BY GEORGE HEWISON _ Now that the picket lines are down, the Job of assessing the results of the Operation Solidarity/Solidarity Coalition campaign to date begins. There is no doubt that a clear Victory for the time being has been won by the B.C. Government Employees Union, considering that the objective of the Social Credit government and the B.C. Employers Council on July 7 was the dismemberment of that union. That victory was largely made Possible by the unity of the union combined with the solidarity displayed by the rest of the trade union movement and the community groups linked within the biggest coalition in B.C, history. Less clear is the situation facing B.C. teachers who demonstrated ovewhelming militancy to a surprised government in their walkout despite threats by government courts. True, while it appears there will be no direct reprisals against teachers, it remains to seen whether or not they will enjoy full ex- €mption from the provisions of Bill 3 and whether they will be forced to make up time lost while they were on strike. Even bigger questions are posed for other Public sector unions such as municipal, transport and health care workers. For ex- ample, municipal workers who were poised to strike Nov. 14, are unclear about the fate Of their negotiations which in the case of the Lower Mainland have dragged on for more than a year with no results. Nor is it only the public sector workers Who are looking beyond Nov. 13, the Bill Bennett/Jack Munro summit meeting, to Consider what lies in store for them. The Wood industry talks have been stalled for Months by the employers’ adamant demand for concessions, and other private sector Unions face a similar situation at the bargain- ing table. Amendments to the Labor Code designed to shackle labor have been moved Up on the agenda, and will be introduced ear- ly in 1984, according to Premier Bennett. The nine point program laid out at the “An effective fightback pro- 9ram based on the lessons of the Struggle to date will provide a decisive rebuff to the Socreds, the Fraser Institute, the Employers’ Council and those Who would seek to disunite the biggest popular movement in the Province’s history.” Kelowna meeting was viewed with alarm by the community groups and many in labor as lt appeared to echo the seductive and split- Ung overtures of the premier during his fireside chat when he adjourned the legislature in late October. These same community groups who Quickly rallied to the side of labor during the farly days of July and the budget announce- Ment are thus bracing themselves for another round of attacks. In that context, any delays in preparing for the next round of struggle could be fatal. b An effective fightback program adopted y the B.C, Federation of Labor convention ’sed on the lessons of the struggle to date Will provide a decisive rebuff to the Socreds, € Fraser Institute, the Employers Council and those who would seek to dis-unite the pjesest popular movement in the province’s Story, What are those lessons? © most obvious and positive one is that labor united with its democratic allies can: °fce the government to retreat. Secondly, Sven leadership, the workers and the com- pe uity will respond. Throughout, however, $589 appeared to be a tendency on the part the leadership to underestimate the depth Selings at the grass roots. dra Major deficiency was the reluctance to in W the Private sector unions into the strug- Publi € issue was billed as an attack on the tra € sector rather than an attack on the of 1, won movement. As a result, in most the large rallies, many private sector ‘ac oS Were not involved. Even in the inating strike strategy from Nov. 1-8. Uni Ving the public sector, private sector hee leaders were told that they would Me involved only if union leaders were Charged Or jailed or workers were legislated B.C. FED CONVENTION Maintaining Solidarity essential ng back to work. Again, private sector workers were seen only in a support role for public sector unions, and while many private sector unions did prepare their membership for the “inevitable”? showdown, many others (given the lack of overall leadership) perhaps breathed a sigh of relief that their individual unions were not tested. The consequences of a strategy of 2% years of low key campaigning by labor dur- ing which time thousands of private sector workers were given their layoff slips has created a climate of uncertainty and fear in most job sites. Shop Stewards, and on the . j ivi have been subjected to all BLS pataatient while the bosses’ pro- paganda constantly bombards the workers. Workers are fed the line that they are respon- sible for the economic mess and must bear the cost of improving the situation; that ee are fortunate to havea job; and that the ci service is too fat and responsible for the tax load on the private sector workers. the Operation Solidarity campaign In the public sector and bas prehensive economic @ native based on expansion, and further layoffs. : ‘ What is called for.is mass meetings © stewards ee local officers so that these to meet stepped-up gov't attacks unionists can appreciate that they are not isolated and their problems are not unique to a particular job or industry and so that the discussions on the attack on labor and the need for a labor alternative can be focused. Regrettably, the private sector unions have not been actively brought to the front lines. This shortcoming needs addressing — now. The labor movement in the province, in the next forseeable period, can expect stepped-up attacks not only on union con- tracts but also on the movement’s very ex- istence, as union-busting lawyers move from certification to certification. Where the Labor Code provides some modicum of protection for unions, expect the Employers’ Council to seek the necessary amendments to remove such obstacles. Areas such as the right to political protest and that covering decertification pro- cedures, for example, have alread been targeted. 2 During a recent Labor Relations Board informal hearing, my opponent (from a law firm specializing in labor law from the employers’ side) told me that his firm has in- creased the number of practising lawyers by 40 per cent over the past year and still can’t keep up with the work load. Clearly the war is on. That war can’t be won by tripartite con- sulation over changes to the Labor Code — not when both the government and big - business are bent on crippling if not destroy- ing the trade union movement. It can’t be won by allowing individual unions to be picked off one at a time. It can’t be won by isolating the trade union move- ment from its natural allies in the communi- ty, allies whose interests closely parallel those of the trade union movement. It cannot be won by keeping large sections of the rank and file completely in the dark about the overall strategy being followed, especially when the only other source of in- formation is the employers’ media. It can’t be won if we heed the call of the president of the Canadian Labor Congress to launch a raiding binge against the Building Trades unions ‘“‘to relieve them of as many units as possible.”’ Instead, the blueprint for victory has already been laid out. Operation Solidarity clearly scared the pants off James Matkin, and other members of the Employers Coun- cil and the Socreds because the movement it. “The war can't be won by tripartite consultation over changes to the Labor Code, when government and big business are bent on crippling, if not destroy- ing the trade union movement. created was unprecedented in putting the organized strength of the labor movement with its strike weapon behind political demands. As such, it had immense potential for social change. Through Operation Solidarity, B.C. workers found that extra- parliamentary politics can be a powerful tool. The B.C. Federation of Labor convention needs to keep the Operation Solidarity machinery intact and ready for action; to maintain its organic unity and to give a com- mitment that all its members will be mobiliz- ed in support of those workers still facing the employers and in support of the community which had given its backing to the labor movement but now feels let down over the events in Kelowna. As part of that mobilization process, we will have to go further than we did before. We will need that economic alternative pro- gram. And we’ll need the total commitment of the whole labor movement, in both the private and public sectors, that the gains of , the movement over the past 50 years will not be piecemealed away. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 30, 1983—Page 3