LABOR MINISTER ALLAN WILLIAMS . .. new Bill strikes at elementary rights of working people. IWA pact analysed Big promises, small gains Last May, Jack Munro, chief spokesman for the International Woodworkers of America in this province sent a printed message to the membership on negotiations for a new contract. It is useful to quote from that message. “The employers, not- withstanding the fact they are facing a boom year and record profits, have already indicated they intend to give as little as possible to their employees .. . “They could care less that the present inflation — now running at 11.2 percent annually — has eroded the employees’ last industry wage increase. They are relying heavily on the hope that the restrictive AIB guidelines will prevent your negotiating committee from winning the type of wage set- tlement you need tokeep your head ‘Right to work’ seen in Bill 89 Cont'd from pg. 1 philosophy of these changes is right to work.” Kinnaird said that by increasing the necessary percentage for certification to be granted to 55 per cent, a minority of workers could prevent union’ organization. “Where does it end?”’ he asked. Provincial Council of Carpenters secretary Lorne Robson also termed the- -legislation ‘‘a ‘capitulation to right-to-work employers, especially where it allows employers to interfere in a union’s organizing drive, which, until now, was considered an un- fair labor practice. The employer will be able to distribute anti-union propaganda, change wage rates, fire people — all under the guise of ‘necessary operational changes.’ “Bill 89 is the return of Socred anti-labor legislation,’’ Robson said. ‘It is directed at removing those features of the labor code that were favorable to the labor movement.’’ B.C. Communist Party leader Nigel Morgan joined with labor in condemning the legislation Wednesday. “As might be ex- pected, Bill 89 is heavily slanted against labor,’’ Morgan said. “‘Itvis a blow at the working people of this province and at the most elementary rights of trade unionists. The employers are naturally fulsome in their praise of labor minister Williams.” The impediments to union organization contained in the labor code amendments will serve to deny 55 per cent of the work force the right to free collective bargaining, Morgan contended. ' As predicted, Employers’ Council president William Hamilton was jubilant with the proposed amendments. ‘‘This removes the shackles,”’ he told the press, predicting more employer victories over unions in organizing drives. In Victoria, NDP labor critic Bill King called the Bill ‘“‘highhanded, autocratic and divisive.’ It is hypocritical, he said, to demand that unions achieve a 55 per cent majority to win a certification while politicians often are elected - with only 40 per cent of the vote. The B.C. Federation called an emergency meeting for Thursday, as the Tribune went to press, to map out a strategy to defeat the legislation. It is certain, though, that Bill 89 will drive a deep wedge between the government and the labor movement. The Federation secretary said that in the past his organization had attempted to develop a responsible working re- lationship with Williams and the Socreds, despite the fundamental differences in political philosophy. “Tt is now~ painfully clear, however, that Allan Williams is just as out of touch with reality in industrial relations as are his colleagues McGeer and Vander Zalm,” Guy said. VLC backs union Cont'd from pg. 1 on an incident last December when the UFAWU, backed by the B.C. Federation of Labor, pressed the demand to have the Combines secret hearings investigating the union open to the public as provided for under the Act. Combines investigators, however, sought to maintain closed hearings, dubbed by the union “star chamber proceedings’’. UFAWU secretary George Hewison, one of those charged, told the. delegates to labor countil Tuesday that the harassment by the combines had a history going back to the 1950’s when an in- vestigation was first launched into the union. It was later revealed that the Combines branch took the action at the urging of the com- panies and dropped it when it was seen that the companies would also come under scrutiny. Hewison warned of the gravity of PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 9, 1977—Page 8 theattack against the union and its members, pointing out that the UFAWU’s one-time counterpart in the U.S., the International Fishermen and Allied Workers, “was completely smashed under similar legislation. “What are involved are not just criminal charges,” Hewison said, “but . the continuing campaign against the union by the political masters of the Combines in- vestigators and by the real com- bine in the industry — the ‘Big 2’ fishing companies, Canadian Fish and B.C. Packers.” Vancouver Labor Council president Syd Thompson also underscored the serious nature of the campaign and pledged that the labor council would assist ‘‘to the fullest extent possible. — “Tt may well be, that the whole labor movement throughout the province will be called upon to defend the UFAWU,”’ he said. above water. This will be a vain hope for them because the union fully intends to negotiate a new contract as though the AIB guidelines didn’t exist.’ Munro promised, in writing, that the negotiating committee would “battle strongly’’ for a one-year agreement and an improved cost- of-living clause. This reminds me of the title of a popular song: Promises, Promises. . As you read this, the negotiating committee is unanimously recommending acceptance of a two-year contract with the cost-of- living clause (COLA) to be non- active for the duration of the term. Instead of negotiating as if the Anti-Inflation- Board didn’t exist, union and employer represen- tatives will travel to Ottawa to plead that the settlement should not be rolled back, because both parties bargained on the basis of what the industry could afford to pay. | Judging by published reports not contradicted by the union, the proposed settlement will mean an. increase of 7.2 percent in the first year and 6.2 percent in the second year, with wages and fringe benefits combined. Based on the AIB regulations, the official ceiling for B.C. woodworkers is six percent in the first year and four percent in the second. According to Statistics Canada, the Consumer Price Index between July 1976 and July 1977 went up by eight percent. In order . to make the IWA package more acceptable, union research people are predicting a reduction in the rate of inflation from June of this year to June of next year, to six percent for the year. But if the recent increase in gasoline prices and the increases to come are any indication, this prediction is wish- ful thinking. In the meantime, due to the rise in exports to the U.S. and the extra profits from the devaluation of the Canadian dollar, the lumber bosses are expecting the second most profitable year for the industry. The irony of the projected trip to Ottawa arises from the fact that the bosses are prepared to pay a few cents above the wage guidelines because rising profits from their export sales are exempt from controls. The Employers’ Council of B.C. andthe forest industry bosses have announced they will be cam- paigning for other industries to keep their settlements in line with the IWA deal. They are very pleased that Munro and his team have bargained on the basis of the industry’s ability ‘‘to remain economically viable.”’ In short, the idea is to put corporate profits first, in place of the interests of working people, assuming that if the bosses are prosperous, enough © of the wealth will trickle down to the workers to keep them happy. Jack Munrois quoted in the daily press as going along with the idea that the IWA should be a pattern setter. “If we are going to attract good people we should be paying the highest wages. How can we ‘attract good people if more is paid for those working downtown?” he . said. Keith Bennett, speaking for the lumber and pulp bosses spelled it out by calling for wage increases in the construction and food in- dustries to beheld down to the level of the IWA settlement.’ The big corporations would like to establish a system of pattern bargaining similar to that prevailing in West Germany, where one major industry sets the pattern for the entire labor force. They would prefer to have the IWA _ under its present leadership as that pattern setting union. . All this smacks of the voluntary controls and ‘“‘self restraint’”’ that the Trudeau government tried to impose on the Canadian Labor Congress, without success. -One of the anomalies of the IWA situation is that while Jack Munro is prepared to go to Ottawa and plead for a settlement worth 7.2 percent in the first year and 6.2 LABOR COMMENT BY JACK PHILLIPS percent in the second year, the two pulp unions in the industry, representing 13,000 workers as opposed to the IWA’s 40,000 members, are entitled to settle for as much as 10 percent in the first year and 8 percent in the second year, under AIB regulations, because of a technicality. The proposed wage increase for IWA members will be 60 cents as of June 15 this year; an additional 50 cents on Juné 15 next year and a further five cents on January 1, 1979. The final five cents was included to compensate the union for agreeing that the COLA clause would be inoperative. The 12 cents the members got through COLA under the old agreement is to be folded into the wage rates before application of the negotiated in- creases. The base rate will reach $8.16 per hour in the new agreement and the trades rate will go‘up to $10.56-1/2. While the gains made in the pension plan, which is_ entirely funded by the employers are significant, it should be noted that the extra cost to the employers during the life of this agreement will be only six cents an hour in the second year of the agreement, for an average of three cents an hour over two years. Arguing for acceptance of a two- year contract, Local 1-217 president Syd Thompson said in an article in the Barker: ‘‘The negotiating committee had to accept a two-year agreement as the price for one pension plan and pension improvements.” One is tempted to ask what the members would have decided had they been consulted. In the opinion of some active IWA members, if the proper leadership had been shown and if the membership had been given the opportunity to demonstrate their support for the leadership in a: forceful fashion, the pension deal could have been sewn up in a one- year agreement. After all, it was only six cents an hour they -were talking about, effective one year after the first day of the new agreement and another six cents (for a total of 12 cents) on the last day of the two- year deal. The same payment formula could have been folded into a one-year agreement through a special agreement on pensions as a supplement to the main agreement. In addition to pension im- provements, a number of gail were made in health and welfare protection, paid vacations, SI! pay, payment of fares for logge! and other contract provisions. Among the items referred to parties for discussion during ¢ life of theagreement was a study of ‘new concepts in labor management relationships, 1 cluding industrial democracy.” will be interesting to see whal comes out of this study. What the employers would like to achieve ® to make the union ‘‘moré responsible,” that is, more sy pathetic to the problems al viewpoints of the big corporations in their drive for maximum profits; as in West Germany. How far the union will go dow? that road will depend, in the loné run, onthe membership, that is, 0 their understanding of their ow? class interests and their deter | mination to make the union servé those interests. Con’d from pg. 1 ; feature speaker NDP foreign af- fairs critic Andrew Brewin speak on human rights and_ politi prisoners in Chile. A represel tative of CUT, Chile’s central labo! body, will also speak at the col ference. B.C. Federation of Labo! president George Johnston chair the proceedings. Katie McGovern from thé Canadian Co-ordinating Com mittee for Democracy in Chilé based in Toronto, and Elspeth Gardiner, chairperson of thé Vancouver committee, will-outlin@ |. a campaign for the boycott of Chilean goods in Canada. " ‘ Observers are welcome at th! conference. Tickets for Sunday® concert are available at the doo (see ad this issue). CCW meets The annual general meeting of the B.C. Chapter of the Congress of Canadian Women will be held Sunday, Sept. 18 at the Britanni? | Community Centre (lounge abov® library), starting at 10:30 a.m. The conference will feature a speaké! from the World Peace Congress 4 well as a film, annual reports a! discussion. Lunch will be served. Everyon® welcome.