Evert Hoogers, president of the Vancouver local of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, joins other CUPW members in an infor-. mation picket outside the main city post office Dec. 9 to protest Canada Post cutbacks which have diminished individual customer _ service while favoring corporate mailers. The union has mounted a Ey campaign on the postal service issue (more on campaign Season’s Greetings for a peaceful 1984 to all our members and friends WORKERS’ BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION 805 E. Pender Van., B.C. V6A 1V9 Season’s Greetings “Ee us {OI together to keep peace healthy all around the world HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES’ UNION ‘3 SOSH I ET OS NK NS NO NE NS NO NOT HR OOS PACIFIC TRIBUNE—DECEMBER 21, 1983—Page 4 paces pee ek se es 2 80 SO 5 ak EK fk 8 fo Sk Ok 8a Sok nk es 8a sok nk sek Commercial fishermen from several B.C. organizations struck a rare unity Dec. 10-11 to counter a declining salmon resource and federal policies threatening their livelihood. Some 250 participants at the Fishermen’s Survival Conference, held at the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union hall, hammered out a six- point declaration of fishermen’s rights and launched what will become a massive campaign in the new year. A series of ‘‘demonstrative actions’, a fund- raising effort to take a large lobby to Ottawa in February and measures to ensure full publicity for the campaign topped the resolutions at the union- sponsored conference. Other actions plans involve publicizing the debate and resolutions to inform all who work in the in- dustry, seeking support of other Canadian fishermen’s groups, a mass mobilization of B.C. fish workers behind the campaigning, and develop- ment, asa cornerstone of the campaign, of the ‘“‘Fishermen’s Charter of Rights.”’ The charter, still in the draft stage, will be on the agenda of regional meetings and conferences around the province. It details six basic rights: e An industry with a future; e A decent income; ¢ Job security for ‘bona fide’’ fishermen; — DAN KEETON The B.C. Government Employees Union has signed three new collective agreements that will give its members exemptions from Bill 3, including one agreement that ends the two-month-old strike at the Open Learning Institute in Richmond. The 103 members of Local 59 of the BCGEU - TRIBUNE PHOTO ment that will give them $100 on signing and two per ‘cent increases in each year of the two-year agreement as well as an agreement with management that ap- plication will be made to Compensation Stabiliza- tion Program commissioner Ed Peck to exempt them from Bill 3. The agreement follows a strike at the Institute NEW YEAR’S BASH DINNER & DANCE 7:30 p.m. December 31 UKRAINIAN HALL 805 East Pender : Free Champagne Music by the Kitchen Syncopators Tickets: . $25 Tickets available at: Unemployed, seniors and students: $15 Co-op Bookstore Children 1391 Commercial - under 12: $5 Octopus Books Daycare available 2250 W. 4th Reservations: 872-6003. were back on the job Dec. 12 after reaching an agree- A solidarity message to all labor Season’s Greetings from Officers and Membership UNITED FISHERMEN and ALLIED WORKERS UNION SES SO MOSS BOSE A EO SPIE OE BOE BE EE ESE SK PSOE EE SE SEO SPIRE LET SPIE IIE MES NESE MESS EOE SESS MESES MISES STE SOE NIRS STE NSS e A fair share of the resource for all user groups, and equitable shares among all gear types; e The ‘‘maximization of full potential of the resource for the people of Canada,”’ including a fair international treaty ensuring Canadian fish are oa # harvested by Canadian fishermen and government promotion of Canadian fish worldwide; e A meaningful consultation process guarantee- ing fishermen’s input into all fisheries policy. Survival of the resource and industry is a key question to the thousands who fish the B.C. coast. . From the federal government they face schemes to cut the fleet, in ways that are anything but beneficial to non-corporate fishermen, and attempts to ram ~ through a salmon treaty that several fishermen groups have hit as a sellout to U.S. interests. Fish workers have also found unity against cut- backs to the federally-funded salmon enhancement program, and plans to allow greater degree of cor- porate concentration in an industry already | dominated by two large corporations. The urgency of the situation could be seen in the fact that all 22 nominees to a ‘‘continuations com- mittee,” struck to map the campaign, accepted. . Collectively they represent the UFAWU, the Pacific Gillnetters Association, the Pacific Trollers Associa- tion, the Pacific Coast Salmon Seiners Association and other groups. BCGEU signs three more contracts which began Oct. 17. The local members had begun picketing other in- stitutes Dec. 5 in an effort to force the issue. They had been without a contract since Mar. 31. Some 230 BCGEU members employed as sup- port staff at the Pacific Vocational Institute and another 1,000 employed by B.C. Buildings Cor- poration have also reached settlements. Earlier this month, the union voted 81.2 per cent to ratify the master agreement reached during marathon bargaining at the Labor Relations Board during the public sector strike. Tire firm ‘hot’ The B.C. Federation of Labor has issued a hot edict against Canadian Tire and is urging consumers not to patronize the automotive and hardware supp- ly chain. Members of Local1518 of the Retail Clerks, af- filiated to the United Food and Commercial Workers, launched a strike at the Canadian Tire store in Prince George Dec. 5. Some 50 members are on the picket line in an effort to win a first contract including union recognition. Canadian Tire began major expansion of its Canada-wide chain a few years ago and frequently conducts extensive advertising during the Christmas season using Santa and Scrooge figures. Ironically, Scrooge exemplifies the company’s 19th century labor relations approach. “‘We are seeing too many employers use this’ recession to deny basic trade union rights in first contract situations,’ charged B.C. Fed secretary- treasurer Mike Kramer. “This trend goes hand in hand with the hiring of scabs and strike-breakers in disputes. These actions will not be tolerated by the B.C. labor movement.” 2 MS eA ss oP ees SP eee es one