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WHAT'S BEHIND CONTRACTORS’ LOCKOUT? :

Policy tipoff given at Calgar

By JOHN HUNTER
(This is the first of two articles)
The building trades unions in B.C. are under heavy fire
irom the building contractors who are out to freeze wages and

undermine their bargaining position.

In their campaign the

contractors are using lockouts, newspaper propaganda and ‘mass
layoffs, and relying heavily on R. K. Gervin, former secretary-

treasurer of Vancouver Trades
and Labor Council, who is
their chief negotiator.

While these facts are widely
known in the labor movement,
it is not so widely known that
some of the top leaders of the
building trades unions in this
country, mostly international
union representatives, and em-
ployer representatives have
met privately and discussed
policies that objectively help-
ed to create the present situa-
tion in this province.

This is a serious charge
and must be supported by
factual evidence.

On September 27-28 last
year, 32 persons were regis-
terd at the Fourth Inter-Pro-
vincial Conference of the
British Columbia and Alberta
Building and _ Construction
Trades Council, which con-
vened in the Labor Temple at
Calgary.

Of those present, ‘28 repre-
sented the - building trades
unions and four the General
Contractors Association and
the Heavy Construction As-
sociation. In the official min-
utes of the conference, all
32 are listed as delegates. R.
K. Gervin, L. Savage, D. Ley-
den and H. Ayling represent-
ed the employers. Thirteen
of the 28 union men
were international representa-
tives (roadmen), representing
the following unions: Lathers,
Electrical Workers, Painters,
Teamsters, Laborers, Boiler-
makers, Plumbers, Operating
Engineers, Carpenters and
Plasterers.

Ths ee

One of the main questions
discussed by the delegates
was how to deal with rank
and file militancy and how to
curb militant job action.

Speaking on work stoppages
that had occurred in B.C., R.
K. Gervin said: “‘I don’t know,
sometimes when we look and
see these disputes and work
stoppages that arise from
them, we wonder perhaps -if
maybe the work is being car-
ried on too steadily.

“I don't want to be unfair
or unkind, that is not my pur-
pose, but I do know this, that
when there is a jurisdictional]
dispute, when there is a work
stoppage which is serious to
the contractors, to the econ-
omy of the province, the in-
ternational officers are not
there.

“The business agents do not
always accept their responsi-

bility in this regard. I don’t

_ believe, because they do noth-

ing to penalize the people that
take action on job action and
cause work stoppages. It is a
rare occasion when — and in
fact I don’t know of any oc-
casions when these people
have been penalized for tak-
ing action that was quite ‘il-
legal.”

Henry Ayling, Heavy Con-
struction Association. said: “I
am going to be a little more
specific, and maybe a little
blunter than Mr. Gervin has
been.

‘Up until two years ago,
things were pretty smooth.
We had our arguments, we
had our grievances on our
jobs, and we accepted them,
and there was no stoppage of
work. We sat down with the
business agents, and the fore-
man, or the general super-
intendents on the job, and
these grievances were settled.

“The situation gradually
deteriorated, and it came
about through the skop
stewards’ movements. The
business agents have gradu-
ally lost their responsibility
and the power that was given
to them by the unions, and
the responsibility of the job,
in a large number of cases,
has been taken over by _ the
shop stewards.

“T don’t mean to say that
that refers to every union,
but it does refer particularly
to the metal section, and to
the electrical section in the
southern half of B.C.”

“If you gentlemen are will-
ing to sit down with us or
among yourselves and give us
your assurance that you will
take care of the situation, you
will get control of your mem-
bership, we will do every-
thing in our power, and we
will sit along with you, and
we will do everything we
can to help the situation, but
unless the situation is cor-
rected, capital will not come
to B.C. and Alberta, and we
all will be looking for a job,
both the members and the
contractors.”

L. Savage, of the Common-
wealth Construction Company,

was worried about produc-

tivity. “We are losing pro-

ductivity. We are not getting
our dollar’s. worth.”
xt bo xt

A speaker listed as Troyer,

District Council, Calgary, who

prefaced his remarks by say-

ing, “I am not a delegate,”
asked a question of the em-
ployer group: “I would like
to ask the second speaker if
he would care to explain a
little more what he means by
his phrase and views on con-
trol of membership.”

Ayling replied: “The ex-
pression I used, ‘control of
membership, is used in the
phrase if you have a line of
authority set up—say a super-
visory group, and this group
cannot permit your member-
ship to run wild — they must
be responsible to some officer
or officers of the union.”

But Troyer was not satis-
fied, and he said so in no un-
certain terms:

“The answer doesn’t satisfy
me, for the simple reason I
feel the speaker cannot be too

‘aware of trade union princi-

ples . . . Our membership is
not controlled by any offi-
cial. Our membership is set
up on a basis and the mem-
bers have constitutional rights
and any business agent and I
am a servant of the members,
and I shall always regard my-
self as such,

“We certainly can insist that
members of our locals carry
out these regulations, but
over and above that we can-
not go, and if we are good
citizens and we _ understand
the principles of democracy,
further than that we will not
go, and if I should ever in-
tend to go further than that,
then I say we are the ones
who should be dealt with and
not management.”

Jack Ross, of Vancouver,
international representative of
the Electrical Workers, didn’t
agree with Troyer.

“J know of no word in the

English -language . that has
been more prostituted than
the word ‘democracy,’” he

said. “I think the last speaker
has answered himself.

‘I must say again that I
am rather handicapped, there
are only two langugages that
I know, very little English
and lots of profanity.

“You — the employer — I
say this to labor and I say
it in all sincerity — it doesn’t
make any difference what
causes the stoppage of work—
it is a stoppage of work and
we should all be together. We
are plagued. with these things
as much as you are and we
don’t like it.

“If we are keeping: capi-
tal out of the country or the
employer is keeping capital
out of the country, it is our
own fault and we must work
it out correctly.”

Cc. Priestly, international
representative of the Plumb-

ers, was even blunter in re-
plying to Troyer:

“We have been advised un-
officially that there are two
men being placed on the
the Building Trades Depart-
ment in Canad&

“Canada is a long way from
the Pacific to the Atlantic,
and it could be set up in Ont-
ario, or Washington, or in
Winnipeg. The problem is —
I have to solve one of the big-
gest problems in the organiza-
tion so far as British Colum-
bia is concerhed. I don’t know
what the answer is going to
be. I am going to be recteiv-
ing some directive one of

these days, where I am going

to have to do something, but
that directive will come when
I make the recommendation
that it be done.

“Outside of that, the setting
up of any board of settling
any jurisdictional dispute does
not stop the work stoppage.
The mechanics are already
there if we can. make them
work. Somebody has to take
the bull by the horns, and
whether the local union stays
democratic or not somebody
has to be hurt — or in the
pocket where it hurts, and
maybe then they will sit up
and take notice.”

Speaking of the setting up
of a building trades. jurisdic-
tional board in Canada Priest-
ly said:

“As far aS we are concern-
ed, the board will be set up
within the Building Trades
Industry, and not the Cana-
dian. Labor Congress, where
we are going to be told by
the industrial organizations
what we are going to do.”

J. Hannigan of the Sheet
Metal Workers’ Union wasn’t
too fussy about educating
union members.: :

“J don’t know why we talk
so much about education with
the trade unions and working

people generally. There is
danger in education. We
might educate them _ too
much. .

“We are being told by cer-
tain of the speakers this
afternoon that there are agi-
tators, who are working in-
convenience on the people. At
this stage I think we should
be told in clearer language
who and where these agita-
tors are.”

Priestly replied:

“For me or anyone else to
come out and name names
and certain parties belong to
this party, or certain persons
belong to this party, or things
like that — that is one thing,
those statements cannot be
made, naming: names, until

the persons naming the names
have it down and can prove

f
June 13, 1958 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—

it, they haa better sa ™ |
ing. : Fy

‘If you accuse anyon
don’t care who the perso i
of subersive action, unless
can back it up im black ae
white, brother you ha eal
keep your mouth shuts if
cause the people yore
dealing with are pretty § wt
cookies themselves; an
less you. can back it wa
are going to get your
into a jackpot.” oy ott

Ross of the Electrical di
ers amplified this i
guised attack on a
militants:

«_, it is true im OW "
didn't
just §

—

organization we
clean house. They sew !
over the dirt and ™ poet
couple out. The pat’ yt
are all busy. I bee: of
should clean up OUF a iit
ganization. If you sw i? ;
a duck, dive like @ OMG ae
you have all the same ‘pat
teristics of a duck, the f cat"
are you are a duck: we mi
do these things. W a
own children you havé
rect them when tel ;
wrong, and there isn't jo
correction from "| i
agents and internatio?
resentatives.” ch!
Hannigan of ‘ol
Metal Workers, wh? nat
Ross, seemed to nin ys?
greater part of the 48" (yf
movement in B.C. was dm
ing the “ducks” refers
by Ross.
y oon 2
If what has bee? fue
so far proves anythiMt —
this: j of
@ The thinkin? i @
dominant group at a
ference reflects the © aj
tive thinking of the feat
of roadmen, thelt y:
rank and file militar ig
® They have

a

more productive.
the agitators and ©
flow into the construe fi
dustry.” :

The associates of sot ff 5
acting on orders fron a 1
in 1955, beheaded so
of the Electrical wou
Vancouver and imp® io :
tatorship on the ¥ ast f 3
the events of the Po
months, the line }iP® ef)
tors’ strike earlier tr! ni
and now the cor ail
lockout, show the ia
this policy. : and

The witch-huntiné | di
pression of democt@ yi?
have weakened the i
causing internal dis
strengthened the tora.
tion of the employe? gt
the union to their PU
to destroy it. f

ital
ap ‘i? if

ie a