Witason Teamsters fight for By MIKE PHILLIPS TORONTO — Rain or shine, famsters at Bristol-Myers will On the picket line until their Ss heeds their demand for Seniority rights and a full share of the fabulous profits made by the Company over the past year. he company locked the work- ers Out June 15 after they voted 4 in a company-requested, 80Vvernment-supervised vote, to Teject Bristol-Myers’ ‘‘final’’ (Wo year wage offer of 4 per cent M each year. The union is seeking a wage hike that’s more in keeping with € Tising cost of living and are Soking at a figure of 7 per cent in fach year of a two-year deal. The Other key issue, and one which Many workers feel is of equal im- Portance to wages is the union's mand for seniority protection. _ Over the past year the company @S brought in a lot of new Machinery and automated im- peetant parts of the production in€ throwing some of the workers ‘On the street. The company wants Wage hike, seniority to select whichever workers it deems are necessary without re- gard to years of service. The Teamsters want any layoffs or transfers to be carried out in order of seniority. ; : The company has hired scabs to stumble around inside the plant and try to keep production going while scab truckers have been hauling away stockpiles of the household cleaning supplies which the workers manufacture. Local vice-president Bertram Chandler said that in addition to hiring extra staff, the company has been reportedly moving people in from other plants. Re- cently he was the victim of the company’s intimidation tactics when he was hauled away by Metro Police for allegedly tamper- ing with a tractor trailer. After getting the third degree at the cop shop, Chandler was released without any charges being pres- sed. The antics of the non-union truckers are hilarious when not potentially tragic. One driver in TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS the plant for Bristol Myers. particular, the strikers say, has so far managed to drop his trailer on the road outside the plant block- ing traffic for several hours, and a couple of days later hit a fire hydrant. Teamsters member Lorne Ar- senault isn’t laughing though. Standing on the sidewalk across from the plant last week, he was bumped from behind by the same driver when he edged his rig on the sidewalk. He escaped injury, but is not turning his back on the scab truckers any more. Caldwell and Chandler say the -workers see the company’s tough line as revenge for the union’s re- fusal during the last contract to give back two per cent of the 13 per cent wage hike they'd nego- tiated in the last year of their pre- vious agreement. — “‘We wouldn’t take the conces- sion, so now their punishing us’”’, one picketer said. Workers who’ ve seen the com- pany’s profit statements for the last year, say they’re record- breaking. They feel its time some Picketers stand vefore one of the rental trucks being used by the scab haulers who are moving products out of of those profits are returned to the ‘ people who produced them. Under umbrellas in a summer downpour, the pickets showed all the signs of a group of 72 workers prepared to go all the way to realize their demands. Enthusias- tic and determined to win, they displayed the same attitude ex- pressed by Chandler and the other local officers at the strike headquarters. ‘‘I’m conscientious and dedicated on the job, and I’m conscientious and dedicated on the picket line’’, he said. The Taylor issue and union democracy ‘Recently, the Ontario Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of ousted United Steelworkers Local 1005 President Cec Taylor, over-ruling a local trial committee and the decision of an international appeal board of the hited Steelworkers of America. In its decision the court ruled that Taylor’s removal lad neither been in accordance with the union’s __ C©Onstitution or natural justice, but rather was the result _ Of a pre-meditated political decision to rid the union of _ taylor, ; Gerard Docquier, the union’s Canadian director, has 4nnounced the union is considering an appeal to the upreme Court of Canada, while Ontario Director Dave tterson, according to press reports, has stated that the Union still has other ways to “get Taylor.”’ We would suggest that they both think better of their ations and get on with the job of fighting Stelco and the anadian steel industry, rather than concentrating their attack on someone, notwithstanding his idiosyncrasies, Who has done a better job of fighting for the needs of his Membership, than many. of those aiming for his scalp. A Matter of Concern _ Wecan share in the Steelworkers leadership’s dismay at the intrusion of the courts into the union’s internal airs. The growing intrusion of state organs into the area of labor relations needs to be a matter of concern for all labor. This country is hell-bent for corporate Unionism and it might be noted that precisely the same People who are wailing over the decision of the Ontario Upreme Court in the Taylor case, are the first to head for the courts to ‘‘defend’’ workers, rather than heading '0 the picket lines or to mass actions. Every ‘‘victory”’ we win in the courts, such as that in favor of Taylor, will, inthe end, visit workers with ten limes as many defeats from the same courts. The illusion t workers can get better justice from the courts than ey can from their own organizations, is fed by such decisions as the Taylor ruling. It helps to open the door Or further intrusions by the state into the affairs of _ Workers organizations. Who gets the glame then for the situation, T: aylor? Is Ne to be blamed for turning to the courts for some kind of _ JUstice when it was denied him in his union? Faced with this kind of a decision to make, we would not have taken Sur case to the courts but fought it out in the ranks of our llow workers. The Lesson Is Clear However, the onus in our opinion lies not on Taylor t doing what he did, but on those who cynically used € power vested in them by the constitution, and their Positions in the union, to lower the boom on him. In that sense the lesson of the Taylor case is clear. If — Labor in action < William Stewart right-wing trade union leaders continue to use their power in an undemocratic and unconstitutional manner, to block the upsurge of their membership, they will open the door to the courts to intercede in the trade unions on a massive scale. The pretense by the Steelworkers leadership that they have anything in principle against court intervention in union affairs is clearly exploded by the Canadian Direc- tor’s announcement that he is considering taking the question to the Supreme Court of Canada. Clearly what Mr. Docquier-is concerned with is not the use of the courts, but this particular decision which was not to his liking. The workers will have an opportunity, as provided for by the union’s constitution to decide for or against Mr. Taylor, at the next elections in 1985. The onus is obvi- ously on Taylor and his supporters to prove that they have the continued backing of the membership and that the international’s actions and those who supported them, (which first of all include the company,) were in HAMILTON — The following statement by the Hamilton Steel Club of the Communist Party was is- sued in response to the Ontario Supreme Court ruling that re-instated Steelworkers Local 1005 president Cec Taylor-to his post.