THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 38,000 copies printed in this issue. Published twice monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOQODWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1 Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC 2859 Commercial! Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 Editor — Pat Kerr Business Manager — Fred Fieber Advertising Representatives — Elizabeth Spencer Associates Forwarded to every member of the IWA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post.Office Department, and for payment of postage in cash. E>? EDITORIAL "THE REAL ISSUE" fas announcement of Syd Thompson’s slate for Regional officers surprised no one, and will give the membership an opportunity, at long last, to resolve an “issue that has been with the Region for years. The question that the membership will have to judge by secret ballot is the choice between two different kinds of leadership. In his six years as President of Region 1, Jack Moore has defended the IWA’‘s ‘ traditional view that the task of Regional officers is to determine membership opinion and implement it. He has con- sistently rejected the notion that Regional officers should instruct the membership. Under this view of the Presidency, all of the members and officers can share the credit for the Region’s successes. There is a lot of credit to share — the coast members of the IWA have without doubt the world’s best contract for wood- workers, and parity with the B.C. coast is now a worthy and difficult objective for any Local of the IWA anywhere in North America. In the Interior, the membership re- _ cently concluded a strike which won them ~the admiration of trade unionists through- ~ out the province, the biggest single wage increase (34c) ever gained by any IWA Local, and narrowed. the gap between coast and interior base rates to 6%, com- pared with 12% in 1962. Progress in the prairies, due to anti- labour legislation and the absence of a trade union tradition, has been slow but determined. That there has been prog- ress is proven by the obvious fear that provincial governments have of award- ing IWA certifications. These very considerable accomplish- ments were realized during Jack Moore's six years as President of the Region; a period during which the membership grew by roughly 20%, and, perhaps most important, a period during which the principle of the member's right to control their affairs was never violated. Under these circumstances it is al- ways possible to quarrel, as Syd Thomp- son does, about how much credit any in- dividual should get. But certainly if any-- one of the 38,000 plus members deserves to be singled out, it must be the Regional President. The real issue then will be Syd Thomp- son’s different view of what a Regional officer should do. That view was expressed well in Thompson’s press release by the phrase “guidance and leadership from the topx’ IWA members throughout the Region will decide by secret ballot whether they want Mr. Thompson’s “guidance and leadership from the top” or maintenance of their own democratic control. Up until now, they have done pretty well by supplying the guidance and lead- ership themselves. SUPPORT GROWS FOR GRAPE WORKERS The following statement was issued by the B.C. Fed- eration of Labour with respect to the present campaign to ‘boycott California grapes: Religious, Labour and con- sumer groups have joined to- gether to form the “Citizens Committee to Support the Grape Workers.” . B.C. Federation of Labour Secretary, Ray Haynes, an- nounced that labour leaders and clergymen from Catholic, Unitarian and United .churches met and have pledged to assist the grape workers! in their 34-month strike against the giant Cali- fornia grape corporations. The newly formed commit- tee has arranged a meeting with Mayor Campbell to seek cooperation of the Mayor in their endeavours. Spokesmen for the group pointed out that in a number of American cities the boycott of California table grapes has been nearly 100% effective. In Detroit earlier this month Mayor Jerome Cavanagh NOTICE A wife of a deceased member of Local 1-71 IWA, is anxious to sell his rain cloth- ing, work boots (two pairs), some tools, and a brand new suit that has never been worn. Anyone interested should contact Mrs. Heistad, 3304 West 3rd Ave., Vancouver, or phone 733-2158. made a stirring speech in which he announced the city administration’s policy to cease purchasing California grapes. ONE THING ABOUT TH’ INTERIOR . . GET NO-SEE-UMS . . . YA ee . TH’ SKEETER ETT ‘EM ALL! WRITER SLAMS CRITICS OF Now that the coastal IWA membership has expressed by secret ballot their support of the 1968 settlement, I would like to take the opportunity as a long-time member of Lo- cal 1-357 to express my feel- ings on some of the criticisms which have been levelled at President Jack Moore by his political opponents. The public criticism direct- ed at President Moore in re- gard to the southern interior strike in my opinion is gross- ly unfair. Let’s take a look at the in- terior settlement. On May 5, 1968, a memor- andum of agreement was sign- ed between the Interior For- est Labour Relations Associa- tion and the Southern Interior IWA Negotiating Committee which in the opinion of the Union Committee “contained terms suitable to end the seven and one-half month strike staged by our southern interior brothers and sisters in an effort to close the gap between coastal and interior wages and conditions. In re- trospect, the interior wood- workers, by virtue of our 36c an hour coastal increase over two years, had to overcome an 86c per hour deficit. As a result of this, on the first day of January 1970, they will be 14c behind the coast base rate with their contract expiring fourteen days after the ex- - piration date of our contract. MOORE Through combined negotiat- ing efforts at that time, there is a strong possibility that complete parity with coast woodworkers will be achiev- ed. In my opinion, the militancy shown by the southern inter- ior woodworkers and the agreement achieved as a re- sult of this strike was a vic- tory for the IWA and the negotiating committee headed by Bro. Jack Moore. I feel as a member of this Union, as I am sure the ma- jority of our members feel, that criticism levelled at Re- gional Officers should be con- fined to the official organs of our Union and our conven- tions. It should not be taken out to the public, making us the Inughinis Seale of the trade union movement. I welcome the big-mouths, who would stand on their heads on Georgia Street at five o’clock in the evening for publicity, running for office so that I can campaign actively against their election. I also welcome this because once and for all the membership of this Regional Council will speak out in no uncertain terms as to who the Regional President is. As long as Bro- ther Moore is the Regional President, he should be the spokesman who enunciates the policies of this Union, and no one else. JOHN R. HACHEY, Member, Local 1-357, I.W.A. BIG PLANS? LITTLE PLANS? bankplan No matter what you're borrowing for, ask your local manager fora Commerce Bankplan loan. _S ? BANK OF COMMERCE