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‘Blank cheque’ would sell trade Union movement short

Labor

The trade unions will put a lot of
effort and money into the campaign
to defeat the Socreds in the next
provincial election, which is a
positive development. The Socreds
are the faithful tool of the big
monopolies and are steadily moving
in the direction of destroying free
collective bargaining rights, in order
to increase the profit ees of
their patrons.

The Communist Party has con-
sistently called for the defeat of the
Socreds and has worked hard to
promote the unity of the trade
union movement, the NDP, the
Communist Party and other
democratic forces to achieve that
objective.

It is a fact of life that the B.C.
Federation of Labor and many of
its affiliates have endorsed the NDP
as the. electoral alternative to the
Socreds and are preparing to work
for that party in the coming elec-
tion, despite some legitimate
criticisms of the NDP. government
under Barrett (1972-75).

The position of labor bodies
which have taken this stand is
understandable. The defeat of the
Socreds would be a victory for the
labor movement.

However, it must be noted that
the leadership of the NDP has gone
to great lengths to make it public
knowledge that their party is a party
for ‘‘all the -people’’, and not a
labor party. They admit there will
be differences between the party
and organized labor over policy
from time to time and have conced-
ed that organized labor must be free
to criticize the party.

This means that organized labor
should have its own program of
working. class demands and - be
prepared to fight for it, during the
election campaign and after the
campaign — no matter which party
is in office. It cannot afford.to give
any party a blark cheque, not even
the NDP which is closer to the labor
mevement than the Socreds.

It_is in this context that the
Pacitic Tribune supports the protest
rally to be held in Vancouver, under
the auspices of the B.C. Federation
of Labor and the Vancouver and.
New Westminster labor councils.

This public meeting, to take place
in the Orpheum Theatre, on Gran-
ville Mall in Vancouver, on
Wednesday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m.,
should besupported by every reader
of the. Tribune in Greater Van-

_couver.

The advertising circular for the
rally makes two key points:
@ The Socred government has
destroyed collective bargaining
rights of public sector employees.
@ So called right-to-work legisla-

~ tion is now a real threat, particular-

ly if the Socred government is re-
elected.

We cannot quarrel with this in-
dictment of the Bennett regime.
Neither can we disagree with the
call for the defeat of the govern-
ment.

However, another sentence in the
circular does raise a number of im-
portant questions: ‘‘The labor code
brought in by the former NDP
government (recognized as the best
labor legislation in the country) is
gradually being destroyed by the
Socreds.”’

While the Socreds, the Conser-
vatives and Liberals will be the main
targets of the labor movement in
the next provincial election, and-
correctly so, it would be wrong to
give the NDP such a blank cheque.
I was reminded of this when I went
back to the report of the legislative
committee to the convention of the
Federation held in November, 1975,
The following is a paraphrase of the

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— MARCH 2, 1979—

NELSON RALLY...

committee’s report on labor legisla-
tion. :

@ There has been a failure by the
minister of labor (Bill King of the
NDP) to develop the desirable com-
munications channels with the labor
movement. Instead, the minister
has developed administrative
legislation and industrial relations
policies on the advice of academic
lawyers and employérs and then
sought consensus for these policies
from individual union members.

@ With the exception of im-
provements to the Worker‘s Com-
pensation. Act and a _ promised
Labor Education Center, the oc-
cupational needs of ordinary work-
ing men and women have gore
unanswered.

LABOR

COMMENT

BY JACK PHILLIPS

@ Despite promises for
wholesale revision of labor stan-
dards laws the unorganized workers
have to rely on, no amendments
have been forthcoming. Enforce-

ment of those standards, inade-

quate as they are, is still illusory.

-@ Requests of this Federation on
behalf of all affiliates for amend-
ment to the labor laws have largely
gone unheard. The labor code
adopted by the legislature did not
incorporate many of labor’s sugges-
tions nor of the 8-point labor pro-
gram of the New Democratic Party.

@Working people, organized
and unorganized, have not been
able to place trust or confidence in
the minister or his associates.

@ On October 7, the govern-

- ment, ina frenzy of political oppor-
brutally abrogated the.

tunism,
tights of all working people in this
province by passing Bill 146, the
Collective Bargaining Continuation
Act. The strength of working peo-
ple has traditionally been the right
as a group to refuse to work. The
Collective Bargaining Continuation
Act directly removes this right from
thousands of workers in the forest,
pulp and paper, railway, propane

Page 12

program vi ital

and butane and food merchandiz-
ing industries. . .

@To suggest, as premier Barrett

did, that this is neutral legislation is
an insult to the working people and
a complete betrayal of the policies
of the NDP.

@ Bill 146 is a Boor of all
workers who have actively sup-
ported the NDP and the CCF
before it and of those people who

supported this government in the ~

1972 election.

However, when it was later an-
nounced during that 1975 conven-
tion that premier Barrett had called
a provincial election to take place a
few weeks later, the decisive majori-
ty of the delegates endorsed a
resolution calling for electoral sup-
port to the NDP. While they had
many criticisms-of the NDP govern-
ment, they saw its re-election as the
only electoral alternative to a
Socred government, and understan-

dably, preferred that alternative.

Now that the Socreds have been in
office for more than three years, the
feeling against them is even more
pronounced.

Some of the political literature
put out by the B.C. Federation of
Labor gives a list of what they con-
sider to be the more positive
achievements of the Barrett ad-
ministration. For example:

@ Pharmacare—free prescrip-
tion drugs for senior citizens.

@ Mincome—the . only
guaranteed income plan in Canada
Starting at age 60.

@ Human Rights Code.
@ New rights for tenants, in-

cluding the right to vote on money
by-laws and rent controls.

@ Daily Hansard of legislative
proceedings.

@ Department of Consumers
Services to assist consumers.

@ The right to sue the Crown.

@ Province-wide ambulance ser-
vice.

e@ ICBC automobile insurance,
at the lowest rates in Canada.

@ Improvement of. transit
facilities in lower ‘mainland

municipalities.

@ Land Commission Act to help

B.C. Federation of labor rallies focus campaign against Social Credit labor policies.

preserve land for future farming
needs.

@ Workers Compensation Act
improvements.

In the June 29, 1978 submission
to the provincial government, the
“B.C. Federation of Labor advanced
the following programmatic

demands, along with a strong con-

demnation of Socred labor policies:

@ Reduce income taxes to lower
and middle income earners, and
pressure the federal government to

. do likewise.

@ Increase the assistance
available to pensioners and those on
social assistance and handicapped
allowances, and pressure the federal
government to do the.same.

@ Roll back ICBC rates.

@ Roll back hydro rates, ferry
fares and medical premiums. ;

@ Reinstitute controls on prices
for gasoline, home fuel heating,
natural gas and other forms of
energy.

@ Restore services in. respect to
child care, transition houses and
other programs for people.

@ Initiate capital works pro-
grams to improve educational,
hospital and transportation ser-
vices, particularly in the rural areas,
and press for federal government
assistance:

@ Impose higher royalties on the
exploitation and exportation of
natural resources, in order to build
up funds for job creation.

. standards. However, it leans in th

‘political arena. It

@ Promote
dustries.

secondary j

@ Press Ottawa for the creati
of a merchant marine and adequat
drydock facilities in Vancouver, —

@ Adopt a policy of monitorj
layoffs in both the public
private sectors to enforce adequate
planning to protect workers from
unnecessary, short-term layoffs.

@ Prevent the closure of seco
dary industries and, as a matter
economic and social policies, su
sidize the operation of su
socially-owned industries in ord
to maintain employment.

It could be argued that this pro-
gram does not his hard enough
respect to the need for a fundame
tal restructuring of the forestry
mining and fishing industries,
order to have a stable economy itl
full employment and rising livin

‘Ah bak ce ed ee

ite aes

1

direction and could be a positive
contribution to the fight for police
in the coming election campaign.

Organized labor has gone
tecord many times for the pub
Ownership of the British Columb
Telephone Company and for
large-scale program. of subsidi
housing. Such policies should
put to all candidates for their publ
endorsement, along with the q
mand to lift the Socred ceiling 9
expenditures by municipalitie
hospitals and school boards.

Organized labor should press it
own program for labor legislation
and economic and social policies,
on all political parties and ¢ 0
didates, including candidates of th
NDP. For example, every candid
should be asked to declare where
or she stands on the repeal of the
Essential Services Disputes Act; on.
the so-called right-to-work legis]
tion (aimed at destroying unio:
security) and on the restoration
the right of organizationg
picketing. The question should |
very simple: For or against?

SS OO em Se Se 4

The trade union movement has ¢
responsibility to its members and to
the working class as a whole. If it
fails to live up to that responsibility
during an election campaign, o
after the election, (irrespective of
which party is in office) it will be
abandoning the trade union moy.
ment to the winds of political expe-
diency and opportunism.

The left in the trade union move-
ment, which includes many
members of the NDP as well
Communists, has a special respon:
sibility to advance the fight for the
program of organized labor in the
should serve
notice on the NDP leadership that j
that party forms the next gove
ment, then organized labor wil
press hard for better labor legisI:
tion and for progressive econom:
and social policies in the interests
working people. a

In the words of the circular
advertising the Vancouver rally:
ow is the time to fight back!

Read the paper that fights for labor

4

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