JOHN SQUIRE

... how big should an airline be?

Simple: big enough to buy and fly the best
equipment, hire the top personnel, and provide
dependable on-time service on a variety of
routes . . . but smail enough to enjoy that personal
touch with the people it serves. Such a line is
B.C, Air Lines . . . fly the thunderbird route.

pcagy

B.C. AIR LINES LIMITED

The Right Sized Airline

ete Flight Information contact your nearest BCAL Agent

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

SHORT CHANGED 4

Very recent changes in the
manner and method of estab-
lishing stumpage rates on
Crown Timber indicates that
the Provincial Treasury has
been short changed for a
good many years. While the
change is welcome, it must
be said that the new proced-
ure will only effect bidding
and income on future Pulp
Harvesting Licenses and long
term Timber Sales with a
complete disregard for Gov-
ernment Timber that has
been alienated by previous
leasing and licensing meth-
ods.

Currently the public is
asking about the terms “up-
set price’ and ‘bonus _ bid-
ding” that have become some-
what more prominent in the
world of the expanding forest

Mr. Cattermole had to recon-
sider and strangely enough he
too found that he could pay
the extra $12 million over the
21 years. The sliding scale was
to apply on the upset price
plus the bonus, whereas pre-
viously it would only have ap-
plied on the base or upset
price.

This incident between Cat-
termolle and Ginter establish-
ed beyond any doubt, prices
were being set too low and a
competitive bidding system
would increase provincial
treasury returns without ef-
fecting the wage structure,
competitive prices or invest-
ment capital.

In March of this year, the
Legislative Committee asked
for a study to be made of
stumpage rates during the in-
suing year. A report and rec-
ommendations were to be
ready for January 1966.

HOLD
EVERYTHING

... with Watson Logging
and Lumber Gloves.
Special designs for
chokermen and riggers
... lumber handlers and
‘Cat’ or truck drivers.
Ask for them by name
. .. Watson Green Chain
Mitts, Mill-Rite and
Lumber Loader Gloves.

JOHN
WATSON LTD.

127 E. 2nd Ave., Vancouver, B.C.
W65-5

By JOHN SQUIRE, NDP-MLA

industry. In the vernacular
of the Forest Industry, upset
price is the price for timber
set by the Forestry Depart-
ment for Crown Timber; set
at conservative rates and in-
dicating the lowest price the
Government will accept for
this crown asset.

A bonus bid is the amount
bid and paid by Industry over
the upset price.

However, bonus payments
only develop where there is
competitive bidding, and over
ninety percent of timber and
pulp sales are made at the
upset price with no bidding
and consequently no bonuses.

Some will argue that “the
“sliding-scale” method of
computation used by the
Government in conjunction
with the upset price method

Last week the Government
bowed to public pressure and
clamour for higher provincial
returns without waiting for
the Forestry’ Committees re-
port and recommendations. In
the Cranbrook, Creston, Fer-
nie area, a pulp and paper
company wanted a pulp har-
vesting license at upset. Two
other companies also showed
interest. The result is that
there will be competitive bid-
ding on this timber and rest
assured it will not go for up-
set.

The citizens of the province
will be that much better off
and. these direct returns from
our natural resources will

va

is a fair method of gleaning
extra provincial returns in
the event that Coast Log
market prices increase. In-
dustry argues that bonus bid-
ding is therefore unnecessary.

The sliding scale only al-
lows for increases over upset
when market prices are in-

_ creased and bears no relation-

ship to a Company’s profit
picture.

Last year’s $10.00 a ton cut
in newsprint shows how in-
effective a sliding scale on
stumpage can be when tied
to retail prices.

Last year the Forest In-
dustries were in a real flap
when an operator by the name
of Ginter made a bonus bid of
$12 million over an upset price
bid by Cattermole for a long
term timber sale (21 years).

help build the schools, hos-
pitals and universities instead
of resorting to the wage earn-
ers pockets.

These recent developments
show what is being done in
respect to current disposition
and development of our tim-
ber resources. But let it not
be overlooked that there is
no competitive bidding in
over 90% of our timber sales
including Crown Timber in
Tree Farm Licenses. Progress
has been made. However, we:
still have a long way to go to
correct past mistakes in the
handling of our timber and
other resources for the bene-
fit of the province as a whole.

FEDERAL MERGER

The major federal civil
service organizations have
drafted a constitution for a
new organization to represent
all federal government em-
ployees in preparation for col-
lective bargaining.

The new grouping is ex-
pected to produce a merger
of the 80,000-member Civil
Service Federation and the
33,000-member Civil Service
Association of Canada.

A unity committee has re-
leased a draft constitution for
study by members and a con-
ference of civil service or-
ganization presidents is ex-
pected to meet again in
August.

The federal government has
appointed a committee to
create machinery for collec-
tive bargaining in collabora-
tion with civil service organ-
izations.

J. Cal Best, president of the
CSAC, said civil service
groups must team up to meet
the monolithic structure of
government with which they
have to deal.

The constitution draft pro-
vides for five full-time elected
officers and an annual budget
estimated at $1,200,000. The
governing body would be a
national convention held
every three years with a na-

tional council meeting at least
once a year.

The Civil Service Federa-
tion and the CSAC has en-
dorsed a system of collective
bargaining with compulsory
arbitration as the final stage,
but the Postal Employees As-
sociation has stood aside from
any merger in objection to
the arbitration procedure.

G. M. Charlebois, executive
secretary of the 18,000-mem-
ber National Defense Em-
ployees Association, said his
organization will await the
final merger document before
making any decision on its
position.

QUESNEL
ELECTIONS

Quesnel Sub-Local of Local
1-424 IWA, elected the fol-
lowing officers at its Annual
Meeting May 2nd:

Chairman, F. Henessey; 1st
Vice-Chairman, T. Hall; 2nd
Vice-Chairman, O. Johan-
nesen; Warden, H. Telford;
Conductor, L. Wawryck; Sec-
retary, R. Pitman.