LABOR the International Woodworkers called on the provincial government Oct. 16 to take insane export of logs from this province.” Speaking to the Vancouver and District Labor Council meeting, [WA Local 1-217 president Doug Evans cited figures to show that exports of raw logs had tripled in volume between the years 1979 and 1983. “And there is a 50 per cent increase this year over 1983,” he empha- sized. He said union researchers had DOUG EVANS surveyed forest companies’ advertise- ments and found that during one week alone, “more than 44 million feet of logs were advertised for sale. The president of the Vancouver local of action to stop what he called the “bloody “That would keep a major mill in the Lower Mainland going for a couple of years,” he said. According to research prepared by the IWA last year for the Special Log Export Policy Committee, log exports rose froma level of 585,917 cubic metres in 1976 to 1,275,561 cubic metres in 1982. But a more dramatic increase occurred in 1983 when exports rose to 2,308,000 cubic metres, IWA researcher Clay Perry told the Tribune. And according to sales so far this year, the figure for 1984 will likely . result ina total of some ue milion cubic metres, he said. Equally important, fir and hemlock peeler (for use in plywood mills) and saw logs predominate among the exported species — with the result that the best logs are going out of the province for manufac- ture. “It’s the No. 1 timber on the coast that’s going, because those are the only logs that IWA demands curb on ‘insane’ log exports the importers will accept,” Evans told labor council delegates. “The garbage that’s left is put into our mills,” he said, adding that it was “no bloody wonder that companies are saying they can’t make money from the logs that they’re putting through.” Several major forest companies have argued that one of the reasons that ply- wood plants have been forced to close is because, second-grade logs makes ply- wood production uneconomic — yet many of those same companies are export- ing their best peeler logs. Jim MacFarlane, the manager of log allocation for the dominant company MacMillan Bloedel has said that the com- pany had increased log exports because the margin of profit that could be realized from secondary processing was less than from export log sales. The IWA has also had reports from various locals showing that some logging operators are “highgrading” the forest — cutting whole stands of timber but tak- ing only the best logs and leaving the oth- ers on the ground. Evans also pointed to the example of L&K Forest Products which recently shut down its mill after the company went into receivership. “But the receiver is still log- ging and exporting the logs out of this province — with the permission of the minister of forests. “Our position is that if L&K isn’t pre- pared to operate’ the mill, the tree farm licence should revert to the crown and should be sold to someone who is pre- pared to manufacture wood products in this province,” Evans said. At its convention in September, the IWA reiterated its demand that the pro- vincial government impose a complete ban on log exports from the province. ‘Theatre’s LRB bid aimed at ‘hot products’ clauses In a case that could pose new restrictions on trade union rights, Famous Players Theatres is calling on the B.C. Labor Rela- tions Board to declare that the embargo placed on theatre advertising by the Vancouver-New Westminister Newspaper Guild constitutes “an unlawful strike” and to order an immediate halt to the union’s ad boycott. In lieu of a ruling declaring the boycott to be illegal, the theatre chain is asking that the contract clause giving the Guild the right to refuse to handle the strikebound advertising copy declared null and void or at least unen- forceable in the circumstances. The case has major implications for the trade union movement because the employ- er’s case rests on the 1984 amendments to the Labor Code which altered the definition of a strike. It also involves “hot” declara- tions by the B.C. Federation of Labor since job action by unionists in refusing to handle hot products could be construed as an unlawful strike, depending on the board’s interpretation of the code amendments. Famous Players put its application to the LRB in an informal hearing Oct. 19, nam- ing the Newspaper Guild as well as the four unions in the joint council, the Vancouver Mailers Union, Vancouver Typographical Union, the Graphic Communications International Union and the Printing Pressmen. Formal hearings were slated to begin this week. Famous Players, a division of the huge U.S. multinational Gulf and Western, locked out members of the Theatre Employees Union Local B-72 at 12 B.C. theatres Sept. 11. The theatre chain which also has two additional theatres with non- union floor staff, was subsequently put on the “do not patronize” list by the B.C. Fed- eration of Labor. The Guild informed Pacific Press, pub- lishers of the Vancouver Sun and Province, Sept. 14 that the union would not handle any advertising copy which involved the theatres where TEU members were locked out. Guild members invoked the clause in their contract which stipulates: ““The union: reserves the right to its members to refuse to execute any work coming from or destined for any other employer or publication which has been declared by the union to be unfair.” Judging by Famous Players’ application to the LRB, the Guild’s action is having a substantial impact on theatre attendance. The theatre chain has managed to open all its Lower Mainland theatres with strike- breakers and management staff but the absence of daily newspaper advertising, 12 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 24, 1984 together with regular leafletting by TEU pickets, has kept many theatre patrons away. A side effect of the ad embargo is that Famous Players has been unable to obtain any cost-sharing benefits from film distribu- tors which will only assist in covering expenses for daily newspaper ads. In its appearance before the board, Fam- ous Players argued that the action by the _Guild and the joint council of printing unions in refusing to handle advertising “constitutes an unlawful strike” as a result of the amendments to the Labor Code passed by the Socred government May 16. The previous code defined a strike as a work stoppage which was intended “to compel an employer to agree to terms and conditions of employment.” It was because of that specific definition, for example that the participation by the transit workers in the Solidarity actions last fall were deter- mined to be “political protests” since they were not intended to put pressure on an employer. But the amended definition deletes that qualification, effectively making any work stopage, slowdown or refusal to work a strike except in those cases specifically exempted by the legislation. Because of the change in definition, Famous Players argued that a 1981 LRB ruling which upheld the right of Pacific Press unions to refuse to handle ads for strikebound Stacy’s Furniture (Value Industries) “is no longer persuasive author- ity in view of the fact that the conduct com- plained of now constitutes a strike.” Famous Players also argued that the aim of the government in the recent code amendments “was to restrict work stop- pages to the primary location of the labor dispute” and contended that the Guild’s refusal to handle the advertising meant that the “labor dispute has been extended to a secondary location, namely the Pacific Press Ltd. site.” Similar arguments were advanced by the theatre chain for its alternate application under Section 90 of the Labor Code for a declaration by the board that the Guild’s “struck work” clause is either null and void for all purposes or unenforceable in the circumstances, If the company is successful in its applica- tion, it could throw into question similar clauses covering hot products and struck work in many union agreements. It could also render ineffective hot decla- rations by the B.C. Federation which have often been decisive in enabling affiliates, particularly smaller affiliates, to win a col- lective agreement. Warning that a provincial election and an opportunity to do away with the Socreds could be as far away as 1987, Building Trades Council president Roy Gautier told construction unionists Monday that they “must do what the building trades have always done in extreme Sauersity, fight back — and survive. “A simple definition of (Bennett’s) new reality is the undermining of estab- lished wages and pass working condi- tions,” he told some 150 dele- ‘gates to the B.C. and Yukon Trades Council’s annual convention Oct. 22. “Let there be no mistake about it, the Socred government is about ‘the busi- ROY GAUTIER ness of neutralizing, if not destroying the trade union movement in B.C.” Gautier’s address highlighted the back-drop to the convention which is being held following a year of almost unprecedented assault on trade unio- nism in the construction industry. Unemployment, which was near the 50 per cent level throughout the trades last year, has become worse over the last 12 months. And it is also in the last year that the Socred government, togther with the non-union contractors headed by Kerk- hoff and Sons Construction, precipitated the disputes at Pennyfarthing and at Expo 86. And Construction Labor Rela- tions waged a parallel offensvie with its demand for massive wage cuts and other concessions in 1984 bargaining. “The Building Trades were con- fronted on all sides by actions and deci- sion emanating from the Labor Relations Board, the courts and the provincial government,” Gautier charged. In the midst of that, the trades must fight to survive, Gautier said, noting that the road to survival was neither through “wild adventures which end up in the courts with the prospect of wiping out Support fightback plan, | individual affiliates or the council” or through “seeking funk holes” in which to hide. He told delegates that they must “develop a fightback program accepta- — ble to all affiliates.” That program “should be carried out — in the letter and spirit” and should be flexible, he said. _ What action will ultimately. go into that fightback program will be the focus of debate over the three-day convention as delegates from 16 unions — ranging from the conservative Boilermakers to the more militant Carpenters — sit down to begin working on resolutions. But clearly the Building Trades face a continued attack from the non-union contractors — both at Expo and else- where — and from the Socred govern- ment which has threatened to add “union free zones” to its anti-union legis- lative regime. But even before the convention debate began, Gautier indicated that the council would have to consider action imme- diately to counter the increasing tempo of Labor Relations Board rulings against | the trades. “T am of the view that the LRB is now being used to clobber the Building Trades and others,” he charged, emphas- izing that “some demonstrated action should be taken to counter this develop- ment. . “We are not winning at the board but J what we are doing is paying high-priced | lawyers $200,000 per year to legitimize the system,” he said. He told delegates that some discussion had already taken place with B.C. Fed | president Art Kube in which the Building Trades suggested first, a meeting with — labor representatives on the board and consideration of further steps, including | resignation of the labor representatives and finally a boycott of the LRB by all unions. “Obviously these are serious consid- erations and need careful thought,” he said. “But short of. some concerted action, the LRB will more: and more become the helpless tool of the govern- ment.”