THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

FROM _ PAGE FIVE

“KEYNOTE ADDRESS”

round out our Master agree-
ments. I suggest that consid-
eration should be given to
the question of under-employ-
ment imposed on our mem-
bers in short work weeks and
lay-offs. Also, more and more
the question of a larger mea-
sure of social security is ur-
gent especially for Brothers
who when displaced are cut
off from the benefits of the
contract. We must always re-
member that while employed
in the industry they accepted
many of these benefits in lieu
of higher wages.

We have the time now to
set committees at work in co-
operation with our Research
Department to examine sub-
jects such as the guaranteed
annual income in a form that
is adaptable to the industry
to overcome the problem of
seasonality. We should work
toward the abolition of the
time clock and the system of
hourly-rated pay.

As the cost of living con-
tinues to rise we should take
another look at contract pro-
visions that will automatically
adjust wage rates, upward, to
any sharp rise in the Con-
sumer Price Index. Apart
from increases secured in
broad negotiations, many
thousands of workers on this
continent benefited this year
by such automatic increases
with built-in protection
against any drop.

A study of these questions
would undoubtedly prove
both revealing and rewarding
when reported to the 1970

Wages and Contract Confer-
ence.

GENERAL PROGRAM

Returning now to the gen-
eral program, I suggest that
it would be well worthwhile
to prepare a_ well-rounded
program indicating our prior-
ities that we could take ‘to

‘ the membership at least as
a basis of discussion. The ma-
jor decisions of this conven-
tion could be incorporated in
such a document. It could be
aimed the first order of busi-
ness for the incoming Re-
gional Executive Board. The
membership would thus be
given a clearer indication of

“ the course decided upon by
this convention.

I am concerned that too
many of our members feel
alienated from the Union’s ac-
tivities. It is a big Union
‘which transacts a huge vol-
ume of business. seat

Unless they are more ac-
tively involved they tend to
leave decisions to the Local
Union officers and business
agents, as the attendance at
average membership meetings
indicates.

- WEEKEND WORKSHOPS

I suggest that we take a
leaf from the recent experi-
ence of the Longshoremen.
They have successfully pro-

moted a series of weekend

workshops or “bull sessions”
at which they examine the
Union’s activities in a frank,
free-swinging, no-holds-barred
manner. The sessions are ar-
ranged to include active rank
and file members at various

centres.

The program involves dis-
cussion about the Union, its
program and _ leadership.
Where we are now and where
are we going — a genuine ex-
change of ideas. Members fill
in an application form to join
groups of fifty to sixty. The
choice of applicants is based
on a proportionate represent-
ation on a good-spread of
ages, with the nod going to
rank and filers rather than to
officers. Ideas favoured by
such groups are then trans-
mitted to the Union’s govern-
ing bodies.

This plan could be adapted
to our Union’s structure with
beneficial results. We would
be taking the Union -to the
members instead of trying
to browbeat them into attend-
ance at Local Union meetings.
Reports we have on the Long-
shoremen’s experiment indi-
cate that it has been such a
distinct success that their
members are demanding more
such sessions. Many members
reported that they had gained
a knowledge of the Union
they had never had before.

It should be noted that the
traditional method has been
to have officers and top staff
people decide what topics
should be covered, who should
speak, and who should be
chosen to participate — all
nice and cozy.

DIFFERENT SYSTEM

Their plan involves a dif-
ferent system. Ideas are rub-
bed against each other. They
keep out the lecturers — no
experts.

I invite you to consider the
value of such “bull sessions”
to build a greater degree of
membership interest in the
Union. Somewhere, sometime
we should provide our rank
and file members with the
opportunity to voice their
ideas about this Union’s poli-
cies informally and without
official direction. In this way
we could vastly improve our
communications with the key
members in all operations.

Stop and think for a mo-
ment of the many issues upon
which we should have more
accurate knowledge of mem-
bership opinion such as coali-

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tion bargaining, job evalua-
tion, the development of lead-
ership from among the young-
er men and women, the em-
phasis we should place on
political action, labour educa-
tion, public education and
consumer problems, etc. -
Such sessions would be a
useful prelude to negotiations
in 1970. We could more ac-
curately guage membership
requirements in shaping our
next package of demands.

CONCRETE STEPS

Our Union’s program should
be broader than merely a con-
sideration of contract provi-
sions. We should decide on
concrete steps to protest anti-
labour legislation such as Bill
33. We must continue to en-
list public support of our op-
position to the Bill’s compul-
sory features. I ask you to
note that in the United States
recently the top representa-
tives of labour, management
and government negotiators
and mediators all agreed that
the right to strike is essential
for collective bargaining.

We must fight the trend,
now intensifying, to place a
restraint on wage increases
without any restraint on soar-
ing prices and profits. The
present inflation is a profit
inflation. Labour has been un-
justly blamed. In each unit
of production the profit fac-
tor has been greater than the
labour cost.

This convention could un-
dertake no more useful ser-
vice to labour than to issue
a statement which clarifies
the relationship of wages to
rising prices.

SOCIAL PROGRESS

Our program should em-
brace our community respon-
sibilities. We cannot maintain
an isolationist position for la-
bour’s interests are interlock-
ed with those of the commun-
ity. I hope to see our program
suggest ways and means of
improving our contribution
to social progress in the com-
munity, especially on such
questions as health, housing,
education and pollution con-
trol.

In a few weeks our Union’s
delegates will be in attend-

36”
Canadien

Vancouver 3, B.C.

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Secretary

John Squire of

Local 1-85 and Chairman Walter Kozij of Local 1-71 are
shown reporting the Committee’s recommendations to the

Convention.

ance at the annual convention
of the B.C. Federation of La-

bour. As the largest affiliate
of the Federation we should

“be prepared to present our

views on the legislative pro-
gram of that body and to re-
commend appropriate action
to back up any such program.
We should do more with our
legislative resolutions than
merely transmit them to the
Federation convention.

Some thought should be
given to the possibility of
forming an Industrial Union
Department within the Fed-
eration: to improve relations
with the craft unions. Cer-
tainly, we should make pro-
vision for an early caucus of
IWA delegates to that con-
vention that we may speak
with one voice on our legis-
lative needs.

LABOUR ACTION

We cannot ignore develop-
ments in the United States
resulting from the formation
of the new alliance for labour
action formed by the UAW
and the Teamsters. Time will
tell whether we will be in-
volved.

Nevertheless the IWA is in
itself an alliance for labour
action. As such we may well
adopt in our own right the
principles jointly espoused by

eco @
=

the UAW and the Teamsters.
May I quote from their
pledge:

“Tomorrow’s problems will
not be solved with yesterday’s
ideas, yesterday’s tools and
concepts. We must act with
new ideas, new concepts, and
new social innovations. We
must create new forms of co-
operation, new instruments
for social action.

AT A CROSSROAD

“The labour movement is at
a crossroad. It must subject
itself to honest self-searching
and self-evaluation. It must
free itself from complacency
and self-congratulation. It
must acquire a sense of re-
newal and re-dedication to
social progress. It must free
itself of old attitudes and habit
and demonstrate the willing-
ness, the capability and the
commitment to make funda-
mental changes in its policies
that respond to the realities
of a changing world.”

We have no more urgent
business than to focus our
own and public energies on
the conquest of want, illiter-

acy and intolerance — the
building of health and decent
housing — the realization of

the limitless promise of this
scientific Golden Age.

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