Reversal of ruling demanded Continued from page 1 site Aug. 28 to protest contrac- tors’ use of non-union labor on ' on the huge resort site. The reservation clause gives unionists the right to refuse to work alongside non-union labor. Following the walkout, Con- struction Labor Relations Association sought a cease and desist order, prompting the hearings. The Building Trades Council sought to argue that the Whistler site is an “‘integrated, Or common site’’ thus establishing union conditions for the whole project. ; The contractors claimed that the site was several small sites, and also used the non-union tradesmen to argue that local workers were being denied employmentat ths site asa result of the unions’ stand. “That was just a smokescreen,”’ Building Trades Council secretary Cy Stairs told the labor council meeting. ‘The fact is that we have met the con- cern for local workers.” The real issue, Stairs said, was the bid by the contractors to the open shop concept accepted. “And there’s no question this decision gives aid and comfort to the open shop advocates,” he said. In his ruling, Bone said that he ‘was “prepared to assume that the town site is one in- tegrated construction project’’ but ruled that the unions reser- vation clauses could not be ap- plied. That decision which allows the non-union workers to con- tinue working on thesite, isto be followed by an investigation by the LRB of the history of development on the site and a further ruling. Of major concern in the rul- ing was Bon’s statement “recognizing the desire of: cer- tain interests for a non-union presence . . . and acknowledg- ment of the rights of non-union operators,” a statement which was only slightly moderated by Bone’s word of caution that it “must not be translated into en- couragement of anti-union ac- tivities.” Stairs charged that the ruling was “‘a political decision, made under political pressure.” Carpenters delegate Colin Snell echoed the charge, telling delegates, “‘What the boss can’t win at the bargaining table, what the government can’t legislate, is being rammed down our throats by this decision.’? He said that ‘‘every right-to- work contractor in the province was sitting in the hearing room’? while the hearings were in pro- gress. He called on unionists to “rally the Federation and the: building trades to get this deci- sion turned around.” Fishermen’s delegate George Hewison echoed Snell’s call to rally “‘the whole labor move- ment. “If we don’t,’ he warned, “We'll be going back to the dir- ty days of the 1960s.” one of the construction projects } - BCGEU head attacks Registered Nurses again More cheap shots from John Fryer, general secretary of the B.C. Government Employees’ Union, has returned to one of his favorite pastimes, publicly attack- ing the Registered Nurses’ Associa- tion of British Columbia. The fact that this sort of thing nearly cost him his re-election as an officer at the recent convention of the Canadian Labor Congress doesn’t seem to have registered with him. Now, as the November conven- tion of the B.C. Federation of Labor approaches, there is talk in some labor circles that Fryer should be dumped from the executive council, because he is an embar- rassment to his fellow officers. In the April 11 issue of the Tribune, I sharply criticized Fryer, because of his public outcry in op- Position to the 44 per cent salary in- crease won by the Registered Nurses of British Columbia in a 27 month contract. That settlement was a catch up for past years when nurses fell far behind other workers in negotiating salaries. It was also designed to give the nurses some measure of protection against in- flation. Some readers may recall that the Vancouver Sun came out Apr, 2 with these headlines: Fryer Forecasts Wage Controls — Nurses Hike To Bring Labor Chaos. The precise quotation on labor chaos is this, from John Fryer: “‘The nurses settlement will reverberate throughout the in- dustrial system of this province. It will cause industrial relations chaos and will probably lead to the rein- troduction of wage controls.”’ One of the most prominent and forceful leaders of big business, Bill Hamilton, president of: the Employers’ Council of B.C., was quick to agree with’ Fryer. He branded the settlement “‘totally out of line”’ and said it would “raise the expectations of other workers.’? However, the Vancouver Sunon Apr. 5 quoted Jack Munro, western regional president of the International Woodworkers of America and a close associate of Fryer as follows: “John Fryer is a good friend of mine, but I think he needs treatment from a psychiatric nurse.” Munro and Fryer are officials of both the B.C. Federation and the Canadian Labor Congress. On the day following the statements made by John Fryer in opposition to the nurses’ settlement, the president and secretary-treasurer of the Federation, both full-time of. ficers, issued public statements in support of the nurses’ settlement. In their Own way, that was a repudiation of Fryer. This background should explain why so many active union members are expressing concern Over an item which appeared in the Vancouver Sun Sept. 10, 1980, dealing with a Proposal to set up a council of unions in the field of health care. The proposal was made by Fryer in an address to the annual meeting of the Ambulance Employees’ Union, Local 873 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. In the course of his speech, Fryer pointed out that the LABOR COMMENT > BY JACK PHILLIPS health care field in B.C. employs nearly 60,000 workers and that such a council could’serve a useful purpose in co-ordinating research and negotiations. Unfortunately, he was interviewed by the press after his speech and repeated his position that the nurses’ salary in- crease was the height of irrespon- sibility, thus throwing confusion into an otherwise positive ap- proach. According to the Sun, one delegate said, “I think it’s rather in bad taste for union leaders to criticize other collective agreements negotiated by other trade unions.” Fryer, in reply, demonstrated once again that on many occasions he says what’s on his mind when a more cunning person would re- main silent. “When did the nurses become part of the trade union movement?” said Fryer, according to the news report. Then, he went on to say, “‘I don’t think we can glibly throw out terms like union solidarity when we’re talking about a group that’s never shown union solidarity.” To demonstrate further his lack of finesse, Fryer told the meeting that even if the nurses stayed out of the joint council, the other unions would constitute the majority, and the employers might choose to set- tle with the larger group and thus set the pattern. : _ The Registered Nurses’ Associa- tion of B.C. is an independent Organization which serves both as a bargaining agency and as a profes- is hardly conducive to creating the climate that would facilitate the en- try of the nurses into the CLC. The same could be said about the following independent unions and association in B.C.: Hospital Employees (21,000 members); B.C. Teachers’ Federation (29,000 members); Health Sciences Association of B.C. (3,800 members); Vancouver Municipal and Regional Employees (3,000 members); University and College Employees (2,800 members) and the Registered Psychiatric Nurses ~ of B.C. (1,500 members). Most of these groups have a lot of reservations about many of the accepted forms of struggle tradi- tionally used by the trade union movement, particularly some of the more militant forms peculiar to B.C. However, it’s not so long ago that the same thing could have been said about the union Fryer is paid to represent. In short, it is a ques- tion of understanding, experience and correct leadership. Fryer, as an officer of the B.C. Federation of Labor and the Canadian Labor Congress, is not helping the process of bringing these groups closer to the CLC by his egocentric and foolish outbursts. The situation calls for statesmanship and diplomacy, instead of cheap shots in the daily press. If Fryer thinks for a moment that his attacks will win support for the CLC and the Federation, he had better close some of his academic text books and study the real history of the labor movement. We were advised a short time ‘ago that Fryer had taken a one-year sabbatical and accepted an ap- pointment to teach at the Universi- ty of Victoria, for the 1980-81 academic year. He will be on the staff of the school of public ad- ministration where, according to the official notice, “he will con- tribute insights and first hand knowledge to the school’s growing program in labor relations.”’ Dr. Rod Dobell, director of the sional association. Fryer’s attitude. E JOHN FRYER .. - help to CLC UVic school of public admin tion, had this to say: iti that his presence will prov! siderable impetus to our Plz of empirical research in pU 15 ap tor labor relations.” Frye dit pointment commence September and will run 10 1981. Fryer, 42, was one in Londom England and received a ee in economics from the ea don School of Economics: 7 studied for his master’s degre. labor economics at the Uni yeas of Pittsburgh and served two CLC, as director of research for theC?™ prior to becoming general secretany of the BCGEU in 1969. Accordilé to his official biography, we ed as a special correspondent ol the London Economist from 7 | to 1965 and served as a member! delegate to many national and is ternational organizations an ferences concerned with econo” and technological develop™ and employment. All very impressive, in its ie way. But my suggestion to J 0 Fryer is that he should stick & teaching till the end of the 199¥% academic year and allow the 7 staff he has built up to proceed W their job of administering the and making all public statement that may be required. From af can gather, his senior st members are less inclined to & barrass their membership by i conceived and untimely attacks 9” groups like the Registered Nurs Association of British Columbia: Congress Continued from page 1 mand from the building trades that building trades delegates to CLC ‘conventions be appointed directly by the international office as they are in U.S. conventions of the - AFL-CIO. Six years ago, building trades in- ternationals’ also withheld per ‘capita in retaliation against the CLC which voted in convention to adopt a list of minimum guidelines for Canadian autonomy, and which also voted to reject changes in structure which would have limited rank-and-file participation. McDermott stressed, however, that in the latest dispute the Con- gress has had ‘‘no official list of demands from the building trades, no letters, no telegrams.” On the question of Quebec, he said that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPT. 19, 1980—Page 12 would ‘open autonomy door’ had earlier ‘‘acquiesced’”’ to the separation of the two locals and they subsequently formed their own independent organization which the CFL then chartered. He also told Webster, in response to questioning about Canadian unity, “‘Of course I’m for one Canada — but I’m also very very much for self- determination for Quebecois. “They have the right to deter- mine which way they go,”’ he said. Questioned again as to whether the Congress would issue charters directly to those locals of the building trades who wanted to re- main in the CLC in the event that ‘no agreement could be worked out, McDermott replied tersely: “That’s right.” “There are people who have communicated to me — and there are many of them including many in B.C. — that they are not satisfied with what the building trades er hears leaders are doing and want to stay in the CLC. And the CLC will make the accommodation to let them in,”’ he said. “If that means a competitive, Separate structure, then so be it. I don’t want that. I want to work it ‘out. But if it comes to the crunch I’m prepared to recommend to my City or town Postal Code Published weekly at Suite 101 — 1416 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V5L 3X9. Phone 251-1186 Read the paper that fights for labor ee ' am enclosing: z 1 year $10°) 2 years $18 6 months $¢ Old -New( Foreign 1 we cee wee council that we do that.”’ He reiterated that they would seek to work an agreement 0! ‘