INCREASED VACATIONS —

The increased desire for more leisure time during

working years by Canadians,

and Americans is shared by workers throughout the world.

In nearly half the contract negotiated each year Cana-

dian and American workers

Union contracts reflect the goals of American workers for increased income, more leisure and greater job secu- rity. In negotiating additional holidays and vacations, unions not. only seek to gain more leisure but also increased job security.

' Vacations today provide up to five, six and in some cases eight weeks of leisure to long- service workers. Sabbatical vacations have spread from the university campus to the steel mill.

LEISURE TIME

Holidays have broadened beyond the traditional six (Christmas, New Year’s, Me- morial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Thanks- giving) to seven and very fre- quently nine or ten per year.

Paid vacations and holidays break up the rush and tedium of today’s worknace. The in- creased time off also means more leisure time to pursue new challenging leisure activi- ties. Longer vacations allow for travel both here and abroad, better family vaca- tions and time for greater re-

laxation. Another use of vacations is

to help workers adjust to re- tirement living. The worker becomes accustomed to spend- ing longer periods away from the job routine.

Additional holidays break up the regular work year and set up longer weekend holi- days.

Vacations and holidays also provide more job security as workers on vacation are re- placed by otherwise unem- ployed workers.

Improved vacations and holidays also provide income to workers during periods of lay-off and slack.

MORE JOBS

Increased leisure for Ameri- cans means additional job op- portunities for workers who provide the leisure time goods and services, such as making fishing rods, building an d maintaining parks and man-

ning resorts. : Vacations and holidays

serve as a method of reducing the hours of work. While vacations and holidays do not reduce daily or weekly hours, they do shorten the total num- ber of hours worked per year.

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

decide to take some of their economic gains achieved through collective bargaining in the form of additional leisure time — more statutory holidays and more vacations with pay.

With the Regional Wages

Peter Henle, a Labour De- partment economist, estimates that improved vacations and holidays in the period 1940 to 1960 have been equivalent to a reduction in the workweek of 1.5 hours per week.

Paid holidays and vacations are no longer considered a gift of the employer — today they are recognized as essen- tial rights of the worker, pro- vided by union contract and earned just as wages are earned.

WHITE COLLAR

A 1965 U.S. Chamber of Commerce report claims the average employer pays the equivalent of 12 cents an hour for vacations and 7.5 cents for holidays. Originally, Ameri- can employers viewed the paid vacation and the paid holiday as a privilege appropriate only for the worker of white collar status. But unions have changed that situation. How- ever, employers still tend to spend more money for white collar employee vacations and holidays than they do for blue collar workers. The difference between factory workers and white collar workers can be seen in Labour Department surveys showing that firms paid 6 percent of factory workers’ payroll for vacations and holidays in 1962, while these fringes cost 8 percent of white collar payroll in 1963. In a survey of union and non- union workers, the Labour Department reports that over 90 percent of the white collar workers received 2 weeks’ vacation after 1 year of serv- ice, but only 23 vercent of the blue collar workers received the same benefit.

Prevailing wage laws also have begun to take account of vacations, holidays and other fringes. In 1964, the Davis-Bacon Act was amend- ed to include fringe benefit payments in the determina- tion of prevailing wages for federally-assisted construction projects. In 1965, the McNa- mara-O’Hara Service Con- tracts Act also called for the inclusion of fringes in the de- termination of prevailing wages for service contracts of the federal government. To- day, determinations under the Davis-Bacon Act generally call for a specified cents per hour contribution for vaca- tions and holidays, as is the practice in the construction industry. Under the Service

Contracts Act, a set number

and Contract Conference only a few months away the Lum- ber Worker has reproduced an article by Rudolph Oswald (an economist in the AFL/CIO research department) on the growth of leisure time over the years.

of holidays and weeks of vaca- tion is established, reflecting the general practice of indus- try in the locality aside from construction.

Most workers under major collective agreements receive 1 week’s vacation after 1 year of service, 2 weeks after 2 years, 3 weeks after 10 years and 4 weeks after 20 years. While this is the general pic- ture of union agreements, many call for more liberal vacation allowances and the picture is continually chang- ing as nearly half of the settle- ments improve vacation pro- visions.

Today, three out of four major agreements provide a maximum vacation of 4 or more weeks. Thirteen percent of the major agreements studied by the Labour De- partment in early 1966 called for 5 or more weeks of vaca- tion for long-service employ- ees. The 5 or more weeks vacation pattern of today is similar to the 4-week vacation pattern of 1956. Just as 4- week vacation plans have be- come standard in the past 10 years, so too the 5- and 6- week vacation plans also may become common in the next decade.

EXAMPLES .

Examples of contracts call- ing for six weeks of vacation after 30 years of service are: the Papermakers and the Paper Mill Workers’ contract with International Paper and Union Camp; the Rubber Workers’ contracts with the basic rubber companies; the Stone Workers’ contract with National Gypsum and the Oil- Chemical Workers’ contract with Carborundum and Union Carbide. j

Seven and 8-week vacations also exist in a few contracts such as the Brewery Workers’ contracts in St. Louis which provide that workers with 20 years of service receive 7 weeks’ vacation and those with 25 years of service re- ceive 8 weeks’ vacation. How- ever, the so-called extra vaca-

- tions must be used during the

slack winter season. The Brewery Workers’ contracts in Minneapolis and Provi- dence, R.I., also call for 7 weeks after 20 years of serv- ice.

Vacation allowances also are being increased for newer employees by reducing the number of years of service re- quired to qualify for 2 and 3-

week vacations. Some con- tracts offer 1 week’s paid leave after 6 months or one year’s employment.

Most workers under major agreements are now eligible for 2 weeks’ vacation after 2 years of service or less. Many contracts provide 2 weeks after 1 year of service while under some contracts workers must still wait until 3 or 5 years of service to receive 2 weeks off. Twenty years ago the majority of contracts had a maximum vacation allow- ance of 2 weeks. This old maximum of 2 weeks’ vaca- tion has practically disappear- ed, as 95 percent of the major contracts today call for more than a 2-week vacation for long-service employees.

MAJOR CONTRACTS

Most major contracts pro- vide 3 weeks’ vacation after 10 years of service. Nearly a fourth of the workers under such major agreements are employed under contracts calling for 3 weeks’ vacation after 5 years of service. Just 5 years earlier, in 1961, a Labour Department study showed that most major con- tracts provided 3 weeks’ vaca- tion after 15 years of service.

The maximum vacation length continues to grow. The Bureau of Labour Statistics has conducted periodic sur- veys of major union contracts which indicate the growth of vacation allowances. In 1949, two-thirds of the major agree- ments provided for a maxi- mum vacation of 2 weeks or less per year. In just 3 years’ time, major agreements call- ing for 3 weeks’ vacation grew to nearly half of the agreements surveyed. By 1957, two-thirds of the agree- ments provided 3 or 3.5 weeks’ vacation and an additional 20 percent called for 4 weeks or more. In 1961, 43 percent of the contracts provided 4 weeks or more; another 49 percent, 3 to 3.5 weeks’ vaca- tion. In 1966, 60 percent of the agreements provided for 4 weeks’ vacation and an addi- tional 13 percent of contracts scheduled 5 or more weeks.

GREAT WAVE

The great wave of 3, 4 and 5-week maximum vacations has not actually brought these longer vacations to all workers. At any given time, long-service eligibility re- quirements bar many employ- ees in American industry from receiving an annual vacation of more than two weeks.

A few contracts, such as those common in the maritime industry, provide 2 months’

GOAL OF WORLD WORKERS

vacation to all workers who have a year’s service. Like- wise the Mailers Union con- tract with the Publishers As- sociation of New York City establishes 5 weeks of vaca- tion after 1 year of service. In 1965, the Clothing Work- ers in a number of contracts tied together the Christmas- New Year week into a week’s vacation, allowing all workers with a year’s service three weeks of vacation per year.

SABBATICAL

Sabbatical or extended va- cations were introduced into the mainstream of collective bargaining by the Steelwork- ers in its negotiations of 1962 and 1963. The union adopted a plan of periodic extended vacations based upon the ex- perience of university profes- sors with sabbaticals as well as the experience of the Fed- erated Iron Workers of Aus- tralia.

Under the basic steel con- tract, 13-week vacations are provided every fifth year for employees in the top half of the seniority roster. Under the can agreements, negoti- ated by the Steelworkers and the Machinists, 13 weeks of vacation are provided every fifth year to workers having 15 or more years’ seniority.

Under the aluminum con- tract, extended vacations con- sisting of 10 weeks’ vacation every fifth year were negoti- ated for all employees. Work- ers receive 13 weeks’ pay under these aluminum con- tracts during the 10 weeks of vacation. The agreements with major aluminum producers were signed by the Steelwork- ers, Aluminum Workers and Auto Workers.

RETIREMENT

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Pees we ar 2 APS oe

The Packinghouse contracts -

with American Sugar Re-

fineries provide increasingly

lengthier vacations to workers as they approach retirement age. At age 57 and 58, the

workers receive 6 weeks’ va-

cation; at age 59 and 60, it increases to 7 weeks’ vaca-

tion; at age 61 and 62, it rises”

to 8 weeks and, at ages 63 64, the worker is entitled to 12 weeks off.

The sabbatical vacations negotiated by the Steel

ers were intended to increase —

employment opportunities the industry and grant ers additional leisure time. + required a difficult adj to reduce hours in ani where production con on a 24-hour basis. An ¢

tional worker needed to be

hired for each 40 men }