| | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | i \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - | NEW SOVIET TREE PLANTING TECHNOLOGY According to a news release from the Soviet-Embassy, “improvements in raising seedlings, plant preparation and actual planting, mean that planters can now plant seedlings year round regardless of adverse climatic conditions.” shown is of a reforested mine site in the Soviet Far East. B.C. VIOLATES Picture INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS — below is an important article from “Pacific Alternatives” about minimum labor standards set by the ILO, an International, tri- partate agency to which Canada has always belonged. Active labor people should familiarize themselves with these standards, because they provide support for many of our programs. Canada’s international declarations on labor standards don’t always lead to legal redress at home, according to labor lawyer Jim Dorsey, and the application of the Charter of Rights won’t necessarily change the situation. Dorsey made this point in his speech to the Pacific Group’s February conference as he addressed the issue of the International Labor Office and the Charter of Rights, and their application in B.C. Dorsey began by giving a history of the ILO, and its relationship to Canada’s labor laws. Following World War I, a movement formed which recognized a new world bal- ance of power and a desire for global peace. The Treaty of Versailles, signed by Canada and other nations in 1919, was based on the premise that such a peace could only be achieved if it was based on social justice which included fair and humane labour conditions. Out of this recognition grew the Interna- tional Labor Office, a tripartite body with representatives from labor, business, and government. (Canada’s labour rep. is Shir- ley Carr, of CUPE.) Canada lost its seat on the governing body in 1982, but now has a “titular seat.” The ILO’s Declarations of Principles include these points: 1. Labor is not a commodity. 2. Employers and employees both entitled to freedom of association. 3. Workers are entitled to a living wage. 4. Hours of work should not exceed 8 hrs. a day, or 48 hrs. a week. 5. There should be at least one day of rest a week. 6. Child labor should be abolished. 7. Equal pay for work of equal value. 8. Equitable treatment of..workers should be enshrined in law. 9. National inspection systems should ensure enforcement of laws and regulations. These underlying principles have led to the conventions and standards which con- stitute the International Labor Code, and serve as Canada’s labor “common laws,” although Canada has not ratified all ILO Conventions. 6/Lumber Worker/April, 1985 Of particular interest to Canadians in light of the Charter of Rights are ILO Conventions #87 and #98. #87 (which Can- ada has ratified) entrenches Freedom of Association and the Protection of the Right “to Organize. #98 (which Canada has NOT -and to Collective _ not ratified this Convention ratified) guarantees the r oll a has ause not all the provinces are in compliance. B.C. doesn’t comply because it denies the right to strike to public school teachers and university professors. So far, the courts have ruled that international declarations and commitments don’t have the force of law to nullify provincial statutes. : The ILO does have a group which will investigate complaints of non-compliance with Conventions #87 and #98, whether the country being investigated has ratified them or not. To date, Canadian unions have turned to this group, the Governing Body on Freedom of Association, 25 times. Four of those complaints were from B.C., and con- cerned the School Services (Interim) Act, the Compensation Stabilization Program, and the Public Sector Restraint Act. : The question Dorsey raises is: Will the Charter of Rights and Freedoms serve to expand rights to embrace international ideals, or to sanctify Canadian restraint on rights? So far, he says, the answer seems to be the latter. Dorsey says Canada “would do well to heed ILO experience,” and not restrict freedom of association to exclude the right to collective bargaining, and the right to strike. He says too many people see the ILO as a court of last resort; instead, he sees it as a starting point to which weshould look for fundamental principles. Now that Canada has a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Dorsey says we shouldn’t let our international commitments be treated as “Ideals Left Over.” (A transcript of this speech will soon be available from the Pacific Group). Addressing one issue, Canadian courts have ruled that freedom of association does NOT include the right to strike. The issue is before the Supreme Court of Canada. The judicial opinion, generally, is that the right to strike is economic and political in nature, and not a fundamental human right, or essential to the workers’ ability to achieve social justice. The seedlings pictured below (from MB’s “Journal”, March, 1985) are genetically improved seedlings. THESE TREES ARE MADE FOR PLANTING... QUESTION: “What kind of seedlings are planted on MB's public land?”