LABOUR Labour gears up against sell-off plan Continued from page 1 = just to see his political philosophy satis- ied.” He said that people “‘are going to fight the privatization moves,” adding that they had no choice because public services “over which they now have some control through their elected representatives (will be) put in the hands of businesses which are accoun- table to no one.” Georgetti did not outline any immediate action to oppose the privatization program but a conference of federation affiliates on are has been set for Nov. 17 and Nae OHN SHIELDS BS J KEN GEORGETTI ANN HARVEY Two weeks before that, on Nov. 5, the BCGEU will be conducting a special privat- ization conference to launch the union’s campaign. Shields said the union will be asking for the full support of the B.C. Fed and he himself will be touring the province to talk to communities about the impact of privatization. Another key meeting is set for Nov. 28, at which the Vancouver and District Labour Council will bring affiliated and non- affiliated unions together with community groups to map out a campaign against pri- vatization. Council secretary Frank Kennedy said the conference would be beamed particu- 12 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 28, 1987 larly to community groups “‘to get them and the labour movement working together to Oppose privatization.” - The meeting will be organized by a spe- cial committee of the labour council, set up earlier this year as part of the campaign against privatization and free trade, and including representatives from the Cana- dian Union of Public Employees, the Office and Technical Employees, Hospital Empl- oyees Union and United Transportation Union. A similar committee has also been estab- lished by the Campbell River, Courtenay and District Labour Council whose dele- gates voted Oct. 26 to work with others in the community, including farmers, in the campaign against free trade and privatiza- tion. Virtually since the announcement was made at the Social Credit convention Fri- day, the government’s privatization pro- gram has come under fire from trade unionists, community organizations, and anti-poverty organizations as well as the New Democratic Party and the Communist Party. Conversely, the supporters of Vander Zalm’s initiative have identified clearly those who will benefit. The program was welcomed by the Board of Trade, the Fed- eration of Independent Business and the B.C. Business Council, all of whom see pri- vatization as a way to slash government spending still further and view the program as an opportunity to acquire Crown assets at below their market value. “Privatization will benefit friends of the government in the private sector, a privi- leged few who will get government con- tracts because of their connections with the government,” Shields charged. “But who is going to protect the public from the kind of patronage, favouritism and profiteering that we have seen in the construction of the Coquihalla Highway?” he demanded. The president of Local 378 of the Office and Technical Workers, Anne Harvey, warned in a statement this week that con- sumers would face higher gas rates as well as higher electricity bills if the government was able to carry through its plan to split off the gas division of B.C. Hydro and sell it to the private sector. In addition, she said, services now pro- vided by B.C. Hydro, including vital emer- gency services, would either be eliminated or put on a cost basis, increasing the risk of gas accidents. Harvey said that B.C. Hydro chairman Larry Bell, during a meeting with the joint Hydro unions Oct. 23, indicated that 800 jobs would be directly affected by the sale of the gas, rail and research divisions of the Crown corporation and a further 260 jobs in such areas as meter reading, billing and payroll would be indirectly affected. Many employees would simply be laid off, she said. Jobs will be dramatically affected by the proposed sell-off of government services, a point emphasized by NDP leader Michael Harcourt who warned that privatization would see thousands more jobs disappear as occurred under Socred restraint. A weekend meeting of the B.C. provin- cial committee of the Communist Party also condemned the Socreds’ privatization pro- gram, warning that it would reduce employment and increase the cost of servi- ces and Crown-owned utilities while provid- ing no economic benefits except to those in the corporate sector. “Privatization will not bring a single new job while swelling unemployment with the loss of thousands of jobs,” provincial leader Maurice Rush charged in a statement to the committee. The 35-member committee called for united action by unionists, as well as com- munity, anti-poverty and church organiza- tions to oppose the privatization program. = MARION POLLACK.. court.’ The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said this week that it intends to fight disciplinary action against its members through the grievance pro- cedure despite Canada Post’s refusal to follow the established process. CUPW Vancouver local president Marion Pollack said that the local would be continuing its public cam- paign, together with the labour coun- cil, to put pressure on the corporation to “get justice for postal workers.” Canada Post announced last week that it was initiating disciplinary actions against 13 Vancouver local members for picket line incidents. Spokesman Mike Bradshaw told reporters: “The range of disciplinary action will fall between several days’ suspension without pay, all the way to dismissal.” ; Pollack said the number has since been reduced to 11 "because the case against two people was so flimsy that even Canada Post couldn’t proceed.” But the corporation has refused to accept the long-established process of dealing with the discipline by allowing dure, she said. “They're trying to develop their own disciplinary court without any recourse for postal workers,” she said. The issue has been dealt with through the grievance procedure in past strikes and other unions which are also governed by the Canada going to take.”’ she added. _ Pollack noted that disciplinary _ action against CUPW follows similar - action against letter carriers during . ‘Canada Post wants to set up its own disciplinary it to go through the grievance proce- Labour Code have done the same she | said. “And that’s the route we’re : CUPW plans to fight discipline of members their strike earlier this year. Four Let- ters Carriers Union members in Van- couver were disciplined, including one member who was fired. LCUC Dis- trict 9 representative Clair Walsh said last week that across the country, some 500 union members faced disci- pline. She said that CUPW would be working with labour councils and other unions to keep the post workers’ campaign before the public as the mediation process, dictated by the federal back-to-work legislation, con- tinues. “We're facing disciplinary action by Canada Post and we still don’t have a collective agreement for our . members,” Pollack said. “That really underscores the lack of justice for pos- tal workers.” Last week, delegates to the Van- couver and District Labour Council voted unanimously to pledge their continuing support to CUPW and to instruct the council’s strike support committee to work out strategies to assist the union in fighting discipli- nary action. Delegates also used the occasion to condemn the corporation’s tactic of using scabs in an effort to break the postal unions. UFAWU delegate. Jim Sinclair warned that the government had “drawn the line at the post office” when it used strikebreakers in an effort to force privatization of postal “Everybody in the labour move- ment should say: there must be no more scabbing in B.C.,” he said. ee TRIBUNE Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 Ce OO ee 08: ©1820 OOR O- One OEe- SRLS OC 1e 6. 67 Dh D..0 16 66" 0 0:e- 0 0: 0:8) 0. ¢:0.6> 0 ape 0 0. C22 SFC 00 0S Ore. 000: 0 Cre 6026, 6w SD © Oro 016 B50 0 Bede Si © 0. 6 10'S 6 8 0 0-0. 6.0Ne 0 Ore: Postal Code lam enclosing 1 yr.$160 2yrs.$280 6mo. $100 i Introductory offer, 3mo. $3) Foreign 1 yr. $250) Bill me later 0 READ THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LABOUR ie