By KIMBAL CARIOU

MOOSE JAW — Meeting two weeks
after the defeat of the New Democratic
Party (NDP) government of Alan
Blakeney, the Saskatchewan convention
of the Canadian Union of Public Em-
Ployees, (CUPE), May 7-9, tackled the
issues of the right to strike, wage controls
and other pressing concerns.

Delegates also debated the problem of
labor unity, which was badly strained
here over the question of support to the
NDP. During the recent election, the
Saskatchewan Federation of Labor
(SFL) backed the NDP, over the ob-
jections of CUPE. Five thousand Striking
hospital workers were ordered back to
work by the NDP’s Bill 45 just before the
campaign, leading CUPE to runa protest
candidate and to call for spoiled ballots in.
most ridings.

Reporting on the last year's activity,

CUPE maps fightback to

Saskatchewan division president Blake
Adamson noted that CUPE members
were forced to strike in Moose Jaw,
Lloydminster and Prince Albert, as well
as at the province’s hospitals.

“The coming year will be even more
critical to the laborimovement in Sask-
atchewan than the past year, with the
election of a Conservative government”’ ‘
he said. ‘‘It will demand even more dedi-
cation and sacrifice’.

A highlight of the convention was
“Fightback 1982’’, a policy paper deal-
ing with union strategy. It put forward
concrete proposals for SFL activity to
repeal Bill 45 and Section 11-2(d) of the
Trade Union Act, both of which restrict
labor’s right to strike.

The fightback program, and other re-
solutions, also dealt with the danger of
wage controls, supporting the idea of a
one-day general strike against the intro-
duction of controls if necessary.

Other resolutions called for:
improvements in workers’ compensa-
tion; affirmative action for women, Na-
tive people, and the disabled; imple-
mentation of the previous government’s
Day Care Advisory Committee recom-
mendations for better child Care; uni-

_Versal sickness and accident insurance;

action against expected Tory cutbacks;
and defence of the minimum wage and
other labor legislation which Tory
cabinet ministers have threatened.
Many delegates spoke bitterly about
the NDP’s repeated use of back-to-work
laws in recent years, culminating in Bill
45. That record, and the SFL executive’s
refusal to actively ‘Support the hospital
workers, led the convention to pass a
resolution condemning the SFL for its
“total lack of support for the right to
strike”. But, proposals for CUPE’s dis-
affiliation from the SFL were not con-
sidered. Instead, delegates resolved that
“the Division Executive again work to

face Devine

mobilize a large CUPE delegation (to the
next SFL convention) and to mobilize
support for candidates for the SFL
executive who will actively fight for the
interests of labor.”’ A strong challenge to
the right-wing members of the current
executive is expected to arise at the SFL
convention this fall.

Dealing with other issues, the con-
vention took a firm stand against the
arms race. Resolutions called on the fed-
eral government to support dis-
armament, to make Canada a nuclear-
free zone, and to not allow Cruise missile
tests in Canada. A halt to the develop-
ment of nuclear energy was demanded.

A resolution on technological change
called for an end to layoffs, a 32-hour
work week, arid the right to negotiate
technological change. But, while the

convention dealt extensively with

labor's fightback on this and other im-
mediate issues, no long-range economic
proposals were put forward for debate.

DID ANYONE EVER THINK
OF WHAT WE WOULD DO APTER WE'VE
TAKEN OVER THE FARMS 2 =

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Family farm threatened

OTTAWA — Canadian family farms are falling into the hands of
banks and land speculators the Canadian Federation of Agriculture
warned agricultural ministers, including Agriculture Minister Eugene
Whelan and Finance Minister Allan MacEachen, ina meeting May 19.

Federation statistics show interest on Canadian farm debt rose to
$2. 1-billion last year, up $600-million from 1980. The federation claims
farmers can’t afford to pay interest rates above 17% when they are
receiving fixed prices on their produce.

The federation reported that a number of producers have sold their
farms and it is banks, land speculators and professional people who are
taking over the land, not other farmers.

UTE EUUSRUGEEUEGULELEL OOD ELESUEREUSUROGEAEL

—

Local’s autonomy denied |

TORONTO — Faced with the threat of trustee-
ship by their international union, Local 1669 Car-
penters in Thunder Bay reversed an earlier deci-
sion May 17 to affiliate to the Canadian Labor
Congress through the Ontario Federation of
Labor.

Local 1669 had made its decision to join the CLC
after taking a referendum vote of its members last
year which decided the local should remain within
both the international and the congress, thus reject-
ing any moves toward a breakaway from the CLC
being engineered by the U.S.-based internationals.

Since last May the local had been paying its per
capita dues payments directly to the CLC, protest-
ing the international’s unilateral move, along with
the other building trades internationals, to stop
paying dues to the congress.

The Thunder Bay Carpenters’ local decided
“with the greatest reluctance and under the most
Serious objections’’, to withdraw from the CLC
and stop per capita payments to all organizations
but the international, after being threatened by
Carpenters’ international vice-president John Car-
ruthers with being placed under trusteeship.

It is this kind of heavy-handed interference in the
internal democracy of a Canadian local, not to
mention the total negation of Canadian workers’
right to autonomy that has sparked angry resent-
ment within the ranks of the International Brother-
hood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), over a new
two-year contract, and which casts a sombre
shadow over current contract talks in Ontario’s
building trades.

Right now, in Ontario, both the Bricklayers and
the Sheet Metal Workers are on strike with the
contractors’ organization in their industry and the.
central issue in both strikes is Strengthening of
contract language dealing with the hiring of unem-
ployed workers.

The electricians have been the first trade in On-
tario to ratify a two-year contract which was voted.
on by some 45% of the members.

The pact’s critics say it is a ‘‘sell out’’ that
threatens to set a negative pattern for other con-
tract talks presently going on. Ratified May 8, the
contract is opposed by members who say the $2 an
hour annual wage hike, in the two-year agreement
won’t properly cover increased inflation, travel
expenses and the rising cost of living.

They also point out that despite some 108 de-
mands being placed on the table, not a single
improvement in working conditions was won. In

fact, there is a lot of anger over the union’s agree- ~

ment in writing to allow contractors to bring work-
ing foremen on a job, regardless of how many
unemployed union members are higher up on the
‘out of work list’’. As well, there is criticism of the
union’s agreement that contractors. can put fore-
men on individual jobs if they want to, rather than
limiting them to a project by project basis as was
previously the case.

Of the IBEW’s 11,000 members, only 2,859
(with about half of that number from Toronto),
voted for the agreement, while 1,913'voted against.
The turnout against the contract was heavy in Sud-
bury, Windsor, Hamilton, St. Catharines and
Kingston.

The IBEW militants see the main cause of

- deteriorating standards and contracts in both the

province-wide _ bargaining legislation that was
forced on construction workers by the government
of Ontario and the international union bureaucrats,
as well as from the rupture by the internationals of
the building trades from the Canadian Labor Con-
gress.

The invitation by the Canadian Federation of.

Labor to Prime Minister Trudeau to the CRIES
inaugural convention is seen by many as an identi-
fication of the top international building trade
leadership in Canada with the reactionary policies
of the federal government, and all of the impli-
cations that contains in the way of promoting
concessions and roll backs in wages and working
conditions.

) aa

Major

strikes
halt
Alberta
building
projects

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 28

EDMONTON — More than
6,000 plumbers and pipefitters
walked out on strike May 3 with
several other building trades
unions threatening to follow.

Earlier, 93% of the Northern
(Alberta) and 80% of the Southern
plumbers and pipefitters voted in
favor of strike action. Members of
the United Association of Plum-
bers and Pipefitters Local 488 are
bargaining for a 30% increase in
wages Over two years and are now
eaming $18.32 an hour.

Construction projects, totalling
more than one billion dollars in
Northern Alberta have been

halted by the plumbers’ picket
lines.

Contracts for 40,000 building
trades and construction workers
expired April 30. Only four out of
29 construction locals in the 17
trades have initialled tentative
collective agreements, so far.

The president of the Iron-
workers local, W. Lisowski has
charged the contractors’ bar-
gaining agency, the Construction
Labor Relations (CER): of
“playing one trade against
another’’ and has dismissed the
contractors’ claims of economic
hardship.

He said inside information

shows that contractors have ten-
dered bids of up to 15% higher this

. year in anticipation of increased

costs.

Jack Dyck, president of the:

Northern Alberta Building and
Construction Trades Council ac-
cused the CLR of ‘dragging their
feet’’, and said “building trades
workers were in their worst bar-
gaining position in twenty years.”

The CLR has threatened to
lock out all of the building trades
unions after May 20 as a result of
the plumbers strike. They are of-
fering the plumbers only $3.50 an
hour over two years.

Several other trades have ac-

cused the CLR of bargaining in
bad faith and most have already
voted in favor of strike action.
The contractors, suppliers and
major site contractors are the key
force in the Construction Labor
Relations and they hope to
weaken the bargaining position of
the craft unions.

With the cancellation of the.
multi-billion dollar Alsands pro-
ject, and the general slowdown in
new construction, the contractors
are united in the negotiations with
the building trades. On the other
hand,*the building trades unions
are negotiating on an individual
basis against united bosses.

PACIFIC TRIGUNE™MAY 28 132" Page 9 HHRAMAMNMOAIAUNNNNNANNMANKaRNn
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