aes ae eae LABOR Joined by what organizers have called “unprecedented unity”, more than 100 B.C. fishermen will be on Parliament Hill Feb. 6 to lobby the federal government and oppo- sition MPs for immediate action to ensure the survival of B.C.’s fishermen — and the industry itself. The industry-wide Fishermen’s Survival Coalition has held meetings and organized fund-raising all up and down the coast and by the time lobbyists board planes for Ottawa Feb. 4 and 5, they will take with them the support of a majority of fishermen in the province and a “survival program” that has been discussed throughout the commercial fishing fleet. Four organizations, the Pacific Trollers Association, the Pacific Coast Salmon Sein- ers Association, the Gulf Trollers Associa- tion and the United Fishermen and Allied Workers, are officially members of the Fishermen’s Survival Coalition. Their representatives, together with a number of independent fishermen — many themselves members of important industry organiza- tions — will be going on the lobby. “It certainly is unprecedented unity,” UFAWU president and Coalition co-chair Jack Nichol told the Tribune Jan. 26. “Fishermen have mounted lobbies to Ottawa before but nothing ever on a scale like this. “Tt is really indicative of the depth of the crisis fishermen are facing,” he said. PCSSA representative Bob Rezansoff and PTA president Bob Fowler, co- chairmen of the Coalition along with Nichol, echoed the UFAWU leader’s expression of unity. “Everybody has to stop and think about the industry as a whole and what is good for the industry as a whole,” Rezansoff told a rally of 300 fishermen in Vancouver Jan. 24. : “The lobby will give fishermen a chance to speak to the politicians face to face — to the people making the decisions,” he said. Fowler added: “They'll have to bite the CLRA, gov't ‘conniving against Trades ROY GAUTIER (r) AT CARPENTERS PROTEST. . employers’ stand. UFAWU PRESIDENT JACK NICHOL. . bullet in Ottawa and realize they have a fight on their hands.” More than $1,700 was raised at Tues- day’s rally to send delegates to Ottawa to press the fishermen’s case. And that has been repeated in meetings in numerous coastal communities. The Coalition has also been backed by several municipal councils in the Lower Mainland, on Vancouver Island and up the coast. At stake, literally, is the survival of the industry and of the fisheries resource which has been brought to near depletion by a combination of Fisheries Department mismanagement and the effect of govern- ment policy which increasingly has favored other industries at the expense of fisheries. Compounding the problem is the repeated failure of the federal government to stand up for an equitable treaty with the U.S. which would guarantee Canadians the right to harvest Canadian salmon. PACIFIC Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. VSK 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 ee ’ Postal Code lam enclosing 1 yr.$140) 2yrs.$250) 6mo.$80 Foreign 1 yr. $20 O ‘Bill me later ~Donation$ . READ THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LABOR 12 © PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 1, 1984 .Trades unanimous in repudiating Fishermen take unity lobby to Ottawa .addressing Survival Coalition rally with Coalition members (I to r) Ron Fowler, Pacific Trollers; a Richard Tarnoff, Gulf Trollers; Wayne Patterson, UFAWU; Bob Rezansoff, Salmon Seiners. “We're going to Ottawa to tell the cabinet and MPs: for god’s sake, listen to us instead of listening only to the bureaucrats.” said Nichol. “We want to make the point in Ottawa that maintaining the fishing industry as a viable industry is of paramount importance. But rebuilding stocks shouldn’t be done at the expense of fishermen — by starving them out,” he said. A Coalition brief which has been dis- cussed widely by participating groups and which will be presented in Ottawa, outlines several demands, including: © Full enforcement of the Fisheries Act to protect and extend fish habitat; © A commitment of $200 million in real dollars over five years for salmon enhancement; @ Negotiation of an equitable Canada- U.S. interception treaty based on the prin- ciple that each country harvest its own salmon; and initiation of a treaty banning Continued from page 1 construction needed concessions “to com- pete with non-union companies.” And it is growing encroachment of non-union com- panies into union construction — encour- aged by government policies — that has provided the backdrop to this year’s critical negotiations. % Encouraged by the massive unemploy- ment among the Building Trades and by the ~ separation of the Building Trades from the Canadian Labor Congress, the employers have seen an opportunity to reduce wages and working conditions dramatically — and, perhaps, to emasculate the unions in construction. Adding a further dimension to the non- union threat are the policies of the Socred government which has stipulated that pub- lic bodies must accept the lowest bid, which has discarded fair wage legislation and which, more recently, has announced its intention to introduce Labor Code amendments that are widely expected to restrict Building Trades union rights. In recent months, rulings by the Labor Relations Board have also been more res- trictive. A ruling on non-union construction at Vancouver General Hospital was termed “capricious and arbitrary” by the Building Trades Council. The Building Trades rejected any consid- eration of concessions when they were first sought by CLRA last October, in mid- contract. And the trades have since reaf- firmed their opposition. “Reducing union wages would only be setting a new plateau for the non-union sector to move down from,” said Gautier. “It’s absolutely not the answer.” He emphasized the trades were united high seas interception of salmon; © Support for a voluntary fish boat “buyback” program which would be use@ to change the size and gear types in thé commercial fleet without eliminating fishermen or forcing them out; e A moratorium on the allocation of fis to any group and a commitment to neg? tiate land and aboriginal title claims in co? sultation with fishermen to avoid adverfs® effects on commercial fishermen whethet they are Indian or non-Indian; © Establishment of a ‘‘meaningful” con sultative process. Fisheries Minister Pierre DeBane had y@ to set a date to meet with fishermen’s repre sentatives on the lobby but the Coalitiol was confident that he would be compelleé to sit down and discuss the issues. : “This time they’ll have to listen,” sail Nichol. “In fact Ottawa may never be the same after this lobby.” that there would be “no concessions and no cuts.” ; The trades had proposed a program t0 promote union construction, including joint CLRA-Building Trades submissions 5 to government on bidding policies and fail wage practices and a campaign to expose publicly the ripoff of the non-union com- panies. But CLRA has rejected that approach. 4 (A particularly galling part of the low bidder policy is the cynical way it is treated” by the non-union contractors when the themselves hire sub-contractors. At thi VGH site, for example, although the bid b Kirkwall, a non-union outfit, was the lowest for the general contractors, the successful bid for the electrical sub-contractor, also” non-union, was $80,000 higher than that submitted by a union firm. Similarly, although there was only two per cent separ: ating the Kirkwall and the union bid on the site, the wages Kirkwall pays average 35 per cent less than union rates. That pattern is repeated elsewhere enabling the non-union outfits to exact higher profits — for what is often shoddy work.) “It is both irresponsible and shorts sighted for employers to reject a positive and practical approach to tackle these prob- lems,” Gautier said in a statement after negotiations were broken off. “Instead of joining us in challenging g immoral policies of government which are encouraging and promoting ‘gypo’ con tors and (launch) a savage attack on wage. standards and working conditions, the employers appear willing to connive with the government in an attempt to destroy the organized construction industry. “If that is their hope, it is doomed to failure,” he declared.