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| LABOR -

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Demand mounting for ‘Solidarity II’

“Build Solidarity IT” is a theme echoing
Ough this province’s labor movement.

7 Although neither the officers of the B.C.
Federation of Labor nor Operation Solid-

arity have yet responded to the growing ~

call, the necessity of a Solidarity II is
adding pressure daily for a new round of
Mass action. .

If it ever Teally existed, the truce that
ended the public sector strike six months
4g0 has long since been totally abrogated

y the provincial government. It has
Pressed on with its program and has stead-
lly intensified its attack which has now
Teached fever pitch.

Essentially the same human rights legis-
ose and landlord and tenant bills that
Te hoisted for “consultation” last fall

T€ now back in the legislature. Another
3 to gerrymander an additional five or
re ored seats through an electoral redis-
af ution is also back in the legislature

ter a similar bill had to be dropped just
Prior to the May, 1983 provincial election.
ass firings of teachers and other public
Sector workers, and social service cutbacks
ave now far exceeded those announced in

ee 1983 budget that gave birth to

darity.

b The Socreds are now ready to bite the
Sullet on their main objective — a deci-
Siv€ confrontation with the trade union
Movement. NDP labor critic Colin
abelmann placed the issue correctly last
Week in Vancouver when he warned the
patpenters rally that so-called Expo legis-
ation will have implications far beyond
that project and set a province wide prece-
€nt for the use of a modern form of “slave
labor”. He predicted the legislation could
take the form of amendments to the labor
Code, or would at least be complementary
to Subsequent legislation. The present
Objective of the government goes far
ree the procurement of cheap labor
ss Projects like Expo, he said, but is now
othing short of the effective destruction

of trade union power in B.C.
site €f€ is ample evidence to bear out that
in 1s. The unprecedented legislation giv-
: ts cabinet the power to write the collec-
ae agreement of pulp workers, and to
_ ae itifit wishes, is one clear indication
soa € government’s determination to
tions. absolute control over labor rela-
: S. And the rapid exit of Stephen Kelle-
: from the top job at the Labor
. ations Board has now cleared the way
i the LRB to become the instrument of
80vernment policy that the Socreds have
HePlement new provisions of labor legisla-
On that will ban secondary picketing,

Prohibit the use of n iati
on-affiliation clauses,
ee _ !

Wanted, a quasi court able and prepared to,

Fred Wilson

and invite employer participation in a
wave of decertification moves.
All that and much more were itemized
and detailed in the “Draft 34” amend-
ments to the code that were leaked to

‘Solidarity last summer. Also included in

that set of amendments was the kind of
language tailor-made for Expo or other
Socred megaprojects. That would give the
cabinet the power to declare any part of
B.C. or any project in B.C. an “economic
development project”. Once such a desig-
nation was made it would become illegal
for any union or employee to “engage in,
declare, authorize, induce or connive at a
cessation of work, a refusal to work or to

continue to work by employees in combi- -

nation or in concert or in accordance with
a common understanding, or a slow down
or other activity on the part of the
employees designed to restrict or limit
output during the term of a collective
agreement entered into on behalf of those
employees.”

Bennett’s Expo legislation may or may
not proceed from Draft 34, but the kind of

- regime in which, in the premier’s words,

“no one has the power to impede the
operation of Expo 86,” is clear enough.

The significance of that kind of legisla-
tion is equivalent to the “without cause”
provisions of the original Public Sector
Restraint Act (Bill 3). It would deny the
very basis of trade unionism by eliminat-
ing union security and the right of free
association. :

The government’s agenda has never
been negotiable. It has been held up by
Solidarity’s fightback, but the Socreds
have relentlessly returned to their basic
program with new tactics. The attraction
of the world fair to a population battered
by economic crisis is the leverage that the
government now hopes will cut short the
ability of the labor movement to respond.

Regardless of any legislation, the Build-
ing Trades will not tolerate a martial law
situation on the Expo site. They would do
so at their peril because the wild card in the
government and employers’ hand is the
now completed CLRA (Construction
Labor Relations Association) lockout
vote. For a government and employer
class intent on breaking the labor move-
ment, what better situation could be asked

Me

for than the contrast of a giant project
where unions are nonexistent or impotent
and a locked out union sector with
demands on the unions for massive
concessions.

The inevitable confrontation at Expo

would sooner or later involve Solidarity.

But it would be on the ground politically
prepared by the Socreds.

Solidarity’s stand must be taken now
with a declaration that martial law legisla-
tion at Expo, or any other legislation that
would prevent the Building Trades from
exercising the provisions of their collective
agreements will not be allowed to pass.

Mass action by Operation Solidarity
and the coalition stopped the Public Ser-
vice Amendment Act (Bill 2) and forced
changes in Bill 3. Only a Solidarity II will
stop the Socreds now. —

There is a growing demand for Solidar-
ity IJ, and it is enhanced by the lessons
learned from the first round of mobiliza-
tion last fall. Those lessons are now clearly
understood by broad sections of the labor
movement: first, the labor movement can-
not win alone — it must link the defence
of its rights to the defence of human and
democratic rights and social services for
all; second, although rallies and public
education are required components of the

fightback, only co-ordinated economic

action will force the government to the
bargaining table; third, Solidarity must be
prepared to engage in the broad, militant
action necessary to win a change in
government policy, or the labor move-
ment will be once again demobilized while
the government continues its attack.

Solidarity II must be quickly mobilized
with the confidence that the government’s
program is profoundly undemocratic and
that it can be beaten in the public arena.

There have already been several calls to
the B.C. Fed. leadership for an emergency
conference of all Operation» Solidarity
affiliates to assess the crisis and project a
fightback program. Such a conference is
the urgently required first step to Solidar-
ity II. 2 :

A clear program of demands is needed.
The obvious demand once any legislation
is introduced would be for its hoisting. But
Operation Solidarity cannot afford to
leave its allies in the Solidarity Coalition

out of the action. A warning to the
government and a pledge to the coalition
that Operation Solidarity will continue to
link anti-labor legislation with the attack
on human rights and social services would
be warmly received by the coalition and_
ensure that labor won’t have to stand

_alone.-

A new round of mobilization will have

_to begin with a massive public information

campaign and political demonstrations.
The Western Premiers’ Conference May 7
and 8 in Kelowna could be surrounded by
thousands of demonstrators. A significant
date in coming weeks will be Saturday,
July 7, the anniversary of the first budget
and hence of Solidarity itself.

. The New Democratic Party opposition.
must also be won for its active participa-
tion in the fightback. Nothing less than the
same spirited fight in the legislature that
the NDP wages last summer will be
needed.

‘The 800 trade unionists that attended
the Carpenters’ rally in Vancouver last
week gave spirited endorsement to a reso-
lution calling on Operation Solidarity to
defend the right to organize and strike by
all means necessary, up to and including a
general strike. Predictably, Jack Munro
was back on the front pages of the news-
papers the next day putting down any
suggestion of a general strike and pretend-
ing to speak for trade unionists in this
province. But the Munro position is
increasingly isolated; the majority of labor
leaders now see the need for Solidarity II
and are prepared to participate, if sound
leadership is given.

Neither the Carpenters nor anyone else
has called for an immediate general strike.
But it is obvious that Solidarity IT will have
to pick up from Solidarity I, with co-
ordinated economic action if anti-labor
legislation is introduced into the legisla-
ture and passes first reading.

There is an argument from the right
wing of the labor movement, buttressed by
the cynicism of the-ultra left, that Solidar-
ity II will be more difficult to bring
together with less. hope of winning. That
argument is the best yet for a new direction
in leadership in the labor movement. In
fact, the labor movement is light years
advanced from its position before the July,
1983 budget; it is united, and allied witha
broad people’s coalition, and has gained
valuable experience.

All that is missing now to make
Solidarity II a reality is for the leadership
to step forward and issue the call for unity
and mobilization.

Fred Wilson is B.C. labor secretary for
the Communist Party.

GREETINGS
ON
MAY DAY

Strengthen the
_ fight for
Peace and jobs

Vancouver Island
Regional
Committee

Communist Party
of Canada

MAY DAY GREETINGS

to all members, friends and supporters
Communist Party of Canada

Bill Bennett Club
Burnaby Club
Campbell River ;
Creston Club

Comox Club
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Delta Club

Kingsway Club
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New Westminster Club
Nigel Morgan Club

Niilo Makela Club
North Vancouver Club
Olgin Club

Penticton Club
Richmond Club
Shuswap Club
Surrey Club

Trail Club
Vancouver East Club
Vernon Club
Westside Club ~

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MAY 2, 1984 e 5

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