PLEASE BOYCOTT for aidin strikebreaking g BETH HL L MILES ‘ ~ ENON The boycott leaflet issued by the B.C. Federation of Labor and ‘the Retail, striker Aldo Valente. London boycott vital Continued from page 1 union and strikers for violations. of court-ordered injunctions restric- ting picketing at the Adams site. The sentences were condemned by the B.C. Federation of Labor as well as several unions as ‘‘extremely harsh.’” The Federation also demanded an investigation by the attorney-general, pointing out that _ the strikers who were fined were held by police until their fines were paid — in spite of court orders giv- ing them seven days to pay — while one single mother who was sentenc- ed to ten days was taken directly to jail without any opportunity to pro- vide for the care of her two young children. The restrictions against the strikers have also been seen in stark contrast to the provocative actions ot the strikebreakers and company security guards who have, accor- ding to RWDSU representative Al Peterson, ‘‘purposely provoked and taunted our members.”’ Striker Charles Lyle told the Tribune this week that the security guards, employed by Kaban Securi- ty, had been hired from the first day ot the strike and have since been in- volved in a number of incidents. Lyle added that a key figure in the movement of trucks across the lines is a Man named Ron Peterson who allegedly threatened one striker in a witnessed incident. Another striker, Barbara Brooks, said that rental trucks have entered and left Adams property with their licence plates blanked out but police have retused to investigate. Strikers have also faced pressure trom MacDonald’s Consolidated, Sateway’s wholesale arm, where the RWDSU has certification. When strikers are dispatched to work at the firm, the employer has insisted that they will only be hired if they state that they will not return to Adams when the strike is settled. At least one striker has refused to make such a declaration. The Vancouver and_ District Labor Council last week called on the B.C. Federation to convene a staff conference of all affiliates to seek ways to assist the RWDSU in winning a first — with Adams. Council secretary Paddy Neale emphasized the need to gather the entire labor movement behind the strike and added that it was time to take action ‘‘and it’s got to be taken Wholesale and Department Store Union. Inset: Adams collectively through the B.C. Federation of Labor.’’ Federation publicity director Tom Fawkes said. Wednesday that the Federation was awaiting the outcome of talks between the RWDSU and Adams being held this week with the Labor Relations Board before taking further action. Adams lawyer Gordon Funt and RWDSU counsel W. R. Martin reportedly began informal talks Monday with board member Ron Bone which were to continue Wednesday. A tundamental issue in the discussions is that of union security .since Adams co-owner Keith Robin-- son has stated that the company is not prepared to accept a closed shop agreement. No negotiations have been held since before the strike began February 21. The initial talks were aborted soon after they opened over basic issues of contract language as well as union security. The boycott of London Drugs, in addition to the boycott, and hot declaration on Adams products, has been seen as critical to the out- come of the strike. Lyle pointed out that London Drugs accounts for some 50 percent of Adams sales, and a mass boycott could bring significant pressure to bear. The sensitivity of the large drug chain, which has nine major outlets on the Lower Mainland, wasseenin - its response to a leaflet put out some weeks ago by the RWDSU and the B.C. Federation of Labor.. The firm’s legal counsel called the ‘leatlet ‘tdefamatory.’’ A second leaflet, with slightly altered wording, was subsequently issued, but London sought to have it withdrawn as well. However, after an informal hear- ing, the LRB ruled Friday that the leaflet was legal, although it has not yet been given wide distribution. People have also been asked to avoid purchasing vitamins — except Vitamin C which is obtained elsewhere — with the Woodward’s Stores labels since they now are be- ing supplied by Adams. Shoppers Drug Mart products have been sug- gested as an alternative. Some Shoppers’ stores, unlike London and Woodward’s outlets, are organized with the Retail Clerks, the result of a similarly bit- ter strike in 1973. _ PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 29, 1979—Page 12 . - Common sense can sett! The leadership of the Canadian Labor Congress has responded to the open brief issued by the British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council by scheduling a meeting with Building Trades represen- tatives this week in Ottawa, to deal with the matters raised by their document. The brief deals with the jurisdictional dispute between the Building Trades and the Interna- tional Woodworkers of America. Readers of the Tribune will recall that I commented on this jurisdic- tional hassle in the June 15 issue. I have since learned that the posi- tion of the Building Trades Council that the Goldenberg Report of 1971 be implemented to resolve the issue was unanimously endorsed by the Port Alberni Labor Council. Fur- ther, when the issue was raised in the Campbell River-Courtenay Labor Council, a motion requesting clarification from the CLC was adopted. These developments are impor- tant, because IWA members con- stitute a major part of these coun- cils. The strong support shown for the Building Trades position by the Victoria Labor Council is also in- dicative of a widespread feeling to give priority to uniting the labor movement in order to.advance the interests of the membership as a whole. Jurisdictional hassles turn union against union and worker against worker. Carl Goldenberg, Q.C., as an im- partial umpire appointed by the CLC, ruled in 1971 that ‘‘all new construction within the ambit of the forest products industries, was pro- perly the jurisdiction of building trades unions and the [WA had the right, but the limited right, to carry out maintenance, repairs and con- struction improvements in existing mills.”’ A Tribune reader was_ kind enough to send me a copy of an agreement reached between the IWA and the B.C. Provincial Council of Carpenters in 1958. That agreement reads as follows: @ It is the desire of the parties signatory hereto that without going to the extent of asking the Canadian Labor Congress to enter into any jurisdictional dispute between the two parties, they reach agreement based upon Article III, Member- ship, Sections 3 and 4 of the Cana- dian Labor Congress Constitution, as revised April, 1958, and we hereby declare our intentions to agree upon the following: @ That each ‘affiliate shall respect the established bargaining relationship of the other affiliate and neither affiliate shall raid the established collective bargaining relationship of the other affiliate. @ It is further our intent and purpose, in case of conflict, to work out, through the process of agree- ment, merger, or by other means, voluntary agreement in consulta- tion with the appropriate officials of the Canadian Labor Congress should we fail to reach amicable agreement between ourselves. @ it is further agreed that this agreement made this 30th day of October, entered into by the signatory parties hereto with the consent of their parent bodies, shall from that date be effective. Obviously, the basis of settling this dispute is somewhere along the lines of the Goldenberg report and the IWA-Carpenters agreement. What is needed is strong leadership from the CLC and a common sense approach by the leadership of the © IWA and the Building Trades. The fact that the major employers in the wood, pulp and paper industry have embarked on huge modernization programs involving hundreds of millions of dollars in new construc- tion when the Building Trades are suffering from massive unemploy- ~ ment has brought the dispute into sharp focus. It is a pity that instead of developing a program to protect jobs within its jurisdiction that will be endangered by the moderniza- tion program, the IWAi is in conflict . over who will do thé“construction work genérated by the moderniza- tion drive. In my discussions with key people in the labor movement I have learn- LABOR COMMENT BY JACK PHILLIPS ed that the Building Trades is also in conflict situations over jurisdic- tion with the United Steelworkers of America, the B.C. Government Employees Union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees. I also learned that the open brief of the Building Trades has caused some concern on the part of the leaders of these unions in B.C. To understand properly the jurisdictional problems of the CLC, we must go back to the founding convention of 1956, when the Trades and Labor Congress and the Canadian Congress of Labor merg- ed to form the CLC. This created a central congréss to include in- dustrial unions, craft unions, and ‘unions that were a mixture of both, as well as unions in the public sector encompassing many occupations, including professional positions. Included in those founding unions were a number of ‘regional unions not affiliated to a larger body. To further complicate the problems of overlapping jurisdictions, many key unions in the private sector had their head offices in the U.S. Some large corporations with a number of plants across the country bargained with different unions for the same type of work in different parts of the country. That is why the following provi- sions were placed in the CLC con- Stitution: @ The organizing jurisdiction of the affiliates of this Congress shall-~ be that which they occupied on the founding day of this Congress as of May 1, 1956, or as subsequently granted or amended by authority of the Executive Council. @ The integrity of each affiliate of this Congress shall be maintained and preserved and each affiliate shall respect the established collec- tive bargaining relationship of every other affiliate. @ Each affiliate shall respect the established work relationship of every other affiliate. For purposes of this article an ‘‘established work relationship’’ shall be deemed to ex- ist as to any work of a kind which the members of an organization have customarily performed at a particular plant or work site whether their employer is the plant operator, a contractor or other employer. No affilate shall by jurisdictional disputes agreement or collusion with employer or economic pressure, seek to oblé work for its members as to which! established work relationship ex! with any other affiliate, except the consent of such affiliate.” The Building Trades unions in effect, charging the IWA largest union in B.C., with ¢ sion in order to arrive at coll agreements for new sawmill struction work. Those who argue that indi unionism is better suited to the working class than unionism, in the long run, (4 am one of them) must never f that industrial and craft union have to co-exist for some time come. This means that juris¢ tional conflicts will inevitably ; and that the labor movemél should use its own, inter? machinery . to settle “them wi minimum of disruption and OP! conflict. Even if all organi ; workers belonged to industtl unions, and all construcu@ workers were in one union, inste® of 17 international unions, would still be problems of juris¢ tion between the Building Trad and the other industrial un Sooner or later, there will be a dependent, sovereign and uml) trade union movement in’ Canada with a central leadership body hé ing full authority to rule definit on all jurisdictional issues, and € joying sufficient ‘respect authority from the membership enforce its rulings. In the meantime, recognizi that there are many gray areas this current jurisdictional disput and that neither side is made up & tirely of angels, I can only hope there will be an amicable settle? ment. This will be my last Labor Com ment until I return from vacati0 T approximately August 6, al visiting the -Soviet Union Sweden. I wish to thank the ma readers who have given me thé helpful comments and criticism: |~ will be resuming my articles on "Jy return. Convention | set for Nov. The Central Committee of tht Communist Party has issued ¥ call to ‘the CP’s 24th all-Cana } convention to be held Novembet 7 i | 4, and 5 in Toronto. | 1) The 40 members of the CP’s Cl" $ tral Committee, seven from B.& met in Toronto June 16 and 17" t issue the call and adopt the di t political resolution that will be P* to the party membership for debat The resolution covers all ma facets of party policy and activi aS and will be discussed througho 3 the party for a period of three mo” \\ Pp ths leading up to the conventio” Once adopted at the conventiom the policies will bind the work 2 the party until the next conventio? 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