. ‘>. TRIBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN DAVE LOMAS.. Srcek of action ‘only a beginning’ in continuing campaign for sanctions. Union action steps up demand for sanctions In an unprecedented show of solidarity with opponents of apartheid in South Africa, trade unionists in post offices, tele- phone exchanges and airlines reservation clerks across Canada cut off mail, telephone calls and ticket bookings to South Africa for 24 hours March 13. Organized by the Solidarity Committee of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SSC), the one-day embargo was part of a week of action against apartheid, intended to step up the pressure on the Conservative government of Brian Mulro- ney to impose full economic sanctions against the apartheid regime. __ Although trade union embargoes against South Africa are familiar to European trade “unions, this was the first time that Canadian trade unionists have taken organized eco- nomic action against apartheid to the extent of blockading mail and telephone links. And if the media reports were quick to find instances where phone calls or airline reser- vations did go through, they could not hide the fact that trade union solidarity has tight- ened the net around the white minority _ government in South Africa. _ “This is the first time that we have taken action of this scale,” said Evert Hoogers, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Vancouver local. He added that not one piece of mail going to, or coming from South Africa had been sorted. “We're demonstrating to the federal government that we're serious about apartheid — and we expect a program of sanctions to be imposed, and soon,” he said. More than a score of unions, led by the B.C. Federation of Labor, either took part directly in the embargo or endorsed it fully including CUPW, the International Long- -shoremen and Warehousemen, Brother- hood of Railway and Airline Clerks, Telecommunications Workers, Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada, Canadian Paperworkers Union, Hospital Employees, CUPE, CAIMAW and others. Many of them, together with supporting groups such as the Southern Africa Action Coalition and the Law Union took part in the March 13 rally. In some areas, trade union boycott action has already had a telling effect. The Retail Clerks Local 1518, represent- ing workers in Safeway, Overwaitea, IGA, Save-on-Foods and SuperValu stores, has been lobbying for some time to have all South African products removed from store shelves. That campaign brought sig- nificant results last week. “We can now say that there are no South African products in any of the stores where we represent the workers,” Retail Clerks president Bryan Denton told the rally to _ cheers. Al Crawshaw, financial secretary of Local P-432 of the United Food and Com- mercial Workers, also confirmed this week 12 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MARCH 19, 1986 that the local had secured a letter from Jim Pattison, owner of Berryland Foods, stating. that the company’s Fraser Valley cannery would no longer handle South African fruit. And members of both pulp unions will be seeking contract language to prevent pulp either going to, or coming from South Africa, said PPWC representative Len Snow. “This is just the beginning — the cam- paign for sanctions will go on,” Dave Lomas, president of the Canadian Area of the ILWU and president of SACTU Solid- arity (Vancouver), told the rally. Lomas said that the soldiarity commit- tee’s events would be followed immediately by another week of action against apartheid called by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Trades strike vote results in April 11 Building Trades unions throughout the province moved into the final two weeks of strike balloting this week to back the unanimous stand taken by the Bargaining Council of the B.C. and Yukon Building Trades Council in rejecting the deep wage cuts and sweeping contract concessions demanded by Construction Labor Rela- tions Association (CLRA). Members of five locals of the Carpenters, the largest single union in the Building Trades, were slated to conduct the vote at a mass membership rally in the PNE Gardens in Vancouver March 23. The final results will go to Roy Gautier, chairman of the Building Trades bargaining council, on April 11. That will be only three weeks before the expiry of the current trades agreements April 30, the date when CLRA has declared it will terminate contracts unilaterally if it has not achieved the concessions it has demanded. * In January, CLRA sent letters to all 17 Building Trades unions demanding 50 major concessions, including wage cuts averaging $5 an hour, cuts in statutory holi- days and overtime rates, an increase in the work day and the elimination of union dis- patch. The letter also announced that con- tracts would be terminated April 30 if the concessions package was not negotiated as a new agreement. The CLRA ultimatum has given new urgency to the strike votes as unionists face a repeat of the so-called “Alberta scenario” In that province, Construction isatibr Relations-Alberta imposed a lockout on the expiry date of the Building Trades agree- ments, thus terminating the contracts, and then lifted it 24 hours later and called workers back at wage rates unilaterally set by the employer. _ Because the lockouts were imp selectively — and unionists did nail their own strike mandate — Buik Trades workers were barred from picke once the 24-hour lockout was lifted. As a‘result, few Building Trades un have collective agreements and worker employed at a variety of wage rate conditions. In one of the few i where the union did sign an agreeme contract allows the employer to wage rates from project to project to non-union competitors’ bids. ; The CLRA letter sent to Building’ unions in this province demonstrate construction employers are bent on same course here. But if they have a mandate, Building Trades unions . shut down projects across the provin tively preven contractors calling wo back at lower happened in A where the Bui ROY a ee vote employers wa GAUTIER over them,” Carpenters Provincial Council presiden Zander. “But I’m convinced we can d this attack as long as we hae solidarity ranks of the membership and clo operation and unity in the Building T and, as has been committed, the full st of the B.C. Federation of Labor.” A slide-tape show produced by C ters Local 452 member Howie Smith _ing what happened in Alberta he shown to various Building Trad across the province. Segarty pressed on fish boat safet More than 20 members of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union — including the widow and mother of fishermen killed at sea — took the demand for immediate safety regulations covering fishing vessels straight to labor Minister Terry Segarty’s office March 12 after numerous telegrams and briefs to the minis- ter had failed to get any action to reduce the rising death toll. But Segarty, who had denied requests for a meeting until the delegation arrived on his doorstep, refused to take any action towards the establishment of safety regula- tions, insisting, as he has done repeatedly i in the past, that the matter lies ir in federal jursi- diction. “He committed himself to nothing at all,” said UFAWU welfare director Bert Ogden. ‘“‘He refused to take action on any regulations program.” Among the members of the union delega- tion which met with Segarty were J osephine Leer, whose son Allan was killed in 1983 when the salmon seiner on which he was fishing capsized, and Glenyce Johnson, who was widowed last year when her hus- band Gordon was drowned while out in a Canadian Fishing Company vessel.. In both cases, the men died as a result of vessel safety deficiencies which were subse- quently corrected, Ogden said. The presence of the two women appar- ently had little effect on the Socred govern- ment, however, which has refused to move on fishing vessel regulations since it scuttled a NDP government-initiated regulatory process in 1975. Since that time, more than 100 fishermen have lost their lives. Following 13 deaths in the herring season in 1975, the then NDP government intro- duced Workers’ Compensation. Board inspections on the fishing fleet and ee lished an advisory committee to draw up draft regulations for the fishing industry. But with the election of the Socreds in July, the process was halted and any regula- tions covering fishing vessels were subse- quently abandoned. Although clearly responding to pressure from the fishing companies, the Socred government claimed that it was unable to act because the federal government had jurisdiction over fisheries. But the province does have jurisdiction to act in workers compensation “and the fed- eral government certainly isn’t going to object if the province establishes regula- tions,”’ Ogden noted. In fact, the jurisdiction problem “is just a cover. And in the meantime, more of our members are getting killed,” he said. Segarty also incensed delegation members when he likened the problem to that of drunken drivers and suggested regulations weren’t necessarily the answer. B.C. has the toughest drinking-and-driving laws in the world, he told the legislature, but hundreds are still killed on the roads. Ve “What he’s saying is that our me shouldn’t go out fishing,” Ogden mented angrily. . Segarty and Race Gece Smith did, however, agree tentatively further meeting with the union on 26. The UFAWU convention last passed several resolutions calling form diate government initiatives for im safety and accident prevention and on the Socreds to reconvene the Industry Regulation Advisory Com first established in 1975 but later disb Ogden said the union would be press! government on that issue at the Ma meeting. | “We need safety regulations and é dent prevention program in place now,” he said. “The herring season 1 us — and we need some action befo: are even more deaths.” Five people died earlier this year two boats went down. Neither vessel hi life raft or survival suits. _JIRIBUNE Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. VS5K 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 Postal Code lam saclesiag 1yr.$1401 2yrs. $250) 6 mo. $8 eG Foreign 1 i $ Bill me later 0 ~ Donation$ 5 Nae THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LAB €