MACONVENTIONO1

Union delays
decision on
NDP support

The 2001 convention marked the first time,
since the founding of the New Democratic Party
in 1961, that the I.W.A. didn’t reaffirm its
affiliation with the party. The lack of a sufficient
level of support for the party from I.W.A.
members and other working people, has called
into question the future support of the NDP by
the I.W.A. and other unions as well.

AnI.W.A. National Political Action Committee
has been working hard to assist the union
review its political direction.

Delegates passed a resolution commending
the work of the committee and endorsing its
participation in the review processes being
carried out by the Canadian Labour Congress,
the provincial federations of labour, and social
democrats.

The committee will do a thorough review of
the I.W.A.’s political affiliation to the NDP and

° David Tones, National 2nd V.P.

° Nathalie Galesloot, Local 2693

Sonny Ghag, Local 1-3567

report back to next year’s convention with
recommendations.

National president Dave Haggard took the
floor and told delegates that “a number of
things have to take place or our party is going
to go the way of the dinosaur, and I think that
we have a responsibility as a labour union in
this country to do the things that make sure
that our movement and our members have a
voice to carry our message forward, whether it’s
in Ottawa or provinces across this country.”

He said the party has turned its back on the

© Joe Hanlon, Local 2693

I.W.A. many times by making “some stupid
land-use decisions in British Columbia and
other decisions in other parts of this country
that has affected our membersnige

“I think that we no longer can blindly follow
down the path and every year just rubberstamp
our support for a party that seems to have lost
its way,” said Haggard.

He said that NDP has been a protest group
for too long and hasn’t changed.

“I want to have a party that’ll govern in

continued on page twenty

Right to work panel

continued from page fourteen

major business organization, embarked on a PR
campaign, taking out billboards and
advertisements. The labour movement got out
to defeat the government’s initiative at the
committee stage and conducted a major letter-
writing and P one-in campaign targeted at

emier Ralph Klein and then labour minister
Btockwell Day, inundating both with messages.

Rank-and-file members went to speak to
MLA’s, backed by backgrounder and speaking
notes. They lobbied workers and businesses in
their communities.

Workers pointed out that with less
unionization there would be less money spent
jn their communities, and less tax base, resulting
in run-down local economies and less money
spent on social services. e

They used data from the American Federation
of Labour which points out that right to work
states ience higher bankruptcy rates.

Brother Selby said over 90 per cent of the
submissions pat the qian government received
were against right to work.

“Asa Saattor of fact, the committee which
had three labour people on it, one government
person and seven pro. Scaplaver aes actually
‘unanimously rejected right to work for Alberta,
based on the submissions that ehey, got,” he
said. “And the Face ent was backed down
from the MLA level right up to the premier
level by the sheer Bee Dt our response.”

Another important too, was that major

corporations like Safeway, Suncor in Fort
McMurray and some players in the petrochemical
industry told the government to back off.

Selby predicted that the labour movement in
Alberta will again be confronted by the issue.

“We have to educate the public about what
right to work is,” he said, adding that if the
public is informed, the government won’t try to
push it further.

Selby said the AFL and others in the labour
movement need resources from the membership
to do the education, even though money is
tight. He said the labour movement has to be
proactive and not wait for right to work to

peppen:

e OFL’s Chris Schenk said the labour
movement in his province is experiencing right
to work by “stealth.” Since its election in 1995,
the Harris government has attacked unions,
first by repealing labour laws of the previous
government, some going back to the post-war
era.

among the changes was the eradication of
anti-scab laws and automatic certification
procedures.

Later came Bill 26 taking away the right of
many public sector unions to strike, and Bill
136, amalgamating hospitals and municipalities
and removing the right to strike in more of the
public sector. The OFL’s affiliates were
successful in getting the government to back
down on parts of it.

Later were other bills, including Bill 31, part
of which saw the eradication of automatic
certification when employers interfered with
organizing campaign via intimidation. Now the

best-case scenario for a union is that the Ontario
Labour Relations Board can only order a second
vote for such unfair labour practices.

Bill 69 saw the rapid deunionization of the
construction sector and the relatively new Bill
139, passed about a year ago, requires every
workplace to post and give each worker
instructions how to decertify their union.

He said union members don’t understand
some of these issues and have to design
campaigns to deal with decertification issues.

The open period for decertification has been
extended to 90 days from 60 and prohibits a
union from applying for certify for one year
after the vote.

Schenk said a povernm ene sponsored “red
tape” commission has discussed doing away the
Rand Formula, which requires all employees in
a bargaining unit to pay dues, even if some of
them are exempted for strict reasons, such as
objections on religious grounds.

During an open floor discussion, Local 1-80’s
Brian Butler said that in B.C. can expect right
to work laws from the Liberal agenda. He said
information on right to work is getting into
education courses in his local in a one-day
general course for the membership.

Bob MacNair of Local 1-425 said he was at a
conference on the topic with local union brothers
a few months earlier and was exposed to the
experiences of workers in Colorado and the
lower states. ‘

“The message that I got out of that conference
was we can’t take this lightly,” he said. “This is
probably one of the biggest issues to confront
unionism in Canada.”

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER 2001/15