APRIL-MAY, 1976,

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

yaw thewestern Canadian

12

lumber worker

onthiy as the official publication of the iNTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA
Western Canadian Regional Council No. } Affiliated with AFL-CiO-CLC
2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, 8.C. Phone 674-5261

I

rs
Published onc

. 9 Bob Schtosser Advertising Representatives — Elizabeth Spencer Associates
Forwarded to every member of the 1WA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions.

SSS

Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year.

SANITY NEEDED

ccording to a recent Financial
Post report, U.S. environmental-
ists are pressing the courts to dras-
tically reduce the commercial
harvesting of U.S. national forests.
If the environmentalists are
successful, their victory would have
wide repercussions in both the U.S.
and Canada. Observers predict most
_West Coast softwood | lumbering
would be brought to a halt creating a
boom market for Canadian lumber.
The court action by the con-
servationists and environmentalists
has the forest companies worried.
These groups were successful
recently in stopping the cutting of
most timber from seven national
forests in four Appalachian region
states.

They are now directing their atten- .

tion to Alaska and the West Coast
national forest region. The Alaskan
lower court has found in favour with
their environmental arguments and
if the same holds true with the
Appeals Court, the harvesting of
national forests would be reduced
by fifty percent.

The American national forests

account for twenty-five percent of
all U.S. domestic lumber consumed
annually.

The forest industry claims that the
only way a major crisis can be
averted is for Congress to enact new
laws to protect the lumbering in-
terests. With this being an election
year many observers feel Congress
may be reluctant to move quickly on
the matter.

_If this is the case, the industry as a

protest measure, could shut down —

all West Coast operations to force
Congress’ hand.

This would create an immediate
export bonus for Canadian lumber
but it would also create other
problems. The price of domestic
lumber here would climb because
lumber prices are set by free inter-
national markets and the industry is
bound to take advantage of the
situation.

This would increase the already
high inflation on both sides of the
Border and undoubtedly severely
restrict construction of badly
needed housing in British Columbia.

AIP NOW SPENDING
$1,000,000 A MONTH

WHY WAS
THIS STORY.

According to _ figures
released. recently, the Anti-
Inflation Board is now costing
Canadian taxpayers. one
million dollars a month.

In the five and one-half
months of its existence, the
Anti-Inflation Board has cost
just under $5.5 million, with an
annual budget set at $12.53
million.

Contrary to Prime Minister
Trudeau’s promise that the
Board would have only 200 em-
ployees, the size is now 410 and
still growing, mostly in the
higher and highest paid cate-

know how the original figure
was arrived at.

“My fear is for the day when
we cross the 500 mark,’’
quippped Pepin recently.

The AIB has recently ex-
panded its four-floor empire on
the top of an Ottawa office
building, by annexing the
ground floor of the building
next door. Extensive renova-
tions and redecorating were
needed before the AIB moved
in.

The Anti-Inflation Adminis-
trator is also in the process of
fencing off territory in another

NOT TOLD?

After all the praise given
Claude Wagner by the news
media for his gracious accept-
ance of defeat for leadership of
the Progressive Conservative
Party, it was interesting to
read what the Winnipeg
Tribune had to say about him.

In a recent article it claimed
that Wagner was known as a
hard nose “law and order”
individual. To support the
statement the article claimed
that when Wagner sat on the
Quebec Bench, he once sen-
tenced an eighteen-year-old

—-’

SSg ww

———__

Now before you start... don‘t plug the creek ... smash the
new growth or cause a landslide!

Jack Munro, President

I can’t express enough our
thanks for the warm and gen-
erous reception given us at
your regional convention last
week. Ed Romero and Nancy
Welch want to make sure that I
express their thanks, as well. It
was a treat to be among you.

I appreciated the chance to
report to the delegates on the
current phase of the UFW
struggle in California. Given
what Tom Fawkes had said
about convention policy
against floor collections, I was
surprised and very pleased
that, despite that policy, you
would entertain a motion that
the delegates take up a floor
collection for -the UFW, that
you engineered taking a collec-
tion anyway.

As you know, the 230 dele-
gates contributed $670.00 in the
collection. In addition, we sold
$170.00 worth of UF W buttons,
jewelry, and books at our

forwarded this check to UFW
in California with a copy of this
letter.

You will be glad to know that
Keith Johnson asked how he

could get hold of a copy of our /
movie FIGHTING FOR OUR

LIVES so he could show it at
your IWA convention in Mon-
treal in March. I am writing
Montreal boycott to put them
in touch with International
President Johnson. I’m sure
Montreal or Toronto Boycott
have a copy of the film.

Nancy and I really do like to
visit our friends in organized
labor in British Columbia be-
cause you seem to respect and
understand what Cesar and the
UFW are trying to do. Now-Ed
is also a believer.

Ill write Tom Fawkes, but I
want you to know how much we
appreciate his work in our

behalf, and the encouragement —

he has had during your presi-
dency to pursue that work.

gories. Board Chairman Jean- office building a block away first offender, to five years in table. We converted that cash Fraternally yours,
Lue Pepin says he doesn’t from the AIB. - jail for stealing a purse. into a cashier’s check No. Dale Van Pelt,
A lawyer in the court room 709611 totaling $840.00, a copy United Farm Workers.

BROADBENT ATTACKS

PROPAGAN

Ed Broadbent, leader of the
NDP, has accused the govern-
ment of using family allowance
and old age pension mailings to
spread propaganda for the
anti-inflation am.

A so-called “‘message from
the prime minister’? was en-
closed with each family allow-
eled fo Foleuary, uroee

i , Broad-
bent said. :

“It was. . . blatant political
propaganda in favour of the
government’s anti-inflation
program,”’ he charged.

It is practice to
enclose factual information

DA MEANS

circulars when programs are
created or changed. But the
prime minister’s message had
nothing to do with the old' age
pension or family allowance,
Broadbent explained.

Broadbent said the mailing
would have cost the Liberals
$527,589, based on a cent for
each envelope and leaflet and
eight cents for a stamp. And he
demanded the Liberal party
“reimburse the public of
Canada.”

Speaker James Jerome
refused Broadbent’s request
for an investigation by a par-
liamentary committee.

was So enraged by the severity
of the jail term that he offered
to appeal the sentence and
defend the youth without
charge. When the case was
heard the Quebec Court of
Appeal overruled the verdict
and gave the youth a two-year
suspended sentence.

We find it strange that such a
story should escape the atten-
tion of the Vancouver Sun and
The Province, when they find it
so easy to dig up the smallest
bit of nonsense connected with
the New Democratic Party.
eee]

LIGHTER SIDE

Slogan at Camp 6: “‘Here’s to
the bartender — may he never
be low in spirits!”

of which is attached. Today we

for others they were up.

worst hit was Ford Motors.

WHERE THE PROFITS ARE

Early financial reports from about a hundred major
Canadian companies show that their last year’s PROFITS
WERE DOWN about 11% on average from the previous
year. For some companies, profits were down a great deal,

The 15 utilities reporting had a profit gain of 21.8% — Bell
Canada, B.C. Telephone, TransCanada Pipelines, etc. The
14 manufacturing companies had a

Profits of forest products companies were down 47.3%
due to the seven-month strike. Profits of mining companies
dropped 39.2% because of lower metal prices. Profits of the
big three steel companies dropped 22.7%.

But profits of finance and trust companies were up 31.9%
and oil company profits rose by 3.3%.

profit drop of 39.3%;

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