See Ahi’ % Labour The first date in the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) action plan is set for Nov. 10. It’s billed as a day to “recall the Tories.” These events have the support of the Pro-Canada Network, provincial coali- tions for social justice, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women and others who are mobilizing their members. But there seems to be a problem getting the labour movement into action around its own program, particularly in British Col- umbia, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia, where labour seem content to sit it out. The reluctance to act is reflected within the CLC’s leadership itself. It seems there are a number of issues standing in the way. One is the fight in the Senate to block and kill the hated Goods and Services Tax (GST). Within the CLC’s leadership there are some who support the Liberal senators efforts as a tactical necessity to keep the pressure both on the Tories, and at the same time keep the Liberals honest. But there are others within the CLC who are stuck in the old mold of Dennis McDermott, the past president of the CLC, some of the leaders of the federations of : John MacLennan LABOUR IN ACTION who see any support for the senators hurt- ing the chances of the New Democrats in the next election. NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin has drawn the right lesson from the last federal - election fiasco which should have blown away the last remnants of the so-called McDermott theory. McLaughlin has gone out ona limb on the.issue, stressing support for the Liberal senators in their efforts to defeat the GST. Her stand will enhance rather than hurt her party. McLaughlin is seen by Can- adians as putting peoples’ interests first, before partisan politics. Her principled “Recall Day could help speed Tories’ end stand made the Liberals desperate and prompted Jean Chretien to tell the then- Liberal dominated Senate to kili the GST. That they risked an end to the old Sen- ate, which they did dominate until the Mulroney’s appointments, was because they were shaken by the fast rising popu- larity of the NDP. And if anyone had any illusions that the Liberals are not the same old big business party, the passage of legislation since the Senate got back to business should dispel this. The Liberal-Tory deal will allow most of the Tories neo-conservative agenda to be rushed though. Unemployment insur- ance cuts and the clawback on family al- lowances and old age security have been tushed through. Next is the abortion law and the capping of federal funding for pro- vincial welfare payments. There needs to be a tactic developed that on the one hand supports the senators aim to kill the GST, while criticizing the Liberals for their cynical abandonment of Canada’s jobless, pensioners, women and children. _ The other important lesson of this return to the other big business party. period is the election of the NDP in On- tario. It’s a lesson that B.C., where an provincial election is pending, should learn. Part of Bob Rae’s victory goes to the Ontario labour movement led by its federa- tion, the Canadian Autoworkers, the Can- adian Union .of Public Employees and others who have been fighting the federal Tories’ agenda since 1985. What is needed now is a real effort to make Nov. 10 a success and to view it as a step in the process of making Canada un- govemable for the Tories and forcing to go to the polls even before they have to. A labour movement in motion would help to ensure a NDP goverment rather than a The left needs to get involved with local labour councils and unions to step up the mobilization for November 10. We need to light a fire under those leaders who are not mobilizing their members, be it the nation- al/international unions or the labour federations across this country. The challenge of Tsitika Valley By WAYNE BRADLEY It seems only days ago that we all met in Port Alberni at the second Tin-Wis con- ference where representatives of key sectors such as Native, labour and environmental movements spent two days discussing how we in our respective communities can unite to gain greater control over the decisions that affect our lives and how the power of huge corporations can be countered by grass roots “empowerment,” and how we can assert common strategies for environmental and community sustainability. We developed consensus at least among the 160 or so that were there around ways to develop a sense of common purpose and trust as we deal with issues of Native land claims and title, of developing ecological sustainability, of advancing the rights and well-being of workers. It was concluded that the role of the Tin-Wis coalition would be that of facilitat- ing processes that would bring together these important sectors around those crucial issues at the community level — in other words, a process of consensus building and dialogue. Enthusiasm was high with the result of co-operation experienced at the conference, but few ofus were under any illusion that the road to unity among such diverse and some- times differing sectors would not be a bumpy one — particularly when our views and perceptions of one another are often shaped by corporations, politicians, and the media, and beyond our control. We didn’t really expect to see gaping potholes open up before us quite so soon, posing obstacles to unity as they have recently at the Tsitika Valley. ; Well, here we are at the real life challen- ges to the Tin-Wis process and what it has set out to achieve. What then are the contending positions around this issue? The members of Local 1-363 of the TWA say: They are leading the fight for more en- vironmentally sensitive logging practices (such as eliminating grapple yarders); They have not protested the withdrawal from logging approval of three cut blocks in the Lower Tsitika near Robson Bight, pend- ing further study; They have pushed for smaller cut areas (the present site is only 27 hectares); 12 « Pacific Tribune, November 5, 1990 Labour Forum eThey have agreed to logging in the vicinity of Robson Bight only in winter time when peak whale activity does not occur; They have been involved with a 15-year process of developing new logging plans that has resulted in more than 45 per cent of the Tsitika watershed either being totally set aside from logging, or protected in one form or another. Worthy of further note is that MacMillan Bloedel’s plans to log the block now in dispute have been known for months and movement into the area as was planned was greeted by blockades, not dialogue, without even so much as a phone call to the affected workers. To say that 1-363 members are angry is to grossly understate the situation as I under- stand it. On the other hand, the environmentalists taking part in the blockade have added ac- tion to long-standing concer, not only for the protection of one of the world’s most unique natural phenomena at Robson Bight, but also concern for the last old growth stands of any size on the east side of the Island. The level of frustration about continual degradation of natural habitat and the failure as yet to come to grips with the need for alternative ecologically sustainable (old growth based) forestry is quite evident and goes far beyond those currently blockading. The Native claim of the Tlowitsis-Mum- tagila band over the area, as we know has been asserted and band members themsel- ves have some sympathy with the environ- © mental issue involved and the blockade. At this moment, all parties await a court decision whether or not to extend a moratorium on logging in the area beyond the five-day period. That, of course, will be known by the time this paper hits the street but right now we face the option of getting some breathing space to explore some of the broader issues if the injunction against logging is extended — or we will face continued efforts to con- trol damage to the Tin-Wis coalition if Mac- Millan Bloedel continues to push toward confrontation and we are faced with a renewed blockade. As it stands, a process of dialogue i is well under way between the IWA-Canada (with involvement from the B.C. Federation of Labour) and John Smith of the band laying the claim to the Lower Tstika. With involvement also from the First Na- tions Congress, those discussions may result in short term agreement or at least better understanding, although Tesolution of land claims and title is essential for any lasting resolution. This obviously is a long-term effort. But at least they are talking and a process is in motion involving real spokespeople from real constituencies. I regret to say this is not so with the environmentalists involved. As one who is at the same time an en- vironmentalist and a trade unionist, and being one who is excited by the commitment to dialogue and co-operation set out at the Tin-Wis conference, I am distressed that the environmental issues have not been put for- ward in the spirit of Tin-Wis and that sup- posedly responsible organizations such as Western Canada Wilderness Committee have not claimed responsibility for the blockade activity, or offered leadership in putting the environmental question forward in a constructive manner. All groups who embrace the Tin-Wis process as WCWC professes to do, should be backing an effort to promote dialogue. These issues are too important to be lost in the present chaos. After the dust settles on the Lower Tsitika and Robson Bight some questions remain here as elsewhere. What needs to be done to encourage a just settlement of aboriginal title and claim in the Kwagiulth territory? : What does sustainability really look like in this region as it relates to forestry and other economic activity? How can we move to forest practices based on ecological and old growth forestry and develop sustainable forest management practices that benefit workers and their com- munities rather than serve only the transna- tional corporations’ bottom lines — and what would this look like? How can real constituencies in existing communities obtain more control over the decision-making process — _ including economic ones? Wayne Bradley is an environmental ac- tivist in the Comox Valley and a member of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union. Meetings sought on blockade Continued from page 1 John Smith and other members of the Tlowitsis-Mumtagila band in support of the band’s land claim. MacMillan Bloedel loggers, members of TWA-Canada Local 1-363, made no attempt to get through the blockade but local presi- dent Sy Pederson said he’d been “meeting with the 150-person crew every morning to try and keep everybody calm.” At the same time, however, at least one MacMillan Bloedel forest manager has added to the tension with his warnings to Tlowitsis-Mumtagila band members that loggers are getting frustrated and that the potential exists for one of them to go after the protesters. Pederson’s local, more than any other in the union, has sought to work with environ- mental groups in developing plans for sus- tainable logging and has been outspoken in its support of land claims. But union members see themselves as having participated in the admittedly limited public process which led to the Tsitika cut plan, which did ban logging in other areas while allowing the 27-hectare cut below Catherine Creek, Pederson said. He noted that loggers held their own counter demonstration some two kilometres from the site of the blockade in an effort to get their views across. Although the issue of old-growth forest preservation still remains as a formidable obstacle to a common strategy, the Tin Wis coalition, which just held a successful con- ference last month, was hoping this week to _ set up meetings among various groups to hold on to the unity that has been tentatively established. Steering committee spokesperson Frank Cox said that a meeting was expected Nov. 7 among a number of environmental groups initially to discuss the blockade and the is- sues involved. From there, he said, they would move on to talk to other participants. “T think there’s some concern that action was taken without everybody knowing what was going on,” he said, referring to the blockade. “What we want to do is set up a . process that will bring all the stakeholders together — that’s the mandate we have from the coalition.”