JANUARY—FEBRUARY, 1974 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER EIDLER CREW WINS SCALATOR CLAUSE The 150 members of Local 1- 207 IWA, employed by the Zeidler Plywood Corporation in Edmonton, have ratified a two-year agreement providing for an 82-cent-an-hour across the board increase plus a cost- of-living escalator clause. The escalator clause calls for a 1 cent increase per hour for every .3 rise in the cost-of-liv- ing index. Forty-seven cents of the across the board wage in- crease was retroactive to last November 1st, and the remain- ing 35 cents will be paid November 1st, 1974. Fringe benefit ments include: @ Increasing both Life In- surance and A.D. & D. from $7,500 to $10,000. improve- ) tpircheine Weekly In- demnity to a maximum of 66 2/3 of earnings or $113.00 per week for 52 weeks. Under the old agreement the maximum earnings were 60 per cent for 26 weeks. @ Effective November 1, 1974, employees with 12 years service will receive 4 weeks vacation at 84 per cent. They now receive 4 weeks after 14 years at 8% per cent. Other benefits include im- provements to the Union Security clause, Bereavement Leave, Compassionate Leave, and job posting. Negotiating for the Union were Local President Arne Christensen and Plant Mem- bers Joe Dygdala, Richard ’ Welwood and Ann Sharun. COMMITTEE MEMBERS of focal 1-184 IWA Saskatchewan, who negotiated the recent agreement at the Northern Wood Preservers Ltd. Members are back row, left, Paul Huska, Jack Bueckert, Harry Doig. Front row, left, John Bodnarchuk, Neil L. Menard (Local President), Doug Morash. One of the Sc organizers bas the IWA on the Prairies is 24- year-old Miss Diane Wells, whose strong labour feelings played a major role in the Union winning certification at the Neonex Leisure Products Plant in Red Deer, Alberta. Diane is half Native Indian (Cree) and very proud of her heritage. The youngest of ten children she was born and received her education in Alberta. sae leaving school she wor as a general manager of a taxi company for a year and a half and after that as a registration officer for Canadian Animal Protection Service. From there Diane went to the Neonex plant where she worked as a line worker for one year id as an fncaion for two years. When the IWA attempted to organize the operation last January, Diane proved invaluable to the Union by convincing her fellow wor- kers to swing their support from the company union to the IWA, Her zeal and strong labour convictions won the admira- tion of her fellow workers and Regional officers to the point that she was appointed to the Organizational staff of the Regional Council. The fact that Diane is young and a woman doesn’t deter her. She admits that in her new job she has never been happier and her eagerness and fresh ap- proach should make her a real asset in the difficult task of organizing on the Prairies. PICTURES, MANUSCRIPTS WANTED The Regional Council is presently trying to put together '- and organize an archives of IWA history. From _ this material a permanent record of the Union will be developed in the form of a book. There are large gaps in the material presently available and it is hoped that there are IWA members who may have in their possession original, files, manuscripts, pictures, etc., which could be made available to us. With the up-to-date reproduction equipment now in use we can return unharmed any documents or pictures loaned to us. We are also interested in interviewing retired members who took part in the early organization of the Union and getting their recollections down on tape. If you can be of help contact Tom Fawkes in the. Public Relations Department of the Regional Council 2859 Com- mercial Drive, Vancouver V5N 4C7, or phone 874-5261. | KELOWNA HOSTS CONFERENCE The IWA Regional Safety Conference will be held March 1-2, in the Capri Motor Hotel, Kelowna, commencing at 9:30 a.m. The two-day Interior con- ference is the result of the amendment to the Regional Constitution approved in 1971 which states: “The Annual Safety Con- ference shall be held in Van- couver immediately prior to the Regional Convention and shall be of two days’ duration. In the spring of each year a two-day Safety Conference shall be held in the Interior of British Columbia.” ~ provincial INTERIOR WAGE MEET The Southern Interior Wage & Contract Conference will be held in February 23-24, at the Capri Motor Hotel in Kelowna. During the two-day meet, delegates from the three Southern Interior IWA Locals will formulate their contract demands for presentation to the industry. APPLICATION MADE FOR THREE SAWMILLS The IWA has applied for certification of the three Van- couver Island sawmills lost to the PPWC last year. A majority of the employees in the three operations have indicated a strong desire to again be represented by the IWA. Remarks from a number of the employees show that con- cern over the Coast Negoti- ations is a motivating factor for the swing to the IWA. They state, as the largest union in the province, the IWA has the strength to fight for a decent settlement and as members they would like to participate in improving their wages and working conditions. The three mills located in the jurisdiction of Local 1-80, Duncan, are CIPA Sawmill, Mayo Lumber and Ladysmith Forest Products. IWA SPEARHEADS TIME CHANGE PROTEST British Columbians can thank the IWA for the government delaying its planned change to daylight saving time. The Union was the first organization to protest the time switch-over. Regional President Jack Munro pointed out in a telegram to Premier Dave Barrett that the move would seriously affect the family life of loggers. The telegram stated: “T would ask at this time that the government change its planned switch-over to daylight saving time from standard time. A delay of one month would solve the present situa- tion that this Union finds itself in. The crews who are em- ployed in the woods throughout the Province are presently having to wait until after 8:00 a.m. to start work as there is not enough light to operate safely. With the planned time change these men would not be able to start until after 9:00 a.m., which would mean that they would not be home until as in the evening. The result- ing disruption to family life would be tremendous. We feel a month’s delay in the change- over is not too much to ask under the circumstances.”’ Following sending of the telegram, the Union’s officers met with the government in Victoria and pointed out the seriousness of the situation. The IWA’s argument for maintaining the present stan- dard time was backed later by the forest industry and other organizations. The end result was at the eleventh hour the government backed off by announcing that the time change would be delayed until February 3, when it would be again reviewed.