4 STRICTIVE] JY RADE 7 m | PRACTICES 4 | COMMISSION a / Yy, “There's nothing restrictive about our trade!” Labor scene Facing charges of ‘wilfully impeding an inquiry under the Combines Investigation Act’’ United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union president Jack Nichol and secretary George Hewison will be appearing in provincial court September 12 following an adjournment of the case July 29. Nichol and Hewison — two of seven UFAWU ‘members charged under the Combines Act — were the only unionists served with summons at the time of the July 29 trial but it was anticipated that the other five, many of whom were out on the fishing grounds, would also be served in time to appear September 12. All have been charged under Section 41 of the Combines Act and could face fines of up to $5,000 and up to two years’ imprisonment. Thecharges allegedly stem from a Combines investigation last December when the UFAWU, backed by the B.C. Federation of Labor, demanded that the Com- bines hold its hearings into the union in public. The Combines had sought to hold private hearings, widely denounced throughout the trade union movement as “star chamber proceedings.” Following adjournment of the hearings, Combines investigators carried out a series of raids on Vancouver newsrooms in an ap- parent search for evidence. The raids were later ruled to be unlawful as Chief Justice Nathan Nemetz quashed the search warrants authorizing the raids. * * * The B.C. Federation of Labor has called on all parties in the dispute between the officers of Local 602 of the Laborers Union and the union’s international office to adopt a ‘‘common sense ap- proach” in resolving their dispute and to settle the issues ‘“‘within the house of labor.”’ 200-mile limit sought on supertanker traffic Cont'd from pg. 1 opponents have called on the federal government to step in and impose a 200 mile supertanker free zone on Canada’s Pacific coast. The union charged that the tanker traffic ‘‘makes a mockery of the West Coast Oil Port Inquiry that can only reach its conclusions and recommendations long after the fact of oil deliveries. “Tf the United States is so ob- viously intent on ignoring the Thompson Inquiry, to prematurely deliver Alaska crude through the Straits of Juan de Fuca and waters adjacent to Canada,’”’ the union said, “‘Then Canada in the least should ban these ships from its 200 mile zone.”’ In spite of the imminent scenario, clearly the design of the oil companies themselves, to render the Thompson Inquiry irrelevant, Thompson has not yet spoken out. The proponent of the Port Angeles oil port proposal, the Northern Tier consortium, have already reneged on their pledge to co-operate with Thompson and have refused to participate in the Inquiry. This week, UFAWU secretary George Hewison reported to the VLC, the Kitimat Pipeline Com- pany is trying to follow suit, and intends to quit the Thompson Inquiry. In the event of such a develop- ment, the only_oil port proponent remaining in the Inquiry would be a reluctant Trans Mountain- Atlantic Richfield consortium — whose proposal could already have the political backing of the NEB. ‘Although this might render the Kitimat proposal a dead issue,” UFAWU president Nichol said, ‘‘It also would diminish Arco’s (Atlantic Richfield) incentive to continue voluntary submission to the Oil Ports Inquiry of details of the proposed superport for Cherry Point.” With the major oil companies boycotting the Thompson Inquiry and supertankers already plying Canadian. waters, Andrew Thompson’s recommendations may be academic. For the sake of B.C.’s coastline, fishing industry and native culture, the onus is now on Thompson and the federal government to speak out and restore the integrity of the investigation. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 19, 1977—Page 8 Local 602 was placed under trusteeship by the Laborers’ in- ternational office earlier this month. Local officers later oc- cupied the union offices. Federation secretary Len Guy stressed in the call for a ‘“‘com- mon sense’ resolution of the dispute that ‘‘rank and file members of the Laborers Union Local 602 must have the. op- portunity to decide the issue. “Tf there are any charges of wrongdoing to be levelled by the international against the local officers, those charges should be made known to the members and the local officers should have the right to respond,” he said. ‘In the final analysis, the members must decide whether the local officers are to be upheld.” The Federation secretary also emphasized, ‘‘the local union should be allowed to proceed with the election of its officers, in ac- cordance with the union’s con- stitution and the international should take a low profile in this process.” Elections in Local 602 were to have been conducted in June but were held up because of the in- ternal dispute in the local and subsequent intervention by the international office. ‘‘A common sense approach to resolving this disagreement out- side of the courts, and within the labor movement, is important for the good of the labor movement,” Guy said. “T am confident, given the op- portunity to hear all the pertinent information, that the union members will be able to make the correct decision and that the local union will be able to carry on with its duties to the membership.” * oe * B.C. Hydro plans to cut its late night service in the Vancouver area in half, according to the Amalgamated Transit Union which has pledged to fight the transit cutback. ATU delegate Jim Daly told the ~ Vancouver and District Labor Council Tuesday night that the union was informed by Hydro that every second bus would be taken out of service after 1:10 a.m. That service reduction is not made now until 3:10 a.m. “This is just another Social Credit cutback in people’s ser- vices,’ Daly . told council delegates. The ATU is planning a public campaign against the reduction. Cont'd from pg. 1 based on public ownership, one which looks abhead for the next 100 years and more to Canada’s real needs and those of her people. The Communist Party of Canada supports the demand of ‘No pipeline now’.”’ Following the federal govern- ment’s decision to go ahead with the Alcan pipeline, the B.C. Legislature held an emergency debate in which the government and all opposition parties endorsed the decision in principle. As the debate in Victoria began the B.C. executive of the Communist Party sent a wire to the premier and opposition parties urging the Legislature to oppose the Ottawa decision. Charging that the pipeline would be asellout to U.S. interests and oil monopolies, the wire said that the huge project holds no gains for Canada or B.C. Pointing out that no study had been made of the 540 mile stretch in northern B.C. through which the line would run, both as to the ecology or native rights claims, the wire said that the billions spent on the project would create few permanent jobs while using up capital required for housing, education and social needs of Canadians. The B.C. Working Group for Moratorium also issued a statement August 10 in which it said the federal government decision was ‘‘highly regrettable.”’ It said that the Alcan proposal is an unstudied, patch work proposal and that in rushing to approve it the federal government was “guilty of irresponsible decision making.”’ The Moratorium Committee also lashed the B.C. government for going along with the decision, charging that there has been no assessment of the social, economic and environmental impact. Signed by Mike Lewis, spokesman for the Moratorium Committee, the statement con- cluded ‘‘that the Canadian government’s decision to approve the construction of the Alcan pipeline inthe name of the national interest is wrong. In reality what has been approved is_ that- Canadians will assume the risks for a huge project which has as its central purpose the transporation of United States gas across Canada to another part of the United States.” TheB.C. Moratorium Committee includes among its members the B.C. Federation of Labor, B.C. Teachers Federation, OXFAM Canada, United Church, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, UBC Alma Mater Society and Canadian Council for In- ternational Co-operation. Opposition parties in Ottawa and B.C., including the NDP voiced agreement with the Alcan pipeline and offered only terms which Canada and B.C. should press for while accepting the sellout in principle. The Stand taken by NDP leader Dave Barrett during the emergency debate in the legislature came as a big disaP | pointment to those who had OP | posed the building of any pipeline | now. His stand that B.C. should demand first call on gas which would come through the Dempsté | spur line to the MacKenzie Valley | is full of holes. by First of all, the Dempster spl! line, which the federal governmet! | is placing as one of the conditions | in the negotiations with the U5 which opened this week, has neve | been throughly studied. Wha! preliminary studies there hav’ been show it as an almost iM possible route for a pipeline. In at case Trudeau told Parliament tha! if the spur is built a large portion | the MacKenzie gas which would b | fed into the Alcan pipeline Al already committed to meet futult | gas export quotas to the U.S. | The Dempster spur line hé@ come under severe criticis® since it is unstudied and leave unsolved the problem of nativ® rights and claims, and would #) fact, if undertaken, tap MacKenaé, Valley gas in a way which would circumvent the Berger Inquify recommendation for no development in the area for 1 years. Likewise Barrett’s insist ence that 90 per cent of the work force be done by B.C. labor may itself sound good, but in effect i!) holds out a false promise of wha!) the Alcan line will mean for B.C workers in terms of jobs. The B.¥:| Moratorium Committee pointed out in a recent bulletin that while | the construction phase the pipelit® will provide a short-term boom: providing a few thousand jobs for 2 | couple of years. Once completed! | will create. only a few hundr | permanent jobs; some hav) estimated only about 300. ; The huge capital outlay "| building such a pipeline, which h@ | been estimated at $10 billion, bU'| which will probably run to mu more, will use up capital vitally needed for massive housité programs, industrial developmet! and other social needs. Thes? nation-building projects if uv” dertaken could provide tens %| thousands of permanent jobs bt! | they will become impossibl?) because of the huge investment # the Alcan line — the end result % which will be to take Alaskan aM Canadian gas to the U.S. in retul? for afew hundred permanent job5 It’s a poor deal for Canad? whichever way one looks at it. | The B.C. Communst Party an nounced this week that it is ut dertaking a major campaign block the sellout deal around tf) demand, ‘‘No Pipeline now: | Canadian Communist Part) leader, William Kashtan, will op® a national campaign against th? — Alcan deal with a speech at * public rally being held in. Val couver’s Con-Lab Hall on Wet nesday, Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. The party also plans ?| | | widespread leaflet distributio™ | ads in newspapers and other publié actions to expose the deal and ! unite public opposition against t building of the pipeline. 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