1st Issue THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER December, 1966 “THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER Published twice monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOQDWORKERS OF AMERICA Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1 Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC re 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 4 Editor — Pat Kerr Business Manager — Fred Fieber Advertising Representative — G. A. Spencer Forwarded to every member of the IWA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. and for payment of postage in cash. 27,500 copies printed in this Issue. OS ee Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Greetings 7" officers and staff of the Regional Council extend to all officers and members of the IWA the Season’s Greet- ings. These greetings carry with them the earnest wish that all may enjoy a Merry Yuletide, and find a larger measure of happiness and prosperity in the New Year. Warm fraternal greetings are also extended to the members of affiliated unions, The IWA wishes them well. The IWA wishes for them, not merely a bright and merry festive season for the next two weeks, but the realization of their - desires for happier living in the year ahead. Within the IWA we may relax from the round of duties for a day or two, and join in the festive occasions with a clear conscience. The IWA has not failed in its mission to labour unceasingly for the betterment of those who perform the work of the lumber industry. This record may be reviewed. with pride and satisfaction. We may well be joyful that, through the solidarity of our Union, important progress has been made in the better- ment of conditions among our ranks. This solidarity served to overcome oppo- sition to our purposes. This solidarity also provided our members with the highest wages and best contract conditions of any woodworking group in the world. We must not be content to rest on our laurels. With these achievements our re- sponsibilities will increase. Our long- range objectives are still distant and will require close attention from all of us. With a good year behind us and an organization that is solid and sound, we may face the New Year with confidence. Its problems are a challenge, and at the same time an opportunity. Our organiza- tion will become bigger and better only as we manfully tackle these bigger and better opportunities. GUEST EDITORIAL “WAR FAR FROM WON" ae iaN housewives are fighting valiantly to turn the tide of rising food prices. Their complaints, boycotts and picketing of groceterias has focussed more public attention on the high cost of eating than at any time in the past ten years. And they have had their share of success. Prices of many foods have been reduced, at least temporarily. Food manufacturers and retailers are on the defensive, squirming in their efforts to defend their marketing, packaging and pricing policies. The Parliamentary Prices Review Committee is adding to the campaign with its questioning of chain store owners and food industry spokesmen. The news- papers are full of editorials and letters en the subject. The radio hot lines sizzle with the indignant views of consumers. It all adds up to a heady atmosphere, to a feeling that perhaps at last something will really be done to stabilize food prices ata reasonable level, and eliminate the phony advertising and misleading pack- aging that now victimizes so many - shoppers. But before we start congratulating srselves, let’s remember that the war is - from won. The powerful forces be- J the food industry may seem to be before our onslaught, but it is “tactical withdrawal.” They have , once the furore has died down, of going back to their old shady practices. We have had a recent example in the United States of how the food packaging industry was able to prevent the passage of an effective “truth-in-packaging” bill. This is a bill that was introduced six years ago in the U.S. Senate, but has been blocked by lobbies from the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other busi- ness groups. When it finally got through Congress a few months ago, there wasn’t much more left to it than its title. (Instead of ordering a halt to the wide variation in package sizes and weights, for example, the bill merely suggests the industry do so voluntarily!) And here in Canada, our memories are so short we forget that a Royal Com- mission conducted a lengthy investiga- tion of food prices back in 1957-58, and in 1959 issued a voluminous report calling for the same reforms that con- sumers are now demanding. That re- port, like those of most other Royal Com- missions, was filed away and forgotten by the Diefenbaker government. The report of the current Parliamentary com- mittee on food prices is not likely to fare any better in the hands of the Pearson government as long as Canadian con- sumers concentrate solely on the bread box while ignoring the ballot box. —Canadian Transport UNION FOOD STORE OSHAWA — A co-opera- tive food store, owned and operated by union members in this city, looms as an answer to high food costs which are plaguing working families here and across the nation. It’s no pie-in-the-sky propo- sition, either. The executive board of Local 222, United Automobile Workers of America, has approached the possibility of establishing the new store with feet planted firmly on the ground. Late last week, after more than a week of study.and con- sultation with experts in the co-operative movement, Clif- ford Pilkey, president of the Oshawa and District Labour Council, said it appears that the co-operative food store would be a reality. It would progress in three phases. Members of Local 222 would have the exclusive right to shop in the store dur- ing the first phase. Next would see other trade union- ists participating; and in the third phase the doors would be thrown open to the public. To get the ball rolling, about 30 Local 222 officials sat down with four experts to hear how to get the maxi- mum out of the Canadian food dollar. Mr, Pilkey, a Local 222 member, and incidentally an Oshawa alderman, said fol- lowing the meeting that the Local plan “to put the recipe of a non-profit food store to the membership and ask for participation.” The experts were: Dr. Ralph Staplés, president of the Co-operative Union of Canada; James MacDonald, executive secretary of the Na- tional Labour Co - operative Committee; Jack McLachlan, president, Co-operative Sup- plies Depot of Ottawa Ltd.; and Merril Brigden, secretary of the Ontario Co-operative committee. They named three basic in- gredients to operate a suc- cessful food co - operative: a reliable manager, proper facil- ities (a modern store with plenty of parking) and estab- lishing and maintaining mem- bership participation. The experts met with a representative cross-section of UAW people: Local 222 exe- -cutive board, ladies auxiliary, chairmen of each bargaining committee within the Local, and labour council officials. Prior to that meeting the Local had set up a three-man food warehousing committee which recommended to the- board that a shoppers co- operative be formed. Commit- tee members were: Mr. Pil- key, Pat McCloskey, and Louis Rosseau, all board members. CORRECTION The notice in the Ist issue of November of the Lumber Worker which reported that all IWA members in British Columbia were entitled to statutory holiday pay for Tuesday, December 27, 1966, was in error. Only those members who normally have Boxing Day as a statutory holiday are entitled to the pay. This includes all members in the manufacturing plants. Excluded are the loggers who take Good Friday and Easter Monday in preference to Boxing Day.