changes in
the 1975 Master Agreement.
For example, the Department
has provided a considerable
amount of technical backup
material for the vocation
option subcommittee, which is
responsible for discussing the

Industry problems which may

Council ,

arise with the implementation
of the vacation pay option

By far the majority of the
Regional Department’s time
during 1976 has been consumed
by services it provides ex-
clusively to individual local
unions. These services include
some of those listed in the
January 1976 report; for
example, the writing and
maintenance of C.O.L.A.
clauses. But most of the
Department’s services. to
Local Unions have consisted of

assistance with a large number -

of Anti-Inflation Board cases.
In a few cases, the Department
checked the costing performed
by the employer on the A.L.B. -
2 reporting forms and secured
some changes which will be
beneficial to the Union’s case.
In many situations, however,
the Research Department has
performed all of the costing for
the reporting forms, processed
the cases through the Anti-

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1976

which will be available during
the calendar year 1977.

DEPARTMENT'S TIME

Inflation Board, substantiated ~

the Union’s case, and ex-
clusively developed appeals of
cases in which the Anti-
Inflation Board had requested
a rollback of the negotiated
increase. Most of the cases

which the Department has

dealt with involved local union
agreements with independent
companies, but included the
1975 Southern Interior Master
Agreement as well.

It has been necessary for the
Regional Research Depart-
ment to concentrate most of its

efforts on the heavy workload .

generated by Region 1. The
Department is a field office of
the International Union
Research Department,
however, it hopes to continue
assistance which the Depart-
ments have provided during
the past two and one-half
years.

CS CS TERT)

RE RIRADED
LUMBER

WORKER

As the official organ of the
Regional Council, the Lumber
Worker is responsible for
reporting the major activities
of the organization. Coverage
also includes general labour

news and matters of interest to.

the membership.

Since the last convention, the
Lumber Worker has attempted
to carry out this policy. Thanks
to the cooperation of the Local
Unions, a great many of the
important events in the Union
were publicized. These in-
cluded coverage of all the
annual delegated meetings in
the Southern and Northern
Interior and the Prairies.

Highlights of all the
agreements negotiated by the
Locals were also reported plus
other material they wished
published. :

Attention was given to
reporting the various con-
ventions and conferences
which included the Canadian

Labour Congress and the -

Federations of Labour.

Following instructions from
the previous convention, the
Lumber Worker devoted more

space to publicize the views.of.

the New Democratic Party
through stories, editorials and
pictures.

The Lumber. Worker has also

endeavoured to promote the

Regional Council’s Safety
Program by publishing one full

page on safety in each issue of
the paper.

As in the past, the Lumber
Worker is continuing the policy
of using pictures as extensively
as possible and most issues
contain two or four complete
pictorial pages.

Due to the geographical size

of the Regional Council, ob- _

taining: information for the
Lumber Worker to report is
most difficult. For this reason,
the paper’s Editorial Board
would request that all Local
Unions submit articles, news
reports, pictures and letters to
the editor, as often as possible.

FINANCES

The report on Regional
finances will relate to the
audited financial statements of
the General Fund and the
Strike Trust Fund for the year
ending June 30, 1976. These
statements appear in your
resolutions book under the
“Officers’ Report’’ tab.

GENERAL FUND

Stated to the nearest
thousand, you will note that the
income increased to $817,000
compared to income of $794,000
in 1975.

You will also note that ex-
penses decreased this year to
$841,000 from $843,000.

Thus our expenses exceeded
income this year by $24,000
compared to $49,000 last year.

‘You will also note that while

the bank balance as of June 30,

1976 stood ast $60,0;00, there
were amounts of $25,000 owing
to the Negotiations Publicity
Fund; $5,000 to the Ad Fund
and $20,000 to Local 1-423.

STRIKE FUND :

Strike assessment income
increased to $995,000 in 1976
compared to income of $782,000
in 1975. i

The Fund paid out in
assistance and expenses
$2,904,000 and received from
assessments, interest earned
and strike fund advance
refunds of $1,178,000, leaving a

balance of $1,352,000 at June 30,
1976.

You will also note that —
because of the decrease in the _
See “OFFICERS” Page 15 _ ae.

4