— mon expiry date, the IWA will demand one Master Agree- ment for all IWA members in the forest industry. The Union will also press to have the Seniority Provisions of the Agreement amended to change the probationary period from 30 working days to 30 calendar days. : Other demands include: © Improvement to the Saw- mill Rate Determination Pro- gramme. © Changes to the Plywood Job Evaluation Programme. e@ Protection for members laid-off through permanent or partial plant or logging camp closures. ” Due to the keen interest expressed by members the Union will press strongly for improved vacations and more floating holidays. The Unionis also seeking. to have an employer-funded Troubled Employee Pro- gramme started in the forest industry which would be jointly administered by the IWA and the employers. i The Union is also seeking to the demands into contract language and it is expected that the first meeting with the industry’s bargaining authority, Forest Industrial Relations Ltd., will take place around the middle of April.’ recent referendum placed before the electorate of the State of Missouri concerning proposals to enact what is commonly referred to as “Right-To-Work’’ legislation. As you may know, or at least suspect, the issue of ‘‘Right-To- Work”’ legislation is a topic of wide ranging discussion in a number. of jurisdictions. Certainly British Columbia is not an exception to that rule: Accordingly it would be of im- mense value to me if I could ascertain from you some of the circumstances related to the recent experience in the State of Missouri. At the outset may I inquire for particulars with respect to the origins of the referendum. The process of referenda is not one which is common within our jurisdiction, and I would be interested to know-how the matter came to be placed before. the electorate of your State. Iam sure that there was ‘an organized campaign leading to the presentation of the referendum, but it would be of interest to me to know for what period of time the issue of “Right-To-Work”’ has been the subject of public debate. I must conclude that the presentation of the referendum brought with it a.public cam- _paign, both pro and con, and I would be most appreciative if you could provide me with the principal statements of the groups which supported and opposed the concept. At the same time, I would be in- terested to know whether or not you can identify the base of support of each of the con- tending groups. If such a referendum were to be placed before the electorate within British Columbia, I would expect that the supporters would be drawn from the rural areas of the Province, while the opponents would most like- ly be drawn from the urbanized areas. If there is a difference in the pattern in the State of Mis- souri, this would be of some considerable significance. Finally, if it is not too much to ask, may I have some details of the labour force within the State of Missouri. In particular I would be interested in knowing the size of the work force, the division between men and women, the per- centage of the work force which is unionized, and (if pos- sible), a breakdown of the organized work force amongst the several industrial. seg- ments in your State. I am mindful of the sizeable demand which this inquiry makes of you, and I would like to express to you in advance my sincere appreciation for any efforts which you and your staff may make in providing me with any of the information contained in this request. © Yours very truly, Allan Williams, Minister of Labour. ‘QUEBEC UNION HIT FOR $9 MILLION SUIT MONTREAL — The Con- federation of National Trade Unions (CNTU) said it will ap- peal a Quebec Superior Court judgement awarding Canadian Reynolds Metals Co. more than $9 million in damages -and interest for an illegal strike in 1967 at its Baie Comeau smelter. -CNTU president Norbert Rodrigue announced the ap- peal the day after Justice Vin-» cent Masson held the 200,000- member federation, its affili- ate at the smelter, and 22 union officials and rank-and-filers jointly responsible for the walkout, ‘The justice didn’t take into consideration management provocation which led to the Baie Comeau _ incident,” Rodrigue said in a statement. The award is the largest in Canadian labour history. a THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER > LOCAL 1-85 WALKOUT RESOLVED A week-long walkout by 400 IWA Scalers employed by MacMillan Bloedel at Sarita River and Cameron Division in Local 1-85, Port Alberni, has been resolved following high level meetings between the government, Labour Board, Company, and Union. The IWA members walked off the job to protest the use of government scalers in M-B’s new dry land sorting grounds. Following discussions March 12 between Labour Minister Allan Williams, Forest Minister Tom Waterland, Labour Board Chairman, Don Munroe, officials of MacMillan Bloedel, the B.C. Government Employees’ Union (bargaining authority for the government scalers), Local 1-85 President Earl Foxcroft and Regional President Jack Munro, agree- ment was reached to have the IWA scalers continue doing the job which has been tradi- tionally theirs. WORLD FORESTS IN TROUBLE A spokesman for the World- watch Institute stated in a re- cent release that the world’s forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. So great is the decrease that itis posing potentially dire eco- nomic and environmental problems for most of humanity. Head of the Institute, Eric Eckholm, said rising wood prices are contributing to in- flation in rich and poor coun- tries alike, while land denuda- tion in less-developed nations is reducing the capacity of the environment to support human life. : The loss of forest lands is accelerating erosion of crop lands and siltation of streams and rivers, causing deserts to expand and flooding problems to worsen, he said. It also is re- ducing crop yields. One-third of humanity relies on wood for cooking fuel, he said. But ‘‘as wood becomes unavailable, people switch to dried cow dung for cooking fuel, but this diversion of nutrient-rich manure from fields to fireplaces in turn re- duces food crop yields.” Eckholm said the forest area in North America and Europe is stable, but in Africa, Asia and Latin America the wooded area is declining annually by at least 11 million hectares, an area the size of Cuba. Eckholm, in his study, said the principle causes of foresta- tion are the spread of agricul- ture, the collection of firewood for cooking fuel and short- sighted timber harvesting practices. Projections show that con- sumption of wood for all purposes will grow from 2.5 million cubic metres in 1976 to four billion cubic metres in 1994, he said. cost-of-living index.”’ A Liberal senator from Ontario has proposed that “luxury items”’ such as vegetables should be removed from the con- sumer price index because they make the rate of inflation. seem higher than it really is. He urged that Statistics Canada should “remove such luxury items from the package of items used to compute the CLC URGES PAID go % EDUCATIONAL LEAVE > The Canadian Labour Con- ‘gress urged the federal gov- ernment to enact legislation providing paid educational leave for all workers under federal jurisdiction for the pur- poses of general, social, civic, vocational and labour education. In a 41-page brief presented to the government-appointed Commission of Inquiry’ on Educational Leave and Productivity, the CLC pointed to a convention adopted in 1974 by the International Labour Organization calling on mem- ber countries to promote the granting of paid educational leave. The CLC urged the federal government, a mem- ber of the ILO, to ratify the convention. Shirley Carr, CLC executive vice-president, who headed the delegation at the commission’s hearing, noted that the CLC was the first organization in Canada to endorse the prin- ciple of PEL in 1976. Paid educational leave, as defined by the CLC, is ‘‘leave granted to a worker for educa- tional purposes for a specified period during normal working hours and without loss of earn- ings and other benefits . . . for the purpose of training at any level of general ,social, civic and trade union education.” Unions already actively negotiate PEL in their collec- tive agreements, the CLC noted in its brief. The United Auto Workers has negotiated PEL benefits in more than 100 The Canadian Labour Con- gress has recently announced that the Imperial Trust Travelling Bursary will be available to a Canadian Trade Unionist in 1980. The bursary provides for study in the United Kingdom on aspects of the trade union movement and the industrial relations system of the United Kingdom. The study com- mences in May 1980 and lasts for 20 weeks. Candidates must have been born in’ Canada with ages between 28-50 years and be a member of a trade union. The ‘candidate must be recom- mended by their Ranking Of- ficer and submit a statement or composition of 200-300 words outlining their reasons for their application, the objectives of their study and the contribu- tion of their study to the Im- perial Relations Trust. The bursary provides return charter class air fare, a weekly contracts, and the United Steelworkers of America, the Canadiar Union of Public Em- poyees, the B.C. component of the National Union of Pro- vincial Government Em- ployees, the International Union of Electrical Workers and other trade unions all have signed collective agreements with employers, providing for ~ PEL. But “without legislation on PEL in all eleven jurisdictions, the opportunity for educational advancement will be applied inequitably,” the brief warned. Those who are unorganized will be denied access to PEL and management and super- visory employees will have a growing advantage over hourly-rated or clerical em- ployees. Pointing out that in future Canadians will be expected to undertake four or five occupa- tions during their work life, the — CLC stated that ‘“‘a defined system of PEL is an op- portunity to ensure that all Canadians will have access to knowledge to respond to — changing times, needs and skill requirements.”’ The CLC also recommended: that PEL legislation and regulations be prepared in coordination with labour, busi- ness and government; and that all types of education be jointly administered by these three sectors with the exception of labour education, which should be directly administered by the labour movement. living allowance plus an allowance for the spouse if a couple take advantage of this bursary. There is some travel allowances, also some monies for out of pocket expenses. The important thing to remember at this time is that the name, recommendation and documentation for each candidate must be received by the Canadian Labour Congress no later than June 30, 1979. More detailed information can be obtained from the C.L.C. Education Department in Ottawa. SS LIGHTER SIDE The doorbell rang. The man came to the door and saw a peddler. oe “Want to buy a letter er?” the Geli asked woe fully. & “Buy one?” the man snor ted. “I married one.”