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THE B.C.

LUMBER WORKER

Page Nine

) THE OFFICERS and MEMBERS, IWA DISTRICT No. ‘Meeting in its second quarterly Council session since the

y 4 Therefore, with a view to facili- _ tating the work of this enlarged _ Council meeting, we herewith out-

‘set forth what we believe is ne- cessary for our continued suc- _ €ess and advancement in the fut- ‘ure,

e

One of the most outstanding ains that labor has made in the history of the Province of British Columbia was the amend- ments to the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitra- tion Act enact- in the last ses- sion of the Legislature.

The out- standing fac- tor, of course, in the estab- : lishment of la- bor’s Bill of Rights, was the dis- play of complete unanimity of the Part of all labor in this province, ‘regardless of affiliation. In this, our camp and mill stewards, our _ Sub-Local, Local and District of- ficials played an important part.

With the passage of these amendments come added respon- Sibilities to the individual work- _ er; the responsibility of joining _ our union and remaining in good

_ standing for the purpose of cer- tification and recognition before the law. Having obtained such certification, it is necessary for ‘Us to do everything within our to peacefully and amicably otiate with the management culminate such negotiations sued union agreements cover- wages, hours and working

H. Pritchett President

added authority and pres- Gained by our District Coun- the last three-month period eyes of management, goy- pment and the general public, ‘direct result of our increased hip. We now have eight ng chartered Locals, and ximate membership in- of 2650 since the District n. In face of this genu- for organization among ers in British Columbia desire for recognition chosen union, this en- Council should re- utilize every member and cer under our jurisdic- up the job of or- industry this year. ently your District Execu- ard met in special confer-

Director of Organization George Brown. It was mutually agreed that -three additional organizers will be placed 6n the Internation- al payroll, which would then make a total of seven International Or- ganizers for this District. The main points of concentration for the new organizers would be — Victoria and area, Vancouver and area, Port Moody and surround- ing area. a)

It was highly gratifying to note that in spite of the fact that this District Council has yet to con- solidate its membership around signed union agreements, this District represented the second highest vote cast of any District Council in fayor of the recent International Referendum on the two dollar special assessment. A sentiment for meeting our legiti- mate debts to the C.I.O. is high, and in spite of the fact that a num- ber of Locals, because of their numerical strength and consoli- dation, will re- quire an ex- oneration; it is felt that if such exonera- tions are granted, large sections of our membership within the jur- isdiction of these Locals will voluntar- ily pay the assessment to assist in the organizational work.

M. Mosher 3rd Vice-Pres.

Our organization, with the assistance of the Pacific Coast Labor Bureau, prepared an exten- sive brief in the matter of time and one-half for all work done in exeess of eight hours in any one day or 48 hours in any one week, covering every phase of the en- tire woodworking industry, sub- mitting same to the Regional War Labor Board. The Regional War Labor Board referred the matter to the Board of Industrial Rela- tions of the Provincial Govern- ment who generally agreed that time and one-half was essential to the woodworking industry and thereupon called a conference of District Officials to discuss the problems that such an order would entail, Later they submit- ted a rough draft of their pro- posals, embodying exemption of 18 different, categories, who would be required to work nine hours in any one day or 54 hours in any one week before they would be eligible to receive the time and one-half premium rate.

However, as the result of repre- sentations by our Council, these

fficers’ Report

— GREETINGS:

exemptions have been reduced to six categories, and further re- ductions will be necessary in fut- ure by direct negotiations with the companies.

The important thing here is that the principle of time and one-half pay has now been established in the sawmill industry; and con- sideration is being given for its extension into the logging, shingle and plywood industries at an early date.

At regular intervals, while in negotiations or even arbitration, the employers used as their main argument the fact that at no time in the history of the woodwork- ing industry had any employer signed a union agreement with our organization. This argument has now been removed, as a re- sult of the signed union agree- ment between IWA Local 1-363 and the Batco Development Com- pany, which provides for com- plete union recognition, a union camp clause and check off.

)

As a direct result of our con- tinued organizational growth and proven responsibilities, Selective Service and the Federal Depart- ment of Labor has granted the District Council a hiring permit which authorizes our District Of- ficers ‘to despatch men to jobs in every section of the industry. This is an important step, as can be seen in establishing a higher de- gree of cooperation between un- jon and government and laying a sound basis for future union hiring. However, the union hiring permit will be negative unless our membership becomes union hir-

Bert Melsness Secretary-Treasurer

ing. conscious; insists on hiring through the District Office and refuses to hire in the future with the shark hiring hall which has always maintained an extensive blacklist system.

One other outstanding victory for the IWA since .our last Dis- trict Convention is the majority award favoring Local 1-71 in the Queen Charoltte Islands dispute. It is the opinion of your officers that if this award is implemented immediately, as recommended by the Board, it will have a tremen- dous effect in improving the mor- ale of the organized loggers en-

gaged in the production of aero- plane spruce, reduce to a mini- mum absenteeism, and lay a basis for sound labor relations with the employers.

CS)

The Federal Government, real- izing the importance of stabilized labor relations, and setting an example to that end, has passed a special Order-in-Council known as P.C. 10802. Such order-in- council requires a crown com- pany, where its employees are or- ganized, to recognize the union and the officers of such union and to negotiate with them, con- summating such negotiations in a signed union agreement. Unfor- tunately, the Order -in-Council has as yet insufficient authority to make such provisions compul- sory.

Cognizant of the weakness of the government’s labor policy, and the lack of a sound labor policy, the District Council, with the assistance of the Pacific Coast Labor Bureau, prepared an z= extensive brief A dealing with such matters as our desire for compul- sory collective bargaining, es- tablishment of mana gement- labor produc- tion commit- tees and an in- dustry co-ord- inator, an adequate and equit- able system of rationing, equal pay for women’ doing men’s work and other matters of importance to the workers employed in our industry.

This brief, presented to a special committee on labor known as the McTague Commission by your International Board Mem- ber Nigel Morgan, received a sym- pathetic hearing. It is believed that with the support of all other organized groups in Canada, bene- fits will be forthcoming on the basis of the final report of the McTague Commission in the next session of Parliament.

CANADIAN CONGRESS OF LABOR.

While in Ottawa, Bro. Morgan interviewed President Mosher and Secretary Pat Conroy of the Canadian Congress of Labor, with a view to seeing the return of Dis- trict One of the IWA to full status

Ernie Dalskog 2nd Vice-Pres.

as an affiliate to the Canadian ~

Congress of Labor. Bro. Morgan reports that the Congress officers were adamant in denying rein- statement to our organization but that they instructed one of the officers to come to Vancouver

to the Midsummer IWA Conferenee

Sixth Annual Convention of District No. 1, International Woodworkers of America, your officers med it advisable, in face of the coming war offensive and the tremendous gains made by our membership in this past period, to broaden the District Coun- meeting within the framework of our District Constitution. This will enable us to have a frank discussion relative to the immediate problems facing our bership and our added responsibilities; in formulating plans to continue the excellent work of our union, to consolidate our membership around the iating and signing of union agreements, and in aes fhe. pemeunins woodworkers of this province to join the ranks of our International Union.for purpy ibuti i are in eat tasks that lie ahead. The ee ere oer aoe ah ee Annual Convention, in line with the decisions of the Sixth International Convention held in the City Spokane, will form the basis of our continued work in the woodworking industry. This program embodies a full all-out war program and the development f the offensive against fascism this year. Such an all-out program necessitates the implementation of Production-for-Victory Committees in every opera- tion, the organization of the unorganized and the fullest participation on the part of every officer and member of our organization in every phase of Canada’s _ war effort—in taking care of the immediate grievances and improving the working conditions of the woodworkers; thus, in so doing, placing our membership n a strong position to make its maximum contribution in winning victory over fascism; and after such victory, winning the peace that must follow.

early in July to discuss the mat- ter further with District and In- ternational officers of the IWA.

In any event, your officers deem it most advisable that in spite of the refusal on the part of the of- ficers of the Canadian Congress of Labor to reinstate us as a func- tioning affiliate, we should pursue a policy of organizing the unor- ganized in the woodworking in- dustry, consolidating such organi- zation with signed. agreements, establishing ‘ production committees in every -mill and camp and building the prestige of our organization so that we can make the greatest pos- sible contribu- tion to Can- - ada’s war ef- fort.

H. Bergren Ist Vice-Pres.

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One matter of importance to our District is the refusal on the part of certain reactionary United States Immigration officials to al- low our elected officers and union delegates to cross the In- ternational boundary in pursuit of their official duties. President Lowery informs us that he has taken the matter up with the state authorities of the United States government in B.C. and while.in Vancouver, met, in the presence of International Board Member Nigel Morgan, with the American Consulate-General in order to get some assurance that the elected delegates and officers of our union would be guaranteed their right to legal entry to participate as an International affiliate in the seventh annual, convention of our union, to be held in the city of Sacramento, Cal.

It is important now for every local affiliate in our district to take steps to elect their full quota of delegates and to raise the ne- cessary finances to send them to this all-important Convention.. It is here that a good neighbor policy will be developed and in- ternational solidarity upheld in the process of democratically de- termining a progrom and policy in the interests of our interna- tional membership, the general public and our allied cause.

ene

The importance of organizing the unorganized should be con- sidered here. While we have made tremendous organizational gains in this district, we are only at’ the half way mark; which

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