° NO TO NAFTA! Over 1,500 trade unionists and social activists attended anti-NAFTA rally on Canada-U.S. border. See

stories on pages one and two.

e At B.C. Federation of Labour’s annual convention, Fed president Ken
Georgetti said new Labour Relations Code ends a dark period of Social Credit

deceit.

Labour law

Continued from page one

Another greeted change in Bill 84 is
the banning of scabs from a struck op-
eration. As in Quebec and Ontario,
B.C. now prohibits the hiring of strike-
breakers during a labour dispute.
However, the employer may continue
to run the operation with manage-
ment personnel and a member of a
union may legally cross the picket
line.

"We've always demanded that scabs
be illegal and now we have finally got
laws to make sure that employers
can't use outsiders to steal workers'
jobs," says IWA President Gerry
Stoney.

Bill $4 also gives a union the right
to discipline someone who crosses a
picket line, thereby eliminating any in-
centive to do so.

These and other changes have
brought mixed but generally positive
reaction from the B.C. labour commu-

me the B.C. Federation of Labour's
37th Annual Convention held in Van-
couver in late-November and early-
December, nies pepeident Ken
Georgetti saic e govern-
ment in Victoria is paying attention to
workers.

“Labour now sees a government in

Victoria that listens to working people
instead of trying to shut them out,"
Brother Georgetti told over 900 dele-
gates. "While the interests of the
(NDP) party, the government, and the
labour movement may not always be
identical, we know just how different
the New Democrats are from the So-
creds or the Liberals."

Georgetti said the new Labour Rela-
tions Code ends a period of unfair
labour legislation, (Bill 19) when B.C.
entered a "dark period of Social Credit
ignorance, arrogance, and deceit."

The Industrial Relations Act, intro-
duced in the Spring of 1987, poisoned
labour relations in the province and
resulted in a one day work stoppage
and political protest, and a boycott
and semi-boycott of the Industrial Re-
Jations Council.

At IWA-CANADA's Sixth Constitu-
tional Convention in Vancouver, Pre-
mier Mike Harcourt asked union
delegates to support the new legisla-
tion and urged them to go to members
of the Liberal opposition to say that
working people need the new
changes.

The new Labour Relations Code
also contained the following provi-
sions:

° the elimination of government su-
pervised strike votes;

° unions will be able to negotiate
secondary boycott provisions in their
collective agreements;

° union certification will be re-
tained if a company shuts down an
operation for over 2 years;

e compulsory first contract arbitra-
tion as an alternative to strike action;

© common site picketing will be al-
lowed;

° a fast track process will be put
into place to hear charges of unfair.
labour practices;

e "dependent" contractors (ie. own-
er/operators) can now create their
own bargaining units and freely
unionize;

e double breasting is prohibited
(contractors can't be union and non-
union at the same time).

In response, the corporate commu-
nity of B.C. was generally subdued un-
til over a week later when the B.C.
Council of Business and the B.C.
Board of Trade reacted adversely.

Kathy Sanderson, a spokesperson
for the "Coalition of B.C. Businesses"
spoke out against the automatic certi-
fication, picketing rights and anti-scab
laws of Bill 84.

Sanderson said a secret ballot is
"fundamental to democracy."

"It's kind of funny that all of those
people who speak out for the democ-
ratic rights of workers represent em-
ployers who generally interfere with
workers' rights to join the union of
their choice," says the IWA's Pona.

Far from being perfect, Bill 84 has
some flaws and other parts that need
revision by the Harcourt government.
They include the following:

the Bill continues to define a
strike as any slowdown or work stop-
page;

° the laws do not include provisions
for sectoral bargaining;

e employers can still interfere with
a union's right to continue bargaining
by demanding "final offer" votes from
the union;

© secondary picketing is not ex-
panded, but the Board may allow
picketing if two different employers
share the same worksite;

e the Board may delay a strike in
the "essential services" sectors by up
to 45 days. There is now a 15-day me-
diation period and a 30-day period for
the Board to make up its mind on
what jobs are "essential services."

The labour movement definitely
didn't get all it wanted in Bill 84. But
at least it's a step in the right direc-
tion.

Most importantly for the IWA, which
is trying to rebuild membership num-
bers after the job losses of the eco-
nomic depression, the new Code will
allow for some fairness in organizing
the non-union workforce.

Workers say

no to Ul
cutbacks

"No Justice, No Peace! No Justice,
No Peace! "shouted angry trade union-
ists on December 2, in protest against
the federal government's recent at-
tack on the unemployment insurance
system introduced a day earlier in a
federal "mini-budget." Over 300 dele-
gates from the 37th Annual B.C. Fed-
eration of Labour Convention in
Vancouver gathered out m front of the
office of Employment and Immigra-
tion Canada on Hastings Street, to get
their message out loud and clear.

The protesters heard three speak-
ers, NDP Member of Parliament Joy
Langan; Gordie Westrand, president
of the Canadian Area of the Interna-
tional Longshoremen's and Ware-
housemen's Union and Geraldine
McGuire, National secretary-treasurer
of the Canadian Union of Public Em-
ployees; lash out against the Mulroney
government’s mini-budget which
slashed and changed unemployment
insurance rules.

Ms. Langan, a member of parlia-
ment for Mission-Coquitlam said that
the legislature changes introduced
earlier was a clear signal that "the
Tory government has landed its failed
economic plans on the backs of the
unemployed ..."

"The men of privilege in Ottawa
have decided that the unemployed
will take a 5% wage cut," said Langan.

Politicians can now
quit jobs for fat pen-
sions but workers
can't quit and collect
their UI. benefits

"These men of privilege, these men
who operate and work in six figure in-
comes - these men have made .... the
most economically gutless, ruthless,
(and) cruel decision to (punish)
Canadian workers."

The Mulroney government an-
nounced reduced benefits for the un-
employed and is now cutting UI
benefits off for those who have quit or
been fired from their jobs. It has also
given new businesses a holiday from
paying into the UI program for a peri-
od of up to one year.

‘"They have made a decision that
Canadian capital can move anywhere
in the world but a Canadian worker
cannot change jobs," said Langan to
the angry crowd. "This means that the
cabinet ministers still cruise around
Ottawa in their limousines but you
can't collect U.I."

"This means that the tired old
(Tory) cabinet ministers can quit their
jobs and collect a big fat pension, and
you can't get U.I. and that is not jus-
tice! I'm with you - No Justice, No
Peace!"

Ms. Langan added; "The Tories and
Liberals are worshipping at the alter
of corporate Canada while they are
(trying) to put workers in Canada on
our knees. We'll stand up and walk
with dignity to the ballot box in the
next (federal) election."

Sister Geraldine McGuire said that
"Finance Minister Don Mazankowski
is crazy to think workers will accept
this mini-budget."

Continued on page twenty-four

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1992/3