THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER - For the information of the membership, changes to the Regional Constitution were adopted by the Regional Convention held in Vancouver, B.C., August 20th to 25th, 1973. Amendments to the Regional Constitution adopted by Convention action shall not be finalized until sixty (60) days from the close of the Convention, and such proposed Convention changes shall be published in the “Lumber Worker’ and copies. of such proposed constitutional changes shall be sent to each Local Union within ten (10) days _after the close of the Convention. » Any time within this specified sixty-day period, the membership through their Local Unions may petition the Regional Secretary- Treasurer to initiate a referendum on any amendment adopted by such Convention action. If the Regional Secretary-Treasurer receives a number of petitions representa- tive of one-third (1/3) of the total Regional ' Council membership, he shall proceed with ‘the referendum within ten (10) days ' following the sixty (60) day period specified. ___ The following constitutional changes were adopted by the Regional Convention. FORMULA ON REGIONAL | PER CAPITA TAX , ARTICLE VI, Section (4) } “ee ti the first paragraph which presently ads: “(4) The per capita tax of the Regional Council shall be one dollar and twenty- five cents ($1.25) per dues month collected.” ‘Insert the following proposed paragraph: “(4) The per capita tax of the Regional Council shall be fifteen per cent (15%) of two (2) hours’ pay per month at the basic rate as negotiated from year to year in the Coast Master Agreement. Each change brought about to Regional per capita by the application of this formula shall be instituted January 1, 1974 and each ensuing year.” The last paragraph of Section (4) of Article VI, presently reads: “Any proposed changes in the per capita tax to the Regional Council shall only be subject to change by the Regional Convention, approved by the membership of the Local Unions by Referendum Ballot.” Following is the proposed paragraph: “Any proposed changes in the formula for per capita tax to the Regional Council shall only be subject to change by the Regional Convention, approved by the membership of the Local Unions by Referendum Ballot.” STRIKE FUND ASSESSMENT Article VI, Section (5) (a) Section presently reads as follows: ‘“(5)(a)The present amount of assessment of $1.00 per member per month being paid into the Regional Strike Fund: shall continue until such time as changed by Convention action and a Referendum Ballot of the mem- bership.” Following is the proposed change: “(5 )(a)An assessment of two dollars ($2.00) per member per month shall be paid into the Strike Fund until the fund reaches ten (10) million dollars. The assessment shall then be reduced to one dollar ($1.00) per member per month until the Strike Fund is reduced to a low of eight (8) million dollars, at which time the two dollars ($2.00) assessment shall auto- matically be put into effect until the Strike Fund again reaches ten (10) million dollars:” WAGES AND EXPENSE ALLOWANCES ARTICLE VII, Section (1) (a) Present salaries of the Regional Officers are as follows: Regional President — $305.60 per week. Regional Secretary-Treasurer — $290.60 per week. Regional Vice-Presi- dents — $280.60 per week. These have been increased by Con- vention action granting an increase of $20.00 per week and also the Regional Board has applied industry increases as negotiated. Following is the proposed change: “(1)(a)The salary of the Regional Director shall be $350.00 per week. The salary of the Regional Secretary-Treasurer shall be $335.00 per week. Full-time Vice-Presidents shall receive $335.00 per week. FUNCTIONS OF THE REGIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL ARTICLE XII, Section (5) Section presently reads as follows: “(5) The function of the Regional Safety Council shall be to make recommenda- tions on matters of safety to the Regional Executive Board or Regional Conventions.” Following is the proposed change: ““(5) The function of the Regional Safety Council shall be: (a) To formulate and adopt safety policy matters of Regional Council No. 1 (b) To develop and co-ordinate safety and safety training programs. (c) To present recommendations of policy matters to the Regional Conven- tion or Regional Executive Board for approval prior to any program, recom- mendation or policy change being implemented.” RANKIN SCORES TEAMSTERS OVER U.F.W.’S GRAPE BOYCOTT WORTH QUOTING The worker is a little man in a big world and the union is the only thing that can cut it down to size. police forces resulted in the use _ By Alderman contract were proceeding. HARRY RANKIN Then suddenly the growers Committee of announced that they had Progressive Electors (COPE) Signed an agreement with the The call for a boycott of all California and Arizona grapes has my full support. It deserves support first of all because it will help U.S. migratory farm workers led by Cesar Chavez to secure union recognition and at least half decent wages and working conditions. Secondly, it . deserves support because these farm ers are fight- - ing against the excessive use of _ pesticides which harm both the _ farm workers and the consum- "ing public. Western Conference of the Teamsters Union. The Farm - Workers charge that this was a “sweetheart agreement’’, that is, one signed between the big corporation growers and the leaders of the Teamsters without the Teamsters signing up any of the workers. They agreed to a wage reduction, they agreed to abolish the union hiring hall and so again opened the door for the vicious “shape up” system of hiring which enabled the growers to discriminate as they please against individual workers, and they dropped the demand for blood tests to check on pesticide effects on workers. This action left the United Farm Workers with no alternative but to strike which the leaders of the JN Wire eh California | conditions. ea ey Oe) Oh VR ere wed od, Get. of goons and strike-breakers and mass arrests of farm workers. In five days over 1,700 farm workers were arrested and jailed in an effort to break the strike and the Farm Workers Union. This is not a jurisdictional struggle between two unions for workers representation. It is a direct case of the leaders of the Teamsters Union acting in collusion with the growers to defeat the Farm Workers Union. It is not the kind of action trade unionists can endorse and it is no wonder, therefore, that many rank and file members of the Teamsters Union are supporting the farm workers against such anti- union practices by Teamster leaders. The central issue is the right of this most brutally exploited section of the American working class to join the union of its choice and negotiate decent wages and ie an fi = CANADIAN LABOUR Congress Executive Vice-President Jean Beaudry was one of the guest speakers at the Con- vention. Here he is shown with Joe MacKenzie, CLC Director Organization, (centre) and Tom Gooderham, Regional Director of Organization (right). —Len Burray, of Britain’s Trades Union Congress ae cLC :