THE B

LUMBER WO@MER

a we =
NEW TABOR BILL GREAT TRIUMPH FOR B.C. UNIONS

AMENDMERNT TO ACT WILL AID WAR PRODUCTION

By NIGEL MORGAN, IWA-CIO International Board Member

Before a crowded British Columbia Legislature on March 11, 1943, representatives of B.C, trade unions witnessed adoption of a “Bill of Rights” for
labor. Action of the Provincial House, in which the unity of all main union bodies was an important factor, marked a big step forward—a real victory in
the five-year struggle B.C. labor has waged for compulsory collective bargaining.

And now, what do the proposed amendments provide? The amendments contain a number of very important, progressive changes, which will vitally
affect the welfare of the people of this province and particularly workers in the basic industries like lumbering and mining. The most important change
is the guarantee by law that where the majority of the employees are members of a trade union, that union shall have the right to bargain for all employees
affected, This provision will clarify the status of unions as bargaining agencies—a point which has been the subject of considerable controversy in recent months

and the direct cause of more than two-thirds of our industrial disputes. ~The original act, of course, legalized the right of employees and employers to organize

for any lawful purpose, but it did not define the bargaining powers of trade unions as such. .

‘Under the new provisions of the
Industria] Conciliation and Arbi-
trattion Act, which, with labor's
endorsement, were adopted with-
out amendment, trade unions were
granted full recognition as collec-
tive bargaining agents for employ-
ees, a change which will plug one
of the main loopholes in the ex-
isting legislation and pave the way
for a new deal in the province's
labor relations, to date one of the
major hindrances to employer-
employee co-operation for total
war,

e

Section 4, Sub-section 3, of the
amendment states in clear and un-
mistakable terms:

“The employees may elect
bargaining representatives by a
majority vote of the employees
affected, but if a majority of the
employees affected are members
of one trade union the trade
union shall have the right to
conduct the bargaining and, in
that case, the officers of the
trade union or such persons as
the union may elect for the pur-
pose shall be the bargaining rep-
resentatives on behalf of all
employees affected, whether
members of the trade union or
not.”

‘The above section from the Act
extends to bona fide trade unions
certain rights and privileges.

Trade unions, for purposes of
the Act, are defined as:

“Trade urilon’ means a na-
tional or internattional organiza-
tion of employees, or a local
branch chartered by and in good
standing with any such body.”

The right to be recognized as
a bargaining agency, simply on
the basis of “membership” is not
granted to any organization ‘ex-
cept a trade union, which will
prove an effective weapon in the
hands of legitimate trade unions
in dealing with “Charlie Mc-
Carthy” groups, established with
the aid of, and under the domina-
tion of an unscrupulous employer.

e

Membership in a trade union
for the purpose of establishing
collective bargaining rights must
comply with the following regu-
lation:

i
j
&
r
F

Z
ie
r

|
I

ing representatives on behalf of
employees on the one part and
and an employer or employers
on the other part for the pur-
poses of discussing any matters
of mutual concern pertaining to
employment relations, recon-
ciling divergent points of view,
reaching a common understand-
ing clarifying disputes and ar-
riving at a settlement or adjust-
ment thereof.”

e

The procedure outlined in the
amendments to the act for the
establishment of bargaining
rights are briefly as follows:
FIRST, the majority of the em-
ployees must be members in good
standing of the union, making
application. SECONDLY, notifi-
cation must be given to the min-
ister of the election of the bar-
gaining representatives whether
elected by the employees under
the old system, or through a trade
union. THIRDLY, the minister
may take such steps as he thinks
proper to satisfy himself that the
election was regularly and prop-
erly conducted, or in the case of
a trade union claiming the right
to bargain, that a majority of the
employees affected, are bona fide
members of the trade union and
in good standing.

For this purpose, the minister
shall have the right to inspect
the membership records of the
union and also the payroll of the
employer,

e

FOURTH, if the minister is not
satisfied that the election of the
bargaining representatives has
been regularly and properly con-
ducted, or if the union does not
represent a clear majority of the
employees affected, he will, of
course, reject the claim to bar-
gaining rights or order a new
election,

When the minister is satisfied
that the bargaining representa-
tives are properly constituted, he
shall then notify the employer
and the employees or the union,
and the employer shall conduct
collective bargaining with their
representatives. If either the em-
ployer or the union refuse to bar-
gain collectively, or delay for more
than 21 days after notification,
the act states that whichever one
is responsible shall be guilty of
an offence against this Act, for
which provision is made for a
fine of up to $500.

In another section, the amend-
ments contain another provision
long requested by organized labor,
namely, where a trade union is
entitled to bargain collectively and
has endeavored to consumate an
agreement with an employer but
has failed or vice-versa, the union
or the employer may notify the
minister of labor in writing, giv-
ing the particulars. The minister

may then, without referring the
matter to conciliation, establish
an arbitration board. This proviso
will speed up those cases where
either side is stalling, evading or
in any other way not playing the
game and sincerely trying to reach
a peaceful and amicable settle-
ment of the dispute.
O 5

Of equal importance is that
section of the amendments deal-
ing with company unions. The
amending bill will prohibit em-

NIGEL MORGAN

ployers from attempting to dom-
inate or to interfere with the
administration or formation of
any organization of employees, or
to contribute financial or other
support.

The Act states in Section 6,
Sub-Section 2:

“Jt shall be unlawful for any
employer to dominate or inter-
fere with the formation or ad-
ministration of any organization
of employees or to contribute fi-
nancial or other support to it:
Provided that an employer shall
not be prohibited from permitting
any employee or representative of
an organization of employees to
confer with him during working-
hours or to attend to the business
of the organization during work-
ing-hours without the deduction
of time so occupied in the com-
putation of the time worked for
the employer, and without the de-
duction of wages in respect there-
of.”

e

This amendment was strongly
contested by employers’ repre-
sentatives and particularly by the
Workers’ Coopérative Committee
at the Trail Tadanac plant—long .
recognized as “the daddy of B.C.
company union schemes"—which
wired Members of the Legislature
demanding they work for its re-
moval.

An article in Saturday's Van-
couver Daily Province, under a
Trail dateline, says, “There is

some anxiety in Trail as’ to the
effect of the proposed new
amendments to the Industrial
Conciliation and Arbitration Act.
If the bill stands in its present
form, it will certainly embarrass
the present set-up of works coun-
cils, company unions and cooper-
ative committees, such as Con-
solidated.”

Qn another paragraph in the
article, S. G. Blaylock, president
of the Consolidated Mining and
Smelting Company, is quoted as
saying, “I don't approve of the
new amendments for several rea-
sons. I don’t think companies
with an intelligent policy towards
labor should be handicapped for
the benefit of outside unions.”

©

Another safeguard against com-
pany unions is the provisions in
Section 11, which states that
after expiry of six months from
the date on which notification
was given to the minister of
labor for collective bargaining
rights, application may be made
by a majority of the employees
to change that bargaining agency.
‘The minister may, after investl-
gation of the books of that or-
ganization, or after an election
has been held showing that the
majority of the employees desire
to be represented by some other
bargaining agency, give those
employees the opportunity of es-
tablishing new bargaining repre-
sentatives.

It is significant that the latter
change was submitted in face of
the fact that two delegations
representing the big employers
of the province had only recently
interviewed the cabinet in an at-
tempt to block the amendments
and particularly to fight for their
right to continue to organize com-
company unions.

Big business, as was expected,
had representatives lobbying dur-
ing the debate’ in an effort to
change the amendments.

“Industry is alarmed at the
nature of the amendments pro-
posed,” H, §. Tobin, B.C. chair-
man of the CMA told the cabinet.

°

Interests represented by various
employer delegations to the gov-
ernment included the Consoli-
dated Mining and Smelting Com-
pany, the Board of Trade, B.C.
Loggers’ Ass'n, B.C, Lumber and
Shingle Manufacturers’ Associa-
tion, and the Canadian Manufac-
turers’ Association, which in itself
represents 80 percent of the in-
dustrial payroll of the province.
Accompanying these delegations
was an imposing array of legal
talent,

The action of Labor Minister
Pearson in recognizing the voice
of united labor by passing the
amendments to the ICA Act des-
pite constant opposition from

some big industrialists is to be
highly commended.

Labor has pointed out, and it
has been recognized by the De-
partment of Labor that the vast
majority of disputes in this prov-
ince have been due to a lack of
proper recognition of the funda-
mental right of collective bargain-
ing through the organizations of
the workers’ own choice. Adop-
tion of the amendments will have
a tremendous effect upon B.C’s
war effort, releasing labor energy
previously immobilized by the re-
luctance of a few employers to
allow their workers full expres-
sion through unions of their own
choice.

Labor Minister Pearson and the
Provincial Government are to be
congratulated for the intelligent
and progressive leadership given
in passing these amendments to
the ICA Act. As many as 29 op-
erations in B.C. lumber are now
preparing for negotiations for
union agreements or in the pro-
cess of arbitration with 8 to 10
thousand workers involved. The
amendment of the ICA Act will
facilitate the quick settlement of
these negotiations and result in
peaceful and amicable adjust-
ments, it is to.be hoped.

@
The amendments will help to

improve industrial relations, pave
the way for genuine cooperation
between labor and management,
and increase production, which is
so urgently needed today to de-
stroy the menace of Hitlerism. It
will also give labor the degree of
recognition and dignity to which
it is entitled.

A great deal of credit is due to
President Birt Showler and Sec-
retary Chris Pritchard of the
Vancouver Labor Council (AFL),
as well as President Ed Leary
of the Vancouver Labor Council
(CCL) and our own District Presi-
dent Harold Pritchett, who, as
former secretary of the Vancou-
ver Labor Council, contributed a
great deal to the unity of labor
which did much in achieving
labor’s demands and set an ex-
ample for the rest of Canada to
follow.

Excellent work was done by our
IWA locals, sub-locals and job
stewards in the logging camps and
sawmills of British Columbia by
sending in resolutions, telegrams
and delegations in support of the
amendments. Without this sup-
port, the bill might never have
seen the light of day. An effective
and timely lobby from a united
labor movement saved the bill
from being scuttled as was done
in Ontario and Manitoba, and
would have been done here if the
CMA had had its way.

‘The new amendments go about

(Continued on Page 5)
See BILL ANALYZED