Jott i

se AL algal OU tL ALI

_ TheB.C. Federation of Labour launched
Ms boycott of the Industrial Relations

Ommission in earnest following a meeting
Of the federation’s executive council and
union representatives Aug. 5.

A meeting of the executive council Wed-
hesday unanimously endorsed a 23-page

Oycott manual” that was later presented
to more than 400 trade unionists at a special
Meeting of staff representatives.

The booklet lays out comprehensive
8uldelines to enable unionists to carry on
the work of representing their members in
Complete non-co-operation with the IRC
and or any orders resulting from Bill 19, the
anti-labour legislation proclaimed by the
Socred government last month.

B.C. Federation of Labour officers called

the manual a declaration that the trade
union movement “will not live according to
the legislation.”
_ The IRC, which took over the respons-
ibilities — and the offices — of the old
Labour Relations Board, began working
last month on a backlog of LRB cases. But
Unionists have refused to appear at hearings
Called by the commission, throwing consid-
erable uncertainty into the IRC’s function-
Ing from the beginning.

In one case, involving the Ironworkers
Local 97, the B.C. Supreme Court cited the
Union’s boycott of the IRC in ruling that
Tronworkers did not have the legal right to
Picket Kerkhoff’s construction site at First
and Renfrew in Vancouver. But unionists

€mphasized that the boycott must be

upheld if it is to be effective.

“There’s a strong feeling among the

Officers and the executive council that the
©ycott must be a total boycott,” said fed-
‘ration secretary-treasurer Cliff Andstein.

Inan introduction, the federation’s man-
Ual notes: “While we had complaints with
the old Labour Relations Board and Media-
tion Services Branch, they played an impor-
fant role in providing a forum for the
Tesolution of disputes. The Industrial Rela-
tions Council, biased as it is in favour of
*mployers and government, cannot per-
form this function. It will hurt working
People. It must be boycotted.” :

“The policy of the B.C. Federation of
Labour and all supporters of the B.C. Fed-
*ration of Labour’s program of opposition
fo Bill 19 is that the Industrial Relations

see FED page 12

Peace activist Molly Johnston joins some 200 others in Hiroshima Day candlelight vigil in Vancouver's Robson Square
Aug. 6. The commemoration was organized by End the Arms Race, Project Ploughshares, Unitarian Church, B.C. Voice of
Women, World Conference on Religion for Peace, Vancouver Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and
Veterans Against Nuclear Arms.

The Conservative government’s white
paper on defence is the product of “out-
moded cold war thinking,” is “contrary to
stated Canadian policies on peace” and
should be debated extensively in public
hearings before it is considered for adop-
tion, a panel of peace, labour, youth and
religious leaders declared Tuesday.

“We feel this paper represents a sharp
departure from the traditions of Canada
as a peacekeeper ... and is contrary to the
stated policies of both this and the pre-
vious government on arms control,” End
the Arms Race vice-president Dr. James
Foulks told reporters at a special press
conference called by EAR to outline the
peace movement’s opposition to the white

paper.
The press conference brought together

a broad cross-section of community lead-
ers active in disarmament work, including
Jack Gerow, secretary-business manager
of the Hospital Employees Union; Carole
Christopher, Centre for Peace and Justice;
Norman Hoye, Veterans Against Nuclear
Arms; Rev. Donald Grayston, Anglican
minister and Director of the Shalom Insti-
tute; Graham Cook, chairman of Students
Together for Peace; and Thelma Ruck
Keene and Dr. Charles Paris from Van-
couver city council’s special committee on
peace.

The eight, together with EAR president
Frank Kennedy, had earlier signed a tele-
gram to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
calling on the government to conduct
“extensive nation-wide hearings” before
the white paper is adopted as official pol-

icy.

The telegram emphasized that the
defence white paper, entitled Challenge
and Commitment, would have a “direct
and dramatic impact on the lives and
security of all Canadians over the next 15
years.

“Challenge and Commitment calls for
an about-face in Canadian defence policy
by: basing defence strategy on the concept
of a total enemy; increasing military
spending by a minimum of 30 per cent and
probably much more over the coming
years; linking Canada more closely into
the economics of militarization including
the United States Strategic Defence Initia-
tive; and forgoing Canada’s traditional
role as a moderator on the international
scene,” it stated.

see PAPER page 3

August 12, 1987
40°

Vol. 50, No. 29
ea

Fed sets out boycott plan

TRIBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN