34,600 copies printed in this tasue

Wor.)

e

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

yy thewestem Canadian

lumber worker

Published once monthly as the official publication of fhe INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA j

Western Canadian Regional Council No.1

Affiliated withAFC-Ci0-cLC

2859 Commercial Orive, Vancouver, 8.C. Phone 874-526}

Pat Kerr

Business Manager — Bob Schiosser

Forwarded fo every member of the 1WA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions, 7 Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. |

EDITORIAL

Advertising Representatives — Elizabeth Spencer Associates |

ieee et ited ae ee

CHANGES FOR THE WORSE

anadian workers who have the

misfortune of being laid off work in the future are going to find obtaining UIC benefits far more dif- ficult than in the past. Robert An- dras, minister in charge of UIC, is pressing for a number of new amendments to the Act which will drastically alter the present system of benefit payments.

He proposes that the present eight week eligibility period be extended to twelve weeks and the number of weeks claimants are entitled to benefits be reduced substantially.

He also proposes to do away with the guidelines now used to provide UIC recipients with additional bene- fits. Under the present plan clai- mants are allowed extra weeks of benefits if the national unemploy- ment figures rise above a certain

percentage.

He suggests that a better method would be to use provincial unem- ployment figures. His argument is that claimants living in economically buoyant regions don’t need the addi- tional benefits where there are jobs available.

This sounds fine on the surface but what is really behind the proposed changes is a callous plan

to force the unemployed in these

areas off UIC and on to the welfare roles.

This could mean a saving of mil- lions of dollars to the government which has run badly in the red on UIC payments. In 1971, the govern- ment agreed to meet all the ex- penses of UIC when the national un- employment rate went beyond four percent. Employee-employer contri- butions were to pay the cost up to that point.

However, unemployment went up drastically in the past five years, forcing the government to subsidize UIC by millions of dollars. Instead of seeking ways to generate more jobs, the government hit on the scheme to shift the financial burden on to the shoulders of the workers, employers and the provinces.

The new percentage figure at which the government will assume the UIC cost has now been raised to five point six percent and will go up to six percent in 1977.

This added to the extension of the eligibility period plus the reduction of benefit time, is a severe blow to workers and if the trend continues, the value of the UIC plan to Canadians will be almost worthless.

(f

FARM WORKERS THANK

REGIONAL COUNCIL

Jack Munro, President, International Woodworkers of America,

Region 1

2859 Commercial,

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada >

Dear Brother Munro:

On behalf of the officers and members of the United Farm Workers of America, I want to extend to you our thanks for your very strong words of sup-

at your convention last month. Dale Van Pelt tells me that we were received very warmly and enthusiastically by the delegates. Support from our brothers and sisters in the labour movement is a con- tinuing source of strength to us as we struggle to build a demo-

Lend a hand.

cratic union for farm workers.

Each day, as new election results come in, it becomes in- creasingly clear that the Teamsters have no legitimate claim to representing farm workers. Given the _at- mosphere free from intimida- tion and free from the fear of losing their jobs, the workers are voting for the United Farm Workers. However, we are still fighting the powerful grower- Teamster alliance, and the slack inforcement of the new farm labour law.

Please extend our thanks also to Brother Tom Fawkes for his support. Marshall, Jes- sica and all of us send our best. We thank you for standing with us. Fraternally,

Cesar E. Chavez President

LIGHTER SIDE

Boy Scout: woman of 30 who chases boy of 18.° eH

A practical nurse, according |

to Sawmill Sue, is the one who falls in love with the wealthiest

patient. ©

A demand that the provincial government eliminate the provincial Sales Tax on Build- ing Materials won wide ap- proval at the Convention. ©

A motion was passed that the Regional Council petition the premier to remove the tax as an incentive to-stimulate the construction of badly needed housing in the province.

B.C. TEL . CONDEMNED BY MEET

Convention delegates, angry over the recent B.C. Tel rate increases, instructed the Regional officers to make rep- resentation to the provincial government opposing any further telephone hikes.

The delegates were strongly critical of the quality of B.C. Tel service and suggested that the rates should be reduced rather than raised.

FEB.-MARCH, 1976

Now relax lady ... or you’ll be crossin’ yer bridge before you

come to it!

|

WRITER APPROVES eres ‘SOCHED “SHOVEL” PLAN 77

=

The Editor:

Today I received the December 1975 copy of your paper. It makes me wonder whether your edition repre- sents the feeling of the rank and file members of the I.W.A. Going by the results of the last

‘ election, maybe a lot of votes of ’ the I.W.A. membership went

against the N.D.P.

Maybe one of the things that made the vote go the way it did, was the weak approach of Mr. Levi (overspending the Welfare Budget by a cool $100 million or so). Maybe some of the I.W.A. members feel that things were going a little far.

In this day and age it becomes a habit not to know how to put in an honest days work if you get paid just the same. Doing nothing becomes quickly a habit, but it bothers a lot of people to see the employ- ables not wanting to work, but just collect.

To call a spade a spade has become unfashionable nowa- days. I am sure the appoint- ment of Vander Zalm as Minister of Human Resources pleases more people than not. It is my hope that he will do as he said, ‘‘give a shovel to the people that have not got one, it will give them an appetite,

keep them in shape physically and keep some callouses on their hands.”

I feel your edition is a rather political, short-sighted view of what is happening and it makes me wonder whether you are out of touch with the I.W.A. membership as a whole.

It is my hope that as a union dues paying member I do not have to read political hogwash of any kind in the future issues of the I.W.A. paper.

Keep union business and politics separate, friend.

Yours truly, Brother Boswyk Member of Local 1-367

Editor’s note: _ .

It is still our opinion that Mr. Vander Zalm is not qualified to head up such a sensitive port- folio as the Human Resources Department. However, we would be delighted if Mr. Van- der Zalm.proved us wrong.

With respect to your request to ‘‘keep union and politics sep- arate,” in the Lumber Worker, we must point out that by Re- gional convention action the decision was made to support the policies of the New Demo- cratic Party and publish as much as possible of the Party’s views in the Lumber Worker.

CHINA TOUR OFFERED

The Chinese Government has given permission for a group of Canadian working men and women to visit the People’s Republic of China this summer.

Leaving on June 2nd and returning June 25th, the group of 24 Canadians will visit Peking, Shihchichuang, Anyang, Linhsien County, Changsha, Kweilin and Kwangchow (Can- ton). Total stay in China will be 18 days.

Also included in the tour is an overnight stay in Tokyo and three nights in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong.

Total cost is $1875.00 per person, which includes almost everything — with the exception of a few meals.

Handling all the arrangements is TRAVEL UNLIMITED, 166 E. Pender St., Vancouver, B.C. Ph. 683-7765.

Participation is definitely limited to 24 people and all re- servations will be accepted on a first come / first served

basis.