“This government has created the conditions for many mill closures, the contracting out of IWA jobs and a consolidation of the industry by only a few big players.” - Dave Haggard, National President

logging operations; Local 2171 which has a Doman sawmill in Vancouver, Doman- __ Western and Western Forest products logging operations and Port Alberni which has Doman loggers and contractors.

The B.C. Ministry of Forests says that twenty seven forest companies across British Columbia will give up about eight million cubic meters of annual cut which is public wood harvested by the majors and their contractor crews. By the end of 2004, the effects on many sawmill towns could be dramatic. Half of the wood vol- ume is supposed to go into a so-called “market-based” timber pricing system. The other half is to go towards First Nations communities (see articles below, this page).

IWA Local 2171 president Darrel Wong says the 20 per cent clawback and con- tracting out of union jobs is “shaping up to become a disaster for this organization.” He believes tht Liberal forest policies are “government-organized union busting.” The 20 per cent clawback is not a purchase by smaller licensees - it is a transfer of public assets that may not automatically provide the [WA with succession rights and employment with contractors. Those succession rights have to be negotiated.

TimberWest’s January announcement that it is parcelling off its TFL and selling 400,000 cubic meters to Teal-Jones, which is completing a large non-union mill in Langley, has created a great deal of uncertainty for Honeymoon Bay Operation log- ging crews, says IWA Local 1-80 president Bill Routley. TimberWest is using the sale to fulfill part of the clawback requirements. The arrangement could split the 160 members HBO crew. Overall, the company intends to give back 35 per cent of its crown tenure in the Cowichan Valley for cash and towards the clawback.

In Local 1-3567’s Interfor Hope Logging division, 50 IWA members have been told they will be let go by the end of the year under the 20 per cent clawback. The same goes for Canfor contractors in Harrison (see local union news page seven).

In Squamish, Local 2r7r Interfor loggers have been informed that they will be giving up over half of there annual allowable cut as part of the clawback. Direct union jobs will be affected.

On Northern Vancouver Island, the small community of Winter | Harbour may be affected if local con- ©] tractor WD Moore has its 80,000 J cubic meter annual cut removed to

\

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satisfy part of Western Forest

| Product’s twenty per cent clawback.

| WD Moore has been around for

= In December ‘02 IWA president Dave Haggard spoke to a rally protesting the closure of Weyco’s CWP in Vancouver.

over 75 years. Today it employs less than 20 IWA members.

In the Port Alberni area, Weyerhaeuser plans to surrender 300,000 cubic meters of wood under the clawback, anumber which equals the entire Sproat Lake logging division annual cut, where workers have seen their jobs contracted out.

In the B.C. Interior, Riverside Forest Products is gobbling up Lignum (see

Local 1-423 and Local 1-425 news on pages six

and seven).

“The cumulative effects of Liberal forest policies that are going to hit our locals are going to felt in different ways,” says Brother Haggard. “Clawbacks, cutbacks, closures and amalgamations will be the rule of the day. Since the Liberals took office, they have put in place policies that are a high stakes gamble with the livelihoods and communities of British Columbians.”

Haggard doubts that Liberal policies will result in less U.S protection- ism. “We've told the Liberals that adopting made-in-America ‘free-market’ solutions will not appease the Americans, nor will they create the stability that workers and forest-dependent communities rightly deserve.”

large companies?

_ New stumpage era

‘Ifyou listen to B.C. premier Gordon Campbell, everything is going to turn up __ foses for coastal workers. This will be the year we have been waiting for.

is just around the corner and ‘there will be a chicken in every pot.

ithe magic ingredient is changes to the coastal timber pricing system government will put into place a f, based “ version on February . That's the message the premier ‘to the TLA convention on 416 to choruses of applause.

= AtJanuary’s TLA convention Campbell announced new system.

going to move forward with the stumpage system that you

“We agree with the premier that, at best the softwood lumber dispute with the U.S. is precarious,” says IWA president Dave Haggard. “It’s hard to believe the Americans will back down even if they get the full open market access to our timber they have always wanted.”

Brother Haggard says the open market system can eventually lead to instability and ruinous overspeculation, not stable prices as some might hope for.

Haggard does commend the government for its efforts at finding new markets in China and India but says that “much more must be done to break our depen- dency on U.S. markets.”

Tenure for F

As the provincial forest industry con- tinues to undergo radical change, the B.C. government intends to provide First Nations bands with about half of the 20 per cent of timber that is being clawed back from major licensees througout B.C. Meanwhile, in the soft- wood battle with the U.S., premier Gordon Campbell says that B.C. will not settle for less quota if a negotiated settle- ment is in the cards and said the gov- ernment believes First Nations should be accorded 5 per cent of any quota agreement to be assured access to the U.S. market.

But at least one Aboriginal leader, chief Judith Sayers, of the Hupacasth Band on Vancouver Island, says the amount be alloted to First Nations is not enough. “We are being offered a mini- mal amount,” she told the TLA conven- tion adding that more timber allotment is necessary “to be worthwhile.”

Ms. Sayers said “the time is now to make change” and that First Nations want to protect the forests and be part of the profitability in managing them. She reminded the convention that aboriginal rights and titles have not yet been resolved and encouraged negotiations versus waiting for court decisions to come down and affect all parties.

The speaker also suggested that.First_ Nations bands be involved in certifying sustainably produced forest products versus seeking FSC or CSA certification. That, she said, could help solve market access issues in foreign countries.

irst Nations

“We believe we have a place in this industry” said Sayers, who added that First Nations goals are long-term ones which can be beneficial to all. She added that training and capacity building is needed for her people.

For nine years, she said the Nuu- chah-Nulth Tribal Council has been involved in a joint venture on the west coast, which has good relations with Weyerhaeuser, and the Alberni- Clayoquot Regional District.

On the coast region of B.C. alone,

there are 44 First = Nations collec- tives to negotiate with over a com- plex arrange-

ment of land claims for abori- ginal rights and title. Some com- panies, like Weyerhaeuser and TimberWest, have sought to accomodate First Nations interests by entering into partnership agreements, mainly in the logging sector. Weyco’s Tom Holmes told the TLA that both First Nations and contractors play a key role in timber harvesting, and that in such areas as the Queen Charlotte Islands and northern Saskatchewan, the company has attempted to employ the demographics in the community, hiring aboriginal and non-aboriginal workers alike.

Chief Judith Sayers

MARCH 2004 THE ALLIED WORKER | 13