Mac Blo rally

Continued from page one

“That cooperation is now terminat-
ed until this company (MB) shows
good faith,” said Holder.

Ken Georgetti, president of the B.C.
Federation of Labour, said MB should
be ashamed of the way it is handling
the situation in Port Alberni.

“We already know that MacMillan
Bloedel knows no shame when it
comes to mistreating workers and fur-
thermore, MacMillan Bloedel has also
proven (that) it doesn’t know the
meaning of the word loyalty.”

Brother Georgetti reminded the del-
egates present that MB kicked out a
legitimate union from its NexGen site
after it won the contract and refused
to work along side a non-union con-
tractor. MB then hired TNL Construc-

tion, which has a company union |

known as the Canadian Iron, Steel
and Industrial Workers Union.

Then TNL began to cross Building
Trades picket lines.

“There's no union at TNL,” said
Georgetti. “There’s just exploited
workers who have a union of conve-
nience,” said Georgetti.

“No legitimate self respecting union
would send its members across a
picket line. No real union would put
the demands of MacMillan Bloedel be-
fore the interests of its members and
no trade union would help MacMillan
Bloedel to do in Port Alberni what
these union busting bastards are do-
ing.”

Len Werden, president of the Build-
ing Trades, said the demonstration
was proof of the solidarity of the
Jabour movement in British Columbia.

He said that MB has admitted that it
has cost more to use TNL but that the
company is determined to continue
with its union busting campaign, even
if it costs more.

Brother Werden said that the union
movement has to stand strong against
MB because it is doing the work for
the employer's councils, the Comin-
cos, and the Fletcher Challenges of
the province who have told the Build-
ing Trades that they intend to push in
the same direction.

“If they (employers) want to make
changes in the industry, they have to
negotiate those changes.”

Name change

Continued from page one

ers, and other modern business devel-
opments, no employees shall be ex-
empt from the jurisdiction of this
Union except by decision of the Na-
tional Executive Board.”

At this year’s convention the resolu-
tion calling for the new name passed
without any debate. However there
was considerable debate around
whether or not the local unions
should do away with the “1” in front
of the rest of their local union num-
bers. The number “1” stems from 1986
when Canadian locals of the old IWA
were all combined under a Canadian
Region 1. Prior to 1986 there was Re-
gional Council 1 in western Canada
and Regional Council 2 in central and
eastern Canada.

Holding on to that tradition, the
convention decided, after much dis-
cussion, to allow all locals to indepen-
dently decide whether or not they
wish to keep the “1” designation in
their local union charter numbers.

Holding on to further tradition,
many members and the public still re-
fer to the union as the IWA, which is
still a strong symbol of the union’s
identity in many parts of the country.

Earlier this year the IWA in the
United States, which had been on its
own since 1987, decided to merge into
the International Association of Ma-
chinists and Aerospace Workers
(IAM). In March over 90% of American
workers in the former IWA approved
of the merger with the IAM.

A

*
—

ot tt tel Sees

lg bas he bn few fer hn

SEEneE
Rt rey tr tomeeeast
Cot} ) yh) ee
Pa Pel
PTTL reree ee

al mT Ty

=

ie ee

it ALAS ad id iT Aa ATE
7 tT Si iT A AF

a al

Ar

¢ Over 1,000 demonstrators gathered across from MacMillan Bloedel’s downtown Vancouver headquarters (center build-
ing) to send the corporate giant a clear message.

On December 13, the Canadian
Labour Congress announced that it is
Joining in a national consumer boy-
cott on all MB products.

“The full resources of the CLC and
its national affiliates representing
some 2.4 million members will be
made available to make this boycott
and other economic action against

MacMillan Bloedel very effective,”
said CLC President Bob White. “When
major corporations try and break a
union in a fight like this, then they
take on the entire labour movement
from St. John’s to Victoria.”

The CLC will contact labour organi-
zations throughout the world includ-
ing the ICFTU and the AFL-CIO. It will

also contact appropriate labour orga-
nizations in Japan, where MB sells
much of its production.

The CLC will forward the dispute to
the ILO in Geneva to see if there has
been a violations of conventions of
the International Labour Organization,
of which Canada is a signator.

° Members of the B.C. Building Trades outside the gates to the NexGen

union made “rat trap” (right).

project in Port Alberni where they have built a

2/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1994

re