_ the growing number of complaints of our B.C. LUMBER WORKER Page 11 is with the sincerest regret, j hut heeause of urgent i that this delegation appears ey hia before you, is Hepes some of b affiliated unions, in regards to the actions of the Labor Relations Board (B.C.). Our reasons for regret are that, despite the complaints regis- tered by us at our meeting with yourself and the Deputy Minister of Labour, Mr. Thompson, in the Minister's Room at the Court on January 11, 1950, where we submitted a written brief members of our delegation gave oral presentation (all of which recorded by a Court Reporter and is therefore, in all probability, file) there have been no visible results from that meeting. Also, on the oceasion of the presentation to the Provincial Cabi- “net in the Parliament Buildings at Victoria on February 21, 1950, 4 ; ' of the brief presented by the B.C. Federation of Labor (CCL) our tes were again of the opinion that special note had been taken of complaints registered in the brief regarding the Board’s fetions by the Premier, The Honourable Mr. Jokason the Athens, BM Wr. Wismer, and yoursal?, a ee We were therefore confident that action would be taken by your ment to correct some of the abuses being indulged in by the Relations Board. ¢ . is We felt that we could therefore expect improvement in the relationship between our unions and said board. : kkk TJNEORTUNATELY these corrections have not been made. Instead, your board has steadily assumed a more dictatorial attitude towards our unions and the relationship has worsened because of the adamant position adopted whenever the unions haye sought redress for their grievances. On these occasions we have registered protests against the board’s attempting to interpret our Constitutions and give rulings on jurisdiction, since e contend this is not the function of the board. TMnstead of reeognizing the validity of our protests, the board gone further and defied the interpretation placed upon our Con- stitutions by our National and International presidents. They have also, on occasion, attempted to challenge the jurisdiction of our unions, notwithstanding the fact that our Constitutions clearly define jurisdiction. They still refuse to give reasons for decisions, or quote sections of the Act upon which they base their decisions. They have, on occasion, requested our unions to show per capita tax receipts from our National offices prior to considering Applications for Cer- tification. & kkk "THEY haye refused to admit Canadian Congress of Labor Officials to hearings before the board of cases which were of interest to all our unions. They have delayed processing certain applications for certifica- tion until other unions have had the opportunity to enter the field and challenge. They haye violated one of the most important precedents established by Labor Relations Boards in Canada, namely: con- sideration of date of application for certification. One of the most outstanding cases is the abrogation of the rights of the workers employed in the Trail smelter to choose the union they wish to represent them. CASE HISTORY: In Trail, the majority of the workers had joined Local 4281 of the United Steelworkers’ of America (CIO-CCL) and certification was applied for on March 11th, 1950. The investi- gation by the board officers took place shortly after. A number of board hearings were held, the conduct of which (particularly the one held in Victoria) left much to be desired. On May 6, 1950, the union was notified that their application Was rejected on the grounds that they had failed to prove that a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit applied for were members in good standing of the applicant union. (It should be noted here that the method and the condition of Signing up these members was identical to that used in at least ine other applications for certification which had been granted to the Steelworkers’ Unions in the past year.) On May 8, the union appealed the decision and requested in- formation on what grounds they had failed to prove the majority of the members were in good standing. Later the union was advised by the hoard that if they desired a hearing on their appeal they Would have to state the point of appeal, and the information they had requested was contained in the letter of rejection from the board on May 6. 5 SES ee A GREAT deal of correspondence has been conducted since be- tween the union’s solicitor and the Labor Relations Board, and to this day the union has not received either by letter or verbally the ®rounds on which they failed to prove the majority of members in good standing. We draw to the Minister’s attention a Newsletter, No. 3174, issued by the Federal Department of Labor, dated June 21st, 1950, Which reports a parallel case, in our opinion, to that of Trail. One in Which the Seafarers’ International Union of North America applied for certification for a unit of employees of the Canadian Pacific Rail- and for whom the Canadian Seamen’s Union held the bargaining its. The Canada Labor Relations Board in the case mentioned, reasons for judgment which included the report of the in- ‘Yestigating officer, and deals with the question of what is meant by & member in good standing. ¥ We are at a loss to explain the continually new problems con- iting our unions when making applications for certification, in ht of the fact contained in a letter from the Labor Relations dated July 6, 1950, that except for a slight amendment made to the regulations on March 16, 1949, the regulations are still those Approved October 13, 1948. a A thorough investigation should be conducted into the of the bowrd in their handling of the application for — ae SPECIAL WEEKLY RATES 1221 GRANVILLE STREET VANCOUVER, B.C. Under New Management B. C. Federation Brief certifications for the employees of Gilley Brothers Quarry at Pitt River. E Gilley Brothers is a subsidiary of a building materials combine in B.C., of which Evans, Goleman and Johnson Brothers is a part. The employees in this quarry joined the Operating Engineers, Local 16, Amalgamated Building and Construction Workers of Canada; and certification was applied for on’ July 11, 1950. Application was made for groups of Gilley Brothers’ employees in B.C. by A.J. of L. unions during the second week of August, and after a hearing before the board at which Mr. Gilley appeared and made it quite obvious to all that he favored A.F. of L. unions, and stated that he had agreed to the check-off of dues for the AF. of L,, a joint certification was granted to the A.F. of L. unions on September 12, 1950, for all of Gilley Brothers’ employees in B.C. There is no reason for doubt to anyone who is familiar with labor organizations that the part played by the Labor Relations Board in this case was not ee of an gutbiaeel and impartial board. *x A CONTRADICTORY case to this was the actions of the board in regards to application for certification in the warchouse of McLellan, McFeely and Prior Limited. On May 22, 1950, the United Steelworkers of America applied for certification on behalf of the employees handling and fabricating steel in this company’s ware- house on Powell Street. On June 27, 1950, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union applied for the warehouse and retail establishment including office staff in Vancouver, North Vancouver and New Westminster, but excluding the employees of the steel warehouse. An application was before the board by the Teamsters’ Union, A.F. of L,, for the same employees, but this was subsequently with- drawn and an application made on behalf of the employees of the Clark Street warehouse and one warehouse in New Westminster. Despite the fact that the evidence before the board showed that the Teamsters’ had not the members in these warehouses and that the employees were members of the CIO union, the board ordered a vote to be taken. The CIO union received over 90% of the vote. Two certifications were then granted to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union—one for the employees of the ware- house and one for the office staff—although the applications had r quested one certification for the employees of McLellan, McFeely & Prior Limited. The Vancouver Labor Council has requested a public in- vestigation into the actions of the Labor Relations Board, and this delegation supports that saqulas WE would, at this time, refer to the letter received from the office of the Provincial Secretary at Victoria, under date of Septem- ber 14, 1949, in answer to our request for a hearing on our com- plaints: “. . “ full powers of administration and interpretation of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act are the responsibility of the Labor Relations Board (B.C.) under that act, “The Executive Council, therefore, is not prepared to discuss the merits or demerits of any action taken by the board because the Executive Council considers that the full responsibility lies on the shoulders of the board and that their actions are final.” With the above statement, and judging by the actions of the Labor Relation Board, we would not hesitate to declare that workers in this province are steadily losing all the basic rights of free organization, which our forbears in the labor moyement struggled and died for. We strongly urge that the Labor Relations Board be corrected and ordered to administer the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act as it was intended, and to cease and desist from their attempts and make the trade union movement a state-controlled organization along lines parallel to those used in totalitarian countries. also demand that the Executive * WE Council recognize its respon- sibilities in regard to the Labor Relations Board by rescinding its announcement of September 14, 1949, and proclaiming that the Labor Relations Board is functioning under and is responsible to the Minister of Labor as outlined in Section 76: “The minister shall be charged with the administration of this act.” We would draw once more to your attention the numerous requests from all sections of the Canadian Congress of Labor for a replacement for Mr. Harry Strange. is The Canadian Congress of Labor unions are organized in the large and important industries within this province; and they are not represented on this board, which is so important to the welfare of this province. All our officials who have had dealings with the Labor Relations Board are at a loss to understand what functions Mr. Strange per- forms on the board, as he has yet to ask a question or take part in any discussions that take place at board meetings when our officials are in attendance. In conclusion, we would suggest that in considering a chairman for the board, you give special preference to one who has had some experience in labor matters and a proper working knowledge of the trade union movement, in order that he can bring an intelligent approach to the problem of labor-management relations; something which our organization finds lacking at the present time in the Labor Relations, board of British Columbia. LOGGERS COMFORT and QUALITY A. W. Johnson Ltd. 63 West Cordova St. Vancouver, B.C. HAND-CRAFTED WITH FINEST SWISS LEATHER Se Officers of the B.C. Federa- tion of Labor who signed the brief and submitted same to the Minister of Labor were President Dan Radford, CCL Regional Director; Vice-Presi- dents J. S. Alsbury, District President, WA; Hugh Allison, C.B.of R.E.; Pen Baskin, United Steelworkers, and Secretary George Home. SSS ES SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS YOU CAN BANK BY MAUL » with IMPERIAL BANK OF CANADA Banking can be carried on simply and safely through the mails, Deposits will be promptly acknowledged and instructions carried out with proper attention to detail. Miners and lumbermen in out- of - the-way places will find banking easy and con- venient using Imperial Bank mail banking service. Address you letter to any branch listed below and serv- ice will follow promptly. IMPERIAL BANK OF CANADA Vancouver—Granville & Dunsmulr Vancouver—Hastings & Abbott Other Branches In British Columbia: Cranbrook Fernle Golden Invermere Natal Nelson Revelstoke Vancouver Victoria and “at Yellowknife, N.W.T. Sun writers You'll Enjoy! 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