Labour

Paccar decision axes
labour rights: Justice

KEN GEORGETTI

Continued from page 1

court whether or not the board had erred in
its ruling. The LRB dismissed CAIMAW’s
charge in rulings in 1984 and 1985 that the
unilateral cancelling of contract provisions
after the collective agreement had expired
contravened sections of the: provincial
Labour Code.

“The tribunal has the right to make
errors, even serious ones, provided it does
not act ina manner so patently unreasona-
ble that its construction cannot be rationally
supported by the relevant legislation and
demands intervention by the court upon
review,” they wrote in a judgement released
Oct. 26.

“The board’s decision was consistent
with the Labour Code and the collective
agreement,” the written decision stated.

In its Oct. 2, 1985 ruling, the LRB tribu-
nal concluded that ‘tan employer has the
authority under the Labour Code to make
unilateral alterations to terms and condi-
tions of employment after the expiry of the
collective agreement, subject to his duties
and obligations...to bargain in good
faith. ...” :

In upholding the ruling, the court has
effectively allowed the conditions for mas-
sive labour unrest, trade union leaders said
following the judgement.

Once a collective agreement expires, “‘the
boss can say, ‘Right, now you can take a $5

* an hour cut’,” Succamore observed.

In that situation, unions would have to
wait weeks before they could conduct strike
votes and take the necessary job action, he
noted. Faced with that, unions will likely
take early strike votes: “This could very well
result in several labour disputes,” Succa-
more said. :

“You can be sure that there will no
agreement signed by us or any other union
that doesn’t contain a strong continuation
clause,” he predicted.

“If employers abuse the Paccar decision
and try to take away rights that were won at
the bargaining table, confrontation and
chaos will be the name of the game for
B.C.’s labour relations,” said B.C. Federa-

e

JESS SUCCAMORE

tion of Labour president Ken Georgetti.
Georgetti noted that then provincial
labour minister Lyall Hanson ignored fed-
eration suggestions for legislation to prevent
the abuse inherent in the Paccar decision in

1987. Instead, the Socred government

brought down Bill 19, he noted.

“T call upon the government to bring in
new legislation now,” Georgetti said.

In a dissenting opinion, Supreme Court
of Canada Justice L’Heureux-Dube agreed
with the union’s contention that the LRB, in
ignoring relevant sections of the Labour
Code, came to a “patently unreasonable
solution.”

The decision “provided for no ban on the
unilateral imposition of terms of employ-
ment in the early stages of negotiation. Such
unilateral action could, theoretically, occur
at any time following the termination of the
previous collective agreement,” she wrote.

Stating that such an action “‘is inherently
destructive of the freedom to engage in col-
lective bargaining,” the justice wrote: “This
sanction strikes a fundamental blow to the
freedom of employees to form themselves
into a union and engage the employer in
collective bargaining. The only foreseeable
effect of this measure is to fuel uselessly the
flames of the labour dispute.”

Justice Bertha Wilson also wrote a dis-
senting opinion in which she said the
board’s decision was “‘patently unreasona-
ble.”

B.C. Business Council president Jim
Matkin hailed the ruling, saying the
employers’ organization considers that it
will allow some companies to stay in busi-

ness and spur negotiations. But he also said .

he doubted many employers would take
advantage of the decision.

But Succamore said the union had been
told by Paccar that they wanted to drop the
case, but that the Business Council insisted
it continue. “If it’s no big deal, then why did
they pour all that money into it,” he asked.

Attempts to reach Matkin for comment
were unsuccessful.

Succamore said the union is considering
further legal options.

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12 e Pacific Tribune, November 6, 1989

Trade unions must lead
fight against sales tax

By MIKE BARKER

Outright robbery always galvanizes
hatred and opposition. For this reason
the Tories’ proposed nine-per-cent Goods
and Services Tax has met with universal
opposition from working people. No
amount of Tory propaganda can con-
vince already over-taxed workers that an
additional tax on consumption is just
and fair. This creates fertile ground for a
powerful fightback movement.

Furthermore, because the GST strikes
hard at both organized and unorganized
workers, any fightback has the potential
of uniting the entire working class.

This potential can only be realized if
the trade union movement takes the lead
in this fight.

There has been vocal opposition from °

trade union leaders. B.C. Federation of
Labour president Ken Georgetti is
threatening to lead a “‘tax revolt” against
the GST. The Canadian Labour Con-
gress is also promising a campaign to
stop the tax. .

These campaigns must go beyond
publicity and lobbying if there is to be
any hope of significantly altering the
Tories’ plans. The construction unions in
B.C. are showing the way by considering
job action as part of their fight against
the GST.

If the labour movement does not take
up the leadership of this fight, the lead
will be taken by forces acting against the
interests of working people. There are
many, including Premier Bill Vander
Zalm, who calls for deep cuts in govern-
ment spending as the alternative to the
tax. There is also the call to bring in a
lower tax, but one that is applied without
exemptions to food and other goods.
Groups demanding this are playing right
into the hands of the Tories who are
trying to limit the debate to a choice
between accepting the tax or accepting
deep cuts in government services.

The labour movement cannot afford
to let the Tories determine the limits of
this debate. By taking the lead, the
labour movement can focus on the GST
as an attempt by the Tories and their rich

Labour Forum

corporate backers to transfer more and
more of the tax burden onto the backs of
working people and the poor. The time
has never been better to demand an end
to the present tax system that allows
many profitable corporations and
wealthy individuals to pay no taxes, and
to demand its replacement with a system
in which the wealthy pay their share of
taxes.

The rich have a simple response to this
demand. They will threaten to move
their investments to countries where the
tax system is more to their liking. The
labour movement must be prepared to
meet this threat with thedemand for the
nationalization of corporate blackmail-
ers and public control over investment
decisions.

However, none of these demands will
have the necessary force unless there is a
powerful mass movement to back them
up. The involvement of organized labour
is crucial to the creation of this move-
ment. Because this must be a nation-wide
movement, the major responsibility for
mobilizing labour against the GST lies
with Sister Shirley Carr and the CLC
executive. Unfortunately, despite the
intensity of this issue, we have yet to
receive a clear call to action from the
OLG

It is time to demand that call from the
leadership. The GST is an issue that is
being raised at local union and labour
council meetings and will be an impor-
tant issue at this month’s B.C. Federa-
tion of Labour convention. It will be
important to demand leadership from
the labour movement against the GST at
these forums. The -Tories have never
been so isolated on an issue as they are on
this one. We can stop the GST.

Mike Barker sits on the executive of the '

Hospital Employees Union and is on the
executive of the Vancouver and District
Labour Council.

{
i

Clinic staff seek pact

COMOX — The district labour coun-
cil is throwing its support behind 10
women striking the Comox Medical
Clinic in an-effort to achieve a first con-
tract.

But clinics in the district are making it
difficult for area residents to support the
picket line by refusing to accept the
Comox clinic’s regular clients.

The members of the United Food and
Commercial Workers Local 1518 walked
out Oct. 5 after trying to secure a collec-
tive agreement. The local was certified in
January.

In a newspaper advertisement the
union noted that whereas the clinic’s six

* doctors make up to $320,000 yearly, the

nurses and clerical workers they employ
earn wages as low as $10,650, going up to
$21,800.

“We ask that you respect our picket
line and go to other doctors in the com-
munity for health care services,” the ad
told readers.

But Comox clinic user Wayne Bradley
said that when he phoned a clinic in

Courtenay Oct. 31 and tried to make an
appointment —_ explaining that he
wished to respect the picket line — he
was told that “no doctor will take you in
the Comox Valley as long as the strike is
on.”

When he phoned the Courtenay clinic
again on Nov. 1-and posed as a new
resident in the district, he was told he
could make an appointment, Bradley
said. Another area resident found the
same response when phoning other clin-
ics in the area.

Nanaitad pased | DRGW business

agent Sharon Edwards said the Comox -

Medical Clinic is the first in B.C. to unio-
nize. aes

But negotiations have dragged, with
the union unable to secure agreements
on such basics as a closed shop and
seniority.

The Campbell River, Courtenay and
District Labour Council had scheduled a

mass rally in front of the clinic on Satur- ;

day morning. =F /