Union formulates — 2003 demands

Wage and Contract delegates back demands for tough set of contract talks

At the 2003 B.C. provincial wage and contract conference

in Vancouver on February

“we've got a tough the toughest set yet.”

To be successful, Haggard said the union, as it has done so many times in the past, must stick together. “We have a

history of doing that,” he added.

Haggard encouraged conference delegates to take the information from the conference back to their sub-locals and talk with the membership about the demands the union will be putting across the table with employers.

“Tell your supervisors too!” added Brother Haggard. He said that all IWA members must be ready to seek fair col- lective agreements in British Columbia that protect the union in every region and, if employers do not offer such agreements, the union will take appropriate actions.

21, IWA Canada president Dave Haggard told delegates from ten B.C. locals that set of negotiations ahead of us — maybe

= Above, national union president Dave Haggard told conference

participants that this year’s contract talks may be the toughest yet. Below, Local 1-80’s Carmen Rocco spoke on a resolution for talks with the Coastal forest industry.

= National first vice president Harvey Arcand (left) gave the conference an overview on the IWA-Forest Industry Pension Plan and Local 1-85 president Monty Mearns (below left) spoke on a resolution on contracting out. Local 2171 (below right) sent a delegation.

PHOTOS BY NORMAN GARCIA

A ‘realistic and responsible’ set of demands

The IWA’s provincial wage and contract confer- ence resulted in forest industry workers coming up with a “realistic and responsible” set of contract demands (see summary opposite page), says national union president Dave Haggard, who led the negoti- ating committee into contract talks with the IFLRA in mid-March (see article page one).

“We're not asking for the moon and stars here — we want bread and butter agreements that protect

our members and assist this industry overcome its serious difficulties that we all too-well know have to

be dealt with,” said Haggard, who notified the par- ticipants that FIR companies have called for a proto- col agreement to solve local issues while some of its member companies have cancelled local memoran- dums of agreement before negotiations.

In the northern Interior, employers have agreed to talk about local issues at the table while southern Interior employers are not interested. The union is, however, bringing some issues to the main table.

National first vice president Harvey Arcand gave delegates an important presentation on the

IWA-Forest Industry pension plan which has, every recent year with the exception of 2002, accelerated its status to become fully-funded. He talked about many of the important issues that could be addressed if the union is able to negotiate a “hybrid” pension plan with the industry.

National staff member Gerry Smith also gave del- egates a rundown on the work of a joint employer- union committee that has worked to analyze the functions and costs of benefit plans and the effects that B.C. government downloading has had on them,

22 | THE ALLIED WORKER APRIL 2003