ay Bi Pittsburgh exposed in assault on 1005 a By MIKE PHILLIPS __ HAMILTON — Backed by ut 2,000 local union members, | Ousted Steelworkers Local 1005 President Cec Taylor came to an Ug. 31 union meeting prepared 'o let the membership decide if y want him as their president. But, through the combined ef- Orts of the union’s international Officers and their local allies, Cec aylor wasn’t to have, as one 1005 member put it, “‘his in court’’. Bryan Atkinson, the local’s vice-president now occupying the President’s chair adjourned the | Meeting before it was slated to gin on the grounds that the size _ Of the turn out constituted a fire : hazard _ Noting that many large meet- igs had been held in the union before, and that the beverage : ‘Nom in the basement was pack- » yet wasn’t cleared as a fire hazard, Taylor charged the meet- Ing was adjourned because Atkin- _ 8On and his supporters feared the Membership would vote to re- Mstate him. “It’s obvious they didn’t want - Membership to make a de- “sion,’’ Taylor said. ‘‘That’s why . y adjourned the meeting, they a to take it out of the mem- ee hands and put it into the €mational’s hands so the Gaubership can’t make a deci- ee He also pointed out that a tele- 8fam sent to the local earlier, in - the day by Steelworkers interna- onal union president Lloyd CBride, stating that any vote to "econsider the 66 to 65 decision, U8. 9 suspending and removing pevor from office would be out of “der, exposed the international’s © In the coup against Taylor. on M now convinced after se- a the telegram from the inter- t penal union that they’re behind fro efforts to have me removed 1005" the presidency of Local —_. he said. t ‘31 The telegram hasn’t done Pitts- burgh’s image any good among the majority of rank and file Local 1005 members. ‘‘We’re not going to let a bunch of American pork- choppers overrule what ten thousand Canadian steelworkers voted for’, one angry worker said as a couple of thousand of his fel- low union members milled around the President they elected. The mood outside the Steel- workers Hall had the air of an angry and militant picket line. As Taylor was being hoisted on the shoulders of the steelworkers who’d come to see him returned to office, shouts of: ‘“‘We want Taylor’, and ‘‘We’re with you Cec’’, echoed along Barton street. Estimates of the crowd in the hall ranged as high as 700-800 while another 1,000 waited out- side for the results. The crowd was big enough that many mem- bers who’d come down to show their support simply turned around and went home once they saw the demonstration outside. Taylor credited his firm opposi- tion to the concessions line being advanced by the international union in the steel industry, and his advocacy of Canadian autonomy for steelworkers as the motives behind the international’s efforts to unseat him. Concessions and the need for a militant, united fight against them by the union are the thoughts which -dominate the minds - of most Stelco workers these days as the company is pressing the union to enter into early contracts to replace the current pact that expires in Aug. *84. Judging from workers’ com- ments outside the union hall Aug. there’s near unanimous agreement in the plants that talks shouldn’t be opened until the spring and that Taylor should be heading those negotiations. ‘The turnout tonight shows that the people support Taylor and that Atkinson hasn’t got the courage to let the members of Local 1005 be heard’’, plate and strip mill worker Dave Brown said. “‘If he can’t face the mem- bership, I’d hate to see what he’d be like in front of the company.”’ Brown added: “‘I think Pittsburgh is going to have to get a strong message from this turn out — the people want Taylor back.”’ An indication of the strength of this view among the workers is the spate of petitions being circu- lated by groups of ten or more workers throughout the plant de- manding the local executive hold a special mass membership meet- ing at Ivor Wynne stadium to deal once and for all with the charges against Taylor and the paralysis imposed on the local by Atkinson and his supporters. They are demanding the meet- ing be held before Sept. 10, the date set for Taylor to appear be- fore a hand-picked, two-member enquiry commission drawn by the international leadership to hear his appeal and prepare recom- mendations for Pittsburgh. Taylor has invited everyone in the local: who wants to attend to come to the union hall Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. and witness the enquiry, to judge for themselves how seri- ous or ridiculous the charges against him are. ‘‘My belief is that the inter- — national will rule against me in my appeal’’, he said, ‘“but if they do I'll go to court and challenge their. constitution, as far as the Sup- reme Court if I have to.”’ Many options are being dis- cussed among the workers that should be carefully weighed by the decision makers in Pittsburgh. One veteran 1005 member sum- med it up for most of his fellow Stelco workers, when standing behind the president he and thousands more like him had elected, he said: ‘‘I’ve got a right to be heard about who I want on the executive of this union.” z OF. OR = = > ce c uy wv | oO =s z Ww = 2 © a = HAMILTON JOBLESS SAY: _NO EVICTIONS! By VICKY HOLLOWAY Hamilton — The unemployed workers’ union has pledged to do what it can to help stop the pending eviction, of about 20 people from their apartments. On Aug. 15, the remaining tenants at three downtown apartment buildings received notice by Harvey Real Estate Ltd., the management firm representing the absentee landlord who owns the buildings, that they had 10 days to vacate their apartments. Though the Aug. 25 deadline has passed, the tenants continue to be saddled with the frustration of knowing they can be turned out of their homes at any moment. ‘Ten days notice is just not enough time to find another place to live’’, tenants spokesperson Brenda Ritchie explained last week. ‘‘Most of us are unemployed, on Mothers Allo- ~ wance or on social assistance. We can’t afford to move.”’ Harvey Real Estate, managing the property for the Van- couver-based landlord, has refused to meet any of the tenants’ demands which include three months notice to vacate, retum of their $100 security deposits and payment for all moving expenses if they are forced to vacate their homes. The tenants are also demanding that City Council find them alternative housing and also help them with such expenses as reconnecting their Hydro, telephone, cable TV services and other incidental moving charges. John D. Harvey has told the tenants they have to get out in order for renovations on the buildings to begin. Several clean up orders from the city Health Department have been issued . recently and the owners are under pressure to improve the maintenance of the property. — With the support of the Hamilton Union of the Unem- ployed, (HUU) the tenants picketed Harvey Real Estate’s offices with placards which declared: ‘‘Hell no we won't go!”’ and “‘The streets aren’t for kids to live on!”’ HUU chairperson Kerry Wilson told reporters at the demonstration that the union pledges ‘‘to the tenants and the unemployed of this city that these people will not be evicted and that if necessary we will physically prevent it.” Aldermen Mike Davidson and Brian Hinckley, representing the evicted tenants in Ward three have called the 10-day eviction notice ‘‘unjust’’ and “‘immoral’’ and have pledge their support for the tenants. Controls fightback animates OPSEU meet Ver “alle ; Brith the B, TORONTO — The need to continue and extend the iehtback by public sector workers against relentless Yernment attacks on wages, jobs and rights, domi- . rated the annual Ontario Public Service Employees "lon convention, Aug. 26-27. On behalf of the 73,000 OPSEU members they rep- Sented, the convention delegates decided early during tWo-day meeting to commit the union to take what- Wa, ction is required to remove Ontario's public sector a control law, Bill 179 and to work diligently to or ft any legislature member supporting either the bill ~ Its €xtension, as the Davis government has recently d it will do. : ante country-wide assault by provincial governments ttawa on public sector workers and their unions at d Vels of government imposed itself on the delegates the OPSEU convention. This was particularly true of the current rampage Ast the public sector by the Bennett government in nee Columbia. The OPSEU delegates heard a first atta account of how the labor movement is fighting this innic. by National Union of Provincial Government ‘th Ployees Union president John Fryer, who warned deyaronvention not to be complacent about these tlopments because what’s happening in B.C. could Phen in Ontario. The convention responded to the crisis in B.C. early in Proceedings by adopting a resolution condemning €nnett budget and pledging solidarity with the BG: Yernment Employees Union, (BCGEU). The te Go OPSEU authorized a donation of $36,000 to Operation Solidarity sponsored by the B.C. Federation of Labor. The addresses of the various-guest speakers helped to set the militant fightback tone of the convention. United Auto Workers Canadian director Bob White emphasized the need for unity between public and private sector workers in the fight against cutbacks, and wage controls in the public sector and against concessions and take- aways in the private sector. : Of critical importance, White said, was the role labor must play in the peace movement and the fight for dis- armament. Unions must speak out on the massive drain on the global economy by the arms race, White said. “But even more important’, he added, ‘‘on the moral question of the insanity of considering to settle any inter- national dispute by nuclear war we cannot and must not remain silent.”’ White’s appeal demonstrated how much work re- mains to be done among some sections of the labor movement on the peace question, however, when later in the convention, a resolution opposing the testing of Cruise missiles in Canada and calling for this country to : be declared a nuclear weapons-free zone failed to get enough delegate support to be discussed by the con- vention. Siok: The situation in B.C., the UAW leader said, was a direct outcome of the application of monetarist policies and the power exercised over governments and the economy by the corporations. “If we are not ready to fight back, governments will be tempted to go further — to increase their restraint pro- grams, to further attack the basic rights of working people’’, he said. “The very impressive show of solidarity in B.C. — including the largest demonstrations ever seen in that province — will hopefully prevent similar actions by other governments in Canada.” Ontario Federation of Labor president Cliff Pilkey told the convention that the entire labor movement must continue its fight against concessions, controls and cut- backs and that it must ensure there is no extension of controls in Ontario by the Davis Tory government. The convention also reaffirmed its commitment to fighting provincial budget cuts, closures and contracting out. In addition to adopting a resolution committing the union to continuing its public opposition to government dismantling of social services, OPSEU President Sean O’Flynn announced the union would be making funds - available to parents seeking to legally challenge the plan- ned closure of centres for the developmentally handi- capped. j Other resolutions endorsed by the convention include: rejection of work'sharing; calling on the union to organ- ize a study on the question of the shorter work week, and to develop an educational program for OPSEU members on the need to fight for it; to support the Canadian Labor Congress’ Save Medicare Campaign as well as protesting against extra billing, user fees and doctor opting out of the Medicare system; and a resolution favoring women’s - rights to full access to abortion clinics, and removal of abortion from the criminal code. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 14, 1983—Page 7 .