\° Driver waits for load at logging operation near

Yahk, B.C. in the southeast Kootenays.

Union loggers are the most productive crew for Crestbrook Forest Indusiries

In the interior of British Columbia there are not a lot of unionized log- ging operations left. In the late 1970's and early to mid 1980's forest compa- nies aggressively contracted out all phases of the logging sector.

For IWA Local 1-405 in the province’s southern interior things were no different. As late as the mid-

1980's the local union, had over 400 _

loggers under certification. There were about 150 loggers in the Nakusp area alone and about 120 in the Gold- en area. Today there are just a handful left in the local union.

Most of those work in parent com- pany crew at Crestbrook Forest In- dustries three logging divisions in

Creston, Cranbrook and Canal Flats.

The Lumberworker had an opportu- nity to visit a logging operation in the company’s Creston Division which is the highest producer for the company.

Near the community of Yahk, B.C., not too far away from Creston, the company is running two shifts of log- gers almost year around. The only time that they can’t usually log is dur- ing spring breakup from early March to late April.

Until two years ago there were log- gers working around the clock in the area as the company had been given permission, since 1986, to accelerate the cut to eradicate problems with the mountain pine beetle.

Weyerhaeuser introduces Read Right program in Kamloops

Weyerhaeuser of Canada has be-

our one of the first forest products

company’s in Canada to introduce a workplace literacy program for its employees. Both hourly and salaried employees at the company’s Kam- Joops, B.C. sawmill have enrolled in a new pilot program which has been very well accepted to date.

The hourly workers at the mill are members of I.W.A. CANADA Local 1-

The literacy course is leading to increased skills and pride on the part of the workers

417. To date 20 workers have been successful at increasing their personal level of literacy by direct participation in the program.

Weyerhaeuser selected the Kam- loops operation after succuessfuly in- troducing a READ RIGHT program into some of its American operations. As in the United States, surprisingly high numbers of workers in Canada

do have deficiencies in their abilities to read and write.

I.W.A. member and READ RIGHT coodinator Darshan Bath, who has worked at the mill for over 21 years, estimates that about half of the work- force at the Kamloops mill could ben- efit in some way with the program

The first group of 35 students start- ed the course in the fall of last year and another 20 workers started in Jan- uary of 1995.

“The workers and management are very entusiastic about the program,” says Brother Bath. “People are not as timid when it comes to reading and writing and are increasing their skill levels. It has lead to a lot of personal pride and improvements.”

At the Kamloops mill there are 130 employees (95 I.W.A-hourly em- ployess and 35 salaried employees.) Of that total, the company contacted 104 people of which 91% were con- tacted for consultations on reading.

After the consultations on reading, it was determined that 60 employees needed the READ RIGHT program.A total of 37 tutors have been trained. Of that number, 29 have come from the community and 8 from the mill.

Weyerhaeuser has overall plans to spend about $150,000 on the READ RIGHT program. That money is for a trailer, training of volunteers and for educational materials.

Today the two shifts employ about 10 local union members who operate feller bunchers, skidders, cats, and logging trucks among other logging equipment.

The crew in the Creston area har- vests about 140,000 cubic meters of. timber a year, which is about 10% of CFT’s overall annual cut. Most of the timber profile is lodgepole pine and

«spruce which is shipped to the compa-

ny’s mills in Canal Flats, Elko, or Cranbrook.

The Cranbrook mill gets the big wood, while the other two mills han- dle the smaller diameter lodge pole pine. The larger logs are mostly fir and spruce with some pine.

Ron Johnson, Public Involvement Coordinator for CFI’s Woodlands Di- vision in Creston, says that lodge pole pine did not become a merchantible species until the 1960’s. In 1967 the company built a pulp mill in Skookumchuk, about 40 miles north of Cranbrook and began to use the lodge pole pine for chips.

Today lodge pole pine is one of the most valuable species in the region and is known for its fibre and for mak- ing some of the best stress rated lum- ber on the market.

To catch up to the mountain pine beetle infestation, the company had to put on an extra crew for several years. The thin barked trees become suscep- tible to a fungi that is caused by the saliva in the mountain pine beetle. A blue stain fungus can arise which will eventually kill the tree. Within three years the tree can be completely dead and the wood will dry out, checking in a spiral pattern. Then the pine can not be put through a mill. It may be chip- pable and can be used for pulp, as long as it is mixed with other green lumber.

Local union president Bob Matters says that CFI has likely kept the unionized company crews on in Cre- ston, Elko, and Canal Flats to act as a measuring stick against their non- union owner operator contractors.

“Many times the owner operators get into some bad deals and, because they are not part of the union, there is no way out,” says Brother Matters. “The company also seems to always give a few contractors better settings or cream shows as a sort of carrot to other contractors.”

As CFT has been fairly consistent in keeping most of the same contractors on the job year after year, the local union hopes that those contractors will eventually join the union to seek representation. Relations with the union are generally good. CFI has a major job to be done in public rela- tions in the region. In the Hawkins Creek area:where the Creston loggers are working, the company offers the public full access to its forestry opera- tions.

Mr. Johnson says the “biggest prob- lem that we are facing is the public’s understanding of how the forest is a renewable resource. Our objective is to allow them to have a clear under- standing of what that is.”

a5 i = i e é

¢ Local 1-417 member and cut-off saw operator Dave Bahi reads from Read

Right text while tutor Maureen Wiley looks on.

Kevin Kelly, president of Local 1- 417, says that workers today need more reading and comprehesion skills than they have had in the past.

“Today mill are much more auto- mated and both maintenance and pro- duction workers require a greater degree of knowledge and skills that in years past,” says the local union presi- dent. “There are more instructional manuals being put in front of workers and technology is constantly chang- ing. Literacy skills are fundamental in the workplace.”

New equipment often comes with new safety requirments and Brother Kelly says that literacy skills are nec- essary so that workers can compre- hend the new requirments.

Brother Bath says that the company will likely expand the READ RIGHT program to its other operations in Canada as it has already done in the United States.

“We are proud to participate in the program and be the the first Weyer- haueser operation to do so,” says Brother Bath.

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LUMBERWORKER/JUNE, 1995/11