© At The Pas Company’s Bear Lake division is cut-off saw operator Don Graff.

Northern B.C. Local has largest membership

ITH over 5,000 members

in its jurisdiction, [WA

-CANADA Local 1-424,

boasts of the largest

steady membership of

any IWA local in the

country. Its jurisdiction has members

in over 40 operations which also cov-

ers the largest area of any single

IWA-CANADA local in the province of British Columbia (see map).

The Northern B.C. local has oper- ated under union charter for more than 45 years and hit a membership high of more than 7,000 workers in the late ’70s.

In 1977 part of the local’s southern portion was separated to form the Wil- liams Lake Local 1-425. The new local union was carved out in order to provide the membership with better service and help combat raids from other unfriendly unions.

LOCAL UNION STRUCTURE

The local has maintained its head- quarters in Prince George, a city of 80,000 people, about 700 km north of Vancouver.

Working out of the office are 8 full-time staff, 6 of which act in ser- vicing the membership as business agents. The local President is Frank Everitt, who has maintained that position since 1983. Brother Everitt originates from Weldwood Canada’s plant in Quesnel.

Local union by-laws stipulate that each plant with fifty or more mem- bers will receive a seat on the local executive board.

The 37-member board meets every two months to discuss union policy and procedure. Members from across the local meet once a year at a dele- gated meeting to set the local union’s agenda.

JOINT INTERIOR BARGAINING

Like local unions on the B.C. Coast, Local 1-424 bargains the majority of its collective agreements on an industry-wide basis. At present eleven operations are covered under agree- ments negotiated with the Council of Northern Interior Forest Industrial Relations Ltd. (CONIFER), who repre- sent employers such as Findlay For- est Products, Questwood, Lakeland Sawmills, Dunkley Lumber, and The Pas Company.

The present 3 year contract, which will expire at the end of June 1991, will coordinate bargaining activity with the provincial negotiating committee.

The local unions have collective agreements covering sawmills, ply- wood operations, planers, remaners,

¢ Debarker operator Linda Casner, at Dunkley Lumber, handles seven controls simul- taneously for two debarkers.

LOCAL 1-424 IWA CANADA

Prince George o

Fort St. Johno

© Mackenzie

© Fort St. James

© The northern B.C. local (non-shaded) is the province's largest area-wise and Canada’s

largest membership-wise.

construction workers, and automo- bile shop workers.

In the construction sector the local may have up to 1,000 members work- ing under certification in a boom period. The four construction firms certified are Linden Sawmill Con- struction, B.I.D. Mill Installations, North Central Mill Installations and

envy of other forest products pro- ducers world wide.

Excessively high stumpage rates, which have penalized interior produc- ers, have caused the employers to introduce massive tech change which is resulting in the layoffs of hundreds of workers.

© On hand during the Lumberworker’s visit were (I. to r.) local financial secretary Shiv Garcha; president Frank Everitt; and business agents Rob Theriault and Sucha

Deepak.

Stolberg Mill Construction (North- ern) Ltd.

In the lumber and wood chip haul- ing sector, the local union retains two certifications, Excel Transportation Ltd. out of Prince George and Ter- race, and Lucus Trucking in Macken- zie.

Some of the local’s big mill opera- tions include more than 540 members of Weldwood’s sawmill, planer and plywood operations in Quesnel, Westar Timber’s 275 member sawmill and planer in Vanderhoof, Northwood Pulp and Timber’s Houston and Upper Fraser Mills (each with over 270 workers), and Babine Forest Prod- ucts and Houston Forest Products operations, each with in excess of 220 IWA members.

HI TECH OPERATIONS

In some of the CONIFER opera- tions, the most up to date technology is used. The northern interior of the province, like the central and south- ern interiors, has adapted it milling capacity into something that is the

Traditionally, IWA-CANADA has not opposed technological change. Brother Everitt says the local will be increasing its efforts to seek replace- ment jobs for workers laid off due to tech change.

“I think that we can argue with the companies and the public that the companies should find other suitable employment for people rather than kicking workers and their families out on to the street,” says Everitt.

At The Pas Company's Bear Lak a

(Hart Division) sawmill, 45 mile:

north of Prince George, only 93 work- ers (of which 50 are in maintenance) produce over 1 million board feet of dimensional lumber daily on 2 shifts.

Such technological advances have made interior wood producers the most efficient in the world. -

Most of the lumber production in Local 1-424 is kiln-dried for its cus- tomers. At Dunkley Lumbex compa- ny’s hi-speed dimension mill in

Continued on page 14

6/LUMBERWORKER/MAY, 1990