It just can't go on forever. (mill workers strike in Alberta)

Slave Lake, Alberta, is rapidly gaining prominence as the location for one of the most classic cases of union busting in Canada.

Located 251 kilometers northwest of Edmonton, in the heart of the "oil patch", the 5000 residents of this frontier town have been described as free enterprise minded and determined. Due to Slave Lake's location, the test of wills going on between Zeidler Forest Industries and IWA-Canada Local 1-207 doesn't make the national news every night, but it is just as bitter a dispute as the recent GainersUFCW battle.

Since the Slave Lake dispute began, the battle has expanded to include Zeidler's Edmonton mill workers. IWA-Canada President Jack Munro describes the company's attitude as "one of the worst examples of vindictiveness that I've ever seen."

This is in sharp contrast to the record established by William Zeidler who founded the company in 1934.

Described as a hard working and honest man, he built his company and a good reputation in the community. In 1956 he opened the Edmonton plywood mill and in 1957, the IWA organized it. When William died in 1973, his wife Margaret took over control of the company. Due to ill health, Margaret handed the reins to her son-in-law, Ken Campbell, in 1984.

In January 1986, the IWA local in Edmonton ratified a contract that contained concessions in the areas of starting wages and statutory holidays and transferred the pension plan from the IWA to a company run plan. The 58 per cent ratification vote followed a nine day lockout during which Zeidler threatened to bring in replacement workers.

In Slave Lake, the contract expired Nov. 1, 1985, they were in a legal strike position in December and the strike began April 11, 1986. The IWA sought a one year extension on the existing contract. The company sought concessions: to transfer the IWA pension plan to a Zeidler plan, to cut coffee breaks by two minutes, to cut one statutory holiday, to reduce the amount of annual vacation pay and to increase the employee share of premiums for health and welfare benefits.