on | i ht i | _ULL “ull Union raiders selling concession F B.C. Federation of Labour officers ate ree wok en out strategies against what federation pres- _ ident Ken Georgetti has called “nasty parasites” — specifically two rump unions which are taking advantage of the labour movement’s boycott of the Industrial _ Relations Commission to press raids _ The meeting comes following requests from the Ironworkers, Local 602 of the - Construction and General Workers and the Operating Engineers which have been _ the target of raids on their job sites by two unions, the Canadian Iron, Steel and Industrial Workers Union and the - General Workers Union of B.C. Although raids are something that unionists encounter, particularly in the high-unemployment construction indus- try, “it is really getting deadly,” Wayne Foot, business agent for Ironworkers Local 97 told the Tribune. Three factors have sharpened the div- months. The first is a ruling by the old Labour Relations Board that a union raid is not considered a raid — and therefore not restricted to the seventh and eighth months of a collective agreement —- if the bargaining unit is being enlarged. That ruling is still under appeal but because jurisdiction has passed to the IRC, it has raised the second factor. Unions are boycotting the IRC and won't pursue the appeal in that forum and won’t defend themselves from raids before IRC panels. But the key factor is the “sweetheart” unionism of Frank Nolan, president of the Canadian Iron, Steel and ‘Industrial Workers and Rocco Salituro, president of the General Workers of B.C. Nolan gained notoriety in the trade union movement in 1984 when, as the business agent for the shopworkers’ Local 712 of the Ironworkers, he attempted to sign a concession-ridden agreement with Amca International for a proposed oil rig fabrication site at Duke Point near Nanaimo. Following an extensive cam- paign by the Building Trades Council and the B.C. Federation of Labour against the contract, the LRB ordered a ratification vote — and Ironworkers member voted it down in two separate ballots. — Following that, in July, 1986, Nolan left the Ironworkers but not before he wrote himself a cheque for $24,000 in union funds. Sandra Banister, lawyer for Local 712, said the union sued him for the money and succeeded in getting a judg- ment against him. Nolan was also sus- pended by the union’s international office Almost immediately following his departure from the Ironworkers, Nolan launched a series of applications for certi- fications under the Canadian Iron, Steel and Industrial Workers, at various sites, including Lafarge Concrete, World F: abri- cators and Canaper Enterprises. Most of those cases were subsequently dismissed by the LRB on the basis that the union was not a bona fide trade union. But Nolan has since crossed that hurdle and now reportedly has some four applica- tions before the IRC. But Nolan’s organizing isn’t done with the workers — it’s done with the empl: ers, Foot charged. “Hell go othe ipl eae. y, ‘your workers are getting $18 or 19 an hour. ll sign you a deal that will make it $15 an hour,” said Foot. The tactic works in the high unem- ployment of the construction industry because so many members are worried about jobs, he added. “The employer will often take his steady crew, lay off the rest, and then hold a vote,” he said. “Once the vote is held, he’ll bring the others back in.” “And these are wall-to-wall agreements he’s signing,’ Foot emphasized. “Any worker can do plumbing or concrete work or whatever.” “It’s all top-down organizing — he’s working with the employers,” said Sid Taylor, secretary of Ironworkers Local 712. ~ Charlie Wilson, secretary of the Marine Workers and Boilermakers Industrial _ Union which crossed swords with Nolan’s _ group at a ship repair shop, Progressive — Marine, confirmed that Nolan “sells the — union to the employer of the basis of cheap agreements.” Foot also noted that Nolan'has been able to maintain a significant trade union apparatus without a membership base. That includes hiring lawyer Peter Gall, who has become notorious for his work with such anti-union contractors as_J.C. Kerkhoff. “I wonder where he’s getting the money for that,” Foot added. The pattern of concession contracts has been the Same for the General Workers of | B.C. whose president Rocco Salituro, was a former business agent for Local 602 of _ the Construction and General Workers, an ‘otiiiate of the Labourers Internatio p Union. “These guys are hiding under the cloa sof trade unionism,” said Local 602 bus ness manager Greg Harris. __ Taylor emphasized that the LRB de sion ruling that a raid is not a raid if th bargaining unit is enlarged has made particularly difficult because groups li Nolan’s work together with employers add secretaries and others to the bargaii ing unit. That was the case in one e recent certifica- tion application at Can-West, he sai where the secretaries and truck drivet were included in the vote. : “He (Nolan) is giving the employe! what he wants — cheaper contracts an in-and-out agreements where he can d what he wants,” Taylor added. __ He warned that the trade union mo ment didn’t take action, “this could _ what Bill 19 can’t do — destroy the t t unions in construction.” Foot agreed that the Building T were “on the front lines” but emphasiz! that the raids could affect any union * they’re allowed to keep going.” The Ironworkers and others stepped up organizing, not only on sites but to make sure their own mer realize that if they go to the Canac Iron, Steel and Industrial W. “they'll lose their welfare plans, their sions and their standard of Wares ‘said. “That’s the best way to go, t ize,” he said. “ But we also need a. hep from ee ideation, : By DEREK MACKIE You wouldn’t think trash and children have a lot in common. But Michael De- Groote has married the two together, much to his personal profit and the detriment of everyone else. Degroote is the poker-faced, chain- smoking president of Laidlaw Trans- portation Ltd., a Burlington, Ontario company which is currently, North America’s largest school bus operator and third biggest garbage disposal cor- poration. Today, the 54-year-old DeGroote is causing no end of grief for the labour movement, particularly the 280,000 members of the Canadian Union of Pub- lic Employees (CUPE). Indeed, Laidlaw is pressuring Canadian municipalities to give government operations to the pri- vate sector, which has meant lay off no- tices for many unionized workers and shoddy services for citizens. So far, Laidlaw has escaped public scrutiny. But as trash disposal and gar- bage recycling emerge as hot environ- mental and political issues, the com- pany’s quiet power is beginning to be noticed by workers, conservationists and city politicians. In fact, Laidlaw is a prime source of concern for a number of reasons, includ- ing: eThe concentration of garbage and chemical waste disposal in the hands ofa tiny group of often corrupt conglom- erates. eThe contracting out of essential gov- ernment services to the private sector. eAnd the damage the waste disposal industry is wreaking on the environment. DeGroote’s rise to corporate promi- nence is a classic business folktale. Born in Belgium, he grew up in Southern On- tario where he began hauling manure 8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, AUGUST 19, 1987 Trash and children — the [ from dairy to tobacco farms at the age of 18. Soon after DeGroote bought Laidlaw. In 1959 he took part in what establish- ment scribe Peter Newman called the ‘‘greatest wave of cannibalism in Cana- dian business history.’ Since the *50s, he’s bought almost 230 companies, which today have combined assets of nearly $700-million. Most of those companies are in the garbage disposal and school bus indus- tries. DeGroote now owns 13,000 buses, “operating throughout Canada and the ° U.S. and is responsible for carrying over 750,000 students to school every day. Meanwhile, Laidlaw collects garbage from the doors of 1.3 million homes and has 180 contracts with municipalities. Surprisingly, garbage collection is a lucrative business. Canadians pay $1-bil- lion annually to have it collected. Al- ready, Laidlaw’s net profit in the first half of this fiscal year was $54.6-million. Asa waste disposal company, Laidlaw ranks third in North America, just behind Chicago-based Waste Management Inc. (WMI) and Browning Ferris Industries Inc. (BFI) of Houston. These conglom- erates have such a tight grip on the indus- try that in June, 11 American grand juries began investigating WMI and BFI over charges of price-fixing and bid-rigging. CUPE contends that one reason Laid- law has expanded so rapidly is because DeGroote strong-arms municipalities into contracting out garbage collection and school bus transportation. In fact, Laidlaw’s 1986 annual report says the company will ‘‘become a major parti- cipant in the privatization of municipal transit systems.’’ Using cheap labour, such as paying $7 an hour to bus drivers, Laidlaw woos cities with unfounded promises of lower costs. Beginning in 1980, Vancouver's city workers witnessed an extended Laidlaw = DeGroote has —— bought 230 companies with combined assets Michael DeGroote ~ privatization campaign. One of De- Groote’s subsidiaries formed an alliance with a right-wing anti-tax group and lob- bied city council to contract out residen- tial trash collection. The company al- most won and was only beaten back by a concerted effort from the workers’ union. Now that Canadian cities are moving towards garbage recycling, municipal workers fear anew for their jobs. Laidlaw does recycling in Kitchener, Mississauga and Ottawa, and operates two $1 million recycling plants. To thwart the com- pany’s attempts to win more contracts, CUPE has launched a campaign to have recycling done. by its members. Meanwhile, environmentalists have joined the ranks of Laidlaw critics. Con- sidering there are 3.3 million tonnes of hazardous waste and 18.5 million tonnes of garbage that Canadian waste disposal companies must remove annually, they have reason to be concerned. Laidlaw’s biggest environmental dis- aster was the landfill site it owned in the Hamilton-Wentworth region. This deso- late 80-foot mountain of garbage was once Ontario’s largest dump for chemical wastes. Unfortunately, the site leaked toxins into nearby sewers and streams, causing residents to suffer from sore throats, ear- of nearly $700-million: aches and kidney and bladder Pron fa The landfill also couldn’t account thousands of gallons of liquid wastes. Ff: deed, smugglers were bringing in toX! fluids and throwing them into the Jan with the knowledge of site operato! though no records were kept. Coe sequently, Laidlaw was fined $13, 000 was forging waybills and the dump W closed in 1980. Yet, while DeGroote has said chemi cal wastes are “‘transporters’ ne 38 and wants to stay clear of the stuff, he hi since eaten his words. In 1986, doe paid $513-million for U.S.-based G Inc., a garbage company that has enormous chemical waste disposal ¢° ponent. é Then late last year, Laidlaw went a Tricil Ltd., Canada’s largest toxic wee disposal firm. Tricil operates one 9 afl few chemical incinerators and lam ty dumps in the country. It also has a SP° 4 environmental record, with fines ilut against two of its incinerators for po ing ing and one of its landfills for allow? illegal dumping. When Degroote evel a tually buys Tricil, Laidlaw will be one © 4 the largest disposers of chemical was in Canada and the U.S. xids So, as you can see, garbage and Kt ould have more in common than you W® like to believe.