Labour IRC bias shown in projectionist ruling The Industrial Relations Council again demonstrated its bias in favour of employ- ers last week as it allowed two multinational theatre chains to continue their lockout of projectionists while ruling the lockout ille- gal. An IRC panel headed by vice-chair Catherine Bruce ruled Oct. 20 that Famous Players and Cineplex, in locking out 95 members of the Projectionists Union, had violated Section 80 of the Industrial Rela- tions Act, which requires that bargaining take place before.a strike or lockout vote is conducted. Because the two companies, both regis- tered outside the province, had failed to appoint a representative resident in B.C. to act on their behalf in collective bargaining — as required under Section 68 of the Act — Bruce ruled that they had not con- ducted bargaining in accordance with the legislation. But she refused an application by the Projectionists’ Union, Local 348 of the International Alliance of Theatrical, Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators, to end the lockout despite its illegality. “Once again, the IRC is saying that there is one law for employers that allows them to do virtually anything and get away with it and another law for unions that threatens our right to exist,” B.C. Federation of Labour president Ken Georgetti said in a statement Oct. 24. “When the IRC declares that a strike vote is illegal, a union ends up being sued in court for all of its assets,” he said. “This employer, who is breaking all of the rules, gets com- plete immunity.” The IRC has called a further hearing for Nov. 3 to determine whether the companies have complied with the provisions of the Projectionists picket Famous Players outlet. Act. But even that is unlikely to change the efforts by the two theatre chains to force union members out of projection booths across the province. The local has been four years without a collective agreement. Earlier, the union had lifted pickets on Cineplex theatres to focus the disputeat the U.S.-owned Famous Players which has been the key anti-union figure in the lock- out. The removal of the pickets was intended as a gesture to the Canadian company, Cineplex, which is currently seeking a new corporate owner. But union business agent Paul Wylie noted that films were still being screened by scabs in Cineplex theatres, adding that unionists should make a “moral choice” about going into the theatres. Network sets actions Continued from page 1 revenue from tariffs, while Canadian corpo- rations exposed to competition from inter- national business clamour about the much lower tax rates U.S. firms enjoy. “Consumers will be made to pay to allow the exporters to compete,” Robinson said. The Conservative government’s planned cutbacks in unemployment insurance pay- ments is another part of the Tory agenda, Robinson explained. > “Tf the Tories succeed, we will see another aspect of their agenda.” It will mean workers will have to take low wage jobs, setting a similar climate to that of the Uni- ted States, he said. The job market itself will decrease by some 282,000 jobs in the first three years of the tax, according to a report from the con- servative Conference Board of Canada. Robinson said the effect on the Canadian economy will be “‘cataclysmic” since there will be a rush of consumer spending before the tax comes into effect, while corporations will bide their time, waiting for the tax cred- its before engaging in a new round of manu- facturing. When the tax is imposed, consumer spending will decrease. “When it hits, we’re going to have severe inflation,” he predicted. “Prices will go up, because business will not pass on the savings” they reap when the current 13-per-cent manufacturers sales tax, which is passed on to consumers, is replaced by the GST, Robinson said. The labour movement has already said its members’ wages have been declining over the last several years, and they will be seek- ing wage hikes to compensate for the nine- per-cent tax, he noted. . David Szollosy, of the Diocesan Office of Social Justice for the Catholic Church in Victoria, said a local coalition is forming in Victoria and he said grassroots groups will be working in B.C. to “tell the prime minis- ter just how unpopular the GST is. “People know that it’s a myth that the tax is because of the deficit — it’s there because of (corporate) tax credits and tax deferring,” said Szollosy, who attended the weekend convention. The anti-GST campaign will involve meetings around the country over the next several months. There is still time to fight the tax, Robinson said. “We’ve got all the time between now and the next election to fight it.” : ———— f i TRIBUNE i i \\ panera eeecmnamennnete tate oem IE | - Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street : i Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 i Br. BARING. = os ee ag Pe Soa tw is sie Ss Sas See i DB AcddresS voce 5 Ss A a ss | : ee ee eS Postel Code. ae es E g ‘amenciosing 1 yr. $20 O 2yrs.$350 3yrs. $500 Foreign Tyr. $320 E : Bill me later =~ Donation$........ i een ginasins MaENE CREED 12 e Pacific Tribune, October 30, 1989 More to labour’s fight than electoral politics By FRANK COX It was interesting to note in the October issue of the B.C. Government Employees Union newspaper an article about the B.C. Federation of Labour’s “Better Government Campaign.” This is the political action plan, resulting from last month’s meetings between the New Democrats and B.C. labour leaders, which calls for increased involvement by the labour movement in the NDP by becoming delegates to the federal NDP convention, becoming active on consti- tuency association committees and standing for nomination as candidates. The plan involves what is called “the labour campaign,” : divided into four parts: 1. A voter registration drive this fall. 2. A canvass of trade union members next February and March. 3. Fund raising and election prepara- tions such as drawing up lists based on the canvass. 4. Participation in the election cam- paign through canvassing and working for a high voter turnout. What caught my interest was not so much a program that proposes to involve the labour movement in an all- out effort to dump the Socreds and elect the NDP. This is what one would expect to be a high priority for the labour movement. It was rather that this strategy by itself projects for the labour movement a polit- ical action program completely devoid of any mention of labour setting out its own independent political plan of action — our own initiatives to beat back this neo- conservative/corporate agenda while putting forward labour’s alternative program. As we approach the 1989 B.C. Fed convention, the new reality of free trade and the corporate plan for Canada is already in full swing with those now painfully familiar features of unem- ployment insurance cuts, the Goods and Services Tax, privatization, plant shut- downs and so on. Across Canada trade unions struggle to maintain hard won gains. And few now have to be con- vinced of the force of the international market place. I'd wager though that most workers would not have a great deal of optimism that the campaign for better government will get social forces in motion that would save their jobs or their contract conditions. There is no question that electoral vic- tory is crucial, and civic, provincial and (eventually) national electoral successes are central to defeating the corporate Labour Forum tyranny. But the danger is that the upcoming B.C. Fed convention will pro- ject the view at that we are merely an election apparatus, and will fail to seize the opportunity to set in motion mass mobilization against the GST, UI cuts, plant closures and privatization. If the labour movement is not rallied effec- tively into coalitions with our allies, if we don’t assert our own program and alter- native vision for-Canada, the convention will not have made the contribution it could either towards mobilizing workers in their own interests or toward electoral victory. My experience as a trade unionist with political campaigns directed toward our members suggests that slick brochures and official union endorsements don’t do the trick. Nor is it enough to count on the Socred gang of thieves to hang them- selves, as bitter experience tells us. Poli- cies that speak directly to workers’ needs, solid information that backs them up, and programs of action that take on the issues — that is how we effectively orient fellow workers towards the politi- cal (electoral) expressions of our inter- ests. Anyone who follows the current debate within the NDP has to conclude it is far from decided what path will be followed. Mike Harcourt certainly has done little to give confidence that he embraces labour’s program, eager as he seems to be to assure the corporate sector that a social democratic electoral victory poses no threats to the interests of big business. It is precisely at this time that the trade union movement can play a particularly valuable role in putting forward pro- grams free of class confusion, by identify- ing our allies and seeking to unite all progressive forces for change. This would also help to shape the direction the NDP will go and the extent to which clear alternative policies will be adopted. It is within the context of seizing a leading role in the extra-parliamentary struggle and in advancing labour’s pro- gram that the “Better Government Campaign” makes some sense. The choice then is not between a phone bank and a fightback. Clearly what is needed at this convention and after is a call for all-out mobilization, both electorally and in the streets. CUPE’s Rose wins 4th term Elections for the two top posts on the national executive board of the Cana- dian Union of Public Employees pro- vided delegates to the union’s national convention with one fast, predictable outcome, and one tight, tense, three- — ballot race as the vote was conducted last week. As expected, national president Jeff Rose had no difficulty winning his a fourth two-year term, capturing over 1,000 of 1,587 votes cast in the first bal- lot. Meanwhile, the race for secretary- treasurer was in doubt fora good part of the afternoon Oct. 18. After one round of voting, three candidates found them- selves neck and neck. John Murphy, vice-president of Local 1000 in Toronto “led the way with 599 votes, closely fol- lowed by Metro Toronto district council president Judy Darcy, and CUPE B.C. president and national general vice- president Mike Dumler. Dumler dropped off the ballot after a second round -that saw him fall well behind his two Ontario opponents. Then a large majority of his supporters threw their support behind Darcy, and former Hydro worker Murphy saw his lead evaporate. Darcy’s succession of Jean-Claude Laniel as national secretary treasurer appears to mark a popular desire for a union still more committed to social activism and participation in popular coalitions.