LABOR The Carpenters Union demanded last week that Solicitor-General Perrin Beatty conduct an investigation into allegations that a member of the RCMP attended a strategy meeting held by an opposition slate prior to executive elections in the union’s Vancouver Local 452. Carpenters Provincial Council Bill Zander said that he sent the letter Sept. 10 after hearing a report of RCMP involve- ment from union business agent Villy Anderson. The information was laid out in a formal affidavit as well as a letter to Local 452. The union has not released the letter but portions of it were quoted in a leaflet dis- tributed to Local 452 members during the most recent election campaign. Elections for the local’s executive and table officers were completed June 19 but after voting returned the incumbent pro- gressive slate by a narrow margin, the union’s international office intervened to order new elections. According to Local 452 vice-president Alex Baird who signed the leaflet going out to members, the new vote was ordered “on the basis of a com- plaint made by a few unsuccessful candi- dates over procedural technicalities.” It was following the ordering of new elections — slated to be held Sept. 19 —that Anderson revealed that an RCMP officer had been involved in elec- tion strategy meetings. He also stated that other meetings had been held — also to. discuss the Local 452 elections — with RCMP involvement in union elections protested members of a rival slate and other Carpen- ters who were not members of Local 452. “Others, not members of Local 452, were involving themselves in the Local 452 election campaign...and Carpenters Union international general representative Pat Mattei participated in meetings directly to assist the opposition slate. I make this statement from personal know- ledge,” Anderson stated in his letter, quoted in the leaflet. “T started to question whether to partic- ipate with this group further after being called to a metting at (Rudy) Eylmann’s house to which an RCMP officer had been invited. “I now wish to publicly disassociate myself from the opposition group,” he stated. Sy Zander also noted in a telephone inter- view that a member of the union’s provin- cial council had reported some time ago that he had been contacted by an RCMP officer who wanted to discuss internal union affairs, an indication taht the latest incident isn’t an isolated one. “Surely we’re entitled to conduct our union affairs without interference from the police,” Zander said, adding that his letter had been sent with that in mind. He said that he called on Beatty to con- duct a thorough investigation into the incident and also demanded assurances from the solicitor-general that there would not be any interference in this or any other union election. New Fed formula could resolve debate By SEAN GRIFFIN For the first time in years, a proposal to change the B.C. Federation of Labor’s con- stitutional provision on representation of delegates at conventions would win major- ity support without major revision. A constitution and structure committee which has wrestled with the contentious issue for the past several months has come up with a formula which addresses the major issue of representation at conven- tions based on membership size while retaining the traditional rank-and-file char- acter of federation conventions. The report, a copy of which was obtained by the Tribune, was adopted unanimously by the committee, and was subsequently endorsed by the federation’s executive council. It is expected to go out to delegates some time next month. On the key issue of delegate entitlement, the committee has recommended a signifi- cant change in the representation formula. Currently, the constitution provides for two delegates for the first 250 or less members in a union local and one addi- tional delegate for each 250 members or major fraction thereof. The proposed new formula would give local unions one delegate for the first 100 or less members and one additional delegate for each additional 150 members or major fraction thereof. Calling the proposed formula “the most fair and equitable,” the committee notes that it would only reduce the overall size of the convention by a potential 40 delegates. But most important, it notes, the proposal “provides for representation to all affiliates from the smallest to the largest in relation to That allowance for “representation by population” is of importance particularly to the International Woodworkers which has long complained about paying a major share of federation per capita while its over- all delegate entitlement was less than com- parable unions such as the B.C. Govern- ment Employees and its delegate-to- membership ratio was smaller than many small unions. The regional leadership of the IWA cited that imbalance in pulling all but a Transit union president Colin Kelly accuses the Royal Bank of lacking ‘‘an acceptable level of morality’’ at double-barreled demonstration outside the bank’s regional office in downtown Vancouver Sept. 13. The demonstration, sponsored by the Independent Canadian Transit Union and the Southern Africa Action Coalition, hit the Royal for its loans to the South African government through the Orion Royal Bank in London, and for the bank’s refusal to drop business dealings with Loomis Armored Car during the current lockout of Loomis employees. Other speakers included United Church minister John Cashore, and SAAC president Zayed Gamiet. token amount of per capita payments last year. At the same time, however, the new for- mula maintains the approximate size of delegations from most small and medium- sized unions. Where reductions do occur — in the United Fishermen’s and Postal Workers’ delegations, for example — they are relatively small. Analysis of the change shows that the IWA would go from some 150 delegates under the existing formula to some 230 under the proposed formula while the BCGEU delegation, now 322, would be reduced by some six delegates. The Canadian Union of Public Employees would also have its delegation cut by about 40 members to 190; the UFAWU by 24 to 50; and CUPW by 25 to 42. On the other hand, the Canadian Paperworkers’ would gain six delegates, increasing its delegation to 60; the Food and Commercial Workers would gain 25 for a total of 98; and the - ~~ TRIBUNE ss! s H Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street I Vancouver, B.C. V5K 125. Phone 251-1186 | Sls let Get ee eee ; H ge She cS Me wd See ed | | ene Peete te 5 ee es I 1 tamenciosing 1 yr.$140 2ys.$250) 6mo.s80 Foreign yr. $200 I Bill me later Donation$........ uJ \ READ THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LABOR 12. PACIFIC TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 18, 1985 Longshoremen would gain one extra dele- gate for a total of 41. Significantly, the proposed formula does not result in any significant change in the political makeup of federation conventions, based on the voting patterns last year in the election contest between Frank Kennedy and Art Kube. And that factor is likely to give the new proposal added support. Closely related to the constitutional change proposal is the affiliation of the 25,000-member Hospital Employees Union which had been hung upon a dispute as to whether the union was one local or a number of separate and autonomous units, with HEU’s delegate entitlement dependent on the outcome. However, a formula has also been pro- posed for that. “An understanding has been reached which will allow us to affiliate to the B.C. Fed,” HEU secretary-business man- ager Jack Gerow told the Tribune, although he would not release any details. He did state that the proposed delegate entitlement follows the pattern of “repres- entation by population”, noting that the HEU “is the fourth largest union and representation will be commensurate with that. “Our executive was involved throughout the negotiations and they’re satisifed with ‘the result,” he added. The participation in federation conven- tions of the HEU delegation — which will number at least 160, the amount the union would be entitled to if it affiliated as a single local — will almost certainly have an impact on the policy direction of federation conventions. Gerow told reporters during last year’s convention that if the union had - been seated, its delegates would have sup- ported Frank Kennedy for president. . ! Of a number of other constitutional changes proposed by the committee, none is likely to have the same profile as the dele- _ gate entitlement amendment, althoughsome _ may prove to be more controversial. F One, in particular, will probably spark considerable debate since it proposes to — take responsibility for appointment of fed- — eration committees away from the executive — council and give it to the president, subject — only to the approval of the executive coun- cil. vy Another change proposes that the pres- ent system of numbering the 12 vice- — presidents be replaced by an at-large system of election, a change which may raise ques- tions as to how it will affect the long stand- ing tradition of representation by sector. But most changes are intended to stream- line the federation’s work and bring it into line with current practice. : One such change, which will be welcomed. — ‘by many unionists, simplifies the wordingin. _ the oath of office. The former oath, which calls on candidates for office to swear that they are “not associated in any manner with any group which expounds or promotes OF encourages any doctrine or philosophy con- trary to, or subversive of, the fundamental principles and institutions of the democrati¢ form of government in Canada,” was 4 hold-over from anti-Communist clauses of the Cold War years. The change would — eliminate that wording, pledging nominees — only to “perform their duties” as B.C. Fed officers.