LABOR ROUNDUP:
‘City Council blocking

—IWA Barker

U.S. warned to halt
new attacks on Cuba

Cuba, tensed on a semi-war
alert, mobilized more reservists
this week to repel a feared Ameri-
can attack, Premier Castro de-
clared last Saturday that U.S.
claims of an incursion by Cuban
soldiers into the Guantanamo base
might hide a plot for aggression
against Cuba,

As tension around the American -

base heightened, the Soviet Union
this week warned the U.S. to stop
hostile actions against Cuba, A
statement by Tass, official Soviet
news agency, pledged that the
Cuban government could rely on
reliable friendship from the
Soviet Union.

The calling of a state of alert
by Premier Castro followed the
shooting of a Cuban soldier by
U.S, troops, Tens of thousands
of Cuban troops stood at readi-
ness throughout Cuba while re-
Servists manned anti-aircraft and
Machine-gun enplacements and
dug trenches along the coast at
Havana,

The U.S, forced Cuba, 65 years
ago to “lease” it the Guantanamo
base at the eastern end of the
island, and has made it a giant,
strongly fortified naval, air and
troop base,

The Soviet warning said that
“Those who harbor aggressive
designs against the Republic of
Cuba should not forget that Cuba
has true and reliable friends,

“The renewed provocations
against the Republic of Cuba show
again what a danger the forces
of imperialism, who do not stop
at any crimes, constitute for
peace, freedom and independence
of the peoples.”

FIDEL CASTRO

North Shore parents air
protest at School Board

About one dozen irate North
Vancouver parents attended their
School Board meeting Monday
night to protest statements made
Board chairman Peter C, Powell,
that parents would be called upon
to clean the schools if the pres-
ent strike continues.

The citizens, many of them
members of the PTA, said that
this was not the role of the PTA.
They also denounced statements
and pictures which appeared in
the daily press of Mrs. Elizabeth
Landry, regional representative
of the PTA, appointed by the B,C.
Parent-Teacher Federation.

Mrs, Landry’s picture appear-
ed on the front page of one of

# Vancouver's daily papers last
5 “ SAL Re ao yas :

hes

Jun 3, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 3

week showing her with bucket
and brush ready to clean up in the
schools to do the work of striking
school employees, ;

School trustee Dorothy Lynas
told the meeting it was *time the
elected representatives got back
to the negotiating table* with the
union, She expressed concern
over the stalemate in the North

Vancouver strike and charged

that there had not been real nego-
tiations, She said the Board’s
position had been predetermined
by an outside Metropolitan group,

Mrs, Lynas said the guidelines

- for a settlement had to include

consideration of increased living

“costs and prosperity conditions

in the country.

Latest offer of City Council in
the 22-day strike of Vancouver
Civic Employees Union (Outside
Workers), arrived at Tuesday’s
Council meeting, includes a 14-
cent an hour increase, retroac-
tive to January 1, an immediate

return to work, with other points ~

of dispute left to a mediator to be
appointed,

According to a union spokes-
man this 14-cent offer is half-a-
cent below what was previously
offered, and for one year only,

A statement issued by-the Civic
Employees Union executive Wed-
nesday states that “Executive met
this morning and unanimously
voted to recommend non-concur-
rance to a membership meeting
being held Thursday at 10 a.m,
A meeting of the 125-member
Strike Committee Wednesday
night will be asked to join with
the executive in recommending
non-concurrance,

“The union proposed on May
12 that City Council and the
union should jointly apply for
an industrial commission, with
no strings attached, City Council
considered this proposition on
May 16, then shelved it for two
weeks, ,

“If they had agreed at that time,
it-is most likely the strike would
have been settled before now, On
shelving this proposition, City
Council, with honorable excep-
tions, showed a complete dis-
regard for the welfare of the
community and its citizens, They
now stand condemned for the in-
convenience and the blight they
have inflicted upon the people of
our city.

“Should the union membership
endorse our recommendation of
non-concurrance, the union will

then apply directly to the Minis-.

ter of Labor for the appointment
of an Industrial Inquiry Com-
mission—with no strings attach-
ed,

“The present proposal by Min-
ister of Labor Petersen, for
“back-to-work” during media-
tion, fits into the strike-breaking
plans of the majority of City
Council.

“They say, take 14-cents, go
back to work, mediate, and as
far as we are concerned, you'll
never get another penny, They
have lost all sense of perspective
and responsibility to the public
who elected them to office,

“They are obsessed with the
idea of smashing our union, but
they will never succeed, They
are flying in the face of public
opinion, and they will be com-
pelled ultimately to sit down
and work out an honorable set-
tlement.” :

While City Council sat in ses-
sion Tuesday morning of this
week, grim-faced and at times
stormy, between. six and seven
hundred pickets of the Civic Em-
ployees Union (Outside Workers)
encircled City Hall, on hand to
help Mayor Rathie and his NPA
aldermen get busy with a nego-
tiated settlement of the 22-day
old civic tieup,

This was indeed a colorful
picketline since each _ picket
carried a red placard, all ad-
dressed to Mayor Bill Rathie,

Some ofthe slogan’s read: “Mayor |

settlement’

Rathie, Negotiate Now, Think of
the Public, settle by negotiation”;
“Don’t Ruin TouristSeason*; *No
More Delay... Negotiate Now”;
“Union Here To Stay, Negotiate
Now”; “End Inconveniences, Ne-
gotiate Now”, etc. Many of the
civic employees’ wives and chil-
dren joined them in this colorful
mass picket,

Terminating its parade, the
pickets gathered in front of City
Hall where they heard short ad-
dresses by union officers, Presi-
dent Alex Ellis in opening the
meeting told his fellow unionists:
“You are a credit to the working
people of Canada”. Union Busi-
ness agent Don Guise said: “Now,
only today, they are thinking in-
Side about seeking an industrial
inquiry commission. This union
sent them a letter proposing this
on May 12, and they only get
around to it on May 31, Why
wasn’t such a commission ap-
pointed before the strike began?

Union secretary Jack Phillips
told the gathering that if no in-
dication of a settlement is seen
today at the conclusion of the
Council session, we will intensify
our strike efforts.” A number of

aldermen were prepared to find -

a media of settlement but Mayor
Rathie and a few of his “bone-
head” aldermen insist “in doing
a disservice to us, our families,
and the people of Vancouver.”

* K *

With the appointment of Mr,
Justice Nathan Nemetz as indus-
trial commissioner in the IWA-
Forest Industrial Relations
(FIR) wage contract negotiations,
both parties are expected to get
together and begin contract talks
this week under the auspices of
the commissioner,

Prior to the appointment of a
.commissioner by the Minister
of Labor, FIR as representative
of the majority of B.C,’s big
lumber operators had blocked all
efforts of the IWA to get serious

TUnt's Tougd= OUR FASTEST WORKER!"

contract negotiations underway,
but instead had mounted a cam-
paign for more restrictive anti-
labor legislation to end so-called
‘‘wildcat strikes’? in the industry,
and the insistence of a 7-day
working week,

In a later statement IWA Re-
gional President Jack Moore
charged that the operator’s insis-
tence for a 7-day working week,
and placing responsibility for
“wild-cat” strikes on the union,
could become “strike issues’’,

With an industrial commis-
Sioner now on the job it is
expected that the prime issues of
a new wage contract, wage de-
mands, working conditions, and
numerous other fringe benefits,
will now get under way. In a re-
cent government - supervised
strike vote IWA membership
turned in a record 94-percent
vote in favor, The present TWA
wage contract terminates June
30.

* * OK

A vote by the International
Pulp and Sulphite Workers Union
of B.C, shows a 92-percent in
favor of strike action in support
of wage demands, A similar vote
by the United Papermakers is alsc
being taken and a like result is
expected, according to union of-
ficials,

These unions are awaiting the
report of a conciliation officer,
at which time, if unsatisfactory,
they will apply for agovernment-
supervised strike vote to back-up
their wage demands, Both unions
are seeking a 10-percent pay
hike in a one year contract, The
companies have offered a 4-
percent boost.

Application for Certification
for the 750 man Crown Zeller-
bach Mill at Elk Falls has been
filed by Local No, 7, of the Pulp
and Paper Workers of Canada,

This is a continuation of the
rift that besets the International
Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite
and Paper Mill workers, as 950
of it’s members at the McMillan
Bloedel Harmac mill bolted to
join the Canadian Union, only a
week ago,

At present the Canadian Union
is working to wrest bargaining
rights away from the American-
run International in a number of
other B.C, Pulp and Paper Mills,

Commenting on“ Alderman”
Rathie (now Mayor), the Van-
couver Sun edition of Aug. 4,°60
editorialized thus: “The surest
way to invite suspicion of being
a cookie-snitcher is to be seen
hanging around an open cookie

jab.4

This comment referred to
the July, 1960 hassel at City
“Hall when “Alderman” Rathie
-was working overtinie to coax
the City to “contract out” its
city garbage disposal to “his®
company — anewly setup busi-
ness to handle the job, Its
‘joint? ownership consisted of
the following: A,I,Smith of the
Smithrite waste disposal out-
fit, Ken Calder of Merchant’s

tt i

&

‘Cookie-snitching’ mayor

Cartage, and “Chairman” Bill
Rathie of Transco Truck
Lines,

Rathie’s company didn’t land
the contract, but the fact that
the Outside Civic Workers
Union were the boys who toss-
ed the original monkey wrench
into his scheme, hasn’t helped
“endear® that fine union to
His Worship.

Could his present “hard
line” be an attempt at revenge
on the part of the anti-labor
mayor? Or does he hope to
smash the Outside Workers
Union to pave the way for his
aim to “contract out” to pri-
vate companies the work now
done by civic employees?

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