Wood and Wood Producfs Promotion Fund

As man1, ol oul rea'd,ers (tre qiwo,re, o,n important segment ol the southern CaIi' lornia lu.mber ind,ustry has undertaken, through its union contract, a "Wood, and Wooil Products" Prornotion Fund,. The im' portance ol this step, in our opinian, should, not be und,erestirnated as it rep' resents the first und,ertaking ol its type irt a ma.ior U.S. m'arket. The editors ol the California Lumber Merchant recently aslted, the people responsible, in larp,e po,rt, t'ot the ileuelnpment an'd, hand,ling oJ thc luntl, to meet together so we could npe their remarks in response to our questions relating to the Wood Prom'otion Fund,.Edinr.

CUIIER: Gentlemen, I want to thank you very much for being here today, and to start things off let me ask what I guess should be the first basic question: What is Lumber Employers' Council, who does it represent, and what is the Wood Promo' tion Fund?

BAUGH: Lumber Employers' Council, Dave, is an organization of dues-paying members composed o{ wood working firms, retail lumber dealers, lumber wholesalerscompanies whose business depends primar. ily on the sale of wood and wood products. The members elect a board of directors, and other various committees. and we {unction in a number o{ ways-first and foremost being the negotiation oI the union contract with Local 2288.

CUTLER: How many companies belong to Lumber Employers' Council?

BAUGH: About fi{ty-five. I should point out, however, that many companies sigrr' ing the contract negotiated by LEC are not necessarily members of LEC.

CUTLER: Why not?

McDONALD: ['e'd like to know also. Evi' dently they're just not interested in par' ticipating in group activities, although the results affect them and it's to their benefit to do so.

BAUGH: At any rate, LEC is an industry group attempting to get things done in many areas. Among them is Wood Pro' motion as an industry-wide effort. I should explain, I think, that the group here today is a special committee of LEC. George Ryan is the chairman and I'm going to ask him to explain it.

RYAN: We've formed an advertising committee to work with the advertising agency in planning the promotion program. We've tried to balance the committee so that it represents the various facets of the lumber and wood working industries. I am from the millwork side of our busine.ss while Dick Lloyd is in wholesale lumber, and Sandy McDonald is a retail lumber dealer. We believe that all aspects of the lumber and wood working industries should be represented in a promotion of this kind. ffIcDONALD: Wood and wood products don't need to be defended-they just need n be explained, arul promoted-to the architect, the builder, and to Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner. And that's what advertising and promotion can do-explain the advantages and beauty of wood. I'd like some of the wooden floor joist business back that cement floors have taken away!

CUTIER: And where do Nick Cordil. Marshall Wooten, and Jim Cooper fit in?

RYAN: We asked'Marshall and Nick to join us today because we think it is very important in this discussion to have the union's point of view expressed. Jim Cooper's advertising company was selected to handle the advertising program and he's here to explain later on what the present promotion program will be.

CUTIER: Now that we have an idea of what LEC is, my next question is, just how did this fund come about?

COOPER: I'd like to answer that because I've had something of an objective outside view of this since it started. It really didn't start with any single person, but was rather motivated by the cumulative efiort of many people. Dick Lloyd here, for example, has been activly pushing for this type of enterprise for some time. So has Jim Forgie and others in the Lumber-Jacks. The nied for the benefits a Fund can supply has been long recognized by many leaders in the industry. And I've been beatins the drum for it also. We are all aware of the success of PIPE and of the Plasterer's Institute. A fund promoting wood and wood products can be just as successful in attaining its objectives.

CUTLER: Isn't there already a considerable efiort in this direction at the national level ?

ILOYD: Yes, but that's it it is at the rwtional level, and while it is worthwhile it cannot do the job that a local promotion can accomplish for the local market.

CUTIER: How many local promotions are going on now in other parts of the country ?

ILOYD: Thele are several. There's W.O.O.D. Inc. in Denver that has been functioning for about two years with good results. There is the Promowood Council of Bufialo, New York. Their program is also showing results. And there are two others, I believe, just under way, one in Albuquerque, and one in Phoenix called the o'Arizona Wood Council."

COOPER: I want to comment upon Dick's reference to the National Wood Promotion Program. While I personally have somc constructive criticisms to suggest to it, I do think that we will agree that it is a wonderful step in the right direction. It cannot, however, do many of the things a local promotion can accomplish.

CUIIER: Why do you say that?

COOPER: Well, for example, it is one thing to use a page in LIFE magazine, but the use of. local radio, 'fV, and billboard media creates quite a different effect. The penetration and, eflectiueness of the local program is greater. The weight of the national program is not overpowering when you consider how widely it is spread. It is actually a small budget in relation to the size of the job that has to be done nationally and to the availability of the product. We will concentrate more dollars in southern California than will the national program, and they will be more efiective dollars. There's not a question in my mind that our local program will, within a few years, have the desired effect upon sales. In other words, companies supplying the funds which are concentrated at the local levelwithin their communities where they do business-will benefit to a greater extent than from the national p-g."rn alone. The two programs together, of course, provide the best results.

[[OYD: But you'll agree that the national program is necessary?

COOPER: Certainly, because I believe that it will expand to the proportions where it will have a more pronounced, efiective influence upon the public.

CUTIER: Well, just what is this Fund and how does one go about getting one started?

WOOTEN: The fund is the result of a clause that is written into the contract between the union on one hand and management on the other.

BAUGH: That's right. An industry promotion and educational clause gets written into a contract because both the union and management want it in there. There's nothing really new about industry promotion clauses. and thev definitelv seem to work best wlen they ur" th" result of joint union-management decisions.

WOOTEN: In our negotiations with LEC it was suggested that a fund be established. We all agreed because we belie-ve, as management evidently believes, that promotion will help business and from our viewpoint give our members even better job security.

CUTIER: I assume that competition from other building materials has a lot to do with the fact this fund has been started.

LIOYD: Yes, the underlying reasons, of course, we all know . we know what the aluminum, steel, plastic, plaster, and other people are doing with the result that the demand for wood and wood products in many types of construction has lessened.

RYAN: We've all felt the effects of other materials and synthetics, and they are all industries that do a good promotion job.

CUTTER: Just how are the moneys collected for the promotion {und and what happens to them?

CORDII: One cent an hour of the wage increase was given up by the employees to the wood and wood products promotion fund, and it was matched by one cent from the ernployers.

BAUGH: In order to avoid a complicated accounting job in collecting the moneys on an hourly basis, we agreed upon a flat $3.00 per man per month, if he worked 80 hours or longer.

CUTLER: And how much money will that raise each month?

RYAN: I think it comes to approximately 8 to l0 thousand dollars a month.

CORDII: That's about it.

CUIIER: In other words you'll have, let's see perhaps $100,000 a year. How long does the fund go on?

WOOTEN: It's a three-year contract.

CUTLER: And to what purposes will the money be put?

COOPER: Primarily into media advertising and publicity. Obviously a budget of that size cannot make a big impression on a market of this tremendous size. But it will make an impression, it's just a matter of degree. We are hoping, however, that other contracts, like the Orange County lumber yards, and the Harbor Yards, and other groups, will also include a. similar wood promotion clause and join in supporting an industry-wid,e promntion.

€UTLER: Would that mean that you'd have a number of promotional programs going on concurrently'?

McDONAID: It could. of course. However, a much better job could be accomplished through one large single industry promo' tion in southern California, than could be had with a number of separate promotions all going in difierent directions. We're hoping that everyone will want to support the Wood lnformation Bureau of Southern California, which is the name we've given to the present effort.

CUTLER: Yes, I'm anxious to have you explain the reasoning behind the formation of the Wood Information Bureau, but before we get to that, how would the mechan' ics of an ind.ustry-wiile promotion work?

BAUGH: From a control standpoint it would simply mean that each contract, so to speak, could have a representative to sit upon the advertising committee that controls the 'oWood Information Bureau."

CUTLER: In other words, a system could be devised whereby someone from the Orange County yards could represent their group, someone from the Harbor group, and so on, could form the committee?

LLOYD: Yes, that's about it, and it really wouldn't be too complicated. And there is a very practical reason for putting all such funds under one roof, so to speak. It will enable the advertising agency to obtain the highest discounts from volume space and time buying with the result that you simply get more advertising for the dollars expended. Besides, the objective is one common to all concerned-to increase the sale o{ vrood and wood products.

CUTLER: If all the lumber yards, sash '& door, moulding, wholesalers, and cabinet people, and so on, all came into a common fund, about how much money would be raised ?

RYAN: Didn't you have that figure, San' dy?

McDONALD: Nick, you figured that out what did it come to?

CORDIL: Ve figured it could reach $400,000 per year.

LLOYD: With that amount a very exten(Continued on Page 44)

This is the Wood Promotion Fund Clause as it ap- 2288 and the Los Angeles County District Council of pears in the 1963-1966 Employer-Employ'ee Agreement Carpenters of the United Brotherhood .of. Carpenters boverning Wages, Hours and Working Conditions Be and Joiners of America-AFL-C10, and Lumber Emtween Lumbei and Sawmill Workers Union Local No. ployers Council'

Section 16. FUND FOR THE PROMOTION OF TIiE USE OF WOOD AND WOOD PRODUCTS: curLER: 'oin other utords you haue perh.aps $100,000 a year." coopnR: o'we wtll be talking about the beauty ol unoil, the economy ol wood. We wilI appeal n ernittian . uhat peoipl.e qee and, feel."

Effective January 1, 1964, each Employer shall commence payment- to a fund for the Promotion of the Use of Wood and Wood Prdducts. PaymrinLs shall be the equivalent of two (2) cents per hour for each employee. The first payment shall be due in February 1964 b.ased on hours worked or Paid -for-duri.g Jafuaiy 1964. The liuird sltall be administered by ihe Lumber Employers' Council and the funds shal be accounted for to the Joint Union-Employer Committee which may make advisory recommendations for the use of such funds in wood promotion and training work. The Fund shall be jointly established and the cost of establishing such Fund shall be paid flom the Fund. The details of the Fund ghall be workeil out by the Joint Union-Employer Committee.

A Joint Union-Employer Committee shall be formed to study the loader problem and all matters which might be of mutuallnterest to the Employers and the Union, including the wood promotion fuudThis Committee shall meet bi-monthly aud shall consist of an equal number of Union represeqtatives and members of the Lumber Employers' Council.

BAUGH: "what we uant to see contr&cts with such, clauses."

RvAN: "rre'?e all, lelt th,e efiects ol other rnateriak and, synthet'ics."