Pa eee CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 2nd Issue February, 1964 “Wage Meet Maps Workers’ Share Of Profit Pie’’ ball and dedicate themselves to membership welfare. The conference took a re- cess to give a writing com- mittee and the Policy Com- mittee a chance to summarize the expressed opinions of the delegates in an itemized pack- age. The document intro- duced, usually called the pro- grammatic resolution, had a stormy passage. It just couldn’t cover everything and the general cry was for more. The difficult task of sifting out all proposals to get bar- gaining priorities was success- fully accomplished. Complete unanimity prevailed at the end that a good job had been done to state the most urgent and realizable needs. The quality of the debate deserves praise. Delegates all spoke with an intimate know- ledge of job conditions and marshalled their arguments well. Every major problem of the working force in the in- dustry was thoroughly aired. Region 1 lived up to its repu- tation for first-class debating skill. Only a verbatim re- cord can do justice to a three- day debate. Here are some of the highlight arguments which justified each item in the list of demands. Wages The demand for a forty- cent increase across-the- board was carefully consid- ered in an effort to reconcile the needs of the workers with the enlarged financial capa- bilities of the industry’s ty- coons. As a matter of fact, forty cents was a compromise, for many demanded at least fifty cents. The idea was kicked around of an equiv- alent percentage increase to meet necessary adjustments for skilled categories. The de- ciding factor was that the lower wage brackets get first consideration. In the first place, said the delegates, the industry can pay the proposed increase out of profits without harm to its competitive position. These Travel All other sections of the industry saw the logic of the travel time demand on behalf of loggers. At many points, loggers are spending fifty to sixty hours a week to com- many years, profits have al- ready been ploughed back in- to capital expansion, result- ing in vastly increased net worth. In the second place, the increase, when added to the present base rate, is just about what the base rate worker needs. An indepen- dent welfare survey has proven that a family of four in British Columbia requires $100 a week for the bare ne- cessities of living in these times. An important fact, that was not overlooked, is that the labor cost per unit of pro- duction has been dropping substantially. This gain of the employers, resulting from mechanization and a vicious speed-up, must be shared, said the delegates. Time schedule. Loggers want an honest eight-hour day, to and from their marshalling points, with their pay properly cal- culated for time spent on company property. Every- body agreed that the loggers plete a forty-hour work had made a good point. Sub-Contracting The alarming increase in tions to hold jobs. The con- the volume of work con- tracted out was regarded as a plot to evade contract condi- tions and destroy the effec- tiveness of union organiza- tion. Under this system, men lose work or are forced to work under non-union condi- tracting system deprives them of established and negotiated rights. This time the employ- ers will be required to stipu- late that their contractors live up to the terms of the master agreement. This matter had high priority. Vacations Vacations with pay and penalty overtime brought out the Union's concern for in- ereasing unemployment among woodworkers. The de- mand for another one week’s vacation for all was regarded as necessary to shorten the yearly work schedules. The whole industry is groaning about excessive overtime. The employers quite obviously prefer to im- pose overtime on the present rather than pay fringe to additional workers President Johnson’s attack on overtime in the United States as being wholly logical in a serious unemployment situ- ation. Complaints were heard about short-sighted individ- uals who grab overtime op- portunities or who take the money in lieu of vacations earned, They got their come- uppance. On the items of overtime and vacations, the Union set the policy of spreading the available work among the greatest number of workers. ly had their innings.’ Every- one knew that tradesmen in the industry are working for less than paid in their trades in the surrounding areas. A general increase of thirty cents will alleviate this con- dition, the delegates decided. More importantly, it was rec- ognized that the majority of the tradesmen are now re- quired to master the new skills of a technological age. They must keep abreast of new developments and to do so must attend courses or tackle extensive homework. Many need new and expen- sive tools for their trades. Some trades require high grades in physics and mathe- matics. The delegates said the tradesmen must get a square deal on these matters. Mechanization has wiped out some jobs and created new ones. Since 1959, the Union has been battling to get a satisfactory procedure for setting wage rates for new jobs. A four-man joint indus- try committee has labored at the task and presented num- erous recommendations as re- quired. The sad fact was stated, that the work of this committee has been frus- trated by stubborn employer opposition. The delegates were sore about this. They asked for the abandonment of the old procedure, and pro- posed a standing committee, representative of the Local Unions affected. The Local Unions evidently wanted to talk directly to the employers’ representatives about long overdue adjustment of rates for new or revised jobs. Some skilled categories were singled out for special attention because of special problems. Workers manufac- turing shingles and shakes must work with poor wood under new pressures. This section of the industry is no longer depressed. The old schedule of piece-work rates is now almost meaningless when adding up the total pay cheque. The proposed new schedule for hourly rates and the per-square rates will place a floor under their earn- ings. The planermen are having a bad time, it was discovered. New high-speed machines, re- quiring special maintenance, have played havoc with their categories and rates. These are to be studied, said the delegates, with the object of straightening them out with fairness to the workers con- cerned. Health and Welfare The debate on Health and Welfare plans indicated a warm appreciation of this feature of the contract, but also the necessity of improve- ments was demonstrated. It is now proposed to step up the weekly sickness and ac- cident indemnity benefits to provide $50 a week for 39 weeks, The delegates insisted that the benefits be made retroactive to the first day of disability after the quali waiting period. Importance - was placed on the opportun- ity to continue coverage dur- ing lay-off periods. This should be extended to six months for all those who con- tributed to the plan for two years, it was demanded. Paydays The delegates saw no rea- son why they should not be paid every second Friday. This concession will not cost the employers anything ex- cept revision of an obnoxious administrative _ procedure, they said. Lumber workers like to join everybody else in shopping with their wives on Fridays and Saturdays. The occasional waiting period of three weeks between pay cheques works a _ needless hardship for many, they said. Contract Term The delegates wanted a one-year contract term and no fooling. No one had a crystal ball to read the fu- ture, but all agreed on two obvious trends. The work load is increasing for fewer men. The market prospects were never rosier. The dele- gates wanted to be free to take a fresh look at the situ- ation next year. It was a good conference because it resulted in a frank appraisal of an entirely new situation. The delegates were aware that the most impor- tant phase of their job re- mains to be done. Stating their legitimate demands is only half the job, they de- clared. They dispersed with the determination to multi- ply themselves in organizing the required membership sup- port to prove that the mem- bers mean business about a necessary package. 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