world news - 15.04.2003

Forest Unions against B.C. Timber Auctions

The future of resource-based communities across British Columbia is on the line as a result of recently-announced changes to forest policy, say the leaders of BC's two leading forest-sector unions.
"We want to be perfectly clear: if the BC government implements these policies, there will be many, many mill closures and thousands of lost jobs," said President Dave Haggard of the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers of Canada. "Workers and their communities will be left holding the bag."

Auctions of standing timber
Policy changes recently put forward in the BC Legislature include plans for auctions of standing timber, freewheeling purchase or sale of forest licences and portions of licences and the gutting of the half-century-old social contact between workers, communities, government and industry in BC.
"Timber auctions mean that workers who have grown up all their lives in a forest community and who today work in an area that they know and respect, will be thrown out of work tomorrow because someone lost a sale," explained Haggard.
"Wide-open buying and selling of licences as well as the elimination of minimum cut controls creates the same kind of insecurity," said Coles. "It will encourage all sorts of fly-by-night speculators to buy when markets are hot, cut and get out. This will do nothing for community stability or forest stewardship."
Haggard and Coles noted workers' particular concerns with the elimination of the measures that constitute BC's social contract: rules tying timber to specific mills; regulating the amount of timber companies can harvest annually; setting minimum processing requirements and ensuring review of mill closures.

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