- last week a : Mainline Municipal Labor Rel . Members pooo ‘CUPE Local 900 keep up picket lines outside Kaml rc ps city ae (a B.C. Supreme Court injunction forced the city Bee to fall _ into line with other Okanagan: neces employers allied its 430 civic At municipalities after Gainers strike in BC ‘Spurs product boycott A boycott of all Gainers and Swifts pro- ducts has been launched in earnest in this province as members of the United Food and Commercial Workers set up picket lines at Gainers operations in Richmond, Kamloops and Victoria July 14. UFCW Local 188 business agent Dave Cherrille said last week that Gainers man- agement in B.C. had been bringing in hot products from the strikebound plant in Edmonton and shipping them through non-union outlets. Last week’s strike action was triggered by the appearance of a trailer- load of shortening from Edmonton. But the union agreed to process the meat still in the Richmond plant on the condition that Gainers not attempt to run the B.C. operations with scabs, Cherrille said. He called the dispute with Gainers, owned by right wing Alberta businessman Peter Pocklington, “one of the most bitter we've ever had — and we’ve had some pretty bitter disputes with Canada Packers and others over the years. “‘He’s out to break the union in Edmon- ~ ton and to force our members here to accept more concessions. “But our union can’t allow this to happen,” he said. : Some 63 workers are involved in the strike in the province, 27 in each of the Richmond and Victoria plans and nine in the Kamloops operation. The plants cut and package meat shipped from Edmonton for distribution. Cherrille said that there had been virtu- ally no negotiations in B.C. “There was one meeting but we knew they wouldn’t give us the language we needed (on handling hot products) and if we had signed, they would have brought products in from Edmonton and forced us to handle them.” Although its products have been shut out of all of the main supermarket chains. Gainers is continuing to bring products in ‘from Edmonton and distribute them to some small stores and restaurants using non-union warehouse operations and trucking companies, Cherrille said. “Gainers is practically giving its products away,” he added. “‘The prices are far below those of other competitors.” : The union will be publicizing the boycott across the province and will be leafletting | stores and meat markets, asking customers not to purchase Gainers or Swifts products. Gainers markets a wide array of products under the Gainers and Swifts labels as well as a variety of house brand names. The following are all on the hot list: @ Swift's bacon — Premium, Lazy Maple, Sugar Plum, Capital, Eversweet, Royal Breakfast, Sunny Morning, IGA. @ Other bacons — Superior, Freirich, Royal, Capital, H.R.I., Hickory House, Food Services, Holiday, Sunshine, Devor, Royal Breakfast, Sierra, Armour, Country Morning, Alberta Gold, Harmonie. @ Hams — Homesteader, Super Dinner Hams, Captain Cabin, Royale, Superior Cottage Roll, Alberta Gold, Lazy Maple. @ Smoked meats — Premium Corned Beef Brisket, Royal Pork, Superior Porks. _ @ Party sticks/smoked meats — Superior, Safeway, Alberta Gold, IGA. ; © Thin sliced meats — Safeway, Royale. @ Weiners — Firebrand Pork, Firebrand Beef, Smokies, IGA Pork and Beef, Alberta Gold, Country Morning, Superior, Pre- mium. © Smoked hams — Superior, Sugar Plum. @ Rings — Superior Blood Sausage, Fine and Coarse, Garlic and Bolo. ® Bolo — Superior and Salami. ® Others — Magic Pantry. Products from the Edmonton plant can be identified by the federal inspection number 18B ina small circular stamp on the package. TRIBUNE i Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street | Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 f Name: eon SM. we Kies . ' Address ..... AS ee Bee Postal Code 4 tan bacitine 1 yr. $160) 2yrs. $2800 6mo. $100 Poa ve $250 Bill me later] Donation$........ \ READ THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LABOR 8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JULY 23, 1986 Trades declare Al bridge job ‘unfai In a move to counter the Socred govern- ment’s latest anti-union drive, the Van- couver, New Westminster and District Building Trades Council has declared unfair the B.C. Transit Skytrain, extension project. The “unfair” declaration made July Sina - unanimous vote of the council, means no unionized building tradesmen will work on the project to build a bridge over the Fraser River extending the rapid transit system to Surrey. The council’s declaration follows a ref- usal by Grace McCarthy, the cabinet minis- ter responsible for transit, to review the awarding of the contract to a consortium of the South Korean multinational, Hyundai, and the notorious anti-union firm of J.C. Kerkhoff. Ina release, the council quoted B.C. Tran- sit chairman Stuart Hodgson as estimating that awarding the contract to the non-union Korean corporation will mean that 30 per cent of the materials for the project will be imported, “meaning lost jobs for Canadi- ans.” The statement noted that Kerkhoff has no experience with bridge work on the scale required, as well as the right-to-work con- tractor’s past confrontations with the trade union movement. “In making this decision (B.C. Transit | officials) were clearly carrying out the pro- Kerkhoff, anti-union policies of the Socred government,” the council charged. B.C. Transit’s award was made despite the fact that the company’s own tender and contract requirements allow for union labor. Section 18.3.1 of the document reads: “The consultant may direct the contractor to employ workers with appropriate affila- tion to avoid labor disputes on the project.” The last of some 150 workers cheated of fair wage entitlement by non-union con- trctors working for Expo 86-Corporation received $68,000 in back wages: this month — money that would have gone into the pockets of the contractors had it not been for the intervention of the Carpenters Union. Carpenters Provincial Council secretary- treasurer Colin Snell told the Vancouver and District Labor Council last week that. the latest wage payment — made to 20 workers employed by Palotai Construction and Canada Scaffold — brings the total to $350,000 that was recovered by the union’s action. The figure represents the difference between the actual wages paid the 150 workers and the amount they were entitled to had the contractor not violated the fair wage provisions of Expo 86 contracts. After hearing of cases where contractors were flouting the fair wage provisions in their contracts, the Carpenters launched a series of newspaper ads last year offering to take up claims on behalf of non-union workers whose employers had cheated them. of the fair wage. Although both Expo 86 Corporation and the provincial Employment Standards Branch sought initially to evade responsibil- ity, pressure from the union and the assist- ance of the labor council, the B.C. Federation of Labor and the Building Trades council finally compelled Labor - Minister Terry Segarty to arrange for the standards branch to settle the claims. Asa result, Snell told the labor council in a letter, “$350,000 has been collected for 150 non-union construction workers who, without the assistance of the labor move- ment, would have been ripped off by ~ to press B.C. Transit to reverse 1 At a recent meeting the Vance District Labor Council authott ership to work with the Building Council and the B.C. Federatio Marty Smith, business agent 10 penters Union, Local 452, told it was unlikely that Kerkhoff wo to perform the work on the bri without union tradesmen. “Jobs like this can’t be done t union,” said Smith, who noted tha ized bridgemen had vowed not! ~~ the project. td i Smith noted Hyundai would bei engineering work on the bridge, ? res an estimated $800,000 loss t0 economy. Stillin question are various sub to supply materials for the bridge At least one contrat has reporte awarded to a union compa aa Canada Steel, which is to supply ! crete reinforcing bar. The Vancouve Cominco subsidiary is certifie Canadian Association of rndustail anical and Allied Workers. ~_ The Hyundai Corporation, within in construction, shipping and auto™ is completely union-free undel Korea’s strict anti-labor laws. The ® tion has been making increasing! into the construction business in NO ica, with work completed on two pro the United States and with a I id Alberta dam project. The Building Trades Council} is mending that all affiliates boycott an on the Skytrain project, is advising! ing trades councils in Canada and that the project is unfair; and iS “trade unions and concerned itt protest the loss of Canadian ie _ uniserupulons non-union operato® é were allowed and even encouraged ? 4 ate open-shop at the Expo site deliberate Socred government anti policies.” Thousands more in unpaid wages also be outstanding but won’t be ** because employees, many of whom still be working for the same 1 contractors, did not file claims. In all, 18 non-union contracto®: i ing the Expo 86 Corporation ee as high profile right-to-work co# like J.C. Kerkhoff, Rempel Bro Verigin Construction, were guilt ing the fair wage provision, acco ing claims filed. In some cases, the act paid was as low as $4.50 an ho below the fair wage standard, whic from $14 an hour for laborers to electricians. But the Expo case is “only the ip. iceberg,” Snell said, noting that fair wage protection for non-unid! struction workers in B.C. Only construction contracts aw? the city of Vancouver have a fair W4 vision and there, because of a rec decision, city council must insert t eC on a contract-by-conract basis. “The Socreds continue with the! line policy of low bid at all costs and rhe provisions for fair wages on any of rs vincial government’s public const projects,” Snell added. He called on the labor movement @ Segarty to establish a fair wage sc all provincially-funded public co’ projects and to amend the Femp Standards Act to provide for enlor® of the clause.