THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

aunt. In addition, the worker
“iled to 13 weeks off at one
had the opportunity to

is time off as he saw fit.
some of the other
] arrangements, the
aim was to help older
adjust to eventual

are four types of va-
plans; the graduated,
iform vacation, the
ork plan and the
y-hour plan.
duated vacation plan
nost popular and is
more than 90 percent
rent contracts. Un-
Jan the worker’s
vacation is directly
o hi gth of ser-

n
_ industries, the employ-
Jength of service is com-

on the basis of his ser-
with the particular indus-
ather than based on ser-
in a single firm.

f
t

t a

vacation plans con-
all workers taking their
at the same time for
duration regardless
h of service.

ng

of days worked un-

ethod.

the cents-per-hour

mon in the construc-
, each employer

makes a certain cents per
contribution to a central
tion and holiday fund.

worker decides to

» by his various em-

idays are growing
in popularity, with
hird of the contracts
ig for nine or more
ust 5 years ago,
of the con-

Some contracts provide
either a full or a half holiday
on Election Day. Under some
contracts, an employee’s birth-
day is designated as a holiday
or an extra day or two is pro-
vided at the employee’s choos-
ing.

ADDITIONAL

Some contracts call for holi-
days in addition to the basic
six to be set annually at the
mutual agreement of the un-
ion and company.

Additional holidays are

n in Chicago set forth 11
com holidays. The Longshore-
men in New York also enjoy
11 paid holidays. The State,
County and Municipal Work-
ers’ contract in Philadelphia
provides 12 holidays.

In construction, holiday and
vacation funds have been es-
tablished to meet the seasonal
and casual conditions of the
industry. Since workers shift
from employer to employer, a
certain cents-per-hour contri-
bution is made into a vacation
and holiday fund. When the
worker is ready to take his
vacation, or is off on a holi-
day, he may apply for the
moneys in his individual vaca-
tion and holiday fund.

Holidays falling on Sunday
usually are observed on Mon-
day and holidays falling on
Saturday usually are celebrat-

_ed on Friday. When a paid

holiday falls during a work-
er’s vacation, it is now cus-
tomary to provide in addition
to the vacation pay an extra
day’s pay for the lost holiday
or, less often, an additional
day of vacation with pay.

PAY RATES

The rate of pay for work
performed on a holiday has
been rising. Two-thirds of the
contracts now call for double-
time and a half or more for
work on holidays, according
to a 1966 Labor Department
survey of major union con-
tracts. That is, the combina-
tion of pay for the holiday

plus pay for work on the holi-
day amounts to at least 2%
times the regular rate. Also,
according to the same Labor
Department survey, 28 per-
cent of the contracts call for
triple time.

RECOGNITION

The increase in the rate of
pay for holiday work results
from recognition of the simple
fact that doubletime pay is
actually not penalty pay at all
and does not provide adequate
compensation for the incon-
venience of having to work
on a holiday. If a worker re-
ceives a day’s pay for a holi-

ay if he does not work, and
only two days’ pay if he does
work, he is in effect getting
only a day’s pay — straight
time pay — for coming to

ork.
To provide a genuine pen-
alty or premium payment for
work on holidays, it is increas-
ingly recognized that the
agreement should provide for
time-and-one-half or double-
time pay in addition to the
day’s pay which would be re-
ceived if the worker spent the
holiday at home or a total
payment of doubletime and a
half or triple time.
American vacations and
holidays are meager in com-

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Beautiful British Columbia

parison with European stand-
ards. In France, a three-week
annual vacation is legally re-
quired, but through collective
bargaining four weeks of an-
nual leave are standard. In
Belgium, workers are entitled
to an annual vacation of three
weeks, with the worker re-
ceiving double his wages dur-
ing vacation. In West Ger-
many, most workers receive
3.5 weeks of annual vacation.

e union movement in
Germany is now seeking five-
and six-week vacations.

LEISURE GOAL |

The increased leisure goal
of American workers is shar-
ed by workers throughout the
world. In nearly half the nego-
tiations each year, American
workers decide to take some
of their gains in the form of
additional leisure — more va-
cations and more holidays.

IWA