Unions ask temporary tax to resolve lumber dispute

WASHINGTON D.C. - Labor unions representing workers on both sides of the border proposed a financial plan Monday they hope will help resolve a bitter dispute between the United States and Canada over softwood lumber. <br> <br> The unions, which represent tens of thousands of workers in both countries, suggested a temporary tax on Canadian lumber, which would decrease as the price of Canadian lumber increased. The tax would be in place of an average 27 percent tariff imposed by the United States on softwood imports from four Canadian provinces. <br> <br> The Bush administration contends that government subsidies have kept Canadian lumber prices so artificially low that they threaten the U.S. industry. <br> <br> Softwood lumber from pine, spruce, fir and hemlock trees is used to frame houses. The United States imported nearly $6 billion worth of softwood lumber in 2001, about one-third of the American market. <br> <br> The labor unions said they disagree among themselves on the appropriateness of the tariffs but agree that the dispute is costing jobs on both sides of the border. Countries in South America and elsewhere are taking advantage of the impasse to increase exports to the United States, taking away North American jobs in the process, the unions said. <br> <br> ``If workers can join hands across the border in a mutually respectful way, governments should be able to do the same,&#39;&#39; said Brian Payne, president of the Canada&#39;s largest forest industry union, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. <br> <br> ``Our proposal offers the best way to restore stability to lumber prices while allowing each country to expand their markets in North America and overseas,&#39;&#39; said Rod Kelty of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents 28,000 lumber workers in the United States. <br> <br> Other unions and labor federations supporting the proposal are the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers Union of Canada; Canadian Labor Congress; Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union; and the AFL-CIO. <br> <br> A spokeswoman for the Commerce Department said officials had not yet seen the proposal. but said, ``We are happy to see broad-based interest in solving this dispute. Our goal has always been to find a market-based, long-term solution for softwood lumber. We are interested in any ideas that help achieve that goal.&#39;&#39;