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THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

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LOCAL 1-85 IWA 2nd Vice-President Lynn Larson (right)
congratulates Richard Armella on winning his $11,000 plus

award.

FROM PAGE ONE

“FALLER’S AWARD"

dispute was in full swing at
Franklin River.

The main witnesses for the
company were the assistant
personnel manager George
Kivela and bull buckers
. Donald Labbey and Ray
Stanley, who testified that
Armella had suggested to the
other fallers that ‘‘they put the
boots to them.” :

Kivela, Labbey and Ray
Stanley, who arrived after the
meeting started, gave evi-
dence that at the end of the
grievance meeting Armella
said:

“You two better go home
together because there are
more of us.”

This was directed at Kivela
and Labbey, both of whom
lived in camp.

Armella and the witnesses
called by him denied that
Armella made the _ two
statements attributed to him,
although one witness said that
he heard one of the statements
alleged to have been made and
was certain it was not made by
Armella. According to these
witnesses what happened was
that one of the fallers, Mr.
Fred Shade, became very
angry at the grievance meet-
ing because certain scale
sheets were not available, that
he hammered the table with
his fist, and that he then left the
meeting slamming the door in
his anger. At that point Ar-
mella said ‘‘Maybe you better
walk home together because
Fred sure looks mad.”

Mr. Hutcheon in bringing
down his findings stated:

“T have considered all of the
evidence carefully and I find as
a fact that it was Armella who
made the two statements at-
tributed to him by Kivela,
Labbey and Stanley.

“My observations of Armella
and my assessment of his
nature based upon the
evidence that he gave and the
manner in which he gave that
evidence lead me to the conclu-
sion that what he said was not
intended by him as a threat. I
also find that the manage-
ement personnel who were
present, namely Kivela,
Labbey and Stanley did not
consider Armella’s remarks
that night as threats. He was
known to them and I am satis-
fied from the evidence that
they did not conclude that night
that Armella was seriously
urging the other fallers to beat
up on them.

“The meeting proceeded

with a discussion of the various .

grievances in the ordinary way
after the first statement was
made by Armella. The fact
that the discussion did continue
and one grievance was settled
seems to me to be quite in-
consistent with the notion that
any serious threat was in-
tended or taken from that first
statement. Labbey said that he
became concerned after the
second statement.

“T am sure that the meeting
was far from a lighthearted
friendly gathering. I know
nothing of the merits of the
grievances, but there were
eight fallers with grievances at
that meeting and with the
background of the larger dis-
pute between the Company and
the fallers I have no doubt the
meeting was full of tension and
I have no doubt that after
Shade became angry and
slammed the door as he left the
three management personnel
were becoming apprehensive
that as Kivela put it “‘one move
would have set things off.”

“Armella acted very fool-
ishly and even stupidly in the
tense atmosphere of the
meeting, but I do find his
conduct did not constitute
proper cause for discharge. I
am satisfied there was no
malice or ill-will in his state-
ments and what is more im-

‘portant, I am satisfied that

none of the three management
personnel who were present
took from what Armella said
any threat to themselves. What
Labbey described as the
“Jousy atmosphere generally”’
and ‘“‘the murmurings all
through the meeting” by the
group of fallers and the out-
burst and show of temper by
Shade were responsible for the
apprehension felt by Kivela
and Stanley and to a lesser
extent by Labbey.

“My answer to the question
is that Richard Armella was
not discharged for proper
cause on January 7, 1972.”

Information regarding the
IWA-Forest Industry Health
and Welfare Plan will be pub-
lished as soon as the costs of
increased benefits are
established between the

_ Trustees of the Plan and the

Insurance Company.

FROM PAGE ONE

“BEST CONTRACTS”

Next year they will receive
ninety percent of this year’s
earnings and this scale will

‘. continue until there is a

uniform rate among the

fallers.
The bitter complaints, of
critics that the formula will put

out of work four or five hun-~

dred scalers, is completely
groundless. Great care was
taken by the Union to ensure
their right to other jobs in the

industry.
Both Union and Management
recognize that with the

elimination of the incentive
system in the woods, there will
be a crying need for additional
fallers. and it is highly likely
that the vast majority of them
will be recruited from the

Regional President Jack
Moore, in conjunction with the
Regional Executive Board’s
Policy Statement on_ the
current forest industry
situation, has issued a personal
appeal to the fallers and
scalers to return to the job.

Following is the text of the
appeal:

The agreement, which was
accepted by the majority of
IWA members in a secret
ballot vote, has provisions
covering Fallers and Scalers.
Fallers will receive a
minimum of $80.52 per day for
a 6% hour day. The high
earners in the past will receive

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ranks of the scalers.
However, in the event that
any of them decide to leave the
forest industry, they will be
entitled to severance pay at the
rate of one week’s pay for

‘every year of service with their

company. :
The IWA Regional Executive
Board by unanimous agree-

ment issued a policy statement

(published in this edition of the
Lumber Worker) calling on the
fallers and scalers to cease
their present harassment of
fellow workers and return to
the job. :

Regional President Jack
Moore has also issued a per-
sonal appeal to them to abide
by the majority decision of the
membership.

a day rate in excess of $80.52.

The 6! hour work day includes
walking time into the quarter
and moving time from one
quarter to another during the
day, which in effect means that
the majority of fallers will
receive this $80.52 minimum
for working less than 6% hours.
Under the agreement all
Sealers are guaranteed em-
ployment without any loss in
pay and the allocation of
Scalers into other jobs, in-
cluding falling, will be worked
out on a Local Union level.
Ever since the formation of
the IWA in 1937 in British
Columbia, the avowed policy of

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He warned that the IWA

could not and would not

a

tolerate any minority group in
the Union attempting to inflict —
its will on the majority. He —
stated ‘that the IWA was a

democratic organization

willing to fight for any group
within its structure provided it

was sanctioned by majority —

action.

The majority of the mem-
bers, he said, had voted by
secret ballot to accept the new
contract and return to work
and the fallers have no alterna-
tive but to do the same if they
want to remain in the Union.

The text of the Coast, Celgar,
and Southern Interior Agree-
ments are published on other
pages of this issue.

this union was to eliminate the
hazardous and debilitating
piecework system in the
woods. This has now been done
in a manner which the
Regional Executive Board
feels is most advantageous to
the Fallers and Scalers and to
the membership of the IWA as
a whole.

I would personally ask you to
support the enclosed policy
statement by returning to work
as soon as possible as being in
the best interests of the good of
all members of the IWA in the
coastal area.

Fraternally yours,J. A. Moore
President.

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