TWU will vote on pact
if Co. accepts result

The Telecommunications
Workers Union has told B.C.
Telephone Company that it is
prepared to put contract pro-
posals before its 11,000
members ‘‘if the company will
accept the outcome as binding
on both sides.”’

The declaration was voiced

by the TWU Tuesday in re-

sponse to newspaper ads placed
by B.C. Tel which sought to
blame the union for the current
impasse and suggested that the
TWU was ‘‘undemocratic”’ for
refusing to put the company’s
offer to a membership vote.

. TWUsecretary Don Bremner
said Wednesday that the union
has put this proposal before the
company: It will put the ques-
tion, Are you in favor of the
Peck report plus 14 percent in
1982 or are you in favor of the
company’s offer? to a vote of
the membership — but only if
the company is prepared to ac-
cept the outcome as binding on
both sides.

The TWU had earlier voted
91 percent to accept the report
of federal mediator Ed Peck.
B.C. Tel rejected it, demanding

The 5,400-member Vancou-
ver local of the International
Woodworkers of America will
be pressing for a $2.50 an hour
increase and reduced hours of
work when the [WA coast wage
contract begins later this month.

All the demands from the
various locals of the [WA go to
a committee set up by the re-
gional council which will pre-
pare a list of common demands
as the basis for debate at the
three-day wage conference.

Although specific demands
are likely to change in the final
conference, the demands ad-
vanced by Local 1-217 indicate
the mood as woodworkers look
to their spring contract talks, ex-
pected to be particularly critical
this year.

A special membership meet-
ing Jan. 25 urged a $2.50 an
hour increase across the board

The Vancouver and District
Labor joined the Canadian
Brotherhood of Railway,
Transport and General
workers, the Longshoremen
and others in backing some 35
members of the British National
Union of Seamen who have tied
up in Vancouver as part of their
union’s national strike.

‘The 35 strikers are the
unlicenced crew members
from two British ships, the
Southland Star and the Cape
Grenville, who went on strike in
the port of Vancouver as part of
the NUS strike launched in early
January. The strike is con-

support of

that the union accept instead an
offer of $1,400 immediately; a
13 percent increase on Jan. 1,
1981; a 10 percent hike June 1,
1981; and another 12 percent
Jan. 1, 1982.

But that offer is far below
what B.C. Tel offered some
time ago, Bremner said, and
moreover, it does not include
the Peck report provision for ac-
cumulated time off.

The TWU is standing by the
Peck report but has added the
14 percent for 1982 in its propo-
sal because of the company’s in-
sistence on a three-year agree-
ment.

Also on Tuesday, about 150
members of the TWU occupied
B.C. Telephone offices in Na-
naimo to protest the earlier sus-
pension of 21 repairmen who
were accused of “‘low product-
ivity.”’

Those occupying the offices
have said that they will continue
to maintain services. —

' The action was the latest in
the months-old dispute, promp-
ted by B.C. Tel’s refusal to ac-
cept the proposals of the media-
tor. The contract expired Dec.
31, 1979.

IWA 217 wants $2.50

in a one-year agreement as well
as new contract provisions for
accumulated time off to provide
for reduced work hours without
any reduction in take-home

pay.

The local is also pressing for
new overtime rates and a bank-
ing system for overtime; in-
creased benefits in the health
and welfare package and addi-
tions to the dental plan; im-
provements in vacation bene-
fits; and clauses to provide for
severance pay and a minimum
of one year’s notice in the event
of plant closures.

Added to the demand for a
general wage increases was a call
for a new COLA clause which
would be triggered by an eight
percent increase in the cost of
living after 10 months.

The IWA coast contract ex-
pires June 15.

UK strikers backed

sidered an important one in the
face of Thatcher’s draconian
economic policies and attempts
to turn the British merchant
fleet over to flags of conve-
nience.

Tom McGrath, president of
CBRT Local 400 which had in-
itiated the support action on
behalf of the seamen, told the
council that the NUS members
“need to know they have the
Canadian
unionists.”

He emphasized the impor-
tance of the strike, warning that
if the NUS ‘“‘doesn’t win, the
ships may be sold and flown
under a flag of convenience.”’

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEB. 6, 1981—Page 12

The November, 1980 conven-
tion of the B.C. Federation of La-
bor did not discuss the Canadian
constitutional crisis, even though
the resolutions book carried a
number of resolutions on the sub-
ject. Resolutions were submitted
by Regional Council No. 1 of the
International Woodworkers of
America and all of its B.C. locals;
Local 900 of the Canadian Union
of Public Employees and the
Campbell River, Courtenay and
District Labor Council. However,
the Federation did submit a brief to
the Special Joint Committee on the
Constitution of Canada (federal
parliamentary committee) Jan. 8,
1981.

The submission is noteworthy
because it makes a strong case for
economic and social justice and for
trade union rights, important issues
which have received too little atten-
tion.

On pages 12 and 13 of the sub-

mission we find the following: ‘‘In
1976 Canada became a signatory to
two international covenants in the
field of human rights and free-
doms, the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and
the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights. While many of the provi-
sions of the former find expression
in the proposed Charter of Rights
and Freedoms, one looks in vain
for the embodiments of the provi-
sions of the latter.

Nowhere does one find reference
to a general right of employment,
the right to the enjoyment of just
and favorable conditions of work,
the right.to form trade unions, the
right to social security, the right to
protection of the family, the right
to an adequate standard of living,
the right to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health, or a
general right to education.”

In the opinion of the officers,
who submitted the brief on behalf
of the Federation membership, the
failure of Trudeau’s Charter to
make provisions for this category
of rights is its single, most import-
ant shortcoming. The submission
points out that the International
Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, to which Can-
ada is a signatory, obligated Can-
ada “‘to take steps. . . to the maxi-
mum ofits resources, witha view to
achieving progressively the full re-
alization of the rights recognized in

- the present Convenant by all ap-

propriate means, including partic-
ularly the adoption of legislative
measures.

‘*As a practical matter it must be
noted that the traditional civil and
political rights mean very little to a
person who is without the where-
withal to take advantage of them.
It is also true that to the vast major-
ity of Canadians, social and eco-
nomic concerns are significantly
more real on a day-to-day basis
than those which underlie the tradi-
tional civil and political rights.”’

This is another way of saying
that the formal guarantee of civil
and political rights under capital-
ism, important as it is, is not

enough.-It does not solve the prob-

lems of the unemployed or the
underprivileged. Neither does it al-
leviate the concern of say, B.C.
woodworkers, that the introduc-
tion of new production techniques
will mean less jobs. Nor does it
solve the problem of the family des-
perately trying to make ends meet
in the face of Se rising
prices.

Fed wants entrenchment 7
of labor rights in Charter ©

Writing into the charter a pro-
viso guaranteeing basic economic
and social rights would not, in itself
guarantee the implementation of
such rights. However, it would
make it possible to continue the
fight for such rights from a new
and higher plateau. In the ultimate
sense, such rights, along with per-
sonal freedom, will find their high-
est expression under socialism.

Labor
Comment

The brief then goes on to state
that as a trade union organization,
the Federation can see first-hand

_the actions taken by Canadian gov-

ernments ‘‘to abrogate the rights of
workers with respect to their trade

unions. Political rights are often

taken away from public sector
workers. The right to strike is the
basic defence of working people,
yet governments in several jurisdic-
tions have arbitrarily moved that

‘right for their public employees.

Without that right, ther can be no
social and economic justice for
working people.” ~

In reference to the opposition to
the entrenchment in the Charter of
economic and social rights, and the
difficulties in reaching agreement
on the specific rights to be included,
the brief argues that there is no just-
ification for excluding those on
which agreement can be reached. It
also gives examples from a number
of capitalist countries to prove that
the type of guarantees it is propos-
ing have gained recognition in law.

The brief also reflects the con-
cern of many leaders in the trade
union movement that Section 15 of
the proposed Charter ‘‘could in
one broad stroke upset the apple
cart by prohibiting any statute
which allows mandatory retire-
ment, and this involves many pub-
lic sector pension plans. We believe
that before mandatory retirement
is prohibited (on reaching a given
age) the following should occur:

‘1. A thorough analysis ought
to be made by the federal govern-
ment of the entire issue of pensions
and i income security;

2% The federal Save TeT
should analyze the systems devel-
oped in other countries which ef-
fectively integrate the elderly both
economically and socially into the
mainstream of society, and develop
a comprehensive program to meet
Canadian needs;

“3, Theeffects of a ban on man-
datory retirement on collective bar-
gaining rights and existing pension
schemes should be thoroughly ex-
amined and publicized;

_ ‘4, Pre-retirement planning

RiBbUNE

programs ought to be available to
all employees;

“5. Retirement income should
be adequate for all Canadian re
tirees. ”

On the negative side, the brief fa-

vors patriation of the federal con-
stitution, which means denial of the
right to self determination for the
people of Quebec within a volun-
tary union of English and French
Canada. This is a retreat from po-
sitions adopted by conventions of
the Federation. For example, the

Tribune reported the following two —
years ago in connection with the —

1978 Federation convention:

“A very important resolution —

carried on the last day called upon’

the membership to defend and re-

spect Quebec’s right to self deter-—

mination while promoting cooper: iy

ation and understanding between —

French and English workers —
against common exploiters. An- —
other called for a new, made-in- —

Canada constitution to ‘cement the —
voluntary union of English and

French Canada.’ ” |

As if concerned that this reversal

might be cited against them, theau- —
thors of the brief make the follow-

ing suggestion on page four: ze

“If, as we suspect is the case, the :
provision for a. provincial veto —

power stems from a concern about
Quebec’s position within Canada, —
a concern we acknowledge anda
share, would it not be possible to”

e

|

,

|
|
\
f

a

give Quebeca veto power limitedto

those amendments which can be &

said to directly affect that position? —

“Tn any case, we have great diffi- g-
culty seeing how such a concern —

justifies a veto power for Ontario
or any other province that eventu- —

. ally garners 25 per cent of Canada’s — 2

population. At best the formula —

might allow for a requirement that — q

a maj ority of the residents in those -

provinces, must approve of the
amendment. Such a requirement —
would be designed to give EXPIess- |

ion to the theory of ‘deux nations’
that underlies the concern about —
Quebec. ”

At best, this i is a watered-down —

position that fails to measure up to —

the reality of atwo-nationstateand —
what must be done to create the

equal union. It is obviously an at-_
tempt to bring Federation policies
into line with policies of the New

Democratic Party, instead of ad-
vancing the independent position —
of the trade union movement as 2

adopted in convention.

Having said that, I must con-
gratulate the officers, because they —
have given the issues of economic, _

social and trade union rights the
prominence they deserve, although

much more remains to be said on

that subject.

Address

SOBRE OST NENSON NS NUNN
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