2 ed ae ih ea | TER ae te i IT Cf cm ahd 2. a me Sie ames nether ag beat ace aS p. WORK RE 1 tid m BF 8 fon wg ~ SEAN GRIFFIN REL S TRY TRIBUNE PHOTO on centres struggling — to continue fight for jobles By DAN KEETON In the wake of a cutoff of funding, first by the federal government and then by a cash- Starved special trade union fund, some of the British Columbia’s remaining trade Union unemployed action centres are clos- Ing. But several plan to stay open, with a Combination of funding sources but mainly through the support of local trade unions. : In an era of continued astronomically high unemployment, any reduction in cen- tres for the jobless is scandalous — partl- Cularly since the centres have seen the Volume of their clientele double and triple in the past four years. Mike Watrin, co-ordinator of the Van- Couver and District Labor Council’s unem- Ployment action centre, reports an increase Of 147 welfare and Unemployment Insu- Tance cases in July-November 1986 over the Same period one year earlier. “Cases” for unemployment centres mean appealing denials of benefits to applicants Y the provincial Ministry of Social Services 4nd Housing (formerly Human Resources) or Employment Canada’s Unemployment “surance Commission. Known as advo- Cacy work, the skyrocketing volume of Cases has swamped the centres since their Meeption four years ago. The staff of the centres had grown skilled at handling the bureaucracies of the minis- tes. The Vancouver centre estimates a suc- Cess rate of 92 per cent on appeals to UI Wdgments, and a whopping 97-98 per cent Or Welfare cases. Proof of their effectiveness Was ‘in the growing number of calls to the Centres for assistance. But the volume also 80t to be too much to handle. “It isn’t that we’ve wanted to turn people away, but we’ve simply had to,” says Garry Colley, secretary-treasurer of the Van- couver centre. When the Vancouver unemployment action centre opened its doors in December, 1982, it joined 18 other centres in the pro- vince funded by the B.C. Federation of Labor and a $200,000 federal grant, admin- istered through the federation. By late April of 1983 the number of centres had grown to 25, and in time there were 30 unemploy- ment centres functioning, under the auspi- ces of unemployed committees of the local labor councils. Services offered by the centres include political education, welfare and UI advo- . cacy, drop-in services, job-hunting advice and food and clothing banks. The services emphasized vary according to the philo- sophy of the labor council committee, While Vancouver has always stressed politi- cal activities, including demonstrations and education, others put their energies into advocacy and food banks. The first major blow came when the fed- eral government — by this time a Tory government — ended financial support. In March, 1986, the B.C. Fed, faced with dras- tically curtailed revenue, was forced to close a dozen centres. At the end of April, most of the remain- ing centres will have received their last cheque from the federation. Some will have also closed their doors. But there are an estimated 14 that plan to stay open. Their basic problem will be to raise new funds while the trade unions they’re counting on for funds try to pay off the deficit incurred by the B.C. Fed’s pro- een Vancouver, the labor council has given the centre an overwhelming vote of confi- dence while some affiliates have pledged financing to keep the centre running. Frank Kennedy, labor council secretary, says that despite the pledges, the $3,000 per month needed to maintain the centre has not all been committed, and a plea for more funds has gone out to affiliated locals and non affiliates. Kennedy stresses that while the centre has always been given a “free hand” in initiating its own projects, it will likely become a “little more politically active” now that the centre is solely the responsibil- ity of the VDLC. Co-ordinator Watrin says that, for a start, the centre will focus its energies on more “group advocacy.” He explains that it’s the labor council’s way of “doing a little coalition-building around the Lower Main- land. “We decided that would be our political mandate from now on.” Group advocacy means teaching groups of people how to handle their problems with the UIC and the social services minis- try on their own, Watrin says. The centre has already been working with “a group of single parents” in Ladner, and has sche- duled seminars to other groups around the Lower Mainland. “In Ladner we're telling them that a polit- ical solution is necessary to get them out of the situation they’re in,” Watrin relates. _Watrin says the centre is offering training to several unions and is moving into the community. Upcoming are seminars at the Carnegie community centre, the Gordon Neighborhood house and the universities of British Columbia and Simon Fraser. “T’d say our role now is to help build bridges between the labor council and the community. A lot of community organiza- tions don’t trust trade unions — let’s face it — but if there’s going to be a unified fight - around the labor legislation changes or whatever, we’ll need communication with people outside the labor movement.” Co-ordinator David Crosby reports the ’ Campbell River action centre will operate at “a more political level than ever before” under a renewed mandate. The centre, which will basically serve all of the north Island, faces an uncertain future but has commitments for monthly funding. A spe- cial committee of the labor council will be approaching affiliates for additional funds. The centre will operate under the Cana- dian Labor Congress’ Document 18, says Crosby. “That is, we'll be looking to estab- lish links with the community, following the action plan’s call for social solidarity. We'll advocate shorter hours of work at the same pay and stress the need to organize the unemployed.” Up in Prince Rupert, director Terry Intermela of the local unemployment action centre reports that the labor council is trying to raise enough funds to keep the centre functioning. Right now seven unions donate to the centre, three of them on a “sustaining” — monthly — basis. Addition- ally, there are some “private sources” of funding, Intermela says. In the industrial community with its primarily working class population, the centre does “a lot of advocacy work” but also takes part in labor rallies and other political activities, he relates. Prince Rupert has approximately 20 per cent unemploy- ment, in a labor force of about 11,000. Of these, some 3,000 are on Unemployment Insurance and 1,400 are on welfare, Inter- mela says. ; Staff consists of Intermela, who is paid, and “about four or five volunteers.” The co-ordinator says the labor council is trying to raise the necessary funds, but esti- mates the chances are “about 50-50” that the centre will survive: “We'll have a clearer picture at the end of May.” see CENTRES page 23 PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 29, 1987 e 5