The I.W.A. rebukes new anti-labour
introduced by Manitoba Conservatives

e At the Domtar corrugated plant in Winnepeg, is Alfonso Figueroa, here operating a forklift with a bail of material for

recycling.

lhe union movement in the

province of Manitoba has

witnessed the passing of

some of the worst labour

legislation in the country. On
February 1, Bill 26 (The Labour Rela-
tions Amendment Act) went into law
after being rammed through the
provincial legislature in November of
last year.

The Manitoba Federation of Labour
and its affiliates, including I.W.A.
CANADA Locals 1-324 (The Pas) and
830 (Winnipeg) remain dead set
against the new legislation which was
introduced into the legislature in May
of last year. For six months MFL affili-
ates fought Bill 26 which basically
went through untouched.

The right-wing Conservative gov-
ermmment of Gary Filmon has stacked
the deck against the trade union
movement and has radically shifted
the focus of labour laws to make it
tougher to organize, easy for employ-
ers to interfere, and has granted em-
ployers unprecedented rights to disci-
pline striking workers.

Automatic certification procedures,

when a union is granted the legal right
to represent workers, has been taken
away. According to the MFL, over the
past several years, the vast majority of
workers have been granted automatic
union status as at least 65% of them
have signed check-off cards.

“We look at organizing and see that
the Filmon government is opening the
door to increased employer intimida-
tion before the voting procedure,”
says Local 830 President Jack Alexan-
der. “Automatic certification proce-
dures used to protect against that.”

In one area of internal union
democracy, the employer or the gov-
ernment will now be able to trigger a
vote on the employer's “final offer” to
the union.

“The companies, in cahoots with
the government now want to circum-
vent unions and call the shots on
when our members should and can
vote,” says Brother Alexander. “As ne-
gotiators, we would have the rug
pulled out from beneath our feet dur-
ing negotiations. The employers can
throw their hands up and trigger a
vote whenever they please.”

e Pictured are Local 1-324 members at the Perimeter Lumber operation in Win-

nipeg, Manitoba.

The Labour Minister can even inter-
vene an order a ballot on the employ-
er’s last offer after the start of the
strike.

Under the new law the employer
can fire a striking union member in a
strike or lockout situation if they can
prove that a certain offense on the
picket line would result in termination
if there had be no strike or lockout sit-
uation.

Local 1-324 President Jim Anderson
says that employers are now empow-
ered to act as judge and jury, even
though those employers may act ag-
gressively against the interests of
workers in a strike situation.

“If this new law is taken literally,
employers will be videotaping every
move of union members and will later
use the evidence to fire workers,”
says Brother Anderson. “They will be
able to go after a select few strikers or
as many as they want. At the same
time they will be able to run scabs
across the picket line with protection
of the police.”

Bill 26 calls for full disclosure of
trade union finances and the filing of
records at the Manitoba Labour Rela-
tions Board. Those records have to be
approved by a registered chartered

Endangered species

Continued from page nine

Canada, asking that they seek public
hearings outside major urban centres.
So far support for the union position
has come from mayors and councils
in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
and British Columbia.

“We welcome the support of these
community leaders,” said Haggard.
“They know how severely the timber
towns of Washington, Oregon and
northern California were hammered
by the U.S. Endangered Species Act
and they don’t believe it’s fair or rea-
sonable to do that to residents of re-
source-based communities in this
country.”

He urged other local governments
to make known their opposition to the
bill. Haggard urged I.W.A. CANADA
locals and members to enlist support
of their local governments, provincial
labour councils, provincial govern-
ments and other organizations and
agencies.

Provincial governments have been
leery of the bill because it would al-

accountant and be made available to
union members on request. :

Unions have 30 days to file the in-
formation on request. If they fail to
file, mandatory union dues check-off
provisions will be canceled in the col-
lective agreement.

“This is a massive intrusion into the
collective agreement,” says Brother
Alexander. “In the I.W.A. we make our
financial records available. If the
members want more information then
we give it to them. Now the govern-
ment comes along and sticks their
nose into our affairs.” :

Alexander points out that there is
no parallel requirement for employers
to divulge their financial information
to it employees. aoe

“The government is openly siding
with employers and there is no re @
to believe that unscrupulous employ-
ers somehow won't get their hands on
our financial information to play
games against us along side their anti-
union employees,” he adds. 5s

The legislation forces unions to list
all of their representatives who earn
over $50,000 year in wages and all
benefits. Once again there is no paral-
lel requirement for company execu-
tives to put their wage and benefits
packages on file.

Bargaining unit members can take
their union in front of the Board to
challenge financial statements. If the
union does not comply, it will lose
mandatory check-off provisions in the
collective agreement. ae

One of the most sinister and politi-
cally motivated parts of Bill 26 is in-
terference in a union’s democratic
right to support the political party of
its choice.

The bill calls for the union to con-
sult with each and every union mem-
ber during an election campaign to get
approval to spend a portion of the
member's due on either funding a po-
litical candidate or political advertis-
ing.
“The Conservatives are attacking
the rights of unions to fund the NDP,
which is their opposition,” says Broth-
er Anderson. “We are going to ignore
a law that says we can’t democratical-
ly choose to support a political party
which represents the interests of
working people.”

To comply with the law Brother An-
derson says the Local would have to
chase seasonal workers and part-
timers all over the province.

“This is a bullshit law and we'll
have no part of it,” says Anderson. ®

low the federal government to invade
their constitutional powers over lands
and resources. Recently, for instance,
British Columbia’s New Democratic
Party ministers of forests and environ-
ment publicly stated their opposition
to the bill on those grounds. Ministers
from other provinces have also been
working behind the scenes to con-
vince the federal Liberals to amend or
withdraw the bill, according to federal
and provincial government sources.

One senior B.C. government official
recently told I.W.A. CANADA that the
current bill is “as good as dead” be-
cause amendments aimed at reducing
the concerns of resource-sector repre-
sentatives will make Bill C-65 unac-
ceptable to the environmental sours
who pushed for it.

“But we have to keep up the pres-
sure,” Haggard warned. “Political
pressure is what got those amend-
ments and political pressure is what
will ensure withdrawal of Bill C-65.
Let your Member of Parliament and
your federal candidates know you
don’t want any laws that will protect
species but kill jobs and communi-
ties.”

- Kim Pollock

14/LUMBERWORKER/APRIL, 1997