Workers in Lachute

At the merc
of monopol

DENISE GREGOIRE, our special Quebec corres-
pondent, interviews the workers of Dominion
Ayers Company in Lachute, who have been on
strike since Aug. 3 last. To date the company bos-
ses remain inflexible on the question of wages.

ERE was no difficulty find-

ing the strikers’ hall. A

citizen of Lachute took me
there directly.

The welcome of the strikers
was very warm.

Jacques Gilbeault, president
of the union, invited the persons
in charge to gather around a
table.

Question: Is this vour first ex-
perience in a strike?

To tell the truth, we have had
other strikes, one in 1947, an-
other in 1952, and that of 1961
which was reallyoa fiasco. We
were affiliated to an American
union, and the union chiefs sell-
out artists forced us to return to
work with a reduction of wages
instead of a raise.

Q.: What are the conditions
_ of work?

A young girl exclaimed: “But
we don’t have any. There is no
protection, no security, no sick
leave.”

A striker: “As for me, I work
in the yard; we need a pair of
gloves every two days. With a
salary of $45 a week, I don’t
have the means to buy gloves so
I wrap my fingers with adhesive
tape.”

Another striker: “Pinewood
causes complications in the res-
piratory system. The glue which
we use for assembling the ply-
wood gives us a headache.”

A striker who was allergic to
wood showed me his hands that
were all chapped and red. For
them to take a day or two off
sick often results in a layoff.
This was the case with Mr.
Champagne, a worker at the
kettles. Following an accident on
the job, one of the best paid at
Dominion Ayers, they laid him
off after 25 years of service.

(At this moment, the leader of
the strike comes into the strik-
ers’ hall.)

Leo Paul Garreau: “What pro-
tection are you talking about?
Don’t forget that Dominion
Ayers has one and only one pro-
tection: written notices: ‘Pay at-
tention to your fingers.’ As for
rest periods — from 10 o’clock
to 10:15 and from 3.00 to 3:15
the workers can take a soft
drink and smoke but without
stopping production and it is

strictly forbidden to smoke, be-

cause of the danger of fire.”

Q: How are negotiations going
along?

Leo Paul Garreau: “So far we
have got agreement that the
company will furnish the work-
ers with necessary materials,
like gloves and pants. There are
certain other points on the con-
ditions of work, but the ques-
tion of salaries still remains the
most crucial.

“At the present time a man
starts at $1 an hour; a woman
at 85 cents an hour. The average
wage is $1.06 an hour. We also
demand equal pay for equal
work.

“The workers are’ exploited
doubly at Dominion Ayers.

“M. O. Chenier, who operates
a dryer, has 21 years of service
for the company; he earns $1.14
an hour.”

Seated alongside of us some-
one asked him his age.

“J am 51 years old. (He seem-
ed to be older). I do exhausting
work. I have to work on tiptoes
throughout the day and my work
demands a lot of attention.”

The strikers are excited.
Everyone wants to talk at the
same time.

“First of all,” said a striker,
“they treat us like machines,
without any human regard. Even
the. personnel director, M. G.
Grondin, the only French-Cana-
dian boss, has absolutely ne con-
sideration for us. If we're not
satisfied, others will replace us,
he often tells us.”

But the most hated, without

a doubt, is the boss, Gilbert
Ayers.
“Ayers is the monopoly of

Lachute. You can’t work, you
can’t have any amusement, you
can’t even pray quietly without
finding yourself continuously on
the property of Ayers.

“Ayers owns all of Lachute and
if a new industry wants to estab-
lish itself, Ayers hurries up and
buys up the land. He is the king.
He even has a shield on the
facade of his palace (which is
called ‘The White House’) on
which is inscribed, ‘Only virtue
is not conquered’.”

“Oh!” a striker said to me,
“he was a very generous doner
in giving a pseudo donation of
$10,000 for the construction of
an arena. But he had already ob-
tained the contract to build it
to the amount of $30,000 and his

~

donation consisted of furnishing
the rotten material coming from
his old sheds.”

Ayers has an airfield, two air-

‘planes, a motel, two golf cour-
ses, one of which works day

and night, and a public pool.
A -striker: “That’s right. It’s

-another one of Ayers’ donations,

but he charges 25 cents entry fee
to children; and to the employ-
ees a season’s pass costs $10.”

During the Labor Day week-

-end a march 25 miles long from

St. Jerome to Lachute was or-
ganized. Bernard Larocque was

. in charge. A- young worker who

is full of life, Laroque said to
me: “Our aim was not only to
get publicity, above all, it was
to manifest our solidarity and

to strengthen our moral and phy-

sical courage.”

The people of Lachute show
their solidarity by generous do-
nations. The grocers, milkmen,
bakers, have given donations of
their merchandise to the strik-
ers. A dentist and two doctors

‘give free treatment and medi-
cine. Even the mayor supports

the workers of Dominion Ayers.

Tuesday evening at the strik-
ers’ hall, the committee organi-
zes a ‘flea market” (sales of
used goods).

We would like to emphasize
that the abbe, Hubert Beaudry,
has contributed by coming to the
aid of the strikers and stimulat-
ing the whole diocese of St. Jer-
ome. House-to-house collections

have brought in $4,000 since the ©

beginning of the strike.

Abbe Beaudry is a very like-

able man. He said: “It’s time

that the church did something -

concretely for the workers. As a
Christian we cannot tolerate

such inhuman conditions as
those imposed by Dominion
Ayers.”

On the west side of the North
River, not far from the factory
where the Dominion Ayers ply-
wood is made, many workers
live in a shack town. In these
slums poverty reigns. “With a
wage of $45 a week we can’t
afford much Juxury,” said Ma-
dame Laliberte, who lives there.
“My rent is $40 a month; yet
heating costs are enormous: $36
a month during the winter and
we freeze just the same. We
spend most of our time in ill-
ness. I am really anxious to get
out of here.”

THE

THERE WERE more.work stoppages in August, and more
man-days lost than in any of the seven previous months. The total
for August was 132 work stoppages involving 216,080 workers
with a time loss of 968,260 man-days. In July there were 83,199
workers involved in work stoppages.

Based on the number of non-agricultural wage and salary
workers in Canada, the number of man-days lost in August repre~
sented 0.70 percent of the estimated. working.time, compared with —
0.65 percent in July. The corresponding figure for August 1965 waS

0.20 percent.
* *

GENERAL MOTORS in Oshawa has agreed to allow workers —
with 10 years seniority who have reached the age of 55 to retire. 1

The early retirement, which was

allievate the current lay-offs in the plant, has been in effect in some
of the company’s plants in the United States but this is the firs
time it has been offered in Canada: ;

Normal retirement age at GM is 62. Under the early retire: —
ment plan a worker can retire at 55 and receive a pension of $29:
a month, ‘The only catch is that he has to have 40 years of service. —

* *

TORONTO LABOR COUNCIL has unanimously endorsed a hard-
‘hitting resolution in support: of the jailed trade-unionists in Britis —
Columbia. The resolution, submitted by Local 2302 of the Brothel —
hood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, declared that the jailinB

* i

first proposed by the union tO —

« 5

of the four union leaders “is not only a blow at the B.C. labot

movement and- working people, but at labor .and working- people

throughout Canada.”

The resolution called on the labor movement to express “yn
compromising opposition to the jailings of the B.C. unionists bY
calling for their immediate release and dropping of ‘all charges

against them.”

The resolution will be forwarded to the coming convention —
of the Ontario Federation of Labor as an emergency resolution.

BARRIERS —

to bargaining

In a brief to the joint-Senate-

Commons Committee on the |

Public Service, the Canadian La-
bor Congress has expressed cri-
ticism of a number of sections”
of the proposed legislation to
govern bargaining procedures
between the government and the
civil service.

The basic objection of the
CLC to the legislation is that
many provisions run counter to
established and proven. collec-
tive bargaining practices and aré
loaded in favor of the govern-
ment.

The CLC’s brief also stated
that:

—The legislation is unneces-
sarily complex and restrictive;

—Arbitrary barriers are being
established around collective
bargaining, reducing the oppor-
tunity of employees to partici-
pate in determining .their own
conditions of employment;

—The proposed Public Service
Staff Relations Board and _ its
chairman are given powers be-

_ yond those necessary or desir-

able;

—Procedures for the settle-
ment of disputes are unduly in-
volved and interfere with the
freedom of action which nor-
mally exists;

—There is interference with
the right of employees to deter-
mine their own forms of organi-
zation;

_ —The appeals procedures are
inadequate; :

—There is interference with

the right of employees to make
political decisions;

—There is failure to include

vice at the present time make> —

cluded in the proposed legis!

October 21, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 4

provisions for an’ already exist
ing form of union security % >

to anticipate other forms..

“The obvious state of unrest” |

which exists in the public se
1

it clear that the power of the —
government to make arbitraty
decisions is resented in the pub;
lic service and isa cause 0
disquiet and dispute,” the prief B|
said. | |

“If unilateral decision-makin8 —
is to be replaced by a syste™ —
of collective bargaining unde —
which the employees are to hav®
a voice in determining their co?
ditions of employment, there
should be no such artificial bat
riers erected as have been 1”

tion.” ‘

With regard to proposals fof
compulsory arbitration, the cLe
pointed out that while’ such pr”
visions might prevent what al
known as “legal strikes,” they
could. not prevent the outbreak
of wildcat strikes. In additiom
limitations placed on the arbitt@
tion tribunal, in effect, paved th®
way for the writing of the ar
tration award before hearing®
were held. It was also unfair th
the bargaining groups should bé
required to decide in advanc®
whether they would retain thé
right to strike or agree to sub
mit disputes to arbitration.

The exclusion of all matte
dealing with job security wé
described as one of the mos”
extraordinary features of
legislation. It was also pointed
out that the legislation would
result in a multiplicity of bé
gaining units, possibly 66, w!
a serious impact on many exist”
ing organizations.