[> Steel joins BC Fed's Call to
Stop Log Exports On June 23,
District 3 Director Steve Hunt joined
BC Federation of Labour president
Jim Sinclair and reps from the CEP
and ILWU to call for a moratorium of
log exports from the province. A
report entitled “Log Export Crisis in
British Columbia: A Time to Act”
a out that, between 1996-2005,
sy] there has been a

4.77 million cubic
meters were

the line and over-

Some 4.77 million
cubic meters were
exported in 2005.

seas. Most went to
American
sawmills. That caused a loss of 3,300
jobs and $250 million in annual
direct wages. The BC econonomy lost
another $625 million in economic
activity, as an additional 2.5 spin-off
jobs are created in services and sup-
plies sectors for every direct job. “In
the 21st century we should have a
vibrant, fully-developed forest indus-
try in BC and not simply be hewers
of wood,” said Brother Hunt.

Fed calls for a moratorium on mill
closures until there is a plan for a
revitalized manufacturing sector.
Cabinet must cease to issue log
export permits and halt exports from
Crown lands. It also calls for govern-
ment to reintroduce measures tying
together logging and manufacturing
facilities. The USW and other forest
unions are appealing to municipalites
to put the issue before the Union of
BC Municipalities Convention in

h,

= Tk } Fein fg
some money targeted to cancer research. Norman Garcia

py
than

Steelworkers slam Harper budget

THE UNITED STEELWORKERS pe
oundy criticized the Stephen Hi
government’s first budget as a dant
changing” of Canadian workers. At the
time of large federal surpluses, the
Conservatives have failed to build solid
public policy.

The bee does not address the loss of
300,000 manufacturing jobs in Canada
since August 2004. Nor does it offer solu-
tions to protect workers’ pension plans but
instead gi i flexibili

how they fund pensions.
On Child Care (see article on page 19)
the $1,200 taxable benefit will only help

stay-at-home parents and not create
fa geee | hy | TL = He fF

paces.
building on current federal-provincial
agreements.

On post secondary ieee
increased accessed to loans do not ev

5+ 1,
Anew tax exemption for scholarship and
bursary winners will benefit few.

There is no new Health Care money
apart from $52 million targeted for cancer
research. And tax credits to employers,
along with tax deducations for tools, will
not create new opportunities if employers

e to take on new apprentices.

October. The community of
Squamish, which witnessed the clo-
sure of Interfor’s Squamish Lumber
mill, endorsed a motion in mid-June.
Meanwhile the BC government has
agreed to examine the issue (see page
22). [> A tribute to the CLC
Canada Post has issued a special
commemorative 51 cent stamp in
honour of the Canadian Labour
Congress’ soth Anniversary. The
stamps are available through postal
outlets, so don’t forget to pick up

] your share. The CLC

| was founded in 1956

| by the merger of the

| Canadian Congress of
Labour and the Trades
and Labour Congress.
With a population of slightly more
than 16 million Canadians in 1956,
the CLC boasted of just over 1 mil-
lion members. In 2006, as our
country’s population has approxi-
mately doubled in the last 50 years,
the CLC’s membership has tripled.

THE ALLIED WORKER JUNE 2006 T 31