THE SCIUTHLAND

By WAYNE GARDN executive vice president

lnucnrtoN of employees was lone of the oft-mentioned needs of our members of the Lumber Association of Southern California when they responded to the query of Troy Bussey, keynote speaker at the 24th Annual Management Conference in Palm Springs last November.

The association can and will pro- vide the vehicle for education of your employees on a continuing basis throughout 1978.

At the present time there is a Products Knowledge Course available at a very reasonable price. It consists of two looseleaf volumes covering the following subjects: lumber, doors/ windows, millwork, plywood, cement, masonry, paint, specialty products, interior paneling, ceilings, flooring, carpeting, insulation, roofing, siding, and gypsum.

After the student has read a chapter, there is an examination for him to take. This reinforces the learning process and enables the student, as well as his employer, to verify the knowledge level on each subject.

At the conclusion of the course, each student is issued an attractive Certificate of Completion, appropri- ately framed so that it may be dis- played indicating to all that he or she has achieved a certain proficiency level in knowledge of the lumber and building materials industry.

Some employers have utilized the course as an incentive. Upon completion the student receives not only the recognition of the certificate, but also receives a previously agreed upon increase in salary.

It's encouraging to see the names of former students appearing as assistant managers and managers in many operations. They are living proof that education, or knowledge, is power. Plans are presently underway to have sessions in basic management techniques; salesmanship for both retail and wholesale employees; and possibly some sessions in advanced management, both personnel and financial.

The theme for 1977 was "Get Involved." We plan to give the members every opportunity to get involved. Education of the employees is just the beginning. organize and belong to a guard union but are prohibited from belonging to other unions because of obvious conflict of interest considerations.

By CHUCK LINK executive director

ff I-EASE write your Senators and f oppose S. 1883, the Union Organizers Act.

Time is desperately short if we are to stop, or even modify, the harsh provisions against employers in the legislation that organized labor is pushing as Labor Law Reform, S. 1883.

The title is a misnomer. This is a bill to enable labor unions to organize more easily throughout the country.

Listed below are five of the worst provisions of the bill. Your Senators may not be fully aware of how bad they can be for employers. Almost any one of them might be enough to make a Senator stop and reconsider what a vote for such legislation might do to his employer constituents.

( 1) The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) may raise employee wages and benefits from the time that an employer is judged to have refused to bargain on a first collective bargaining agreement until agreement is signed.

(2) Double backpay with interest may be ordered by the NLRB for any employee who claims to have been discharged because of union activity during the organizing of the union.

(3) Security guards may affiliate with any union so long as the union does not represent other employees at the same workplace. Guards may currently

(4) Whenever the NLRB determines that an employer has willfully violated the law, it may bar the employer from Government contracts for three years. The penalty would apply company-wide, even though the violation might occur at a single plant.

(5) The NLRB is required to hold "quickie" representational elections within 15 days of the filing by the union of an election petition. Where unions need more time, 45 days is authorized; and in cases of "exceptional novelty or complexity" 75 days is permissable.

These "reforms" have already passed the House and are slated for Senate action very soon. To stop it, or even to tone it down, you will have to contact your Senators quickly. Your protest is important!