a oslssamesiase sia 34,000 copies Printed in this issue lumber worker Published once monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1 Affiliated with AFL-C1IO-cLC 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-526) Editor—Patrick S. Kerr Business Manager—Wyman Trineer Forwarded to every member of the |WA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. EDITORIAL ANADA’S forests are in a shocking state and unless proper standards are set by all levels of government for the maintenance of the forests, Canadians may literally run out of trees. This was the message conveyed to delegates attending the Canadian Forest Congress held recently in Toronto. The conference, co-chaired by regional president Jack Munro and Adam Zimmerman, chairman of the Pulp & Paper Industry, was attended by three hundred and fifty selected delegates including all region no. 1 local union presidents and regional officers. The top forestry experts painted a dismal picture of timber shortages in every region of Canada. So horrendous are the shortages that one forester stated that “intensive forestry” will be needed just to maintain the current rate of harvest. That such a situation exists should be of major concern to every Canadian. The forest industry provides one job out of every ten jobs in the country and pays two billion dollars in taxes and other revenues each year to governments. If Canada, now the largest exporter of lumber in the world, is forced to curb its lumber sales because of timber shortages, the economic impact for Canadians would be devastating. The well-being of our forests should be the number one priority of every Canadian. The senior levels of governmentand the industry must be made to playa major role in developing a forestry policy that would ensure Canada’s forests became once again healthy and plentiful. The forest unions must also be givena say in any policy decided because after all it is their members who bear the brunt of any lumber market downturn. The IWA is adament on this score and has already drafted a guide to forest policy in which it clearly states what the Union considers the top priorities for protecting and improving our forests. LABOUR BRIEFS Metropolitan Toronto union members are preparing their biggest effort ever for the New Democratic Party in this fall’s civic elections. Election Day is Nov. 10. Although party politics is almost unheard of in municipal elections in Toronto, the NDP and the Liberals ran slates of candidates in 1969. However, voter response was poor to party slates. Now the NDP and the Metro Toronto Labour Council are trying again. The Metropolitan Toronto area includes the city of Toronto and five boroughs. There will be at least 39 NDP members running for city councils and the boards of education. * * * A low-cost computer service making up-to-date information on safety available to union halls across the country has been proposed by the Canadian Centre for Occu- pational Safety and Health. The centre’s president, Dr. Gordon Ather- ley, told a recent meeting of the centre’s board of governors that he foresees 100 “terminals” in the offices of employers, government agencies and unions. A terminal is usually a telephone receiver hooked up to a device to print out the words and other data stored in a computer’s memory. 4/Lumber Worker/September, 1980 Three public sector unions representing more than 200,000 federal employees have called for a full-scale Parliamentary inquiry into contracting-out of federal services. A brief called ‘Contracting Out: Private Profit at Public Expense’ presented to MPs, notes that “well over a billion dollars is spent annually by the federal government to purchase various services from the private sector. Estimates are that departments spend about $100 million annually on contracts for professional consulting services.” The Public Service Alliance of Canada, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, and Economists, Sociol- ogists and Statisticians Association have charged for more than a year that contract- ing out not only reduces the number of jobs, but also reduces the quality of services provided. Now after gathering information from their members the union have been able to cite examples of gross misuses of public funds. * * * The Canadian Federation of Communica- tions Workers recently slammed the Cana- dian Radio-Television and Telecommunica- tions Commission for allowing Bell Canada subscribers to add non-Bell equipment to the telephone network. Insisting that a public hearing should have been held before the CRTC made its decision, the federation in a statement warned that the use of non-Bell equipment could have harmful effects on employment and service. “The CRTC shirked its duty by not hold- ing public hearings before making a deci- sion with such strong impact on Canadian jobs. WRITERS SCORE GOVERNMENT Here is what some of the major news- papers in Canada had to say about the Liberal government’s “pre-built” pipe- line decision. “Parliament’s job is to debate the major isues of the day and for that reason the New Democrats were right in forcing Commons’ discussion of the Alaska pipeline issue. “If a government wants to avoid a debate in Parliament that is usually a good reason why there should be one.” (W. A. Wilson, The Ottawa Journal) “In 1956 . . . the government ran rough- shod over the rules of the House of Com- mons. In 1980 the government ran rough- shod over the law of the land. And the Conservative Opposition assisted. “The NDP voted to censure the govern- ment. The government had earned censure. “It (the pre-build decision) was surely worth a thorough debate. The Liberals did not want a debate. The poor, old Conserva- tives were more anxious to get off on their holidays.” (The Globe and Mail) “Tt is remarkable to watch the fluff and noise because the neophyte MP (Ian Wad- dell) and the NDP “delayed” the three- month summer holidays of the Commons. “The horror that they were delayed all of three days.on a matter of principle seems to have thrown half of Ottawa ... into a tizzy. “(Waddell) managed .. . to alert the attention of the country to the arrogance ofa government that, for all its years in power, still does not have an energy policy other than expediency.” (Allan Fotheringham, FP) Rt. Hon. Joe Clark My Dear Prime Minister (ret.): “.- At midnight Tuesday only 48 of the 102 Conservative MPs showed up to vote (with the government). People say the absence of more than half of the caucus is proof that the Tories are split. How can anyone split mush? “... Seeing as how you have chosen to abdicate to the NDP, don’t you think you should move out of Stornoway so that Ed Broadbent can have the residence that goes with the job of Leader of the Opposition?” (Geoffrey Stevens, Globe and Mail) “What a difference an election makes! Now that Trudeau is PM again, the “iron- clad” (financial) agreement seems to be a letter from President Carter which, after November, will likely be worth $1.25 at an autograph auction. Hell, Carter can’t even control his own Congress as president, and he is now an odds-on favourite to lose the next election! So much for “iron-clad”’ agreements — and so much for Lalonde’s credibility which was never a Trudeau government strong point. “The NDP are right to raise hell and insist on debate, the PCs chicken to duck it.” (The Toronto Sun) “The (Northern Pipeline Act) passed by Parliament did not allow for what is now to be allowed by an order passed by an execu- tive. That is the issue. That is why the NDP is holding up the summer adjournment of the House. That is why NDP leader Ed Broadbent has said itis one of the most important issues to come before Parliament in years. That is the issue that should have been given immediate and full examination by Parliament.” (Michael Valpy, The Vancouver Sun)