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DEFEAT SO
N LABOR, CIVIL RIGHTS

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WHY WOODWORKERS STRIKE. . . see page 12

Tribune

VOL. 33, No. 26 1 He
RAR SS

— United action needed
to defend democracy

The large scale raids June 20-on 52 union offices

‘across the province by platoons of RCMP officers on

orders from Attorney-General Leslie Peterson, and the
laying of charges against four building trade unions for
allegedly failing to obey a government order under Bill
33, marks a new and more serious stage in the Socred-
employer attack on B.C.’s trade unions.

This was the charge made last
weekend by the B.C. Communist

Party in a statement which said’

that “‘the attack on the workers’
organizations was  unpre-
cedented in the province’s 101
year history and places the life
of the trade unions and

democracy itself in great

jeopardy in B.C.

‘Despite the Attorney
General’s statement that the
secretly-planned and military-
type operation was ‘normal
procedure, legally carried out’
the fact remains that never in
B.C.’s history has a government
ordered its police forces to
launch such a massive attack on.
any people’s movement or
organization. The very nature of
the operation is an open

‘ declaration of war by the

government on behalf of the big
monopolies against the main
mass organization of working

ie :
go, arging that the Socred

ation net was using legal
Union paper ee scale raids on
Construct: Ices to _intimidate
Ra Uction unions into settling,
tr aynes, — secretary-
oF Later of the B.C, Paleration
that «,,, Warned the government
build €re is no way you can

Warrant ee with search

T :
On aed by 75 RCMP officers
Traq N offices of the Building
S Council and the
Offices of the
; Boilermakers,
asons, Electricians,
‘ ne al and Frost
ai » 4ronworkers and
Mand Sheet Metal Workers

has shocked the public and all
labor.

Raids were also conducted in
Victoria, Cranbrook, Kamloops,
Kitimat, Nanaimo, Nelson, New
Westminster, Prince George and
Prince Rupert. Charges have
been laid against four unions
alleging they failed to obey a
government back to work order.
Attorney General Les Peterson
has announced that additional

‘charges will be laid in the next

few days against others.

Haynes said after the raids
that ‘‘what has happened
confirms everything the labor
movement has been saying about
this government and Bill 33
(Mediation Commission Act).”’

Charging that the police action
will do nothing to resolve the
dispute, Haynes recalled that
when Bill 33 was passed
Peterson (then Minister of
Labor) said‘it would bring labor
peace, but the opposite has been
the case.

“J think people have to be
terribly alarmed when dozens
and dozens of RCMP officers
swoop down on union offices in
such an intimidating manner.”
He added that the government’s
action ‘‘proves once and for all
that this government is in the
pockets of the employers of
B.C.” He said the action of the
government in trying to bail out
the construction employers has

‘Search warrants won't build skyscrapers’

prolonged the dispute and will
make it much more difficult to
resolve.

The Socred government’s
action also came under fire from
Teamsters’ union leader Ed
Lawson who charged that the
employers are the direct
beneficiaries of acts of Minister
of‘Labor Chabot. He questioned
why Premier Bennett wants to
“continue to try to breathe life
into a_ totally-discredited
Mediation Commission.”’

Commenting on the police
raids NDP provincial leader
Dave Barrett said he ‘‘regretted
such action was necessary,” a
statement which has come under

See WARRANTS, pg. 11

‘people. Such actions have

hitherto been experienced only
in fascist states.

“The Socred government’s
insistence on imposing its
oppressive anti-labor laws —
widely discredited and opposed
by all labor and even sections of
the employers — has placed in
danger not only the existence of
the trade unions, but democracy
itself. No government can
destroy the democratic rights of
the working people without at
the same time jeopardizing the
civil and democratic rights of
all. Experience in other
countries has shown that
oppression of labor ultimately
leads to oppression against all

segments of the population and‘

to the eventual destruction of
freedom.

“The Socred government is
acting as if it is imposing its own
brand of the War Measures Act,
all under the guise of ‘obeying
the law’ even if it is under the
hated and widely unpopular Bill
33.

“‘The major issue involved in
the present confrontation forced
on the unions by a big business
government armed with the
worst anti-labor legislation in
Canada — is whether working
people are free to refuse to work
under terms unacceptable to
them, or whether they shall be
subject to forced labor. Along

See LABOR RIGHTS, pg. 12

STOP PRESS NEWS

The B.C. Supreme Court
Wednesday quashed the war-
rants used by the RCMP to raid
union offices and ordered all
seized documents returned to
the unions. -

Attorney General Peterson
said Thursday morning the
decision will be appealed.