1. A wage increase of 40c per hour across the board to :
all employees. :
2. Amend Article XII, Travel Time, to provide for pay _
from marshalling point to marshalling point.
3. To provide for an Article stating that wherein a
portion of an operation is contracted or sub-con-

> tracted, the company signing the agreement will
agree that all wages and conditions of the Master

a Agreement shall apply.

4. To amend Art. XIV, Health & Welfare, to provide
. for the following:

(a) Weekly Indemnity benefits—$50.00 per week for

, 39 weeks. Eligibility to be based on 1 and 6 on
the basis that where a covered employee quali-

fies for benefits due to illness, he will be paid

x retroactive to the first day of disability.

(b) Employees who have been covered by Forest

4 Industry Health and Welfare Plans 1 and/or 2
for a total of two years, shall be entitled to

> maintain full coverage for a period of 6 months,

5. To provide in Article X, Vacations with Pay, for the

: following: >
(a) An additional week’s vacation with pay for all
employees. ©

(b) That all earned vacations must be taken. Delete
all reference to pay in lieu of holidays.

1 (c) To provide payment of Vacation Pay equivalent
to regular earnings per week or the percentage

> rate, whichever is the greater amount.

6. Amend Article VY, Hours of Work, to provide for
> double time for all overtime work.

7. That the rates of pay for Shingle employees be re-

2 vised as follows: Shingle Sawyers—$2.96 per hour

plus 51c¢ per square for all squares in excess of 20

j squares, and that junk and wide-way rates be ad-
justed accordingly.

Packers — $2.41 per hour plus 39%4c for all squares

4 in excess of 20 squares.
Shake Re-Sawyers—$2.96 per hour plus 5lc per
5 square for all squares in excess of 20 squares.

Groovers and Rebutt, Feeders and Packers rate to be:
$2.41 per hour plus 39%c per square for all squares
> in excess of 20 squares.

8. Pay days every second Friday.

9. Delete Section 5(b) of Article VII and negotiate pro-

visions for a Standing Committee made up of one
a representative from each Local affected, together
with one Regional officer.

| . That we demand an additional 30c an hour increase
: in rates for all tradesmen and improvers in the in-
? dustry.

11, That a complete survey be made of categories and
i rates paid to Planermen.

12. That we negotiate for a one-year agreement.

NTC

e Sawmills in aid of
ted to Keith John-

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

COAST DEMANDS } mn

MEMBERS OF THE IWA NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE are, front row, left, Jack Holst,
Regional 2nd Vice-President; Jack Moore, Regional President; Fred Fieber, Regional Sec-
retary-Treasurer; Syd Thompson, Local 1-217 President. Back row, left, Joe Miyazawa,
Regional Director of Research and Education; Max Salter, Local 1-363 President; Wyman
Trineer, Local 1-357 President; Bill Hayes, Local 1-367 President; Ed Haw, Local 1-118 Fin-
ancial Secretary; Weldon Jubenville, Local 1-80 President, Missing from picture is Walter’ -

Allen, Local 1-85 President.

FEDERATION SECRETARY STATES:

Big Wage Increases For Unions
Necessary To Balance Economy

Unions should demand
large wage increases this

year and. refuse to settle for,

less.

This is the advice given by
B.C. Federation of Labour
secretary Pat O’Neal as the
answer to the widening gap
between profits and wages.

He told a meeting of Angli-
can clergymen that wages
have not kept pace with the
soaring profits of Canadian
companies and that econo-
mists see a danger in this
widening gap.

“The situation is reminis-
cent of the artificial boom
days of the late 1920s before
the bottom fell out of the ec-
onomy according to the econ-
omists,” he said.

The only way to correct
the imbalance is to boost the
purchasing powers of the
lower income families —
through a wage increase.

It is up to unions to set the
wage standards and demands
for large increases are not
only justified but are essen-
tial, he said. :

Unions are receiving a
great deal of gratuitious ad-
vice from management
spokesmen on the urgency of
keeping wage demands to a
minimum.

“Tf this is not done, the
economy will suffer”, say the
proponents of this line of
thought.

What is the situation inso-
far as the economy and cor-
porate profits are concerned?

Well, in the United States,
the situation was like this:

Profits last year topped all
records in American corpor-
ate history, says the ordinar-
ily restrained New York
Times in an analysis of the
nation’s economic record. It
even added: “They appear to
be headed still higher in

from its headline writer the
word “astound”, exceeded all
expectation for the year.
Profits after taxes for the
year are expected to hit the
$26.5 billion mark. The for-
mer record was $24.6 billion,
set in 1962. Thus, over the
year, profits shot up ten per
cent and may do even better

when all returns are in.

Why the tremendous surge
in profits during the past
three years?

On the surface, economists
point to these factors:

1. An important decline in
unit labour costs, growing out
of sharp increases in produc-
tivity, plus relative stability
in wage costs. During the
past three years, for example,
productivity has gone up an
average of 3% percent a year
—in some instances a good
deal higher—while wages and

fringe benefits went up at a

lower rate.

2. An increase in volume
of sales. This was particularly
true’ in the automobile and
steel industries. With in-
creased volume there was a
further decline in unit costs
as overhead went down.”

And in Canada, anyone
reading financial pages of our
leading newspapers is stag-
gered by the huge profits
amassed by most companies
and corporations in 1963:
Overall profits were up 10
percent over 1962, which had
been a considerably more
profitable year than 1961.

Says the Toronto Globe
and Mail: “Corporations are
reporting earnings higher
than ever before.”

And the Financial Times
boasts that ‘Canada’s 1963
expansion has put more
money than ever in most cor-

porate tills.”

It is equally true—but not
as widely publicized — that
wage increases have not kept

pace with the soaring profit
figures. In fact, wages in most
industries have fallen behind
rather badly, while the un-
employment picture remains
as gloomy as ever.

Economists see a great dan-
ger in this widening gap be-.
tween profits and wages. The
situation, they say, is uncom-
fortably reminiscent of the
artificial boom days of the
late 1920s, just before the bot-
tom fell out of the economy.

“We are raising our ability
to produce,” said one econo-
mist, “without our ability to
consume. If this imbalance is
not soon corrected, a serious
economic collapse is inevit-
able.”

The only way to “correct
this imbalance”, of course, is
to raise the purchasing power
of the millions of low income
families in this country. In
short, there must be a large
general increase in wages.

The responsibility for ob-
taining such an increase rests
solely upon the unions. The
employers: will never raise
wages voluntarily, no matter
how large their profits. Gov-
ernments will do nothing to
encourage the needed pay
boosts, nor will any other sec-
tion of society. The unorgan-
ized workers, of course, are
helpless and must depend on
their unionized fellows to set
wage standards.

In the circumstances, there
is only one course for unions
to follow in this year’s round
of bargaining—and that is to
demand large wage increases,
and refuse to settle for less.

Such demands are not only
justifiable, they are essential.
They will benefit more than
the workers concerned; they
will provide the additional
purchasing power needed to
counter-balance huge corpor-
ate profits and keep our econ- |
omy on an even keel,