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New Star Press has a new history of the IWA by Andrew Neufeld and Andy Parnaby called Out of the Woods.

[BCBW AUTUMN 2000]

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Briefly in 1990 'One Union in Wood', the IWA's original slogan, unofficially became 'Hug a Logger, You'll Never Go Back to Trees' when a three-member falling crew north of Campbell River persuaded their employer to save a 25-acre stand of old-growth timber. It's one of the 'local heroes' stories collected by Andrew Neufeld and Andrew Parnaby for The IWA in Canada (New Star $50).

Founded in Tacoma in 1937, the International Woodworkers of America splintered within Canada to become an independent entity, IWA-Canada, in 1987. In 1994 it morphed into a mouthful-the Industrial Wood and Allied Workers Union of Canada-to signify expansion of membership beyond lumber. The IWA boast 'From Stump to Finished Product' no longer applies as the union struggles to organize workers in sectors beyond timber, in Canada and abroad.

"History is a political weapon,"; notes SFU labour historian Mark Leier. Here that weapon is aimed at documenting and glorifying organized labour in the face of increasing amnesia and ignorance within Canada as to why unions must exist. 0-921586-80-9

[BCBW WINTER 2000]