Friday, March 25, 1983

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40c Vol. 46, No. 12

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-the Facts’ Figures

Planned code changes are —
first volley as employers, —
gov't target union rights

. a By SEAN GRIFFIN

he, : The callousness with which the Socred

: government and labor minister Bob Mc-

Clelland brushed aside farmworkers’ lives

e and safety in denying them rights under the

: Workers’ Compensation Act should give

unionists a good indication of the direction

that the government intends to take in labor

code amendments — and on whose behalf
those amendments will be made.

Two weeks ago, McClelland acknowledg-
ed that he was responding directly to
pressure from the B.C. Federation of |
Agriculture — a key Socred constituency —
in blocking changes to WCB regulations that
would have protected farmworkers.

And in speeches and statements last week
he has made it clear that the impending
changes to the labor code have been drafted
in line with demands from the main ip
employers’ groups in the province — the i]
B.C. Construction Association, the
Employers’ Council of B.C. and the Cana-
dian Manufacturers’ Association.

ANALYSIS

As was the case in Britain when the right
wing Thatcher government moved to curtail
the right to a closed shop, the changes have
all been floated under the pretext ‘‘increas-
ing democracy in the workplace”’ and reduc-
ing the adversarial nature of bargaining.”

But that is only the election hook; the ma-
jor thrust of the Socreds is a frontal assault
by government and the employers’ associa-
tion against trade union rights ona scale that
goes well beyond labor legislation alone.

Significantly, the Employers Council was
— in a confidential brief — one of the
groups lobbying McClelland for sweeping
new restrictions in labor legislation to curb
union rights and conditions.

That marked a change from the apparent
position of the Employers Council five j
months ago. a

On Nov. 25 last year, Employers’ Council

: president Bill Hamilton warned the govern-
i rd’s sudden refusal to include farm labor under sa ment that changes to the labor code could
Farmworkers and trade unionists, angered over the Workers Wipers Tuesday. Trade unionists, community groups pit “bring worse results’ and urged the govern-
fety, and their efforts were given added backing by a cor- ment not to make any significant changes
“preventable homicide” caused by government inaction. In- without consultation with both employers
rkers Union leaders and supporters that the promised regulations would be and the trade union movement.
tatives. (Inquest story page 3.) He noted at the time that the debate

See LABOR page 12

World peace actions on the rise in 1983

— pages 2, 3, 9 —

TRIBUNE PHOTO—DAN KEETON

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