LABOUR tradition. a trickle. “meaningful negotiations.” strike.” By MIGUEL FIGUEROA ANTIGONISH N.S. — When I! bank workers walked off the job last November for a first contract Z£ from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, there were no illusions about a quick victory. But they have — been surprised by the support their struggle has gener- _ ated, particularly from a community lacking union ~ Public backing in the small town of 5,000 has been | | building over the weeks. Townspeople, including many bank customers, were angered to find that CIBC employees in Halifax earn $2 an hour more than their local counterparts. Many reacted by withdrawing their accounts and local branch business has been reduced to A “Committee of Friends of the Strikers” has been formed to raise public support, collect funds and lobby politicians. It also organized a solidarity rally Jan. 23 where 500 people assembled outside the Commerce’s | Main St. branch to mark the second month of the strike and to demand a fair contract for the “Antigonish 11”. The rally came on the heels of a courageous visit by striker, Marion MacDonald, to the CIBC annual shareholders meeting in Toronto where she laid out the workers’ demands and called on the bank to resume Support from organized labour is very much in evi- dence. The Canadian Labour Congress, of which Local 2107, Union of Bank Employees is a direct affiliate, feels this is one battle in the long war to organize bank workers that can be won. It has called on labour to muster its resources in support of this “social justice Town rallying behind CIBC strikers MARION MACDONALD .. CIBC shareholders meeting. _ The Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, local labour councils and affiliates across the province are contribut- ing to the “‘adopt-a-striker” program, and over $5,000 _ inadditional donations were collected at the rally alone. Locals of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union have also pitched in over $3,500 to the strike fund. > The National Action Committee on the Status of Women sent a special solidarity message to the rally condemning the bank’s “patronizing and irresponsible” _ workers. merce.” table. TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIGUEL FIGUEROA . taking strike issues to oe position and called on the women’s movement trom coast to coast to support the “strike for fair wages.” The Women’s Action Coalition of Nova Scotia has also come out strongly behind the Antigonish bank a large financi we One unexpected ally is Lawrence O’Neil, Tory MP — for Cape Breton Highlands Canso. O’Neil, who had raised the issue in the House of Commons the preceding week, told the rally the workers have a just cause and _ deserve support because the dispute is “hardly a bal- anced struggle when you have 11 workers pitted against al institution like the Bank of Com- The high public profile and level of community sup- port for the workers seems to be having a grudging impact on the miserly men behind CIBC. On the eve of the rally, the bankers indicated (via the conciliation - officer) their willingness to return to the negotiating While somewhat encouraged, the union remains skeptical of this latest move. “It may just be a publicity stunt to get the pressure off them for now,” said local _ shop steward Marion MacDonald. : _ Martin Hanratty, CLC regional director, pointed out four. _ that after a year and a half of fruitless discussions with _ CIBC, the workers are not interested in simply listening to more talk. “We want real, meaningful negotiations, not talk,’ hesaid. _ The bank workers are demanding a 15 per cent increase to their average annual salaries of $15,000. The bank has offered four workers 5 per cent, a 2 per cent increase to three others and no raise to the remaining Solidarity growing as nurses stay out Special to the Tribune Alberta nurses, ignoring threats of fines and prison terms, continued their walkout Jan. 28, as the government of Tory Premier Don Getty prepared criminal contempt charges against their union. ~ Meanwhile, 2,300 nurses at the provin- ce’s only fully operational hospital are con- sidering joining their. 11,400 colleagues in the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) on the picket lines. ; The solid wall of defiance has brought the Alberta Hospital Association (AHA) back to the bargaining table for the first time since UNA walked out Jan. 25, affecting 100 hospitals in the province. No details of the talks were available at press time. “Nurses at University Hospitals support what you are doing 100 per cent anda large number wish they were with you,” Barbara Leblanc, president of the Staff Nurses Asso- ciation, told a packed Edmonton support rally Jan. 27. The nurses at the University of Alberta hospitals are not members of UNA. Leblanc said strike action was endorsed at a membership meeting earlier this week, and if no progress is made by Jan. 29, “We will for the first time ever, consider a strike.” The right to strike was taken away from nurses and other hospital employees in 1983, following a 28-day walkout by UNA. Even then the union publicly declared it did not consider itself bound by the-law. In addition to defying the law, the-nurses face contempt of court charges for ignoring an Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench ruling which ordered them back to work at three provincially-run hospitals and prohibited picketing at three others. The ban was answered by mass pickets of nurses joined by 1,100 building trades workers and other union members at Cal- gary’s Children’s and Foothills hospitals — two of the institutions named in the order. — 6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 3, 1988 The union and its officers face fines of $10,000 a day for defying the board’s orders; individuals can be fined $5,000 a day. Contempt of court charges carry addi- tional $1,000 fines and one-year prison terms. But the government has obviously underestimated the determination of the strikers and the degree of public support. “I won’t pay one cent of my pay in a fine to any government, I would rather rot in jail,” one striker told the Edmonton rally. In a new development, the strikers also received the backing of the Alberta Associa- tion of Registered Nurses, the usually con- servative, professional body governing the nurses. Support rallies and pickets have been held in all major centres, and the Alberta Federation of Labour has called together its affiliates representing 120,000 trade unio- nists to defend the strikers. Atissue in the dispute is concessions. The union’s negotiating committee had tenta- tively agreed to changes in disability and compensation provisions, but was instructed to reject the amendments at an earlier Janu- ary membership meeting. The board reacted by filing unfair labour practices. “The AHA is attempting to interfere in the democratic right of our members to direct their negotiating committee,” charged UNA president Margaret Ethier. “It claims that by not agreeing to rollbacks ... the union is somehow being unfair.” UNA is asking for a $1.50 an hour increase over 15 months, with improve- ments in health care benefits, including the right to refuse unsafe work. The hospitals are offering between 32 and 36 cents depending on seniority. Current wages range from $14.25 to $16.47. Ethier defended the union’s demands, noting that salary increases have totalled only $1.05an hour overthe past four years, More than 1,000 unionists and supporters massed outside the legislature in Edmon- . ton Saturday to back the nurses’ strike and to demand changes in labour legislation. well below the cost of living. “There is currently a shortage of nurses willing to work in hospitals right across Alberta, with over 200 job vacancies in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary alone. Our proposals are more than reasonable in light of that fact,” she explained in a press release. Government claims that the Strike is threatening the lives of Albertans have been rejected by labour leaders. “The govern- ment of Alberta must bear full responsibil- : ity for any inconvenience and suffering that results from this labour dispute,” charged AFL president Dave Werlin..---- rote “It is the government too, that passed *' laws denying all hospital employees the right to strike. With such laws, the AHA and other employers are relieved of any responsibility at the bargaining table,” Wer- lin said. The federation president said the nurses’ strike highlights the federation’s campaign to amend the province’s labour code by — restoring and extending labour rights in the province. “If the Tory cabinet has listened to the public, collective bargaining would be effec- tive in this province and Alberta’s nurses would be at work today in our hospitals,” : he said.» ’ |