THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER q Se oe EVALUATION INTERIOR VS ae a me oe A highly successful joint Union-Management con- ference was held February 8-9- 10, in Kelowna, to conclude the final details of the Southern Interior Sawmill Evaluation programme prior to its im- plementation. Main purpose of the meeting was to review all aspects of the programme and brief the members of the joint sawmill job evaluation § interview committees before they went into the field. Industrial Engineer Lorne Fingarson employed by the IWA on sawmill evaluation, headed up this technical side of the conference. Regional 1st Vice-President Wyman Trineer, who is in charge of evaluation in both the Northern and Southern Interior for the Union, was the chief spokesman for the IWA and Mike Davison, Managing Director for the Interior Forest Labour Relations Association, represented the employers. The new programme,’ the first in the sawmill section of the industry, developed out of the frustrating years the Union spent attempting to gain proper category adjustments. Determined to rectify the inconsistencies in the content of jobs with the same or similar job titles and the lack of uniformity in establishing ‘job worth’, the Union during the 1967 negotiations demanded as one of its main demands a sawmill evaluation plan. Prior to the demand being placed into negotiations, the Union had employed the services of Industrial Engineer Lorne Fingarson to study and determine the feasibility of an evaluation programme for sawmills. : NEGOTIATED PLAN As a result of his findings the Union pressed for and was successful in negotiating provisions for a sawmill evaluation plan with the em- ployers. The terms of the agreement called for a joint committee of Union and management to meet once monthly from July 1, 1968, and for the programme to be established by June 30, 1970. In accordance with these terms a joint committee which included members of the In- terior Forest Labour Relations Association, the Northern Interior Lumbermens Association and the Union was formed and undertook the responsibility for the devel- opment of the plan. The union members of the Committee were Regional ist Vice- President Wyman Trineer, Chairman of the Committee; President Bill Schumaker. of Local 1-423, Kelowna; Local 1- 424 President, Bob Pitman, Prince George; Local 1-405 President Wayne Nowlin, Cranbrook; Local 1-417 First Vice-President Sonny Alexandre, Salmon Arm; and Regional Evaluator Tony Vanderheide who gave the other members of the Com- mittee and Lorne Fingarson invaluable help in the overall project. INITIAL STEP TAKEN An initial step in the development of the plan was made during 1969, with the agreement of a set of ad- ministrative procedures. These procedures established committees, described their functions, defined the scope of the plan (to include all production workers but ex- clude trades categories), and spelled out the anpeal re. Most significantly, provision was made for the involvement of union local business agents and the local plant management in respect to determining the facts relative to job content, and establishing the need for re- evaluation. In December of 1969 first steps were taken by the committee to establish a Job Evaluation Manual, and the ‘necessary documentation for recording job content. In an original study of the industry in 1967, a series of factors were suggested for inclusion in a sawmill evaluation plan. The factors proposed at this time differed significantly in both content and weight from those found in the plywood job evaluation plan, and deviated from those used by Forest Industrial Relations Ltd. in their evaluation of sawmill jobs on the coast. Through difficult and per- sistent negotiation, the Sawmill Job Evaluation Committee, with the assistance of the evaluation personnel from both industry and the union, were able to establish early in 1970 the factors and their definitions to be included in the sawmill evaluation plan for the in- terior. A comparison of the original factor titles with those established by the Sawmill Job Evaluation Committee follows. ORIGINAL FACTOR TITLES 1. Specialized Training 2. Job Training 3. Judgment 4. Physical Co-ordination 5. Physical Effort 6. Recovery Responsibility 7. Production Responsibility 8. Equipment Responsibility 9. Supervision 10. Working conditions (a) Weather (b) Noise (c) Hazards AGREED UPON FACTOR 1. Job Knowledge 2. On the Job Experience 3. Manual Skill 4. Physical Effort 5. Visual Effort 6. Judgment 7. Lumber Recovery 8. Production Flow 9. Equipment 10. Safety of Others 11. Contacts with Others 12. Personal Hazards 13. Personal Discomforts. It should be noted that the final selection of factors ap- proximates very closely the criterion established in 1967. Of particular importance in the selection of the factors is the inclusion of Lumber Recovery, Production Flow, and Equipment since these areas have been a constant source of difficulty in the plywood evaluation plan. In order to test the selection of factors in application, and develop sample gradings upon which to base the subsequent weighting of the plan, a number of jobs were graded in five different plants. At the same time as the grading procedure was carried out, appropriate fact gathering procedures and documentation were developed. These studies and tests were conducted by a team including three evaluators, Tony Van- derheide, John Houston, and Bruce Laffling, and two con- sultants from union and management. It was found, as a result of these studies, that the selection of factors was appropriate, their definition or grading structure was applicable, and the general scheme of data collection was practical. The weighting of the factors was carried out by the two consultants and the results as applicable to the jobs were reviewed in detail with members of the committee and SSS —s TOP AND BOTTOM PICTURES show Union and Management officials attending sawmill evaluation con- ference in Kelowna February 8-9-10, where final briefirg was given before the Southern Interior Sawmill Evaluation programme was put into effect. final adjustments were made by the consultants. Both factors and their definitions, and the weightings, were approved in final form by the Sawmill Job Evaluation Committee in June 1970. In July 1970, the Sawmill Job Evaluation Committee un- dertook the difficult negotiation task of establishing appropriate job groups. The initial proposal by the industry was a structure of 12 job groups, whereas the original position of the union members was 25 job groups. A total of 19 job groups was eventually approved by the committee. The job group structure will have the effect of spreading the jobs further along the wage scale or higher above the base rate. The evaluation plan up to and including the wage groups was negotiated by the Joint Sawmill Job Evaluation Committee. Then to complete the plan the. increments or cents per hour difference between groups was entered as a demand in the 1970 Southern Interior negotiations. The parties reached agreement on this during negotiations and it became part of the settlement contract dated September 28; 1970. ALEX SMITH ELECTED — LABOR COUNCIL HEAD President Alex Smith of Local 1-184 IWA Saskat- chewan, was elected President of the 2,200-member Prince Albert and District Labour Council, at the Council’s 27th Annual Meeting January 18. First Vice-President of Local 1-184 Fred Soderlund, was elected the Council’s 1st Vice- President. Keynote speaker at the Conference was Ross Hale, President of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, who warned that labour unions in the province were in for a rough period. He stated that the provincial government, with a ‘“‘boss- oriented’’ department of Jabour, is carrying on a sustained attack against the trade union movement and employers were being cheered on to attack labour by an anti- people government. Hale added that “‘we are asked to sell out our province to non-resident industrial concerns that want our natural resources and we are asked to accept this as a blessing.” The SFL President also charged the government with not doing enough to develop industry in the province. He | criticized government restrictions on the sale of potash, adding that potash producers in New Mexico have been operating at full production, while Saskat- chewan’s potash workers were unemployed. He concluded by scoring the government's task force report on agriculture. This report, he said, recommended that thousands of farmers leave their farms and move to urban centres where there was little opportunity for employment. Among the resolutions ap- proved at the meeting. was one seeking $2.50 a month more from council members for publicity against Bill Two, which restricts the right of certain unions to strike. A number of speakers stated that Bill Two is popular among the people in Saskatchewan and that labour must do all in its power to convince them they are wrong.