HEALTH CARE NEEDS BANDAGES e IW.A. protesters speak out against provincial government cutbacks to social programs and attacks on labour laws. The London Day of Protest was well at- tended despite bitterly cold temperatures. Lowe London protest Continued from page one ¢ abolishment of first contract legisla- tion. e elimination of successor rights when contracts are re-tendered or protection for Crown corporation or government agency employees. e elimination of certification proce- dures which have been in place since 1950. e termination and severance pay will no longer be paid from wage protec- tion fund. In addition to the labour law changes the Harris government has cut Ontario’s Health Budget by $132 million, imposed user fees on drug plans for senior citizens and plans to close 38 hospitals. Drastic cutbacks have already been made in welfare rates and pensions. At the Workers Compensation Board ben- efits have been cut by 5%, pensions have been cut and employer premiums have been reduced by 5%. A three day waiting period has also been imposed. Ontario Federation of Labour mem- bers were joined by a coalition of polit- ical activists, anti-poverty groups, pen- sioners, and student and religious faiths. Leaders from the United Angli- can and Roman Catholic Churches joined with the Jewish Community and the OFL in signing a document that criticizes the Conservative goverment. Canadian Labour Congress Presi- dent Bob White said the the Harris government’s programs “are tearing at the social fabric of Ontario which took generations to build.” “The social consensus that existed until the Harris election recognized the importance of creating wealth as well as maintaining social programs for people with lower income,” said Brother White. “Harris should stop and think about what has happened since his election: riot police around Queen’s Park and opposition parties breaking parliamen- tary rules to make a point,” said White. “And in a normally conservative city (London) thousands of people, on one of the coldest days of the year, didn’t go to work so they could participate in rallies and demonstrations.” “In effect they have said to Harris, we will not let you tear down what has taken generations to build,” said White. “The winds of protest that started in London will continue to blow across this province and get stronger until Mike Harris starts to lis- ten.” During the day long protest union members left their jobs at the General Motors diesel plant in London and at the Ford Motor plant in nearby Tal- bottville. Other large businesses in- cluding Kelloggs and Labatt’s were also shut down as hundreds of work- ers joined the wave of protest. ¢ Local 2693 President Wilf McIntyre cright) is congratulated by I.W.A. Na- tional Second Vice President Fred Miron after winning a nomination as an Ex- ecutive Vice President at Large at the annual convention of the Ontario Federa- tion of Labour in October. See story page nine. 2/LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER, 1995 ‘Right-to-work’ report gets endorsed by Alberta unions The Conservative government of AL berta’s attempts to forward the anti- union “right-to-work” agenda has suf- fered a setback as a Joint Review Committee studying the issue of whether or not the province should adopt such laws has come out against such changes. On November 30, the committee released it report, analyzing over 200 submissions on the subject. That re- port, which says there is no econom- ic justification for introducing “right- to-work” laws, has been greeted by the Alberta Federation of Labour which together with Alberta Building Trades Council, coordinated the fight-back. “On behalf of labour leaders from = across the province, I would like to applaud the Joint Review Committee for producing a well researched and insightful report on the subject of ‘right-to-work,’” said Alberta Fed President Sister Cormack. “Although we don’t agree with every word, we whole-heartedly support the report’s major conclusions. More specifically, we agree with the committee when it says there is absolutely no economic justification for introducing ‘right-to- work’ legislation in Alberta.” The report’s conclusions indicate that “right-to-work” laws do nothing to stimulate job creation or cut unem- ployment. They also reveal that such laws do not enhance productivity. The Alberta Federation of Labour points out that the evidence gathered by the committee shows that workers who work in jurisdictions where free collective bargaining is allowed to thrive, are more productive. “We are pleased to see the commit- tee come out with this report,” says Local 1-207 President Mike Pisak. “But just because the report is out does not necessarily mean that the Klein government will adopt it.” “Working people have to know that the Klein government is anti-worker to the bone and is unpredictable,” adds Brother Pisak. What may have suprised some of Klein’s supporters was the fact the some employers’ associations and companies came out against the “right-to-work” agenda. Leading that list are the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, the Construc- Photo by To ULI. cuts Continued from page one $5-to-$6 billion. Gutting the system and putting those surpluses towards deficit reduction simply undermines the whole concept of an insurance system in which surpluses are used to guard against the problem of future unemployment. If the federal government was gen- uinely concerned about addressing the deficit issue from a revenue per- spective, it could begin by reforming the tax system in Canada. That system has not undergone any major changes since the mid-sixties. Over those three and a half decades the system has be- come increasingly regressive with a greater share of the tax burden being shouldered by those who can least af- ford to pay. Just as galling from a trade union & perspective is the argument that U.L. ¢ acts as a disincentive to work. Not 2 surprisingly, the biggest supporters of this view are employer groups and as- sociations who see U.I. as an impedi- ment to their push for lower wages. In their view, the problem of unemploy- ment rests with the worker; the jobs tion Owners Association, Canada Safeway and Westfair Foods. According to a submission by the @ Chamber of Commerce the “labour environment in Alberta today is highly stable and this stability is one of the ; factors considered when companies: P look at relocation to our province... the introduction of (“right-to-work”) legislation could potentially cause more labour unrest than would be jus- tified by such a bill. We feel that the current legislation may be motivated more by philosophy than actual need.” Bob DeLeeuw, Financial Secretary of Local 1-207, points out that the whole “right-to-work” agenda was in- troduced by a backbench MLA from the Peace River riding who is an ultra- conservative supported by the right- wing National Citizens Coalition. “We damn well know that the Na- @ tional Citizens Coaltion does not rep- resent workers,” says Brother DeLeeuw. “If it does then these peo- ple should come out and identify themselves like all the rest of us have done.” “Right-to-work” laws really have nothing to do with “rights” or with guaranteeing employment for an indi- vidual. What they are really designed to do is take away a union’s ability to negotiate a union security clause in a collective agreement which states that all members of a bargaining unit must join the union if a majority vote to do SO. These laws, common in 21 U.S. states, specify that employees can opt out of unions and still get all of the wages and benefits that the union bar- gains for. The Alberta Workers’ Rights Com- mittee rightly calls it “freedom to free- load” rather that freedom of choice. It also says that such laws cause a chain reaction in the economy. Weakened unions lead the decrease of union and non-union wages. That leads to decreased consumer spend- ing, which in turn leads to increased business failings and bankruptcies. When all of these events happen the tax base decreases and, as a result, public spending decreases. In criticizing the Joint Review Com- mittee’s report the Alberta Fed says it does not contain enough information about the negative economic conse- quences of “right-to-work” laws. : | q are there, the unemployed just need the right “incentive” to take that work. Even if these groups were right in their assertion that jobs exist, it is just that the unemployed won't apply for them - and the most recent evidence shows that job creation in the Canadi- an economy is failing miserably with over 44,000 jobs wiped out in Novem- ber alone - they make no assessment of the quality of those jobs. Where job growth has taken place in the Canadi- an economy, the largest share of that growth has been in low wage, service sector occupations. For many unem- ployed, the prospect of replacing a high-wage, high-skill manufacturing job with a low wage service industry Job provides little comfort as they try to deal with the real-life problems of supper themselves and their fami- ies. __ What the Axworthy proposals show is a deliberate attempt by the federal government to maintain a course of action that was initiated by their pre- decessors, the Mulroney Tories. It is a prescription for an economy in which the unemployed are portrayed as the problem. It is an approach to ing the economy that shows little leadership and even less vision.