to Regional THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER Official notification of changes Constitution By FRED FIEBER Regional Secretary-Treasurer For the information of the membership, changes to the Regional Constitution were adopted by the Regional Con- venee held in Vancouver, B.C., September 28 to October , 1964. Amendments to the Regional Constitution adopted by con- vention action shall not be finalized until sixty (60) days from the closing of the convention, and such proposed con- vention changes shall be published in the ‘Lumber Worker’ and copies of such proposed constitutional changes shall be sent to each Local Union within ten days after the close of the convention. Any time within this specified sixty-day period, the mem- bership through their Local Unions may petition the Regional Secretary Treasurer to initiate a referendum on any amend- ment adopted by such convention action. - If the Regional Secretary-Treasurer receives a number of petitions representative of one-third (4%) of the total Re- gional Council membership, he shall proceed with the referen- dum within ten days following the sixty (60) day period specified. The following constitutional provisions were adopted by the convention: SPECIAL CONVENTIONS Delete from Article IV, Regional Conferences, in the first paragraph the following words: “A minimum of one Regional Delegated Conference shall be held between Regional Conventions.” Add to the present provisions for Regional Conventions the following: “Special Conventions shall be called by the Regional Director when so instructed by the Regional Executive Board or upon petition of a majority of the Local Un- ions affiliated to the Region. “The Call for a special Regional Convention shall state the reasons why such a convention is desired. When the Convention has disposed of the special subject mat- ter for which it was called, other matters my be intro- duced by a two-thirds (24) vote of the assembled delegates, AUTHORITY OF REGIONAL CONVENTIONS That the following be added under Article IV, Regional Conventions: “The Regional Conventions shall be the legislative and jurisdictional authority of Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1, subject only to the provisions of the Regional and International Constitutions and the will of the membership expressed through instructions by referendum as hereinafter provided.” AUTHORITY OF REGIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD The heading on Article V be amended to read: “Meetings and authority of Regional Council No. 1, IWA Executive Board.” and under Article V add the following as a new Section 4: “The Regional Executive Board shall execute the in- structions of Regional Conventions and between Con- ventions shall have full authority to direct the workings of the Regional Council.” and the present Sections 4 and 5 be re-numbered 5 and 6 respectively. STRIKE FUND EXPENDITURES Article VI, Section 5 be changed to read as follows: “SECTION 5 “(a) The present amount of assessment per member per month being paid into the Regional Strike Fund shall continue until such time as changed by Con- vention action and a Referendum Ballot of the membership. “(b) The Regional Strike Fund shall be deposited in a separate account. A report of the income and ex- penditure shall be made regularly to the Regional Executive Board. The Strike Fund shall be audited quarterly. “(c) Expenditures from the Strike Fund shall be ex- pended for strike purposes in accordance with rules adopted by the Regional Convention. “(d) Expenditures from this Fund shall be administered by authority of the Regional Executive Board in accordance with the existing strike directive rules adopted by Conventions. “(e) Rules governing expenditures from the Strike Fund shall be made available to and applied by all Local Unions. “(f) A Finance Committee of five persons shall be set up by and from the Regional Executive Board. “(q) No expenditures can be incurred from the Strike Fund until the Finance Committee first makes a recommendation to the Executive Board on such expenditures, “(h) The Finance Committee shall make a full report to each Annual Convention of the Regional Council on all expenditures from the Strike Fund. This re- port shall contain an analysis of the policies applied in paying Strike Fund moneys.” WAGES — TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES Article VII (2) be amended by striking the figure of “99.00” and inserting the figure of “$29.00.” REGIONAL STANDING COMMITTEE Article X (2) be amended by striking the first sentence which reads as follows: “Meeting of these committees shall be held quarterly.” and insert the following sentence in its place: “Meeting of these committees shall be held at a time set by the Regional Director.” ' PRO RATE Article XI be amended by striking the figure “$7.00” and inserting the figure “$8.00.” BALLOTING Article XIII, Section 13, of the Regional Constitution be amended as follows: The present Section 13 to become 13(a) and by adding a new sub-section (b) to read: : “If a Local Union ballots and tabulates each Operation separately, a record of all ballots issued to each Opera- tion, used and unused balloting material, must be kept. Registration sheets, ballots, stubs, used and unused material, must remain separated Operation by Opera- tion when returned to the Regional Tabulating Com- mittee.” POLICY COMMITTEE Amend Article XIV, Section 1, to read: “Negotiations for master contracts shall be conducted by the Regional Council on an area basis, and all Local Unions involved in such negotiations shall authorize the Regional Council to negotiate and conclude an agreement in their behalf. “Decisions of the Regional Executive Board shall be in the form of a recommendation to the membership by referendum ballot.” NEGOTIATING PROCEDURE Add to Article XIV, Section 1 of the Regional Constitu- tion the following: 1.(b) “When any Local or Locals within established areas of collective bargaining request the assistance of the Regional Council in negotiating any matter with an employer or employers or their represent- atives, the following procedure will apply: “a) All Local Unions requesting this assistance shall ‘ authorize the Region in writing to negotiate an agreement on any problem and to conclude such agreement after the following procedure has been “b) All requests to negotiate from Local Unions and all settlements negotiated shall be subject to the approval of the Regional Executive Board. “c) Conclusion of negotiated agreements shall be sub- ject to approval of the membership of the Local Unions involved in these negotiations. When the Regional Executive Board makes a rec- ommendation on any matter and one or more of the Local Unions involved reject the recommenda- tion a Delegated Conference may be called to con- sider the recommendation. The majority recom- mendation of the Conference will be referred to the Regional Executive Board for decision by a referendum ballot of the membership involved. “e) The majority decision of the Referendum Ballot will be binding on all Local Unions directly in- volved. “f) Any Referendum Ballot conducted will be in ac- cordance with Article XIII—Referendum Ballot- ing—of the Regional Constitution.” “d) Ae SWEDISH WOODWORKERS, fraternal delegates, were tendered a warm ovation when they appeared before the Regional Convention. explains rulings International Officers of the IWA were all accorded a cordial reception by the dele- gates at the Regional Conven- tion. In attendance to give advice and counsel were: In- ternational President A. F. Hartung, 1st Vice-President Claude Ballard and 2nd Vice- President Ron Roley. Inter- national Secretary-Treasurer Bill Botkin wired his regrets because of inability to attend due to pressure of month-end work. President Hartung was ap- plauded when he forcefully disclaimed any partizanship in rulings required from him to interpret the Constitution. He declared that he would make such interpretations without fear or favour in the manner directed by the Con- stitution. The phrasing of a resolu- tion before the convention was immediately amended to delete any suggestion of criti- cism of the International President. Vice-President Roley, Di- rector of Organization, spoke after the submission of a com- prehensive report on organ- izational activity submitted - by Assistant Director Clayton Walls. He complimented the organizational staff in B.C. on an impressive performance. His remarks added emphasis to the need for integration and expansion of the organiz- ational program, especially in the northern sections of B.C. and Alberta. Claude Ballard made an eloquent plea for support of the Union’s Community Ser- vices program while he ex- tolled the Community pro- jects undertaken by a num- ber of Local Unions in Region 1. He brought to the conven- tion a wealth of valuable in- formation regarding the ef- fects of automation on em- ployment for woodworkers. A MIDWESTERN NEWS- paper heads the list of births, marriages and deaths briefly: “Hatched, matched, and de- tached.” IN Regional 1st Vice-President Jack MacKenzie and 2nd Vice-President Jack Holst are here joined by Yngve Persson, Gunnar Elofs, Rune Larsson, Erik Strutz, Gosta Nilsson, Kar] Pettersson, Rune Samuelsson and Rolf Andersson.