k. Socreds fly ‘right to-work' threats at Tumbler Ridge The Labor Relations Board took the unprecedented action Tuesday of issuing a press statement to voice its ‘“‘deep concern about public statements attributed to the honorable Donald Phillips, minister of industry and small business development”’ over the Tumbler Ridge construction dispute. The LRB statement, which an- nounced that a letter had been writ- ten to labor minister Robert Mc- Clelland expressing the board’s concern, was the latest develop- ment in the dispute at Tumbler Ridge which has become the storm centre for hard-line Socreds seek- ing to create a climate for the in- troduction of right to work legisla- tion. Building trades workers struck the townsite project, part of the massive Northeast coal develop- ment, on Oct. 8 to protest the sud- den influx of large numbers of non- union workers on to the site. The Building Trades unions have non- affiliation clauses in their collective agreements giving them the right to refuse to work alongside non- union workers. . The walkout was precipitated by the appearance at the Tumbler Ridge gravel pit of Rempel Bros. Concrete Ltd., a notorious right- to-work advocate and a member of the organization which has long spearheaded the campaign for right to work legislation, the Indepen- dent Contractors and Businessmen’s Assocation (ICBA). ‘ Building Trades workers employed by Goodbrand Con- struction, which operates the gravel pit, walked off the job, prompting Goodbrand to apply to the LRB for a cease-and-desist order. The application was jointly made with might be ‘‘subjudicial or whatever.” The blatant disregard for the board’s jurisdiction prompted pro- test from LRB chairman Stephen Kelleher which was later formaliz- ed in the letter to McClelland. “When Mr. Phillips first com- mented on a case before the board, board chairman Stephen Kelleher publicly stated that the comments were inappropriate,”’ the statement from the LRB Tuesday stated. However, it added, Mr. Phillips persisted in commenting on the case. “The statements by Mr. Phillips constitute an intrusion upon the processes of the board. The board’s duty is to make impartial decisions on the rights of parties based upon the provisions of the labor code. Such statements impair the board’s capacity to fulfil this ‘statutory mandate.”’ The statement added that it would be ‘‘deciding shortly on what further actions to take.”’ The interference from the top level of the Socred cabinet has heightened fears that the Socreds may be moving towards some form of right to work legislation. The decision on the Tumbler Ridge site could well favor argu- ment that it is a common site since in two earlier precedent-setting cases, including the decision of the Whistler townsite, the board brought down such a ruling. Significantly, the Building Trades had been prepared to accept some local non-union employees working on the site but downed tools when the numbers suddenly began increasing and the non- union contractors began to pro- liferate. B.C. Federation of Labor presi- dent Jim Kinnaird charged last Unemployed rally outside the Employment Canada offices in Port Alberni Monday (top) to demand that Ottawa extend unemployment insurance for jobless whose claims are running out. In Camp- bell River (bottom), members of the Committee of the Unemployed stood outside department of- fices gathering names on the petition which pressed the same demand. Jobless demand benefits extension Unemployed workers’ demonstrations hit two Cana- dian centres Monday, reflecting a growing militancy over the jobless situation that by official estimates amounts to almost one and a half million people. In Port Alberni, some 80 peo- ple demonstrated outside the local Employment Canada of- fice to demand an extension of unemployment insurance benefits as more and more laid off woodworkers are forced on- to the welfare rolls. The demonstration, initiated by the labor council sponsored Organization of Unemployed Workers, was called to coincide with a more than 200-strong protest on Parliament Hill. — In Port Alberni, labor leaders and parliamentarians speaking he said that the large number of unemployed was ‘‘no accident’’ but was a deliberate policy by right-wing governments to place the blame for the recession on workers rather than on corpora- tions. Miller said NDP policy was to ‘*tax the rich, who have taken a tax ride for many years.”’ NDP MLA Bob Skelly said the M-B multinational was launch a “‘vicious attack’’ on working conditions. In the Ottawa demonstra- tion, more than 200 jobless from Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal stood outside in the freezing rain to demand an ex- tension to unemployment in- surance benefits. Inside the House, finance minister Mare Lalonde was saying ‘no’ to are quest from NDP MP Derek Blackburn for an extension of Speaking at the Alberni rally, 26 weeks in the benefits period. The MP for Ontario’s Brant riding said up to 5,500 people per month were being droppé from the U.I.C. rolls after theif year’s worth of benefits had run out. Studies now indicate that figure may increase to between 7,000 and 9,000 in the new yeal- Outside, the demonstrators heard United Electrical the district of Tumbler Ridge, led month that the government and by Socred mayor Pat Walsh. _ Tumbler Ridge had provoked the An interim ruling allowed dispute “‘by awarding contracts to workers on to the site to every non-union, gypo contractor “Winterize,” but still at issue is — including right-to-work con- whether the project is a ‘common tractors — around,” site”’ as defined by the labor code, _ Tumbler Ridgeis at the centre of thus giving Building Trades unions the storm, because it is the the right to use their non-affiliation showpiece for the Socreds’ Nor- my clauses. - theast coal project and because it is located in a Socred stronghold. But at the rally targeted the region’s largest employer, MacMillan- Bloedel, for its extensive layoffs while the company invests in low-wage operations outside Canada. Nick Bos, president of the In- ternational Woodworkers Local 1-85, said the forest cor- poration’s investments in making ‘‘investments with pro- fits earned from Canadian workers — profits that should be kept in Canada to keep Canadians working. Skelly reiterated Bos’ de- mand that M-B “‘use or lose’’ its tree farm licences and said he was working for legislation that would force companies to That issue is now before the LRB and hearings are expected to con- tinue for some days yet. But last week industry minister Phillips indicated that the Socreds may seek legislation to override any decision which would favor the Building Trades. At a press conference in Kamloops Nov. 23 he was asked what the response of the govern- ment would be if the LRB ruled that Tumbler Ridge was acommon site. He replied: ‘‘I guess we’d have to call the legislature and pass a piece of legislation.” A month ago, in an interview with the Financial Post, Phillips referred to comments by premier Bennett, stating, ‘‘the premier had said it (Tumbler Ridge) will not bea closed site and our position is not going to change.” And he repeated that in the Kamloops press conference, in- sisting that Tumbler Ridge “‘is not going to bea closed town.” Healso acknowledged that his remarks the dispute also signals a hard-line approach to labor by the govern- ment. The appointment to labor minister of hard-liner Robert Mc- Clelland — replacing former Liberal Jack Heinrich, an appo- nent of right to work laws — underscored that approach. McClelland was quoted at the Socred convention in Vancouver last month as stating that the government would ‘“‘announce very soon initiatives to get workers more say in the work place.’’ Like the term “right to work’? itself “getting workers more say” has in- variably meant restricting union ts. McClelland was echoeing com- ments by both Phillips and another anti-union Socred MLA, Bill Rit- chie, who recently launched 3 tirade against the trade union movement, repeating the familir accusations that unions were ‘‘in- timidating workers” and ‘‘break- ing small businesses.” PACIFIC TRIBUNE— DECEMBER 3, 1982—Page 12 Brazil, where democratic trade unions are non-existent and wages are low, was “‘a plot to br- ing the working people of Alberni Valley to their knees.”’ “It?s a shame — a crying shame that people holding our TFLs (Tree Farm Licences) can lay off all our people. They should be made to see the suf- fering they have caused,”’ said Bos, adding that companies not using TFLs should lose the licence. Meanwhile in Campbell - River unemployed circulated a petition calling on the federal government to extend the in- surable period for UI benefits to cover the full term of unemploy- ment, and for benefits to be peg- ged at 90 percent of insurable earnings. Some 250 of 325 signatures gathered have already been forwarded to Ot- tawa, and local NDP MP Ted Miller has raised the petition in the House of Commons. justify layoffs if the corpora- tions were investing in opera- tions outside the country. “It’s high time we said ‘enough’ and demanded that MacMillan-Bloedel be taken over,”’ said OUW organizer Bill Massey, accusing the corpora- tion of using the recession to Workers president Dick Barry, — United Steelworkers District director Dave Patterson an Canadian Union of Post Workers president Jean-Claude Parrot call on the whole labor movement to “take a leading role’? in organizing the | unemployed. y, RIBUNE Published weekly at Suite 101 — 1416 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. VBL 3X9. Phone 251-1186. Read the paper that fights for labor Adutess <>... 65... ce, GRVOPIOWN mor ee es Postal Cede ~°.3. 1am enclosing: lyr. $14 O 2yrs.$25 0 6mo. $8 0 Old O New () Foreign 1 year $15 0 Bill me later () Donation$.......... 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