CONVENTION

© Organizing Director Lyle Pona.

Nearly 1,500 join [.W.A. in past year

Since reporting to the 1995 convention, National Organizing Director Lyle Pona told delegates that the LW.A. has continued to have successes in organizing, but at a slower pace than in the previous year.

In the past fiscal year 1,452 new members joined the union, compared to the past fiscal year when over 2,000 new members signed up. Of this year’s total, 1,299 were actively organized while 153 workers joined the I.W.A. voluntarily.

Leading all local unions was Loggers’ Local 1-71 with 287 new members in 31 bargaining units orga- nized. Second place went to Local 1-3567 (ew Westminster-Fraser Valley) which brought in 10 new bargaining units with 260 workers. Locals 1- 424 (Prince George, B.C.), 500 (Hanover, Ontario) and 2693 (Thunder Bay, Ontario) were the only other locals to organize over one hundred mem- bers each. wa

British Columbia lead in organizing new bar- gaining units. Labour Board reports indicate a

vention.

slower year for all unions in the province. Brother Pona attributed some of the slow down to the fact that in excess of 250 trade union activists and or- ganizers became involved in support of the NDP election campaign.

During the campaign Pona himself was heavily involved in organizing the successful election of Glenn Robertson in the North (Vancouver) Island riding. Brother Robertson, who is a member of Loggers’ Local 1-71, is a logger and former camp chairman at Canfor’s Englewood division.

Referring to the Labour Relations Board reports, Pona pointed out that figures for the previous year indicate that 65% of all new certifications have 20 employees or less.

“Unfortunately these small bargaining units of- ten cost as much in legal and servicing fees as larger ones do and they are also just as difficult to obtain the first collective agreement,” he said.

Brother Pona said that the union has fought some expensive legal battles in organizing depen- dent contractors in B.C. He said that the I.W.A. may have crossed the threshold with a recent LRB decision concerning dependent contract truckers employed at the Eagle Ridge division of Evans Forest Products.

The decision should establish the statutory defi- nition of what constitutes a dependent contractor as it incorporates much of the case law to date, said Pona.

The union is concerned about employer domi- nated unions, such as the Christian Labour Associ- ation of Canada (CLAC). It is currently discussing a co-ordinated plan of action to counter future ac- tivity by the CLAC, which has had successes raid- ing legitimate trade unions.

Brother Pona commended Local 1-207 and other members of the Alberta Federation of Labour for their successful battle against “right-to-work” leg- islation. A government appointed committee con- cluded that there would be no advantages by adopting such laws.

He also mentioned that draconian labour laws being introduced by the Filmon government in Manitoba will stall efforts to organize in the province if adopted.

The union is cost sharing organizers in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Safety resolutions

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CLAIMS CONTROL CONSULTANTS — the convention demanded that action be taken against consultants that have improperly obtained and/or released confidential WCB information.

WCB CLAIM DELAY - the I.W.A. will lobby the WCB in British Columbia to amend policy so that once the claimant's doctor makes a decision that an in- jured worker is not fit for work due to a work-re- lated injury or illness, and that the WCB starts pay- ing the claim immediately.

WCB CLAIMS ADJUDICATION - Workers Compensa- tion Boards must hire adjudicators and consul- tants with appropriate industrial or labour union experience and provide opportunities to adjudica- tors and other advisors for appropriate industrial experience so they may understand the conditions under which claimants work.

LOG MARKING - to prevent repetitive strain in- juries, the union will lobby appropriate agencies to encourage other means of identification and to al- low the marking of only high grade logs to be nec- essary, thereby eliminating the stamp hammer. COBALT EXPOSURE - the union will urge the appro- priate government agencies and WCB’s to conduct further studies of workers exposed to cobalt.

AIR QUALITY — the union demands that all WCB’s implement comprehensive studies into the effects of chemicals and toxins on forest industry work- ers.

DUST CONTROL — the I.W.A. calls on appropriate government agencies and WCB's to implement and enforce regulations which would require the con- trol of dust at its source.

SAFETY MANUAL AND GUIDEBOOK — the National Safety Council is directed to develop a manual to assist local union with return to work policies and revise the I.W.A. Safety Guidebook.

e Members from Local 2693 (Thunder Bay, Ontario) were in full attendance at Tenth Constitutional Con-

The speaker said that Ontario has a high poten- tial for organizing but that regressive labour laws and labour board policies introduced by the Harris government have severely impacted the I.W.A.’s ability to organize. A secret vote requirement has served to allow employers to intimidate and ha- rass workers.

“At the last convention, Eastern Canada was able to report 720 new members as opposed to this year’s (total of) 332 new members,” said Pona. “In addition, we lost approximately 500 potential new members that otherwise would have been au-. tomatically certified if we still had the NDP in power.”

Since the last convention Pona has put on orga- nizing courses in Local 1-71, 1-417 and 1-424.

The National Organizing Department consists of Brother Pona in Western Canada and Brothers Harold Sachs, Rene Brixhe and Mike Hunter in the Ontario region.

National union urged to explore mergers

Once again the I.W.A. is set to explore merger opportunities with other unions and has received convention support to do so. A resolution from Duncan Local 1-80 called upon the national union to develop a program to do just that.

Bill Routley, President of the local that spon- sored the resolution, said that his local has be- come more diverse and, as a result, now has 12

. delegates to a national convention instead of 11.

* “We were in a state of decline,” said Brother Routley. “But thanks to a progressive NDP govern- ment and the kind of fair legislation that we enjoy in British Columbia, our local union has been able to grow over the last couple of years...”

“It’s extremely important that we continue the growth of our union, not just is it important for us but for the rest of the community that we become a significant factor in our communities, in the re- gion that we live, in the province and all across Canada,” he said. “We're seeing a decline of unions in North America and I think it’s an absolute disas- ter.”

Routley said that the many new bargaining units that his local has organized has created new chal- lenges for the officers and staff. He said that the union must support the fight for sectoral bargain- ing or “we're going to run ourselves out and simply become exhausted at the job that we're doing.”

He said that the union has to decide on which sector to target and develop strategies to organize them with appropriate sectoral collective agree- pete wee beng in new members.

ave Haggard, President of Port Alberni Local 1-85, said that the LW.A. must put together a com- prehensive program on organizing and mergers af- ter holding meetings with rank and file and com- munity members across the country.

You know, we're up against other unions out there such as the Steelworkers, the Autoworkers, and the CEP, that are organizing anything and everything that goes around in our communities. And I think the I.W.A. is the better organization of

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LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER 1996/15