Lp.c. Mil
EMPLO.

—Sean Griffin photo

Longshoremen man picket lines outside B.C.M.E.A. pay office

FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1975

Ss

Second Class Mail Registration No. 1560

VOL. 37, No. 10

‘ALL OR NOTHING’ STAND HIT

International Women’s Day-*:. 5

Tribune

- 15°

British Columbia longshoremen
have dug in for what may be one of
the longest and most bitterly
fought strikes to hit the waterfront
in many years.

More than 4,000 members of the
International Longshoremen’s and
Warehousemen’s Union went to the
picket lines at midnight last
Saturday after the Maritime
Employers Association forced a
breakdown in negotiations.

“We’re apart on two issues,”
ILWU spokesman Don Garcia told
the Tribune, ‘‘money and_con-
tainers — but.we can’t get at the
money issue until the container
question is settled. The employers
say there will be no agreement
unless they get their way on the
containers.’

The container issue is a com-
plicated but vital one for the union.

Delegates to the Vancouver and
District Labor Council have urged
the Canadian Labor Congress to
fall a delegated conference of

ade unionists across the country

discuss the growing unem-

Ployment crisis.
_ The motion came Tuesday night
M response to a call from Tom
ker, secretary of the New
.eStminster Labor Council which
unanimously endorsed the
Same call at its earlier meeting.
he resolution also called on the

| Bc, Federation of Labor to press

© CLC on the conference.
Vancouver council Secretary
Lawrence urged all affiliates
Send letters to the CLC urging
© Convening of the conference
d added, “It’s the only way we

fan get the CLC to move on the
westion.””

ye Shermen’s delegate George
~€Wison noted the motions from

th

following opening of ILWU strike this week. (See story).

both the New Westminster and
Vancouver councils and pointed
out that they indicated that trade
unionists ‘‘are feeling the pressure
of unemployment.”’

He pointed out, too, that
unemployment was affecting
organized and unorganized
workers alike and was having the
effect of ‘‘driving down living
standards — a calculated policy on
the part of the Trudeau govern-
ment. é

“There have been some serious
changes in the economic situation
since the last CLC convention,”
Hewison emphasized, “and we
need a conference on unem-
ployment to hear the genuine
expression of workers’ feelings
across the country.”

Enforced unemployment for
some 80 workers at Seagram’s
bottling plant in New Westminster
prompted — another council

~ CKLG DECLARED 'HOT'

bate B.C. Federation of Labor
S declared CKLG “hot”. The

€ration’s declaration is in

C Port of Local 686 of the
blo dian Union of Public Em-
at ees, on strike since February 1

Secretary-Treasurer
‘1 Guy commented:
| Fe a declaring CKLG “hot”, our
Uni ration is urging all trade
Briss and other fair-minded
tish Columbians to completely

Nagement recognizes their

|
fi Ycott this radio station until the

employees’ right to union
representation through negotiating
a first collective agreement.

““We call upon all trade unionists
to support the striking workers by
refusing any dealings with CKLG.
Many advertisers have already
cancelled their advertising on
CKLG. We ask all remaining ad-
vertisers to show their respect for
the right of workers to trade union
representation by cancelling their
advertising until a first collective
agreement is negotiated.”

resolution, this time condemning
what has been ‘considered an
illegal lockout of the 80 employees
by the multinational distilling
cor poration.

Seagram’s—the scene of a long,
bitter strike by distillery workers
in 1973 — announced last week that
it was shutting down its bottling
plant and gave workers only half
an hour to get out of the plant.

The Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union,
representing the employees, called
the company action ‘almost un-
believable”’ and has laid charges of
unfair labor practices with the
labor relations board as a result of
the lockout.

A company spokesman, in
seeking to defend the move, argued
that the operation was
“uneconomic” since_ productivity
was not high enough and said that
liquor distilled at the plant would
be sent east for bottling.

Council delegates concurred
with the union position that the
sudden shutdown and _ half-hour
layoff notice was in violation of
both the collective agreement and
the provincial labor act and
pledged full support to the bottling
plant workers.

Elsewhere in the council
meeting, Letter Carriers delegate
Bob Hamilton declared “federal
civilservants arein a fight with the
government over wage
guidelines.”

He emphasized the pattern
which the government is at-

See JOBLESS, pg. 12

At stake is the right of the ILWU to
hold jurisdiction over container
cargo and in particular, the right of
union members to handle the
unloading of containers. The
companies have been adamant in
demanding that the clause adopted
in 1969 ensuring union jurisdiction
over the containers be scrapped,
thus allowing the employers to
unload wherever they see fit. And
with maritime trade becoming
almost completely dominated by
container cargo, the union is
determined to maintain the limited
security it presently has.

Both the maritime companies
and the union are prepared for a
lengthy dispute. The ‘‘all or
nothing”’ employers’ stand at the
bargaining table indicated that
they wanted a strike and on the
union’s part, Garcia emphasized
“the ILWU is in good shape and
ready for a long one.”

He added that the ILWU is
presently without strike funds but
is not asking for support until after
the third month of the strike.
“When our membership is
prepared for this,’’ he said, ‘‘you
know they’re not taking this strike
lightly.”

To the longshoremen the issue is
clear: jurisdiction over containers
means jobs both now and in the
future. The slowdown at B.C. ports
has worsened over the past year to
the point where even union
members with 30 years’ seniority
are able to work only a part of a
week. Their present militancy is

the measure of the fact that their
livelihoods are on the line.

For the public, the issue is not so
clear. The employers’ association
has sought to blame the union for
the loss of trade to American ports
and that contrived position has
been picked up in the media and
emphasized. Union jurisdiction
over the containers has been
labelled ‘‘inefficient’”” and ‘ex-
pensive’’ thus diverting container
trade to Seattle, where the ILWU
has failed to secure a container
clause.

In fact, the. question of
jurisdiction over containers has

See MARITIME, pg. 12

Vancouver’s International
Women’s Day celebration will be
held this Sunday, March 9, at the
Queen Elizabeth Playhouse,
Starting at 1:30 p.m.

Speeches, an excellent musical
program, and coffee hour will
round out the program. Speakers
will include Dr. Margaret Fulton,
Dean of Women, UBC; Kathleen
Russ, B.C. Human Rights director;
and Eunice Parker of the Congress
of Canadian Women, B.C. Chapter.

There will also be a_ special
display of books of particular in-
terest to women and children, and
the ever-popular bake sale.

INSIDE

Duplicity on Columbia
Pg. 3

Block monopoly drive
Pg. 9

Budget— what it means

Pg.

I]

Tenants lobby Victoria

Pg.

12