DECEMBER, 1974 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER By J.J. MUNRO Regional President As a result of resolutions to the 1974 Wages and Contract Conference, the I.W.A. Coast Negotiating Committee sub- mitted to the Industry Negoti- ating Committee Point 16 of the Programatic Resolution which reads: Jack Munro “We demand that sawmill rates be grouped as was done in logging’’. During the early part of negotiations the Industry demanded that the I.W.A. enter into a job evaluation program with F.I.R. for the determination of category rates in the sawmill industry along the same lines as the existing plywood job evalua- ation program. The I.W.A. Negotiating Com- mittee unanimously opposed the Industry’s demand and the Parties finally agreed to the grouping of sawmill categories on the basis of job analysis (See Article VIII of the 1974 Coast Master Agreement). I appointed the following I.W.A. representatives to a sub-committee to work with an Industry sub-committee on this part of negotiations: Brother Earl Foxcroft, President Local 1-85 — Spokes- man; Brother G. Stoney, President Local 1-357 — Secre- ; Brother Joe Fowler, President Local 1-367; Brother Ron Grant, President Local 1- 288; Brother Bob Blanchard, 3rd Vice President of the Regional Council. Leated Tony Vanderheide — I further appointed Brother Tony Vanderheide of the Council staff to work The joint Committees from the I.W.A. and F.I.R. selected the following six (6) mills as “pilot projects”. Crown Zellerbach — Fraser Mills, MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. Canadian White Pine Division, B.C. Forest Products Ltd. — Hammond Division, B.C. Forest Products Ltd. — Victoria Sawmill Division, B.C. Forest Products Ltd. — Cowichan Sawmill Division, MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. Somass Division. After several months of meetings amongst themselves and with the Industry repre- sentatives, the I.W.A. committee reported to the I.W.A. Coast Negotiating Com- mittee on September 11, 1974, that ‘‘no agreement”’ could be reached on 133 categories in the six (6) pilot mills. Following a meeting bet- ween the I.W.A. and F.I.R.’s Negotiating Committees I appointed Brother Vander- heide to try and ress:y2 the outstanding 133 ‘‘disputed”’ categories with the Industry. Brother Vanderheide reported back to the Coast Negotiating Committee on September 20, 1974 and his findings were unanimously accepted by the I.W.A. Coast Negotiating Committee and ‘finalized with F.I.R. This cleared the way for the Regional Council to start the sub- ~ preparation for a joint I.W.A.- F.I.R. seminar which was held on September 28, 1974 and whereby the results of the six (6) pilot mills were released to the Coast Local Unions and the Industry representatives. This also cleared the way for the Coast Local Unions to start the grouping of sawmill categories along the lines of the pilot mills in the other operations which are client members of F.I.R. The Coast Negotiating Com- mittee approved my appoint- ment of Brother Vanderheide to the joint I.W.A.-F.I.R. Sawmill Rate Determination Clearing Committee for the purpose of dealing with all groupings either agreed to and/or disputed at the Local Union - Local Management level under the terms of the 1974 Coast Master Agreement. - Brother Harry Jaeck from Local 1-217 was’ placed on the Regional payroll to assist Brother Vanderheide on a temporary basis. They have been meeting with Local Union representatives, Industry representatives, F.I.R. representatives and visited mill sites on an almost constant basis since November 1, 1974. Following is a Local Union by Local Union breakdown of the work completed to date: No. of Local 1-71 Categories Canadian Cellulose Co. Ltd., Northern Lumber Operations, Terrace, B.C. 65 Canadian Cellulose Company Ltd., Kitwanga Lumber Operation 31 Prince Rupert Forest Products Ltd. 29 Commercial Lumber Co. Ltd., Pemberton, B.C. 39 Weldwood of Canada Ltd., Empire Lumber Div. 61 Telegraph Cove Mills Ltd. 11 Local 1-80 B.C. Forest Products — Cowichan Sawmill Div. 90 Western Forest Industries Ltd. 73 G. W. Dorman Pulp Chip Co. Ltd. : Mill No. 1 (Sawmill Div.) 23 G. W. Dorman Pulp Chip Co. Ltd., Mill No. 2 (Planermill Div.) 26 MacMillan Bloedel Limited — Chemainus Sawmill Division 130 Saltair Lumber Company Ltd. 30 CIPA Lumber Co. Ltd. 26 Local 1-85 MacMillan Bloedel — Somass Division 132 MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. — Alberni Pacific Division 98 Tahsis Company Ltd., Tahsis Sawmill Division 71 Tahsis Company Ltd. — Nootka Cedar Division 36 Local 1-118 B.C. Forest Products — Victoria Sawmill Div. 86 Sooke Forest Products Ltd. 57 Plumper Bay Sawmills Ltd. 29 Local 1-217 MacMillan Bloedel — Canadian White Pine Div. 106 Rayonier Canada (B.C.) Ltd., Marpole Sawmill Division 73 Rayonier Canada (B.C.) Ltd. Silvertree Division 48 Canadian Forest Products Ltd. — Eburne Saw Mills 78 Crown Zellerbach, Richmond Lumber Mill 35 Westcoast Cellufibre Industries Ltd. 19 Nanaimo Forest Products Ltd. 25 Bay Forest Products Ltd. 43 Nova Lumber Co. Ltd. 1 30 Mainland Sawmills Ltd. 26 PanAbode Buildings Ltd. 23 L & K Lumber (North Shore) Ltd. 33 Vancouver Mill Fuels Ltd. 1 Local 1-357 Crown Zellerbach — Fraser Mills 81 MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. Mainland ‘ Processing Division See “SAWMILL RATE DETERMINATION” p-4 OFFICERS INSTALLEDatthe Haney meeting are from left, back row — Dennis Huber, Conductor; Mike Campbell, Recording Secretary; Ron Chequis, Warden; Erik Wood, Financial Secretary ; Gordon Claypool, First Vice-President; Jack Vance, Third Vice-President. Seated left, Mike Freylinger, Second Vice-President; Joe Fowler, President. RexceneEeceanneenees 4 WRITER PRAISES Ce Eee The following article by John Burns praising Premier Bar- rett for his diplomacy on his recent China trip is most remarkable as Mr. Burns is noted for his low opinion of most Canadian politicians who have visited that country. By JOHN BURNS Globe and Mail Correspondent PEKING — Would you believe David Barrett the diplomat? The B.C. Premier, preceded to Peking by a reputation for abrasiveness, has won friends among Chinese officials and Canadian diplomats alike for the amiable and judicious manner in which he has handled his China tour. The embarrassment caused by the gaucheries of the last provincial minister to visit here, Ontario’s Allan Gross- man, has had no counterpart in the Barrett visit; which moved on yesterday from Peking to Shanghai. The External Affairs Department in Ottawa, which was concerned enought to have Ambassador John Small cut short his home leave and return to Peking in time for Mr. Barrett’s arrival, need not have worried about the B.C. leader bruising Chinese sensi- tivities. From the moment of his arrival here a week ago, through a schedule replete with pitfalls for the unwary, he has performed in a pleasant and understated manner which has earned him high marks on the diplomatic scoreboard. If Mr. Grossman’s heavy- handedness during a trade mission two years ago was an example of the injury that can be done by those unversed in the diplomatic arts (he af- fected, for example, never to have heard of the Albanian leader Enver Hoxha, who is counted among China’s closest allies), Mr. Barrett has demonstrated the converse. Stark Contrast The contrast was starkly evident in the way the two men related to the Chinese.. Mr. Grossman took to accentuating the differences between him- self and his hosts, for example, by drawing attention to the contrast between his own fashionable ties and buckled shoes and the Chinese officials’ baggy cotton tunics, whereas Mr. Barrett, without fawning, has managed to stress the things that he and the Chinese have in common. This tendency, which has seemed natural and unforced, has been evident at banquets, in trade talks, and in the Premier’s visits to places of interest such as the Taching oilfield in the frozen wastes of Manchuria. But it was cap- tured also when Mr. Barrett, at ‘his own initiative, wandered into the kitchen of his Peking hotel for a chat with the cooks and amused them with remin- iscences about his days as a ‘potato peeler in a restaurant kitchen. This kind of spontaneous demonstration of shared humanity is far more effective in establishing a bond with the Chinese than the fulsome praise that too many Canadians, including Prime Minister Pierrre Trudeau, - have felt obliged to heap on the Communist Party and its leaders. Such praise, however well intentioned, is bound to sound insincere coming from a liberal democratic (or, as the Chinese would say, bougeois) politician, and Mr. Barrett has wisely avoided it. It may be that his modesty is borne of political apprehen- sions, for he has trouble enough at home without creat- ing the public perception that he came to China and allowed his socialist inclinations to run away with him. But whatever the reason, he has adopted throughout the only defensible position for an elected Western government leader that what the Chinese are doing is impressive and makes sense for them, but is hardly relevant to an advanced, industrialized country with a strong demo- cratic tradition like Canada.