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Vol, XXII, No. 1

Ist ISSUE, JANUARY -

VANCOUVER, B.C.

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IWA Offers Same ~ Terms In South

Settlement of the strike issues in the Southern Interior on the basis of the terms already agreed upon in the Nor- thern Interior has been proposed by the IWA District

Policy Committee to the areas. In the meantime, Judge A. E.

Lord has announced his intention to open his enquiry into the mat-

* ters under dispute at Kelowna on

January 20.

Protest made by the Cranbrook Local Union that the commis- sioner had disclosed an anti-union prejudice went unheeded by the

provincial government.

All strike committees through- out the southern section of the Interior report a high morale,

employers in strike-bound

with the picket lines remaining unbroken, despite employer sub- terfuges and the inclement weather.

‘The settlement in the northern Interior has inspired renewed con- fidence among the strikers that equally as good terms must’ in- evitably be awarded in the south.

This week a truckload of win- ter clothing was despatched from the IWA District Office for dis- tribution to the strikers’ families.

Loggers

Union S.

Demand

S. Probe

Acting on instructions from the recent’ Local Union Convention, the officers of Local 1-71, IWA have re- quested the Federal Minister of Transport to order an investigation into transportation facilities provided by) the Union Steamships for loggers in the coast camps.

The Minister was informed +hat the steamshiv company enjoys a virtual monopoly in transporta- tion to and from many important logging areas, and has abused this monopoly to the grave disadvan- tage of the loggers.

The specific complaints were stated as follows by Fred Fieber, Financial Secretary.

Limited Accommodation

“First of all, the company has not sufficient boats, and second- ly, some of these boats have no suitable accommodations for the trips they are making.

Last December 16th, the Com- pany sent the “Lady Cynthia” to a point 200 miles up the Coast to bring in 125 men. They left this port at 8 o’clock in the after- noon with these men aboard and arrived in Vancouver the follow- ing morning at 7 o'clock. This ship has no sleeping accommoda- tions, and you can readily under- stand the attitude of the loggers having to sit up all night in being brought to Vancouver.

Sit Up and Pay

It is common practice for the Union Steamships Company to charge First Class for loggers, and if no berth is available, they merely stamp “Sit-Up” on his

WHAT'S INSIDE

IWA Pix .... 5-8

Sofety ........ 6-7

ticket, and he must do just that, even though the company has charged him for a berth

Berth accommodations on some of these boats, when available, are very poor with small rooms having two bunks and a settee that is too short for proper sleep- ing accommodations. They put men on these settees and, of

See “PROBE” Page 3

MEMBERS THANKED

The Editor:

We wish to pass along the]:

heartfelt thanks of this Local Union to all those Brothers and Sisters who so generously con- tributed to the used clothing drive that was responsible for the delivery of nearly one ton of used clothing to us this week.

Their generosity is only match- ed by the quality of the clothes sent and it has made it possible for a large number of our peo- ple to have a little more comfort when it is really needed.

The spirit with which it was given and the large and wide response to the appeal is most heartening to us in Local 1-424. We wish you to convey our thanks to as many as possible of those who donated the clothes, and also to those who took so much trouble to sort and pack the large assortment, which is being quickly distributed to all parts of this Local Union.

Fraternally yours,

C. H. Webb, Financial Secretary, Local 1-424.

MITCHELL BLASTS APL. REP.

Severe censure of strike- breaking tactics at Creston Sawmills Ltd., Creston, was levelled by District Secre- tary-Treasurer George Mit- chell at a representative of the AFL Carpenters and Joiners in a recent radio broadcast.

With reference to a statement which appeared in the Creston Review, the IWA official said:

“T must report a deplorable in- cident at Creston, affecting strik- ers at the Creston Sawmills. A rival AFL union made an attempt to cross our picket line in order to snatch certification away from the IWA by a sneak raid.

The following report appears in a recent. issue of the Creston Review:

Ben P. Bens, vice-president of the Carpenters’ Union, issued a personal opinion relative to the strike situation locally. The statement of opinion Is as fol- lows:

"On December 11, 1953, charter number 3014, Lumber and Saw- mill Workers of the United Bro- therhood of Carpenters and Join- ers of America was granted in Creston. A majority of the worke ers at the Creston Sawmills Ltd. signifled their willingness to ap- ply for said charter at a recently held meeting and the attitude was they wished to go to work,

“This charter was granted from International office of the UBC&J of America, Indidna, which Is affillated with the AFL

See “BLASTS” Page 3

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UNION SECURES IMPORTANT GAINS IN NEW CONTRACT

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IWA strike in the Northern Interior of B.C. ended on January 6, after 102 days of hard-fought struggle, with achievement of revised contract terms which signified a victory for the Union and substantial gains

for the strikers.

A 92% majority rejection by the strikers of the settlement terms proposed by Judge A. E. Lord, as Commissioner of En- quiry, resulted in a series of con- ferences in Prince George be-

"| tween the bargaining representa-

tives of the employers, and the IWA negotiators headed by Dis- trict President Joe Morris.

Further concessions were made by the employers which offered hope of settlement. These were immediately submitted to the District Policy Committee, whose members recommended accept- ance.

‘When the recommendation was approved by vote of the IWA members on strike, and ratified by the employers, an agreement was immediately signed, and work in the ‘struck operations promptly resumed.

Tlie strike ended when an agreement was reached on the following points:

The Terms

(1) A more satisfactory form of union security than had previously been considered by the employers.

(2) A wage increase of 5% cents an hour across the board, effective immediately, raising the base rate in the area to $1.35% an hour.

(8) Revision of the seniority provisions’ in the contract to conform to the terms of the Coast- master contract.

(4) Revision of the vacations with pay clause to reduce the qualifying period for those with five years’ service to 1000 working days with three per- cent of yearly earnings or one week and three additional days’ vacation with pay or pay in lieu thereof.

(5) Inclusion in the contract of the standard grievance pro- cedure.

(6) Inclusion in the contract of the standard arbitration procedure.

(7 Earlier opening date for negotiations each year.

One of the chief stumbling blocks to settlement was the question of union security. The Union’s negotiators had been confronted with the most deter- mined opposition on the part of the employers to any workable relations in this respect. The formula finally secured by the Union, after prolonged confer- ences and the announcement that the strike would be continued unless concessions were made, was as follows:

Union Security Clause

(a) The Company will -co- operate with the Union in ob- taining and retaining as mem- bers the employees as defined in this Agreement and to this end will present to new em- ployees and to all Supervisors and Foremen the policy herein expressed. In Implementing this section it is agreed that opera- tors will distribute to all new employees’ the check-off form

. attached as supplement No. 2 and forming part of this Agree- ment,

1b) Any employee whe Is now @ member in good standing, or who becomes or is reinstated as a member of the Union shall as @ condition of continued employ- “ment maintain his membership in the Union, It Is further agreed that if a workman being a mem- ber of the Union becomes an employee of one of the opera- tlons covered by this Agreement he shall as a condition of em- ployment maintain his member- ship in good standing during his term of employment, by paying all Dues and Assessments of the Union, either by cash or by the signing of the Union» check-off authorization form.

In the event of the Unlon in- tending to suspend a member for non-malntenance of member- ship, the Company shall be noti- fled by the Union In writing af

See “STRIKE” Page 3

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, B.C. vention, January 9-10,

, Get Home, UPWA; President Dan Radford, IWAL Ded VicePresident Bon Baskin, USA, (Back row from left) Warren Lowrey,

JTU; Don Dunphy, USA; CCL Director of Organization, Joe MecKenzie;

IWA. (Members absent: Gerry Emary, RWDSU, and Wm. Symington,

1954. (Front row from left) 3rd Vice-President, Hugh Allison, CBRE;

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FEDERATION OF LABOR, elected and installed at the 10th Annual Con- Secretary-

UMWA; Ist Vice-President, J. Stewart Cscen 2

IWA; George Di

W. Pierce, BCW; Lawrence Vandale, UPWA.)