LF SoS COPE-NDP unity urged | to ensure ‘people’ s cily’ Continued from page 1 developer council in charge, or will we elect a council and a mayor independent of real estate interests?” Swanson asked. She slammed the right-wing civic allian- ce’s record on zoning, housing, wages, small business, transit fares, peace and hungry school children. On the question of the Expo lands Swan- © son noted that council has set no zoning policy, disallowed public input and quashed planning commission suggestions that zon- ing be in place before the city enters into negotiations with Concorde-Pacific, the site’s developer, over the nature of the mas- sive development. | She said what the city needs is affordable housing, parks and childcare spaces instead of the profitable huge office towers and expensive condominiums large-scale devel- Opers want. Swanson hit the city’s review of so-called illegal suites which “pits neighbour against neighbour” and does nothing to solve the housing crisis that is responsible for secon- dary suites in single-zoned neighbourhoods. She said the city should be a “model employer” and pay its workers a fair wage, reminding delegates that one of the NPA’s first acts was to abolish the fair wage policy established for contracted workers by the former COPE and Civic Independents dom- inated council. She charged that the city has a mayor who “talks peace” but refuses to ask the federal government to ban nuclear-capable war- ships from the city’s harbour. But, Swanson asserted the “worst travesty of democracy” came when the NPA council abolished the civic enumeration in favour of the mail-in card system, a process the NPA JEAN SWANSON . itself acknowledged will leave 85,000 voters off the list. Swanson said she agreed to run for mayor “because I think we can bring together the interests of labour, community people, the Civic New Democrats and COPE.” “I think we are underdogs, but the mayor is overconfident. There’s a growing opposition to his policies, a growing realization that (Gordon) Campbell is not leading this city on issues like Expo lands, transit and housing. “Just as we have become a model in fight- ing for peace, we could become a model employer, a model in fighting racism, in fighting against poverty, for building affor- dable housing — a model to benefit all the people who live here,” she declared. Workers at Citation Cabinets in Richmond are holding picket lines not only against their employer, but against an Industrial Relations Council ruling and a contempt-of-court charge in an action that could have ramifications for the future of the fightback against Bill 19. A recent IRC ruling, following a hear- ing boycotted by the Carpenters Union Local 1928, states that the 130 kitchen cabinet makers are illegally striking while a contract is in place — acontention the local hotly denies. By Tuesday, the IRC ruling that pickets ignored had become a B.C. had no plans to lift the lines. Local 1928 members were to appear for court hear- ings Wednesday. Local Business Agent John Rooney . said the B.C. Federation of Labour “‘is behind us 100 per cent.” And,:he said, membership morale is strong: “They’re hanging right in there.” Rooney said the last collective agree- ment with the company, a division of Federal Industries, expired April 30, 1987. Employees downed tools July 14 after serving the company with a 72-hour strike notice, as required by labour law. The company claimed at the IRC hearing that the workers are still bound by the “terms and conditions” of the last collective agreement because workers voted in March, 1987, to accept across- the-board wage cuts of $3 per hour, under threat of plant closure. The wage cuts were supposed to bei in Citation pickets defy — IRC back-to-work order Supreme Court citation, but the pickets- effect for two years. But Rooney said the — company subsequently failed to honour commitments to maintain and slightly improve other contract items, including a contentious health and safety plan — payment. “They were never serious about nego- ~ tiations. They just wanted more conces- sions,” Rooney charged. With the other affiliates of the B.C. Federation of Labour, the Carpenters support the labour boycott of the IRC as part of the province-wide protest against — the Socred government’s Bill 19, the Industrial Relations Reform Act. : On the basis of the “one-sided evi- — dence” at the hearing IRC officials sub- sequently ruled that the union was in violation of Section 79, which governs terms and conditions of contracts, and Section 88, which found the issue to be within the council’s jurisdiction, Rooney — said, — Intriguingly, the council did not rule that there was a Section 80 violation. That covers so-called illegal strike votes. — Local 1928 boycotted the IRC in that — case as well, holding a strike vote con- ducted by a notary public rather than by IRC officials. In an address to the Vancouver and District Labour Council on Tuesday Rooney noted the entire labour move- ment is effected by the Citation fight, and called on support for the picket line. The local maintains a 24-hour picket at Cit-_ ation, 2700 Simpson Ave. on Mitchell - Island in Richmond. Alberta coalition joins fight against trade deal EDMONTON — The battle against the Mulroney-Reagan trade deal has entered a new phase with the recent formation of Pro Canada Alberta — a phase described by the coalition as its “fall offensive.” Some 32 initiating organizations, repres- enting labour, ehvironmentalists, the peace movement, professionals, native peoples, farmers, senior citizens, war veterans, youth, and others met June 5 to form an ’ Alberta coalition linked to the Pro Canada Network, which represents 10 million Can- adians coast to coast. A partial list of founders includes the 115,000 member Alberta Federation of Labour, the Council of Canadians, the National Farmers Union, the Alberta Environmental Network, United Senior Citizens, the Canadian Peace Pledge Cam- paign, Lawyers Against the Mulroney- Reagan Trade Agreement, and the Metis Association of Alberta. With plans for major rallies in Edmonton and Calgary and an active role in the forth- coming federal election, the Alberta Net- work immediately swung into action with a campaign of letters and telegrams ‘to the federal government demanding open coun- try-wide hearings by the parliamentary legislative committee reviewing Bill C- 130, the legislation to implement the Canada-U:S. Free Trade Agreement. Mel Hurtig, of the Council of Canadians, and with AFL secretary treasurer Don Aitken a co-chairperson for the coalition, told a July 7 press conference more than a dozen Edmonton organizations have al- ready sought the committee’s permission to present a brief reviewing the bill. ‘The Mulroney government, as predicted, rammed C-130 through two readings before Parliament, signifying the House’s agree- ment in principle. The draft law is now 8 « Pacific Tribune, July 20, 1988 before the sifunienta) committee for review. PCN and other groups were demanding that the people of Canada be involved in the process by staging the hear- ings in every region of the country coast to coast: Dave Werlin, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, added the AFL’s voice to this demand in a letter July 5 to the © clerk of the legislative committee. “Despite the efforts of the Mulroney government to conclude the deal with as little public disclosure as possible,” Werlin wrote, “a wide ranging debate is taking place throughout our country. That is as it should be — this is our country and we have every right to be concerned and to be consulted. “T therefore urge, implore and demand that when Bill C-130 is referred to a legislative committee that extensive, open and accessible public hearings be held in every region of Canada.” In an interview last week, Werlin said the federation followed up with a telegram expressing labour’s disappointment in the government’ 's decision not to take the hear- ings to the people and to limit them to four weeks. The AFL nevertheless requested the opportunity to brief the legislative commit- 1OC Eleven of the 16-member standing com- mittee are Tories. Last week they rejected opposition demands for cross country hearings and set Aug. 10 as the deadline for reporting back to Parliament. The five opposition members of the committee repeated their call for country- wide hearings June 11, but were flatly _rejected by International Trade Minister John Crosbie, who told the committee the government wouldn’t accept substantive changes to the 153-clause, 123-page bill that will amend 27 separate pieces of Canadian legislation. The government is wielding its massive parliamentary majority to ram C-130 through third and final reading by the end of August. Crosbie also indicated that he expected the majority Liberal Senate to deal with the bill throughout the month of Sep- tember by which time it will become the law of the land. At their July 5 press conference, Hurtig and Aitken once more stressed that the Tories in Ottawa have no mandate from Canadians to negotiate and implement this deal. The vast majority of Albertans and Canadians have little or no idea what’s actually in the agreement or what drastic implications the agreement will have on liv- ing standards and the Canadian way of life. Neither the federal Tories nor Don Get- ty’s provincial clones have honestly informed ‘the people about the real contents and con- sequences of the agreement, they said, and reiterated the Pro Canada Network’s call for a federal election on the issue before the free trade deal is implemented. Aitken and Hurtig also noted that for the FIRIBONE Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 Name ee lamenciosing lyr. $200) 2yrs. $350) 3yrs. $500 Foreign 1 yr. 6320 Bill me later ~Donation$........ I READ THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LABOUR j | ye haste aaah as ena ay les ert ae ame A Q. ® n ” eee eee eee ee eee eee eres e $0. BL 00 o20- 0. 0: 00 6 0:0, 00 0.050 9 © 00: 018 1018. 0101800) 920 #, 0:0 9 0207 2 Que > 0 eet Postal Code first time in the debate over the pact, ope ion polls show more Canadians opposed zi the deal (40 percent) than supporting it (38 per cent.) This compares with polls in 198 that showed 84 per cent of Canadians sul _ veyed supporting free trade with the U.S. The AFL’s contribution to the Pro Cat ada Network campaign is its own drive t0 inform Alberta workers about the deals impact and to mobilize them into actio® — leading into the elections. It has produced a special analysis of the — overall ramifications of the deal with sp — cialized handouts explaining the impact 0! free trade on specific industries. Each fedet ation affiliate will distribute the informatio? — to their members on the job ina process that will see the mobilization of union officers; | stewards and full time staff, including the — AFL’s members, officers and executive counc to demonstrate the the deal. laboul — movement’s total commitment to stopping This will be buttressed by a province’ — wide tour of the AFL leadership, capped by mass rallies in Edmonton and Calgary i0 — the fall.