EIT -ncndtilniaieabaiainiat nmin * pe a me CANADA Lavigne case opens door to union-bustins By GORDON MASSIE TORONTO — Ontario Supreme Court Justice John White’s July 7 judgment in the case between Mervin Lavigne and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is yet another example of the neo- conservative drive to take labor relations back to the nineteenth century. This time it is being done under cover of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Lavigne, a Haileybury Ont., teacher who under the “Rand formula” pays union dues but is not a member of OPSEJU, has with the backing of several of Canada’s corporate elite successfully chal- lenged the practice whereby a portion of his dues are used for “‘political” purposes: financial backing for the New Democratic Party, the peace movement and so on. The effect of Justice White’s ruling has ominous tones for the labor movement. He ruled that the community college for which Lavigne works is a “government agent” which, by collecting union dues through the collective agreement, “acts so as to force an individual to financially support a union when he opposes the union, its objects and its methods (and therefore) his freedom of association has been abridged.” The labor movement warns that this ruling could be interpreted as applying to Ontario and across the country. private sector union agreements as well, in Efforts to portray Lavigne’s “victory” as a triumph for the little guy against the “big powerful unions” are absurd indeed. Lavigne’s case was bankrolled to the tune (so far), of more than $400,000 by the ultra-conservative National Citizens ‘Coalition (NCC). The NCC is backed by some of the biggest operators in the coun- try’s corporate and banking elite, including to name just a few: J.V. Clyne, former chairman of MacMillan Bloedel; Gerald Hobbs, director of the Bank of Nova Sco- tia; and Keith Bapsey, former president of the Canadian Manufacturers Association. the NCC, big corporations and wealthy individuals should be able to contribute freely to any organizations and campaigns they want to to.: “They don’t’*have to consult share- holders or workers, they just fork over the cash.” As the Communist Party Central Committee stated at its December 1985 plenum, “if the Ontario Supreme Court were to uphold the NCC and take away the democratic rights of the workers, it would not be long before collective bar-- gaining rights would also be under attack. Commentary In addition, some 50 Tory MPs are believed to be NCC supporters. It is isn’t overturned, Justice White’s decision will have paved the way for a return to the open shop and union busting. White’s judgment carried to its logical conclusion would rob all government employees of their political rights. It would block unions from carrying out their political and social programs as democratically mandated through con- ventions. OPSEU president Jim Clancy is right to point out a- double standard here. Responding to the judgment, Clancy observed that, “‘in the world according to “The aims of the NCC and those financ- - ing this case are clear enough — the aims and interests of monopoly.” Trade union rights are under attack by the neo-conservatives precisely because they are the main obstacle to the efforts of monopolies and their. government to dump the burden of the capitalist crisis on the shoulders of working people. Erosion of trade union rights will mean the erosion of democratic rights all down the line. z Workers should view with some con- cern recent statements by Ontario NDP leader Bob Rae downplaying the serious- ness of thé judgment. Likewise, statements _ defend and extend democracy such as those attributed to National | of Provincial Government Empleo i leader John Fryer, that, “the ratte are not nearly as serious as the would want us to believe,” area¢ to the trade union movement. Ai The trade union movement an ‘ele democratic forces must go all out t0 this attack on the civil and demo®™ rights of workers and their unions: The appeal against Justice White’ ‘2 to the Supreme Court of Canada “em the full backing of the labor and cratic movements. However, this appeal should bet stered by a mass public camps defence and extension of trade unio? democratic rights. ai The NCC attack shows that Of ofl labor must get into the constitl ni debate and develop a mass campaier Bill of Rights for Labor to be ens the Canadian constitution. {10 Such a bill would include the ee job, the right to strike and to picks right to organize, and the right 0” tiate on all matters affecting wage working conditions. Cc Labor’s struggle against the NC f neo-conservativsm is the struggle the line. A Gordon Massie is leader of the Co nist Party in Ontario. Rankin The crisis in the shipbuilding industry in B.C. (most of it is located in the Greater Vancouver region) is rapidly going from _bad to worse. In the period 1974-1982 about 8,000 workers were employed in the indus- try. The multiplier effect in this industry is 3:1, which means it provides another 21,000 jobs in industries connected with shipbuild- ing activity. Since 1982 the industry has been going steadily downhill. Today the workforce in shipbuilding in B.C. is about 1,000, and going down. The reasons for this decline can be traced directly to the policies being pursued by the federal government and by the big corpora- tions engaged in shipping. They include the following: © Lack of financing: At a time when every country involved in shipbuilding is increas- ing its subsidies to the industry, Canada is doing the opposite. Without such conces- sionary financing there is no way the indus- try can survive or compete. The Tory government does not hesitate to subsidize banks that go broke, to hand out billions in phony research tax credits, but it refuses to subsidize shipbuilding. © Foreign registry: Canadian and foreign owned corporations operating in Canada (the CPR, MacMillan Bloedel, Imperial Oil to name just a few) that require ships are having them built in foreign shipyards, reg- istering them in foreign lands to escape taxes, and employing foreign crews from lands where unions are forbidden so they can pay far below standard wages. To try and rectify this situation, con- cerned groups established the Greater Van- couver’ Coalition on Shipbuilding. It includes representatives of the shipbuilding industry, unions and the mayors of affected municipalities. One of its first acts was to send a delegation to Ottawa to ask that the 2 ¢ PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JULY 16, 1986 Union officials, Greater Vancouver mayors, and shipyard company representatives at a recent joint press conte, calling for federal subsidies to rebuild Canada’s ailing shipbuilding industry. From left to right are Marine Workers ¢nott Boilermakers Industrial Union president John Fitzpatrick, Vancouver Mayor Mike Harcourt, Mayor Marilyn Baker of DA Vancouver district, North Vancouver city Mayor Jack Loucks, B.C. Federation of Labor president Art Kube, and Alsop, senior vice-president of Versatile Pacific Shipyards. proposed Class B icebreaker which the fed- eral government plans to build be con- structed in B.C. yards. So far the Tory government has not committed itself as to where the contract will go. Vancouver city council, with the support of the Committee of Progressive Electors, also submitted a brief to the Tory govern- ment on shipbuilding. It points out that the difficulties faced by the industry include the following: © Federal legislation permits both the purchase and long term leasing of vessels built in foreign shipyards; ® Canada has no significant deep-sea ‘merchant marine; © Canadian shippers use “flags of con- venience” (register their ships in other lands); @ Our coast guard is obsolescent with outdated equipment; @ Canada lacks an effective shipbuilding program and the kind of concessionary financing arrangements offered by almost all other shipbuilding nations. The brief also points out: ‘““We have the technology, the expertise, the skills and the capacity to build icebreakers and supply vessels for Arctic operations equalling or surpassing those of anyone else in the world.” (John Fitzpatrick, president of the Marine Workers and Boilermakers Union, Vancouver, also pointed out in a recent letter to the federal government that if the icebreaker were built here, it would “encourage the Soviets to buy similar ves- - sels from the Western Shipbuilding Consor- tium for use in their Arctic.” And he added, “We need jobs from the Polar 8 and we need jobs from the Soviet deal. ..to get our members off social assistance and back to work.” The letter of the Greater Vancouver Coa- lition on Shipbuilding to Prime Minister Mulroney regarding the Class 8 icebreaker makes these points: it would “preserve some 900 jobs in the British Columbia shipbuild- ing industry,” and would also “fulfil your pledges 'to-create new jobs in western Can- _ shipbuilding industry to stim ada and to ensure the continu viable Canadian shipbuilding ind COPE isin full support of the de B.C. shipyard workers that Canada” merchant marine and that compe engaged in exploiting our na’ be compelled to build their ships i" crew them with Canadians am and them in Canada. We believe also that Ottawa must® ize the Canadian shipping industtY : may be competitive. Oil com! the banks don’t need subsidies, but building industry does. B.C. and Greater Vancouvel economy, provide jobs and help on the path to economic recovery: COPE will co-operate with all an groups, with business and labor, 105% 7) expand our shipbuilding industry- sider it decisive to Vancouver's s well ie