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ION’ OF LAI
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e National president Dave Haggard (right of banner), is joined by B.C. Federation of Labour affiliates, including I.W.A. delegates and Weyerhaeuser

workers at rally.

Workers protest against B.C. job losses

1.W.A. delegates to this year’s
B.C. Federation of Labour
convention took to the streets to
join a rally outside the downtown
Wyancnysr office of Ruovancial
premier Gordon Campbell.

On November 27, over 100 I.W.A.
delegates and rank-and-file members
were in the crowd which listened to
labour leaders lash out against the
increases in job losses that are hittin,
workers in both the private an:
public sectors and the lack of
government response at either the
provincial or federal levels.

National union president Dave
Haggard joined Fed president Jim
Sinclair, BCGEU president George
Heyman and others to march from
the convention centre to the plaza
in front of the World Trade Centre
where Campbell has his digs.

Speaking to the assembly of over
800, Brother Hapbend said that
workers are going through a “turning
point in the pronace history.”

He said that Gordon Campbell
got elected on the basis of opening
up the doors to business to create
employment, but there has been
increased instability since the
Liberals took power in May.

“Mill after mill and plant after
plant are shutting down,” Haggard
said to workers, including those in
the crowd who have seen closure
announcements at Weyerhaeuser
plants in Vancouver (see story page

six). He also acknowledged the
threats the government is making
in eliminating public sector jobs.

“The government of this province
has a responsibility to those who
elected them and I can tell you here
today, whether we like to admit it
or not, it wasn’t the corporations
that elected the government of this
province, it was working men and
women throughout British Columbia
that said ‘we’re going to give youa
chance on your promises Gordon!
(Campbell),” shouted Haggard. “And
pahat as Gordon done? He's lied to
us!

“Where have all the jobs gone?”
said Haggard. “Where have all the
promises gone? All that he’s done is
give tax breaks to the corporate
elite.”

“We have to stand up and call
upon the government of the province
to step forward and hold the
Weyerhaeusers of the world
accountable,” he said.

He said, although Weyco has a
right to close plants, it has a
responsibility to put workers in
other jobs and take care of its older
work force.

He said it’s no longer acceptable for
government to sit idly by and allow
corporations to close operations
“without any consideration for the
people that have made their wealth.”

He added it’s no longer acceptable
to dismantle communities and leave

workers with a desolate Christmas
and desolate futures with only
welfare to look forward to.

He took a shot at the United
States, saying it is holding Canada
to ransom over the softwood lumber
tariffs, and leveled criticism at
Weyerhaeuser, which straddles the
border between the two countries.

Although Weyco said it was
neutral on the softwood lumber
issue it stepped to the forefront to
exempt cedar lumber, and remain
“neutral on everything else.”

He criticized the Liberals for
offering forest policy changes and as
part of softwood lumber negotiations.

“We can’t dismantle the Forest Act
to try and appease the Americans.
We can not do that because all they
do is say ‘thank you Mr. Campbell’ -
put it in their back pocket and say
‘what else have you got to offer?”
said Haggard.

George Heyman, president of the
BCGEU, said during the campaign
Gordon Campbell said tax cuts
wouldn’t hurt services or public
spending. Campbell and current
deputy minister Christy Clark said

ublic employees had nothing to
‘ear from the Liberals.

“The Liberals call it government
you can trust — integrity in
government,” said Brother Heyman.
“I ask you, what do you call it?”

“Bullshit! Bullshit Bullshit!”
shouted the crowd in unison.

He said Liberal cuts would
eliminate one-third of environment
inspectors, one-third of child
protection workers, women’s shelter
workers, and 50 per cent of highway
maintenance staff.

He said that public sector unions
will join the rest of the labour
movement and allies in the
communities around the province
“who know the damage that Liberal
cuts will do.”

Heyman said the BCGEU “will
see you in the streets” if the
government tries to abrogate
existing collective agreements in
the public sector.

B.C. Fed president Jim Sinclair
said that B.C. is leading the country
in lost jobs.

He said a further $1 billion in
corporate tax cuts on January 1,
2002 will lead to further public
sector slashing.

He said the labour movement must
stand together with communities
and demand that the government

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER 2001/31

“go forwards and not backwards.”

Sinclair encouraged workers to go
back to their communities, their
families and worksites to “talk about
how we can help each other.”

“Fundamentally that’s what the
labour movement is all about and
that’s what community is all about,”
he said. “It’s not about getting the
most for yourself. It’s about taking
care of each other.”

Stan Pickthall, of the International
Association of Machinists, spoke
about the September 2002 closure of
Western Star Truck in Kelowna
which will throw 900 union members,
earning an average of $50,000 per
year out of work. The plant, which
has operated since 1967, was bought
out by Freightliner three years ago.
It will move operations to Portland,
Oregon where heavy government.
subsidies will back the company up.

Freightliner said when it bought
the plant in September 2000 that it
would operate it for at least two
years.

“That’s the same commitment
from Weyerhaeuser — two years!”
said an angry I.W.A. member in the
crowd. “Two years are up and they’re
shutting down our (Canadian White
Pine division) mill.”

“Shame, Shame!” shouted the
crowd in unison.

Brother Pickthall said neither the
B.C. nor the federal governments
would help. He said there was only
“absolute silence,” and added that
the Liberal party’s constituents are
U.S. employers.

Sister Teresa Mund, president of
the CUPE at Canada 3000, which
went belly-up in mid-November,
said Transport Minister David
Collenette and the federal Liberals’
$100 million loan to Air Canada to
establish the discount airline
“Tango” contributed to her
company’s collapse, along with the
aftermath of September 11.

Although both WestJet and
SkyService have hired, Canada 3000
has given both companies a list of
union activists and supporters,
etectiyely “blackballing” them from
ajob.

“Right now, jobs are pretty darn
scarce,” she said. “For those of you
who face the future, it’s pretty shaky
out there. The next one unemployed
may be you. It may be your friend,
your sister, your wife or your
neighbour.” &