rewesterm canadian

VANCOUVER, B.C.

lumber worker

ISSN 0049-7371

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 1977

ET

LY PORTABLE

: ONE PENSION PLAN

| ACHIEVED IN FOREST |

Ra Sa ee

A major eee auth: was
accomplished by the IWA Pro-
vincial Negotiating Committee
in winning one common pen-
sion plan with complete porta-
bility for IWA members in
Western Canada working in
operations certified to IWA
Local Unions.

The Committee also
achieved a fifty percent in-
crease on the pensions of IWA
members now retired who
were eligible for pensions and
were covered by either the
Coast, Northern or Southern
Interior plans.

The Memorandum of Agree-
ment also provides that all
IWA members in B.C. entitled
to a pension under the new plan
will be given full credit for all
past service on retirement at
the rate of nine dollars a year
before January 1, 1973, and at
the rate of ten dollars a year
since then.

Members who retire on and
after July 1, 1977, will be given
credit for the past service. For
this purpose retirement is
deemed to occur as of the date
of the first pension cheque.

Past service credit applys
only to those members who
have. not broken continuous
employment by working less
than 320 hours in the most re-
cent 24-month period.

Other highlights of the
Agreement include:

e@ A wage increase of sixty

cents an hour June 15th, 1977,

for Coast members and July
ist, 1977, for Southern Interior
members, a further increase of
fifty cents an hour at the
beginning of the second year of

the agreement and a final in- |

crease of five cents an hour in
the last six months of the con-
tract.

e One personal floating

holiday starting in the second
year of the agreement. If an

Beales is Pee to work
on the day designated for the
holiday, overtime for that day
will be paid at the rate of time
and one-half. The employee
will then be entitled to take the
holiday with pay at a later date
to be mutually agreed upon.

© Folding in the present 12
cents an hour generated by the
C.O.L.A. formula into the base
rate. The C.O.L.A. clause will
be suspended for the duration
of the Agreement but the
language will be retained.

© Improvements on Vaca-
tions providing for four weeks
vacation after ten or more
years; five weeks — after
eighteen years or more; six
weeks after twenty-five years.

© An increase in group life
insurance & A.D. & D. from the
present $16,000 to $18,000, ef-
fective June 15th, 1978, on the
Coast and July 1, 1978, in the
Southern Interior.

LOCAL 1-85 SELLING

GASOLINE CHEAPER TO

Local 1-85 IWA, Port Alberni,
has gone into the retail gas
station business but its motiva-
tion is not for profit alone. The
primary reason is to provide
badly needed jobs for incapa-
citated members who are
having a difficult time making
ends meet.

Having control of the station
the Local Union is also able to
offer trade unionists in the
Alberni Valley gasoline and oil
at lower prices than other
retail gasoline outlets.

The officers of Local 1-85

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Vencowver, B.C.

IRN REQUESTED

have been concerned for a
number of years about the
welfare of members laid off the
job permanently because of
illness or injury.

A number of plans have been
discussed seeking ways of the
Local sponsoring part time
work for these members to
augment their incomes. Last
November Local President
Earl Foxcroft suggested the
Union look into the possibility

UNIONISTS

of taking over the defunct
Alpine Car Co-op gas. station
and have it manned by dis-
abled members.

To go into the business it was
necessary for the Local to set
up a separate holding society,
the Green and Gold. When this
was done the officers then con-
tacted the various oil com-
panies to obtain a workable

See ““GASOLINE”’ page 2

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| LOCAL 1-423 OFFICERS
NEGOTIATE AGREEMENTS

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Officers of 1 Local 1-423 IWA,
Kelowna, report that they have

negotiated a mew one-year

agreement for the employees
of the Eccott Building Su lies
Ltd., and the OK Builders
Centre Ltd., both of Kelowna.

Terms of the agreements
call for:

e Fifty cents an hour across

the board wage increase.
e Contractor and Sub-Con-

tractor clause.

e Amendments to the
dental plan.

© One week notice in the
event of lay-off.

@ A shift differential for

evening shift of 25 cents per
hour effective March 23, 1977,

and 30 cents an hour effective
September 23, 1977.

The wage increase brings the
base rate to $7.75 per ‘hour.

Clerks will go up to $8.00 nan
hour and outside sales people
will rise to $8.25 per hour.

A severance pay clause to
provide for two weeks pay for
each full year of service and
for part years of service eight
hours pay for each month
worked, was negotiated for the
employees of the Eccott
Building Supplies.

A number of miscellaneous
problems were also ironed out
to the satisfaction of the crews.

The Eccott Builders Supply
firm is the largest building
supply company in the Interior
and employs approximately
sixty workers. The Company
just recently opened a new
store in Kelowna at a cost of
$3,800,000.

OK Builders Centre Ltd., is a
smaller operation and employs
12 workers.

© An increase in weekly in-
demnity of ten dollars in the
first year and a further five
dollars in the second year. The
present coverage of 39 weeks
has been increased to 52 weeks.

© Improved medical cover-
age to extend Extended Health
Benefit to include hospitaliza-
tion coverage up to a maxi-
mum of $4.00 per day.

© Improved Dental Plan
providing for the employers to
pay 90% of the premium and
‘the employee 10%. Employers
will now pay a maximum
$1,250 for orthodontic work.

© Fare Allowance Article
has been improved by reducing
the seniority requirement for
paid round trip transportation
from five months to four
months for returning to camp
after layoff, hospitalization, or
convalescence after illness or
accident, and further amended
by deleting 50 days and in-
serting 40 days effective June
15, 1977.

© Improvements to the Tech-
nological Change Article which
will allow members who are
displaced from their ‘jobs
because of technological

change to be placed in a new
job at their ee rate of t pay

for three months. At the end of
the three months they will re-
ceive an adjusted rate of pay
set at halfway between the rate
of their old job and the rate of
their new job. At the end of the
full six. months they will re-
ceive the rate of their new job.

Members will have the op-
tion to terminate their employ-
ment when they are displaced
because of technological
change and will be eligible for
severance pay under the
existing terms of the collective
agreement. The decision to
take the severance pay option
must be made within six
months of being displaced
from the job.

A number of other fringe
benefits were also negotiated
and agreement was made to
set up joint committees of
Union and Management to
study some of the job problems
that require remedy.

The Coast employers in-
formed the Union’s, Nego-
tiating Committee that it was
their intention to pay the retro-
active money owing the mem-
bers from June 15th as soon as
the contract is signed. The
Committee believes that the
Southern Interior employers
will follow suit.

[REGIONAL COUNCIL e

FORMS NEW LOCAL |

"Visitors from anes, every
Local Union in the Regional
Council plus International and
Regional officers attended the
First Annual Delegated
Meeting of Local 1-425 June 18,
at Williams Lake, to see the
Local officially launched.

The decision to form a new
Local Unien was made a
number of months ago after
careful study of ways to
provide improved service to
IWA members in the Williams
Lake and 100 Mile House areas.

Following the initial study a
referendum ballot of the mem-
bership was taken to get the
general thinking of the plan.
The response was overwhelm-
ingly in favour of forming a
new Local and Neil Menard,
the 3rd Vice-President of the
Regional Council was given the
job of working out the details
and finding the right people to
work with him.

A number of Directors were
appointed whose task it was to
draft Local By-Laws and
submit a report of their ac-
tivities to the Annual Meeting.

The first order of business at
the Annual Meeting following

“|
the Directors’ Report was the
presentation of the Local’s
Charter to Neil Menard by
International President Keith
Johnson.

Nominations were then
conducted for the required
Slate of officers. Elected by
acclamation at the meeting
were Harvey Arcand,
President; Brian Symmes, 2nd
Vice-President; Gurmel
Baines, 3rd Vice-President;
Noel Gooding, Financial Sec-
retary; Lana Arbuckle,
Recording Secretary; Bob
Wilson, Warden; Ray Harris,
Conductor; Four-Year
Trustee, Allan Gatzke.

Nominated for the other
posts and whose names will go
out on a referendum ballot
were — Paul Beaulieu, Barry
Dalling for 1st Vice-President;
Sham Sharma, Terry Tate for
Two-Year Trustee; Rex
Sutherland, Mohinder Kapoor
for Six-Year Trustee.

Delegates elected to attend
the Regional Convention in
Vancouver in September were
— Terry Tate, Joe Green,

See ‘““LOCAL” page 2