By OBSERVER
The 17th Annual Convention of
the B.C. Federation of Labor set
the stage for a new chapter in
the colorful and dramatic

_history of the trade union move-

ment in British Columbia.

In the report from the Exe-
cutive Council, Secretary-Treas-
urer Ray Haynes warned
against thecomplacentassump-
tion that ‘‘our’’ government will
solve most of our problems for
us.

This was the focus of the
Executive Council report and
speaks well for the maturity and
potential of the trade union
movement. On the other hand it
was obvious that the chairman,
Federation President George
Johnston, wanted to put the ques-
tion quickly and get the report
off the floor.

At this point, Jack Phillips, Na-
tional Representative. from
CUPE and delegate from CUPE
Local 1004, rose to speak andela-
borated on the critical note
struck by the report. He made
the point that, year after year,
since 1956, the Socred govern-
ment had treated the repre-
sentations of the Federation
with contempt. He urged the
Federation to make strong
representations to the NDP
government regularly and to
insist on implementation of
labor’s anti-monopoly program.

He pointed out that the basic
means of production and distri-
bution are privately owned, that

the trade union movement still

has much to do in collectivebar-
gaining. Calling upon the govern-

“ment to join forces with the

labor movemert by. moving
towards curtailment of the
power of monopoly, he also
pointed out that ‘although the
NDP government can create a
better climate for collective bar-
gaining, we cannot expect them
to do our job for us.”

This initiative opened a wide-
ranging and constructive

debate that took up the rest of
the morning. The left played a
key role in this discussion and it
was obvious that their viewpoint
had the support of the over-
whelming majority of the
delegates. Moreover, this
debate set the tone for the entire
convention.

Ironically, the temper of the
debate throughout the conven-
tion was decided by prominent
left spokesmen who were
““yntouchables’”’ as far as the
Executive Council was con-
cerned. Their names did not
appear on any of the ten stand-
ing committees which had
reports to make, or on the key
resolutions committee.

That same exclusiveness was
seen when the official slate of
the Executive Council was
circulated, immediately prior to
elections. The Council is made
up of seven titled officers and
thirteen council members. By
common practice, the council
members are nominated by
caucuses and are put on the
official slate if they have the
blessing of the incumbent
officers.

These incumbent officers work
out a slate for the seven titled
positions and then a caucus of
selected people from key unions
is requested to support the com-
bined slate all down theline. The
untouchables, of course, are not
given a position on the slate,
despite the fact that they include
some of the most experienced,
ableand trusted meninthe labor
movement.

What are the guidelines used
by this official machine? At the
outset, every one who goes on
the slate must be a member of
the NDP or a potential member.
Above all he must be acceptable
to the machine in the sense that
he will always play their game
their way.

This does not mean that no
good men are elected on the offi-
cial slate. It does mean,

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To make our success complete, we need another
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—Jack Phillips photo

B.C. Federation of Labor secretary-treasurer Ray Haynes is shown
presenting his report to the recent convention at the Bayshore Inn.

however, that some who could
make a useful contribution are
excluded. It also means, parti-
cularly in this period, that there
is an attempt to exclude from
office a vital and dynamic trend
of left opinion with wide support
among the membership.

When Bill Stewart of the
Marineworkers was elected 5th
Vice-president, he proved that
the slate could be broken.
Stewart, a veteran trade
unionist and a popular figure in
the labor movement, had been
frozen out of elected positions at
this levelever since the cold war
of the Fifties.

The spontaneous ovation he re-
ceived after the results were an-
nounced. gave further proof of
the temper of the convention. It
does not speak well for some of
the top officers that they
accepted Stewart’s election
with bad grace and, before the
election was over, were accus-
ing people in certain unions of
double-cross.

But in the main the Executive -

Council of the Federation has
played a progressive role in past
few years. Now that the
elections are over for two years,
the key to further advance is
unity around the progressive
policies adopted by the con-
vention from a militant, class-
struggle position.

As reported earlier in the Paci-
fic Tribune, the convention dealt
with a special resolution on Viet-
nam. This resolution is note
‘worthy in that it recognized
that a cease-fire is within reach,
and publicly calleduponthe US.
to conclude a peace agreement
immediately and get out of Viet-
nam. What is also noteworthy is
that the national leadership of
the Canadian Labor Congress
has not made sucha statement,
to this date. It is to the credit of
the top officers of the Federa-
tion that when they were ap-
proached on the first day of the
convention to arrange for sucha
resolution, they responded posi-
tively.

For many at the convention,
the main highlight was the
debate on trade union unity
which, in Federation conven-

On Sick List

While apologizing to the Tri-
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the current circulation drive,
long-time supporter Sam
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PAGIBIC TRIBUNE FRIDAY, “NOVEMBER -24/1272:=PAGEN1

tions, always centres on the
readmission of the United
Fishermen and Allied Workers
Union, a union thrown out of the
old Trades and Labor Congress
in 1953. Officially, they were ex-
pelled because their official
organ was critical of the T.L.C.
leadership who in turn had
raided the Vancouver Civic Em-
ployees Union.

The Civic Employees had been
expelled two years before for
alleged ‘“‘Communist domina-
tion.’’ Actually the Fishermen’s

’expulsion was part of an over-

all, cold-war drive to destroy the

JACK PHILLIPS, CUPE delegate at
B.C. Fed convention, who called
for labor to continue to press Vic-
toria for implementation of
labor's anti-monopoly program.

B.C. Fed sets stage for new advance

left in the trade union move-
ment, in line with the policies of
the American State Depart-
ment which was riding high ona
wave of McCarthyism.
Ironically, the very union that
the Fishermen defended in 1953
came back to the CLC (succes-
sor to the TLC) in 1966, through
affiliation with the Canadian

‘ Union of Public Employees.

Their spokesmen on the floor of
the Federation convention
(from CUPE 1004) were among
the strongest advocates of the
readmission of the Fishermen
with no pre-conditions. There
will be some who will say that if
the Civic Employees came back
into the Congress through
another union this is the only
road for the Fishermen. That
has been the position of the
Congress leadership.

Two things are forgotten.
First, the Fishermen were ex-
pelled as a provincial union and
have since become a national
union. Second, the Congress
leadership did not accept the
Vancouver Civic Employees
into the Congress without a
struggle. They were denied
recognitionin the Congress until
CUPE, by national convention
decision, decided to withhold
all per capita tax if necessary,
unless the local was allowed full
recognition by the _ higher
bodies. That meant the right to
be seated in the labor council,
the provincial federation, and
the national convention of the
CLG;

When a resolution —G-16 —
calling for immediate seating of
the Fishermen, was called for
by the delegates, George John-
ston warned that he would have
to rule it out of order on consti-
tutional grounds. A split was
threatened. Jack Phillips,
CUPE 1004 suggested that the
best way to deal with the
resolution was for _ the
resolutions committee to bring
in a strong statement-express-
ing the determination of the
convention not to accept ‘‘no’’
as an answer from the CLC but
making it possible to accept the
chairman’s ruling without a
split.

But one thing is obvious: as
long as the CLC continues to
deny the Fishermen the right to

See B.C. FED, pg. 12

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