Canadian Union of Postal
Workers leader Jean-Claude Parrot
was led off to jail to serve a three-
month prison sentence Monday
after the Supreme Court of Canada
declined to consider a final appeal
and after two successive federal
governments refused to accede to a
country-wide demand to drop the
charges.

The Supreme Court decision,
brought down the same day, ex-
hausted all possible appeals on the
conviction. Parrot was charged
with defying Parliament only days
after the Trudeau government, sup-
ported by the Tory opposition,
passed Bill C-8 breaking the legal
strike of postal workers in October,
1978.

Parrot’s jailing sparked an im-
mediate reaction with CUPW na-
tional vice-president Andre
Beauchamp calling the imprison-
ment ‘‘a national disgrace.”’

“Tt is nothing short of a national
disgrace that an honest and
dedicated man such as brother Par-
rot should be sent to jail for recom-
mending in October, 1978, that
postal workers maintain their right
to negotiate solutions to problems
in the post office, a right that was
unjustly removed by a vindictive
Liberal government and supported
by a Conservative opposition
desperate to look tough,”’
Beauchamp declared.

Some 30 CUPW members
demonstrated outside the post of-
fice in Vancouver Monday to pro-
test the decision.

Still to be considered is a pledge
by Local 500 of the International
Longshorement and
Warehousemen’s Union to shut
down the port of Vancouver once
Parrot’s conviction was upheld
following all possible appeals.
A ILWU Canadian Area secretary

ILWU meet
walkout as Parrot jailed) .

will discuss

Frank Kennedy said Wednesday
that the carrying out of the local’s
pledge would be discussed at a
membership meeting in February.

Local 500, the main Vancouver
waterfront local, made the
pledge following Parrot’s con-
viction and ILWU delegate Les
Copan reaffirmed it at the B.C.
Federation of Labor convention
last November just after dele-
gates were told that Parrot’s ini-
tial appeal had been rejected.

Parrot himself warned Monday
that putting him in jail would
resolve none of the issues involved
in the longstanding post office
dispute.

CUPW is again involved in a con-
tentious set of negotiations to at-
tempt to reach a new contract, the
first since the legislated contract,
imposed by an arbitrator under the
terms of Bill C-8, expired Dec. 31,
1979.

Several other national and
regional officers of the union also
face charges as a result of the
strikebreaking legisaltion.

This week the B.C. Court of
Appeals quashed the acquittal of
CUPW western regional director
Frank Walden, one of those
charged as a result of the
strikebreaking legislation.

The charges against Walden
had been thrown out last May on
the grounds that Walden was in
Ottawa at the time he was alleg-
ed to have committed the of-
fence in Vancouver. But
Wednesday’s appeals court rul-
ing overturned that decision.

Scores of unions as well as the
B.C. Federation of Labor earlier
called on the Canadian Labor
Congress to wage a campaign to
force the government to drop
the charges against CUPW and
restore free collective bargain-

ing.

Debate flares in NW |
over executive stand

The New Westminster and
District Labor Council last week
echoed the Vancouver council in
opposing sponsorship of an all-
candidates meeting — but as in the
Vancouver meeting the motion
touched off a contentious debate
before it was endorsed.

The meeting in New Westminster
also saw controversy erupt over an
executive board resolution condem-
ning Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

Council president Gerry Stoney,
together with B.C. Federation of
Labor president Jim Kinnaird, had
earlier sent letters to labor councils
stating that all-candidates meetings
were contrary to labor’s stated sup-
port for the NDP and offered a
platform to other candidates.

But Longshoremen’s delegate
Rod Doran, a Communist Party
candidate in New Westminster,
noted that according to polls con-
ducted before the last federal elec-
tion, 30 percent of voters were un-
committed and could be influenced
if the parties presented their stand
on the issues.

Carpenters president Bill Zander
suggested that all-candidates
meetings were the only place where
‘‘we can get these turkeys on the
stand to answer questions on
-Petrocan and unemployment and
other issues.’? He was echoed by
Fishermen’s delegate Bert Ogden, a
Communist Party candidate in
Vancouver-Kingsway, who argued
that workers should have an oppor-
tunity to hear different views and
vote accordingly.

IWA delegate Joe Leclair, an
NDP candidate in Fraser Valley

West, repeated Stoney’s earlier
comments that~ delegates would
~make better use of their time if they
campaigned for the NDP.

Ogden also took issue with
another executive resolution, con-
demning the Soviet Union for sen-
ding troops into Afghanistan. He
cited a report by Ontario NDP
MPP Mac Makarchuk, who visited
Afghanistan last August to attend a
World Peace Council conference,
which referred to ‘‘gangster dissi-
dent groups’’ who were threatening
the new government.

Given that background, Ogden
suggested, the council was acting
prematurély without getting all the
facts.

Doran also noted that a ‘‘real pic-
ture’’ hadn’t emerged, adding that,

- as he saw it, the Afghan supporters

of the revolution and Soviet troops
were acting to defend the revolution
from attack.

He cited the actions of. his union
and the National Farmers Union in
opposing sanctions against the
Soviets and warned the meeting that
the resolution ‘‘adds to the hysteria
being whipped up against the
USSR.”’

Stoney responded with a call for
the council to ‘‘stand up and be
counted’’ and added: ‘‘You can’t
pull too many feathers out of the
American eagle.”’

The’ resolution passed with a
sizeable majority although nearly a
third of the delegates-abstained. An
earlier motion by executive member
Harvey Elder to refer the resolution
back for study was defeated.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEBRUARY 1, 1980—Page 8

Statistics reflect change’

in trade union movement,

This is my annual head count of
the British Columbia trade union
movement.

Statistics can be dry and boring,
but they are a necessary tool in
trade union work. Used creatively,
statistics help to give a true picture
of reality and of developing trends.

I would be the first to admit we
cannot judge the strength of the
trade union movement by numbers
alone. However, it would be wrong
to ignore the fact that for many
years the percentage of organized
workers has been consistently
higher in B.C. than in Canada as a
whole, ©

It would be equally wrong to
overlook the fact that an increasing
number of women workers are join-
ing trade unions, but mainly in gov-
ernment and service occupations.
What conclusions organized labor
can draw from such trends could
well determine whether the organiz-
ed labor enters into a period of ac-
celerated growth, remains where it
is or declines as a percentage of the
total labor force. All this of course,
is tied up with policy and program,
that is with what efforts are put into
organizing the unorganized and
what the trade union movement has
to offer the working people in these
difficult times.

But one conclusion is obvious:
the trade union. movement is the
largest democratic movement in
B.C. and has a great potential for
moving politics to the left.

In 1979; there were 465,980 union
members in B.C., as compared with
450,802 in 1978. This represents an
increase of 3.4 per cent in absolute
membership. However, with the
growth of the labor force, the num-
ber of workers organized in trade
unions as a percentage of the total
labor force rose from by only two-
tenths of one per cent, from 45.3 to
45.5 per cent.

Seventeen years ago, in 1963, the
organized workers as a percentage
of the total labor force hit the same
figure of 45.5 per cent. In 1976 it
was 45.7 per cent. and in 1977 it was
45.9 per cent.

The fact that 45.5 per cent of the
total labor force in B.C. are mem-
bers of trade unions, as compared
with approximately 35 per cent of
the labor force in all of Canada,
speaks well for the health of the
trade union movement in B.C.
However, there remains a big job to
do in organizing the unorganized.

Affiliates of the Canadian Labor
Congress, Canada’s major trade
union centre, account for 334,428
members in B.C. Percentage-wise
this breaks down to 71.8 per cent of
all organized workers in the proy-
ince. It is significant that the last
annual report published by Labor
Canada (for 1978) credited the CLC
with representing 67.2 per cent of
all organized workers in Canada.

This should prove that despite all
claims to the contrary, the Cana-
dian Labor Congress, with its affili-
ates, its provincial federation and
its labor councils -constitutes the
strongest force in the B.C. labor
movement. Those who overlook
these facts and look for shortcuts
leading to a ‘‘perfect’’ labor move-
ment in opposition to the CLC are
on a dead-end road.

The Confederation of Canadian
Unions for example, built largely by
defections from CLC unions, had
only 16,101 members in 1979, rep-
resenting only 3.5 per cent of the
total number of organized workers.
In contrast to this, purely Canadian
unions in B.C. affiliated with the
CLC had a combined membership

of 135,992, or 29.2 per cent of the ©

total union membership in the pro-
vince.

Out of the total union member-
ship in B.C., 70 per cent are men

and 30 per cent are.women. In this
connection, it is significant that the

. vast majority of women trade un-

ionists are to be found in govern-
ment, professional, semi-profes-
sional and service occupations. For
example, they are employed by fed-
eral, provincial and municipal gov-
ernments in various capacities, and
they also work as hospital employ-
ees, teachers, nurses, office
workers, postal workers, restaurant
employees and retail clerks. The
B.C. Government Employees Un-

LABOR

COMMENT

BY JACK PHILLIPS

ion, the Hospital Employees Union,
the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, the
Registered Nurses Association of
B.C., the Public Service Alliance of
Canada, the Health Sciences Asso-
ciation of B.C., the Vancouver Mu-
nicipal and Regional Employees,
the University and college Employ-
ees and the Canadian Union of
Postal Workers and Psychiatric
Nurses together account for 92,275
women members, constituting 66
per cent of all women trade union
members in B.C. More than half
the organized women belong to in-
dependent unions and associations,
such as the Teachers, Hospital Em-
ployees, Registered Nurses and
Psychiatric Nurses.

Female membership grew by
7,867, as compared with 1978, or by
six per cent, to equal 35 per cent of
the estimated 400,000 paid women
workers in the province. More than
half the union membership gain in
1979 was accounted for by women.
However, the number of male trade

unionists as a percentage of all men

in the work force was 52.5 per cent.

A breakdown of the total union
membership by industries gives the
following picture:

Manufacturing .........-- 26.9%
Trade and Service ......-- aot j
Construction ........-+++ 10.9%
Mining. oesiacs sete 9%

Transportation
Communications & Utilities +”

In studying the B.C. trade umlon”
picture, we must note that inde
pendent unaffiliated unions had 4
combined membership of 115,
in 1979, as compared with 334,428
in the CLC and 16,101 in the CO™
The big ones are Teachers, Hospital
Employees, Teamsters, Register
Nurses, and Pulp, Paper ®
Woodworkers of Canada. 4

The B.C. Federation of Lab
has, in the main, a good record 0
cooperation with independent U¥
ions in the struggle for trade union
objectives. 5

Progressive members within these
independent unions should
everything possible to extend thi
cooperation, with the ultimate goal
of one, united trade union move —
ment. a

Scheduled to be negotiated
1980 are 536 expiring collectiv®
agreements, covering 162, 861 em
ployees. The total number of em-
ployees involved is small when com
pared with recent years, beca' se
many of the larger units signed
multi-year agreements in 1979 and
are not scheduled to negotiate ag'
until 1981 or 1982.

Of the 536 expiring agreement
427 were signed for two years cover
ing 103,205 employees, indicating
trend away from one-year agree
ments.

The industries with the greates
number of expiries during 1980
be trade and service, with 230 cov”
ering 84,462 employees. Next w#
be manufacturing with 188 coverin
23,913 employees. But in terms OF
the number of employees involved,

tion, with 34,980 employees
covered by 63 agreements.

‘the second largest will be construc

Judging by recent developments,
the construction negotiations, with
the major agreements expiring in
April, could be difficult, and could
be the pacesetters for 1980.

UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP OVER 5,000

International Woodworkers ....)....-...22-2seeccsceeeess 51,008 ~
B:C. Government Employees*.<. <7. 2... s. oc tee coos 43,180
BiG: Peachers:hederationecs fossa ele ess es eco eulsGee ee 29,275
Canadian Union of Public Employees..... eae Sine stare 26,041
Hospitaltemployeesicn cas ge 1 oe awe Wns na ee 21,097
TPeamstersiesae oie serea etasbnane Raho oti «> 20,207
Carpenters. .....-...-.-.: See eo, Pa ag to 14,542
Rewistered NULSOS sea e-  s opie we isaac pete pla wagtisitoeele os 14,000
Public Service: Alliante®: 4.:.5-cb tvs cs So wits tae eas oe 13,488
OperatinsEnginens i. cas sete oe en be ne oe yee 12,476 |
Hotel and Restaurant Employees ............++.++0ee+0+ 11,596
United SteChWwOrkersSie e604 oecs coe abiseee cass fee aise oe Ss 11,143
Telecommunications Workers ............. cee ee eceeeeee 10,410
PIECHTICAISWOLKERS $< «sacs ige cating ne Oe aes oe eee ce tie 10,409
Machinists 3.27. cet oecteeenss ie oe aie algae Dhewie sates 9,299
Canadian Paper Workers’ Union ............-++.ssese08 9,160
TcADOLetS eg a ee er eas a ee ae esas eco 8,924
Retail Clerk ee ee gree cg tee ines ei NE Hate Sige 8,462
Office and Technical Employees .........--.+++eseeeeeee 8,253
United Fishermen and Allied Workers ...........-..++--- 7,053
Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers ...........-+ssseeeeseeee 7,035
Plitmberst vst a ee ce rm es 5,539

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