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Labour

Movement still slow on the environment |

By FRANK COX

One has to conclude after the last B.C.
Federation of Labour convention that the
labour movement has come some distance
in recognizing the seriousness of environ-
mental issues - at least compared to a decade
or so ago when only some fishermen and a
few others were lone voices speaking into
the winds of disinterest. The executive coun-

cil report, some committee reports, num-_

erous resolutions and some good contribu-
tions on the floor of the convention suggest
a growing sense of urgency about the issue.

Mind you, we haven’t advanced beyond
empty phrases such as “sustainable develop-
ment” in all cases, and we still couple most
expressions of environmental concem with
the soothing words “without threatening
economic security.” Little that is written or
said suggests the necessity, as matter of sur-
vival, for fundamental changes in who
makes the decisions in our society and for
whose benefit.

But progress is progress and good work
has been done to develop important ques-
tions for the labour movement, such as a
clear suggestion that environmental issues
are intertwined with those of democratic
control of resource policy and use, of sus-
taining viable communities, and of achiev-
ing a just settlement for Aboriginal people;
that solidarity between important sectors of
our communities such as the Native, labour,
and environmental movements is essential;
and that resource use conflicts between
natural allies is not productive.

Labour Forum

In particular, the issue of jobs versus the
environment is beginning to be addressed.

The report of the executive council states,
in reference to the past year: “We were not
going to be drawn into the false conflict
between jobs and the environment that was
the corporate ’divide and conquer’ strategy.”
It indicates that the vehicle for dealing with
environmental and land use issues is the
Federation’s Task Force on the Environ-
ment, a body that was set up at the instruc-
tion of the previous convention.

An interim report of the task force was
circulated to the convention and although its
work is not complete it sets out to address:

*The need for a balance between sus-
tainable use of resources and protection of
our environment;

¢Methods of increasing employment in
resource extraction and enhancement indus-
tries without sacrificing the ability of ir-
replaceable watersheds and wildlife habitat
to renew themselves;

Procedures for resolving land use dis-
putes;

¢Programs to ensure that workers do not
bear the economic costs of environmental
protection, and are fully compensated for
dislocation and retraining which may result
from changes in environmental policy. ~

So far, the task force has been able to
focus attention on forest policies and man-
agement but before any recommendations

Tbace on Hath

LO

CUPESB.C.

are put forward, it plans to study: the Native
perspective; the fishing industry; other
resource areas such as mining, megaprojects
and dams; dispute resolution of land and
water use conflicts; and the relation between
value-added activity and the Free~ Trade
Agreement.

The report includes some useful informa-
tion, good examples of which concern cor-
porate concentration, pollution, and em-
ployment in the forest industry. Some of it is
worth repeating here.

On corporate concentration: “The coas-
tal (forest) industry has become oligopolis-
tic to a greater extent that before. Five firms
control 72 per cent of the coastal forest, and
three — MacMillan Bloedel, Fletcher-Chal-
lenge and Doman Industries — control 60
per cent .... With control comes a high de-
gree of influence and power over all levels
of government and over economic develop-
ment.”

On silviculture and reforestation: “B.C.
still has hundreds of thousands of hectares
of not satisfactorily-restocked land to be
replanted (according to the legislative and
research committee, that amounts to
443,000 hectares). In Sweden the goal is to
spend on silviculture 10 per cent of the gross
value of wood removed. Even with its high
level of planting, B.C. is spending less than
two per cent.”

On employment: “Employment in tim-
ber extraction industries has decreased by 22
per cent from a high of 96,841 in 1979 to
current levels of approximately 76,000 ....
But the amount of timber cut has jumped
from 75.2 million. cubic metres in 1978 to
90.6 million in 1987.”

Two-and-one-half times as much timber
is needed to be cut in 1987 as in 1950 to
provide one job in the forest industry ...

“The record is more dismal when B.C. is
compared with other countries. Statistics
from 1984 reveal that whereas B.C. pro-
duces about one job per thousand cubic
metres of timber logged, Sweden produces
about 2-2.5 jobs, the U.S., about 3-3.5 jobs,
New Zealand five jobs per thousand cubic
metres logged (or2.6 if logs exported are not
included), and Switzerland an astonishing
11-12 jobs for each thousand cubic metres
logged. Switzerland has as many forest in-
dustry workers as B.C., using one-tenth the
volume of logs.”

Not mentioned is the increase in employ-

ment that could result from ecological forest q

practices as opposed to the devastate and un
management currently in force.

The report goes on to sketch briefly the

array of pollution problems associated with q
the forest industry such as organochlorines —

from pulp mills, air pollution, chlorophenols
used as anti-sapstain agents, all of which
damage the health of workers as well as the
environment.

The report touches on other pollution

issues such as Canada’s rank as second inthe —

production of carbon dioxide emissions, the
loss of agricultural and wet lands, as well as
some mention of issues of ownership and
control and the free trade agreement.

On the whole, the report appears to be a

good start in involving more than just a few
activists in addressing such crucial issues.
However, throughout the report and in the
conclusion in particular, despite startlingly
obvious facts, no real indication of who the
real enemy is laid out.

The fact that we are not at present very
successful in effecting change and reaching
essential unity between important sectors of
our communities is somewhat glossed over.
There is no effort to challenge the mistaken
idea that wilderness preservation or environ-
mental control has anything substantial to do
with the loss of forest jobs.

It also seems a little soft on the forest
corporations. MacMillan Bloedel somehow
escapes any bad press in any convention
documents. The report does not as yet con-
front the obvious that if we are going to have
jobs, if we are going to develop ecological
sustainability, if we are to look forward to
sustainable communities, we have to be
clear that this involves wresting control
decisively. away from the corporate giants

and insisting that.control must be rooted in

the community within the context of public
ownership and ecological sustainability.

Again, the gravity of the environmental
crisis or the restructuring measures we will
most certainly have to face is not explicit in
the report.

Nonetheless, as the report indicates this
important process of developing labour’s

policies and actions on these issues is far

from complete. It concludes with the follow-
ing paragraph:

“We also take the opportunity to use this
report as an invitation to local unions, in-

dividual workers and other citizens we have ~

not heard from, to make their ideas and
concerns known to us. Your participation is
essential.”

No Gulf War.
Peace in the
Middle East.

B.C. Peace Council
Room 712, 207 West Hastings St.
Vancouver, B.C.
Phone: 685-9958

For peace, security
-and an independent
and sovereign Canada.

TRIBUNE _

Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5. Phone: 251-1186

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28 « Pacific Tribune, December 17, 1990