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LABOR

By FRED WILSON

The declaration of Expo last weekend
as an “economic development project”
under Section 73:1 of the new Labor Code
has qualitatively changed labor relations
in B.C.

Its significance extends far ‘beyond the
current issues on the Expo site, for with
this action the Socred government has for
the first time introduced a form of right-
to-work legislation.

Section 73:1 was the one section of the
new Labor Code that was not proclaimed
with the rest of the act five months ago.
The government opted instead to hold it
over the heads of the labor movement like
a club.

With the proclamation of the section

an économic development project under

ished the contractual rights of Building
Trades workers to refuse to work with non-
union labor, and thereby outlawed union
security.

In a factory situation union security is
protected by collective agreements which
stipulate that all workers employed shall
be members of the union, or where the

and the subsequent declaration of Expo as-

the Labor Code, the government has abol- .

Rand formula is in effect, that all workers
employed shall pay union dues, whether
they opt to'join or not. This elementary
principle prevents employers from elimi-
nating union organization merely by hir-
ing anti-union workers, and forcing
unions to reorganize constantly.

In the construction industry a different
situation prevails because of the wide-
spread use of sub-contractors and the
segregated use of the various building
trades. Various workers are constantly

’ arriving on site and leaving. The non-
affiliation clause in the BuildingTrades’

_ contracts with the major employers has
the same impact as the closed shop agree-
mentin a factory. It states that if any of the
employers, the general contractor or any
sub-contractor, hires workers who do not
belong to the building trades union, the
unions have the right to stop work.

Section 73:1 of the code now states that
no union or worker on an economic

. development project, regardless of their
contractual rights, shall have the right “to
’ do or to omit to do anything” in respect of
the non-affiliation clause. This means that
any contractor may hire as many or as few
unionized or non-union workers and

Govt imposes its right-to-work’ law on Trades

unionized workers must continue to work.
This is clearly a form of right-to-work
legislation which in some U.S. states has
made all closed shops illegal. ;,
Proclamation of the section and its first:
use at Expo has qualitatively changed
labor relations in B.C. because the cabinet

- now has the unilateral power to eliminate

union security at any time and in any work
place.

Although the act presently defines eco-
nomic development projects in terms of
“construction or related activity” the prin-
ciple of the legislation is applicable to all
industries. The declaration of an economic
development project eliminates contractu-
ral rights, the new Labor Code reads, with

regard to “a collective agreement by which”

the employer agrees that employees within
the bargaining unit covered by the collec-
tive agreement are not required to work in
association with persons who are not
members of (a) the trade union represent-
ing the bargaining unit, or (b) another
trade union contemplated by the collective
agreement.” How long will it be before
those or similar restrictions are placed on
union organizations in other sectors of the
economy?

If proclaiming Section 73:1 accom
plishes anything at the Expo site, it at least
clarifies that the Socred cabinet is and has _
been making all the significant decisions —
relating to Expo’s relations with the build-—
ing trades. The minutes of the Expo Board
that the Socreds were so terrified would |
become public once turned over to the
Labor Relations Board, undoubtedl
would have, told a dramatic story 0
scheming, plotting union busting and pub- —
lic manipulation.

Roy Gautier’s demand for a publi :
inquiry into the labor relations at Expo is ~
timely; surely people have a right to kno
what the government’s and Expo’s real
agenda is.

However, the imposition of a right-to-
work zone on the Expo site requires more |
than political demands for inquiries or —
statements of protest from the B.C. Fed-
eration of Labor. For if the preceden
established at Expo is not met with strong —
political and economic defiance, it could |
be the foot in the door for the Socreds and |
the major employers to cripple and ulti- _
mately destroy the power of the trad
union. movement.

While the incidence of wage and benefit
concessions has been less widespread in
Canada than in the U.S., there are certain
signs that Canadian trade unionists are
going to Have to be more vigilant and more
united in their opposition to concessionary
demands in the weeks and months ahead.

Current bargaining between the Cana-
dian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and
Canada Post, the present strikes between
Canada Packers, Burns Meats and the Uni-
ted Food and Commercial Workers, and
current bargaining between the United
Auto Workers and the auto makers, all
point to strong pressures by management
for-concessions.

This underlines the need for the labor
movement to unite and stand firm against

concessions and takebacks and to join with
this the fight for substantial wage increases
and benefits.

On July 3, CUPW embarked on the first
round of negotiations with Canada Post as
a Crown corporation.

This brings to an end the two-year period
during which CUPW members were denied
their rights to collective bargaining by Bill
C-124, the legislation which arbitrarily
extended the existing contract to Sept. 30 of
this year.

In the new round of bargaining, CUPW
is demanding a reduction in working time,
with no loss of pay, a job-creation program
and a real wage increase, coupled with
COLA that fully covers the cost of living.

However, in this round, the employer has
submitted more demands than the union
and the majority of them constitute regres-

sive concessions and rollbacks of one form

“

or another, some of them major.

In the U.S., anger is. growing in labor’ =
ranks at the postmaster-general’s decision
to hire George Tichy, an infamous union-

busting consultant, to direct the Reagan

administration’s drive to force a “two-tier”
wage-cut on 600,000 postal workers.

The American Postal Workers Union set
up informational picket lines at all major

post offices the week of Aug. 13 to mobilize

support for their struggle.
By a 60-per cent margin, Canada Packers

workers in 10 cities across Canada, rejected ~

a recommended company offer and went
on strike July 30.

The tentative contract would have a
wages for two years, meant that new hires
would have to start at $3 an hour below the
current starting rate, and other concessions
in existing contract language.

-In 1983, Canada Packers slashed 960
jobs, closed down beef and hog kill opera-
tions in Toronto, claiming they were losing
money. Yet when it came time to tally prof-
its the company had made a healthy $26
million.

- About 1,100 Burns Meats workers have
been on strike for 10 weeks, in addition to
the 3,700.Canada Packers strikers, and are

fighting against essentially the same conces- _

sion pressures to drive down wages.

GM, Ford and Chrysler have also warned
they will be looking for significant conces-
sions during this round of bargaining, but
with the industry booming and record

profit gains being recorded, the UAW has _

rejected profit-sharing and is looking for
shorter work time, higher pensions and a
substantial wage increase.

Recently, economists in North America
have been arguing that a major factor con-
tributing to the persistence of high unem-
ployment levels has been a refusal on the
part of organized labor to permit a suffi-
cient ~ downward aepstent of real
wages.”

The average increase in the first quarter
of 1984 was 3.9 per cent, as compared with
12.8 per cent two years earlier, and this

Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5. Phone 251-1186

ee eee

|am enclosing tyr. $140 Sys $250 -6 mo. $380 Foreign 1 yr. $200.
Bill me later 0 Donation.

READ THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LABOR

8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, AUGUST 29, 1984

JST. THINK
MAKC US , 2,000
YEARS FROM Now
THEY'LL BE
‘OFFERING WAGE -
Cuts FOR WHAT
we've ALREADY

likely will be the eighth ca eetes year ofa
decline in the purchasing power of Cana-
dian wages,

Since 1977, real wages, that is nominal
wages adjusted for inflation, have fallen by
a total of 12. per cent.

This would appear tobea significant and

“sufficient downward adjustment” by
anyone’s standards and shows that the real
pressures for concessions and wage restraint
have been taking their toll.

The Officers’ Report to United Flectrical
39th Convention, held last’ April in
Toronto, tackled the question of wage res-
traints and concessions and placed the ques-
tion this way:

“In January of this year, Business Week

- magazine proudly announced that ‘the

phenomenal run of labor concessions is
over.’ Their point was that wage increases
had been beaten down so much in the U.S.
that it was inconceivable that the demand
for concessions would continue.
“Apparently, they have lost touch with
their main constituency — big business

'— which seems to have gained confidence

from its concessions fight to continue press-
ing for more concessions, not fewer.

**An excellent case is the Greyhound bus
company which recently succeeded in

imposing a 14-per cent reduction in wages

and benefits on its 12,700 workers in a
US.

“What is notable about this case is that
there was no economic excuse for. Grey-
hound’s actions. Unlike Chrysler in 1979,

"be: no concessions. Our job is to fight @ ‘

Greyhound could not claim it was facing
bankruptcy. In 1982, it made an afer
profit of $19.3 million, and its conglomer
parent made an after-tax profit a
$103-million. . . p
“Nevertheless, Greyhound ‘argues ter
with deregulation, it needed to becom
competitive with smaller. non-union D
-and airline companies.
“The dishonesty of this argument shoul
be apparent, for the effect of deregulati on
over the long run is to concentrate ©
nomic power in the hands of the biggest
companies at the expense of the small
ones. .

eFivplovert are attempting to grind the
working class down — to get all they cat
while the getting is goad. With the economy y
depressed for workers, with unemploy
continuing at double-digit levels, wi the
dominant ideology being that unionized
workers must sacrifice to help competitt ut
ness, with governments only too willing ©
intervene against workers, we must ex
continuing onslaught on the collective
gaining front.

“Tt is important to be aware that oi
sions are not just taking the form of wae,
freezes and reductions and a weakening is
workplace rights. 4

“A demand, which is becoming wide
spread in the USS., is for a two-tier W
system.

“Under © oe a program, all ne
employees would be paid at lower rates
than existing employees — meaning W*,
two workers, working side-by-side #
doing the same job, could be receiving iy
ferent rates of pay.

_ “The two-tier demand is an attemp
take workers back to the conditions bel@
industrial unions, to undercut the solidat’’
and collective approach which has been
trade union movement's greatest streng™

“While a wage freeze is a concession Hi"
must be fought, a two or more tiered wage

system permanently divides workers i
undermines the whole basis of trade
unionism.

“Our response to any attempt to tale
away or undercut what we have won mt ©

improve the lot of workers, and that is w™
we must do.”

This article, slightly edited, is from the
-Aug. 27 issue of ue UE News. se