Sse aieenepate etigs nee em Construction wotkers set up picket lines out- side the construction site of a new beer and wine outlet for Vancouver's Eldorado Hotel last week, protesting the hotel's decision to go with a non-union contractor for the project. Carpenters Local 452 business agent Marty Smith said this week that the store is being built by Doyle Madden General Contractors Ltd., a non-union spinoff from a union con- tractor, Doyle Construction, which declared _ bankruptcy last year, leaving a number of debts unpaid, including the union’‘s health and welfare plan. The union is particularly con- cerned because the Eldorado Hotel, which is | patronized by unionists throughout the city, has previously done its work with union con- _ tractors. The local was to meet with the owner late Tuesday, however, and Smith was hope- _ ful that hotel management could be con- TRIBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN ‘Act to block ruling by GATT, union day of protest demands The United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union will be shutting down fish processing plants coastwide March 4 to put pressure on the federal government to uphold Canadian sovereignty before the Geneva-based General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). UFAWU president Jack Nichol told a press conference Feb. 26 that the day of protest, coupled with rallies in Steveston, Vancouver and Prince Rupert, would also be a send-off for a union lobby to Ottawa. Some 25 members of the UFAWU and the Prince Rupert-based Amalgamated Shore- workers and Clerks will be heading for the capital March 5 to demand that the federal government block the final adoption of a GATT ruling that would force Canada to scrap long standing regulations that gua- rantee that sockeye and pink salmon and roe herring must be processed in Canada before export. An estimated 4,000 jobs and much of the processing section of one of the province’s key industries hangs on the outcome of the GATT full council meeting slated for March 22. And the issue is linked closely to the Canada-US. free trade deal. “Our position is that we’re not prepared to see the fishing industry in B.C. sacrificed because of a GATT tuling, * Nichol told reporters. The coastwide walkout will mark an intense week of action by the UFAWU which first launched a protest over the initial GATT ruling when it was brought down last November in response to a com- plaint initiated by several Alaskan fish pro- cessors three years earlier. A 40-member rank and file GATT committee of the union has been to. other unions as well as municipal councils asking for support in the campaign to pressure Ottawa to uphold Canada’s sovereign right to enact its export regulations and to block any decision by GATT which abridges that right — something the U.S. has done on other occasions. The day of protest was part of an action plan drawn up by the union’s GATT com- mittee which includes the lobby to Ottawa, rallies in several centres on March 4 and appeals for further pressure from municipal councils. The timing of the GATT decision has underscored the urgency of the union’s action. If Canada cannot conclude a bilat- eral solution with the U.S. by March 8, the issue will go to the full GATT council March 22. Nichol told the press conference that a possible solution to the dispute lies in nego- tiating a bilateral arrangement whereby the U.S. would obtain similar export regula- tions to protect the American fishing indus- 12 « Pacific Tribune, March 2, 1988 Two rallies are scheduled for the Lower Mainland as UFAWU members shut down plants, Mar. 4. In Steveston, unionists will gather at the Steveston Buddhist Church, opposite the Imperial plant, at 17 a.m. In Vancouver, UFAWU members will gather on Commissioner St. at 11:30 a.m. and march. to the Maritime Labour Centre, 117 Victoria Dr., for a rally at 12 noon. try and jobs — the so-called ‘“‘mirror regu- lation” solution. “In fact, that was one of the original alternatives proposed by the U.S. petition- ers,” he said. “Quite frankly, I think that would be the more reasonable way to go.” But even if agreement on that basis can’t be reached with the U.S., then Canada should have no hesitation in blocking adop- tion of the ruling by the full GATT council, he emphasized. Under GATT rules, any one country, including the nation against which a complaint has been made, has the right to veto a GATT decision. “Canada is a sovereign state — and we have the sovereign right to develop regula- tions to protect our industries and to ensure that resources are processed in Canada and to provide jobs for Canadians,” Nichol said. “* The Law of Sea guarantees rights of nations to protect their resources. Canada has right to veto the ruling.” The U.S. itself has blocked implementa- tion of GATT rulings which affect its trade practices, including a GATT decision which determined that the embargo against Nica- ragua was a violation of GATT rules. But so far, Nichol said, there appears to be little will on the part of the Tory govern- ment to take a stand at GATT, a point underscored this week by the announce- ment that Ottawa will not oppose another GATT decision — prompted by a com- plaint from the European Economic Community. — disallowing higher price markups for imported wine and beer. That ruling, which also comes up for a final rul- ing March 22, could affect thousands of jobs in the Canadian brewing and wine industries. “That’s why we’ve got to keep the pres- sure up,” Nichol warned. Giving an added urgency to the union’s campaign is the link between the GATT decision and the proposed Canada-U.S. free trade pact. Canadian negotiators initially sought to resolve the dispute in the free trade talks but were unable to get the U.S. to negotiate away the preliminary rul- ing it had won at GATT. And under the terms of the free trade deal — and ifand when it becomes effective — all GATT decisions will be binding on both countries. Nichol outlined to reporters the threat posed by elimination of the export regula- tions to the fishing industry, which, he said, has a payroll of $100-$150 million annually, - 2 © 3 © and employs 7,500 people at the peak of the season. “If regulations are scrapped, existing companies or any others that wanted to get into the business could ship any quantity of fish, in any condition, to plants in Pacific Rim countries where wages are a fraction of what they are here,” he said. “We could see U.S. buyers coming into Canadian waters to buy fish and taking it to the U.S. for processing. And we could see Canadian processors relocating in the Birt He said that fish companies had already indicated that they had “very attractive offers,” including free land and tax breaks, to relocate in the U.S. At the same time, Ocean Fish and Canadian Fishing Com- pany have put cannery expansion plans for Prince Rupert on hold pending the outcome of the GATT ruling. For the moment, however, the compan- ies support the demand fora solution to the GATT dispute — a demand that is going to resound both in this province and Ottawa when the union stages its actions March 4 and 5. “We want to give a message to Ottawa that there is a deep concern by the people here — that as Canadians we’re not going to tolerate our industry and our jobs being put on the sacrificial block of free trade,” Nichol declared. He warned that the day of protest would be “a harbinger of what we can expect will happen in the future” if a solution that allows Canada to keep its ious regula- tions is not found. “There’s no way we’re going to take this lying down,” he said. | CEB Seay Sere Garg tree et, i gpeenrapiecees. TRIBUNE Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. VSK 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 Oye e © 0 @ 04s te be ee 6 6 0 8 6 oe Guild wins Flyer firm agreement The Vancouver and New West- — minster Newspaper Guild — Local ~ 115 of The Newspaper Guild — has signed a significant first contract for its 30 newest members after almost one year of organizing and bargain- ing. Employees at Flyer Force, a distri- bution firm that delivers advertising inserts to homes that do not subscribe to Vancouver’s two dailies, ratified the one-year agreement retroactive to Jan. 1, 1988, marking the first time a low-wage distribution firm in B.C. has taken the union route. The pact raises wages a minimum of 50 cents an hour and provides for benefits such as sick leave, holidays and vacations, premium overtime pay, maternity and bereavement leave, and mileage allowances for the Southam spin-off company’s six full- time and 24 part-time employees. The Vancouver Sun and The Pro- vince are owned by Southam Inc. Local 115 president Mike Bocking said the contract “‘has some good lan- guage fora first-year agreement.” But he predicted hard bargaining when the pact expires at the end of the year. “We’re really looking forward to going back to the bargaining table, where we'll be insisting on- much greater improvements to wages and benefits,” he said. Bocking said the Guild hopes to form acommon bargaining front with the Mailers Union, which represents other Flyer Force employees. Despite the employers’ stalling attempts and the impediments of the. Social Credit government’s anti- labour legislation, Flyer Force empl- oyees approved membership in the Guild by 89 per cent ina vote last fall. The Guild initially filed an applica- tion with the old Labour Relations Board.for successor rights to repres- ent the Flyer Force employees, who perform work similar to that done by employees at Pacific Press, publisher of Vancouver’s dailies. The application was dropped when the Socred government rehashed labour legislation to favour employers with Bill 19, the Industrial Relations Reform Act, and created the Indus- trial Relations Council. An application for certification of the Flyer Force employers, made after the B.C. Federation of Labour exempted new certifications from its boycott of the IRC, was opposed by Southam. But the company lost that case, and two subsequent appeals. i @ 0 65058, 00) e oel b's 8 0) 80 0,0 2s Postal Code Cc Oe lamenclosing 1yr.$200) 2yrs.$350) 3yrs.$5001 Foreign1 yr. $320 Bill me later 1] ~Donation$........ 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