-THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

i By GRANT MacNeEIL

‘a “Is the IWA serious about these demands?” a reporter asked when the “s Coast Negotiating Committee faced a press conference on February 28, after ‘af the Wages and Contract Conference.

} Spokesman Jack Moore emphatically replied, “IWA members were never ¢. more serious about their demands. If you want to know, this package con- 1 tains items that are strike issues if denied by the employers.”

"5 From that point on in the press conference, no words were minced as y Jack Moore, flanked by his negotiating committee colleagues, quietly and con- * vincingly drove home the reasons behind demands that originated with the } ; IWA membership. On this occasion the union was speaking to its membership

Ka as well as to the general public.

4 j

4 “What do you say about “| the claim that the IWA de- ‘ mands will cost the indus- try 25 million dollars?”

The reply was, “We know ~ that our demands add up to +. a large sum, yet to be more ; accurately estimated. We ac- » cept the responsibility for a ; number of good reasons. Let me tell you some.

. “Suppose 25 million dollars ++ is the total cost of our de- «+. mands, One firm alone, Mac- Millan, Bloedel & Powell River Limited, reported pro- /** fits before taxes of 79.8 mil- “+ lion dollars in 1964. Interim »\ reports indicate that this cor- . poration did still better in * 1965. Labour costs paid are not subject to corporation .”° tax. This corporation could ‘~ foot the entire bill we are -*\ presenting, and still have a » tidy 40 million dollar profit.

. “Other companies have im- proved their profit positions quite as remarkably. I ask

~ you to note that seven of the large companies, combined, reported profits after taxes of over 203 million dollars in 1964. In 1965 they increased

< ~ ~~ =. a 3 worth, in a greater degree. me wt 2

Build B.C. Buying Power

“Suppose + cost 25 million dollars. It is = vastly preferable that this ad-

our demands do

_ $x ditional wage income should 5, be placed in the pockets of workers who form the largest industrial group in the prov- ince. Their wage spending is better for the prosperity of

_the province than any siphon-

ing of this amount into Amer-

' , iean, Spanish, or Australian

__* investments that do not di-

» rectly benefit the economy

+. here,

»* “MacMillan, Bloedel & ~. Powell River Limited is ex- wae gests in the prairie prov- ae e. and in Alabama, where , the corporation gains from e Subs wages to com-

te in the same market as

B.C. production.

tional Union will redouble efforts to raise wages in

i¢ Deep South.”

e reminded the as- d reporters that wages

he lumber industry had

in

their earnings, or their net .

“Our employers cannot hope to retain experienced workers unless they keep pace in this regard with the employers in other industries. Take note also that living costs have jumped to an all time high in recent months and are still rising.”

A Strike Issue For Loggers

“Why are you so insis- tent upon amended travel time provisions for log- gers?” was a query. “Because the loggers have

said they would prefer to strike rather than endure any longer the impossible daily routine forced upon them.

- “Their present hours of work are archaic, and do not prevail in other industries for comparable work.

“The day is long past when workers should be required to travel and work from dawn to darkness to earn eight hours’ pay at the work site.

“As the distances lengthen from marshalling points to the timber, the hours likewise lengthen intolerably.

“In 1937 the coal miners made the point that pay for a reasonable day should be from ‘portal or portal.’ Log- gers ‘should not now be ex- pected to be at the employer’s disposal on company property for twelve to fourteen hours a day to earn only eight hours’ pay.”

“Won’t double time for overtime unfairly penalize the employers?”

“No. The employers have a social responsibility to the people of the province who grant them licences to har- vest B.C.-awned timber.

“Wxcessive overtime cannot be defended while men are being displaced by machines. “Tf we penalize overtime as President Johnson has sug- gested, the available work will be spread among more workers.”

Manpower Adjustment

“What do you mean about manpower adjust- ment totechnological change?”

“We mean that sensible joint planning would mini- mize worker displacements caused by the introduction of

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new production methods, automatic processes, or new machines. The Union, upon due notice, should have the right to negotiate in advance of such changes to protect the job security of men now em- ployed.

“We have a plan proposed by the Federal Manpower Consultative Service that of- fers the possibility of separa- tion of these complex prob- lems from crisis bargaining. Technological change is a continuous process. Mechani- cal change can be made over- night, but it takes weeks and even months to train workers in the new skills demanded. If this plan proves mutually acceptable, we must have guarantees about finalization

before an agreement is sign-

ed. “While the aggregate em-

-ployment in the: lumber in-

dustry is high, the employ- ment levels in established sawmills and logging opera- tions have taken a sharp, al-

most 40%, drop in the last ten years. Plywood produc- tion is, of course, expanding. Without better plans, dis- placed workers are not read- ily absorbed in employment without a placement effort jointly sponsored by labour, management, and govern- ment. An adequate man- power adjustment program would prove beneficial to both the employers and the workers.”

Seniority Abuses Must End “Don’t you believe in

competency when assign- ment is made to new jobs?”

“We certainly do, but we must oppose the employers’ abuse of artificial competency requirements, or outright favoritism.

“The employer should pro- vide the opportunity for a worker to become competent

: “NEVER MORE SERIOUS’

MOORE

if a new and better job is about to open up.

“Proper on-the-job training programs in each operation are long overdue, and will take the guesswork out of competency. Give a man a chance at training to qualify in advance, and then there can be no dispute about com- petency when a job opportun- ity arises.”

“Why do you specify a one year agreement?”

“We have experimented with both two year and one year agreements. We are now opposed to long term agreements for good reasons, for they have proven to the © disadvantage of the workers.

“Conditions in the industry and-in the economy are changing so rapidly that no one can safely predict what will be required beyond June 1967.”

PART OF THE delegation from Local 1-80, Duncan. From left, Jagir Jill, (the next three members could not be identified) and at the end of the table are Fernie Viala, 1st Vice-President; and Bill Hanna, Business Agent.

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IWA COAST REGIONAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE. Group le

Trineer, President, Local 1-357; Jack MacKenzie, Regional 1st Viccneeideet ect Come mittee Secretary; Jack Moore, Regional President and Committee Spokesman; Maurice Corbeil, Financial Secretary, Local 1-85. Back row, left, Weldon Jubenville, President, Local 1-80; Ernie Freer, President, Local 1-71; Syd Thompson, President, Local 1-217; Murray Drew, President, Local 1-118; Art Corey, Financial Secretary, Local 1-367. Absent from picture was Max Salter, President, Local 1-363.