6 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 1-424 Expands Organization Following through on the IWA organizational drive in the Interior, Local 1-424, Prince George, has been har- vesting new certifications and agreements. More are in pros- pect. The Local Union has now been certified as bargaining agent for the 45 employees of Canim Lake sawmills located near 100-mile House. Vern Griffiths is given credit for organizing this operation. Fifty crew members at Northern Stud Mills, near Lac La Hache found it neces- sary to ask for conciliation in negotiating their first con- tract. They voted to accept the recommendation of a Con- ciliation Officer which would give them the agreement now in effect in the area. The com- pany has rejected the Con- ciliator’s proposal. The Local Union is planning timely ac- tion. Management at Cattermole Timber Co. has agreed to ac- cept the terms of the current agreement including any wage increase negotiated in broad negotiations with the NILA. Of unusual interest on be- half of fifty employees in four Prince George garages are the negotiations by the Local Union. E. P. Fisher has been named Conciliation Officer in the dispute which developed in negotiations for an agree- ment in which Howard Webb and Ron Tweedie acted as spokesmen. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “Blairmore. The strike was marked by repeated attempts to operate the plant with supervisory personnel and to move ma- terial across the picket line under police protection. This called for protests to the CPR president and the Alberta At- torney - General. Injunctions prevented picketing of the Company’s secondary opera- tions. The strike won a number of additional contract benefits and paved the way for a fur- ther advance through a wage- opening clause in the contract. The Local Union fought to break: employer attempts to maintain a base rate for lum- ber workers in Southern Al- berta of $1.32% an hour. The recent settlement, it is said, will give impetus to an IWA organizing drive in Southern Alberta where the climate for trade unionism has been most favorable. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “Interior Issues. Familiar items opposed by the IWA nego- tiators included: increased board rates to $3.50 a day; a re-scheduled work week to cut overtime pay; loss of seniority for casual workers and firefighters; stiffer qualifications for paid statutory holidays, etc. In both areas the disputes centre around the demand for parity in wage rates and conditions with lumber workers in the coast area. The present differential on the base rate amounts to 34 cents an hour. The opera- tors claim financial inability to meet this de- mand, and cite the recent drop in prices on spruce grades as a pretext. Artificially Depressed Wages The IWA spokesmen contend that this was occasioned by high inventories, built up in recent months to take advantage of an anticipated work stoppage at the coast. At many points, profits have enabled a spec- tacular modernization of operations, in ef- fect subsidized out of wages artificially de- pressed below the coast levels. Bitterness has been expressed by Interior Local Unions because of a vicious and irre- sponsible system of contracting out work normally performed by members of the bar- gaining unit. Fairly extensive operations Worthwhile “In our own trade all | can say is when we short- ened our work day one hour we put a thousand youngsters to work.” — Harry Van Arsdale, presi- dent, New York City Labor Council and Local 3, IBEW. IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO A QUESTION nearly 60 years. finest logging boot that money can buy. 5 KNO Val ... dnd Pierre Paris & Sons have KNOWN HOW for UNION-MADE 51 West Hostings Street Vancouver 3, B.C. Family Teamwork in Craftsmanship since 1907 It was then, and still is now, the HOW have been sliced up in a manner that has placed members at the tender mercies of the contractors. No protection in regard to wage rates, seniority and other contract benefits is provided. Contractors working on a narrow profit margin are often found in arrears with wages. It is now demanded that contractors who sign an agreement with the IWA should ac- cept their obligations and stipulate in sub- contracts that union conditions shall apply. “WVe-tooism” Found in South “Me-tooism” has caught on in the South- ern Interior. The Local Unions like the Mill- wright’s Appprenticeship Training Program now accepted in the Northern Interior and are bidding for the coast type of job evalua- tion in their two plywood plants. Widely-scattered operations in the Inter- ior have required the Regional Policy Com- mittee to utilize special methods in develop- ing membership and public support for the Union’s demands. The bargaining demands were displayed recently in all Interior dailies and weeklies serving the lumbering areas, Local Union officers report that the slogan “parity with the coast” has fired an unusual degree of enthusiasm. Serving British Columbia . . from ten coastal bases with a fleet of twenty-five versatile aircraft. Reliable schedules, convenient charters, fast emergency service, experienced pilots, all these add up to a complete air service by... B.C. AIR LINES LIMITED The Right Sized Airline