Vol. XLVIII No. 8 vw thewestern Canadian IWorA VANCOUVER, B.C. lumber worker ISSN 0049-7371 SEPTEMBER, 1980 a — SA at Lyle Kristiansen (centre foreground), Member of Parliament for Koot 2e Ms = enay Westand former financial secretary of Local 1-405 IWA, Cranbrook, is shown marching in the parade through Hawkesbury, Ontario, in support of IWA Local 2-600’s strike against Amoco Fabrics. Also marching in the parade is |WA Region No. 2 president J. M. Bedard seen directly behind Kristiansen in the white shirt. (Photo by Rene Tasse) BITTER STRIKE FOUGHT BY [WA MEMBERS IN ONTARIO Over five hundred members of Local 2-600 IWA, on strike at the Amoco Fabrics plant in Hawkesbury, Ontario, since the middle of May, have won the support of the Catholic Church and community in their fight to win a new collective agreement. The Church and community threw their support behind the strikers after the City and Ontario police arrested a number of the strik- ers who were trying to prevent the company (a subsidiary of Standard Oil of Indiana, VANCOUVER, B.¢ | ER clatitvlaiecias <5 ae Ows Wi & — mos = Zeae m2 € 2350 = ms w @ 1 USA) from moving equipment into the plant. A number of the strikers were injured in the near riot and sixty were charged with various breaches of the criminal code. Following the picket line fray the company was granted an injunction limiting the number of pickets to six. Shortly after the injunction was granted three executive members of the Local were charged with vio- lating the injunction and the matter is now before the courts. The strikers are receiving wide support from other IWA Locals and unions. The Catholic Church, through Bishop Plourde of the District of Ottawa, has urged the com- pany to accept the Union’s demand of a two- year agreement with wage increases of one dollar per hour in each year of the agree- ment plus a COLA clause. The present base rate is $4.83 per hour. The company has offered 55 cents an hour on ratification of the agreement, a further ten cents an hour October Ist. 1980, and 50 cents an hour in the second year. The company is also demanding that the Union discipline 30 of its members for alleged misconduct on the picket line. The discipline would be suspension of up to 60 days. The company is also refusing to give the strikers their holiday pay which was due in the last two weeks of July. The Union isin the process of getting the Director of the Employ- ment Standard to order the money paid. J. M. Bedard, president of Regional Coun- cil No. 2, reports that the Minister of Labour has appointed a “dispute advisory commit- tee .. . to confer with, advise and assist in relation to the collective agreement dis- pute...” He also states that the morale of the strik- ers is high and they intend to hold out until | they have won their demands. ee ree SASKATCHEWAN STRIKE . SETTLED Forty employees of Saskatchewan Miner- als, Carrot River Peat Moss Division, a crown corporation, members of Local 1-184 IWA, ended a 10 week strike when they voted to accept a new two year agreement on August 28, 1980. The settlement gives the members at Peat Moss an 85¢ increase effective June 1, 1980 and an 85¢ increase effective June 1, 1981. The Corporation also agreed to roll a 54¢ COLA generated over the previous year. A 20¢ shift differential was also negotiated for ‘both afternoon and night shifts. The em- ployees were also successful in having the company install a well with showers and lockers at the peat bog site as well as other benefits. In order to reach settlement the employees gave up a COLA clause that they have enjoyed since 1974. It became obvious to the negotiating committee that the government felt that 40 people were an insignificant number and were prepared to keep them on strike indefinitely. The Saskatchewan government purchased the peat moss plant in February, 1980. The negotiating committee recommended a reluctant acceptance and the members voted by approximately 60 per cent in favour to accept. a Ko FED. MAILS BRIEF TO VICTORIA The B.C. Federation of Labour will not be going to Victoria to present its Annual Brief to Cabinet this year. Instead the province’s central labour body will mail copies of the Brief to the Premier, members of Cabinet and MLAs. The decision not to present the Brief in person was made by the Federation Officers and Executive Council in meetings held in August. “Year after year we put a lot of time and effort into the Brief, only to have it ignored by the Social Credit Cabinet. The best reception we have received from the Cabinet to date has been one of rude indifference,” said Federation President Jim Kinnaird. “Virtually none of the recommendations made in our last Brief were acted upon. The recommendation that was acted upon bore very little resemblance to what we had asked the government specifically to do. “Last year we were told privately by the SEE “FEDERATION” — PAGE TWO THE LUMB 785 ofr | | }