CLC could lose Trades membership

Que. building trades need autonom

A number of key policy resolu-
tions submitted to the recent con-
vention of the British Columbia
Federation of Labor never came to
the floor. They were included un-
der the heading of unfinished busi-
ness and referred to the executive
council to dispose of, after the con-
vention.

Among those referrals were
seven resolutions dealing with the
current dispute between the Cana-
dian Labor Congress and the
Building Trades. It should be noted
that there. was no reference to this
internal dispute in the report of the
executive council or in any other
committee report, despite the ser-
iousness of the situation and the
wide publicity it received in the
news media.

Sitting at the convention as an
observer, I got the impression that
the officers of the Federation did
not want this contentious issue to
come to the floor. I also got the im-
pression that most of the promi-
nent leaders there who were not on
the executive council were agree-
able to the shelving of this problem.

Five out of the seven resolutions
supported the position of the exec-
utive council of the Canadian La-
bor Congress to offer affiliation to
local unions in the event of a with-
drawal from the CLC by interna-
tional construction unions. Two
were critical of the Congress lead-
ership.

In my Labor Comment of July
25, I wrote that the situation in
Quebec was rated as number one
grievance with the leaders of the in-
ternational construction unions:

Recently, I was reminded of the
importance of the Quebec situation
when I received a copy of a speech
by Leopold Lavoie, secretary-
treasurer of the Canada Confer-
ence of Carpenters, which was de-
livered to the October convention
of the B.C. Provincial Council of
Carpenters. Lavoie spelled out his
approach to the problem very

clearly: ‘‘I am a Canadian, I will
stay asa Canadian, and Iam proud
of this country.

“French Canadians will con-
tinue to fight to secure their French
culture all over Canada and on the
North American continent. The
French Canadians also want to
have a better control over certain
legislation to see by themselves
about their destiny as a nation and
as human beings.

“The results of the referendum
that took place in May in Quebec
should show to all Canadians that

‘_. Labor

#7 Jack Phillips

the political situation of La Belle
Province de Quebec is very serious.
Quebecers seek more autonomy.
That is not necessarily separation.
And that goes for the political pro-
blems as well as for the union prob-
lems. :

“We told the general office
(Carpenters’ International Union)
about the urgency for more auton-
omy in order for Quebecers to meet
their particular problems, essen-
tials and: fundamental adjust-
meni

Lavoie went on to make these
points:

@ Labor legislation in Quebec
is of “French inspiration’’ and is
totally different from that in the
rest of Canada.

@ InB.C. there is, for all prac-
tical purposes, only one labor or-
ganization (Building Trades-CLC)
in the construction industry. In
Quebec there are five organizations
competing all over the province.

@ While recognizing the spe-
cifics of the evolution of Quebec, it
is necessary to have a strong and
united Canadian Labor Congress.

Comment

@ The AFL—CIO is essential
for the American workers, but Ca-
nadians have a national pride
which must be taken into account.

Speaking more specifically of
the construction scene in Quebec,
Lavoie pointed out that there are
100,000 construction workers who
must join a union before they goon
a job site.

“Going back a year,’’ he said,
“the relationships with the Build-
ing Trades Council were not the
best, but it was possible for the
council to live, and to keep people

_ united all over the province of Que-

bec. There was a lack of compre-
hension of the Quebec political
problems by the Building Trades
Council, principally by James Mc-
Cambly, representative in Canada
for the department of the Washing-
ton Building Trades.

“The situation became ab-
normal. It became very tense when
during its last convention, the De-
partment of the Building Trades,
Washington, expelled the electric-
ians and linemen workers from the
Quebec Provincial Council (Build-
ing Trades) . . . during the time of
the renewal of the labor contract in

-construction.””

Lavoie went on to explain that
negotiations in Quebec take place
every three years, in accordance
with provincial legislation for con-
struction workers. There is an
“open season’’ prior to these nego-
tiations and construction workers
vote by secret ballot to select their
bargaining agency. The only bar-
gaining agency which is then entitl-
ed to represent the 23 construction
trades is the one selected by the ma-
jority of voters.

The four, representative associa-
tions now recognized by law are:
the Quebec Provincial Council of
the Building Trades; the National
Confederation of Construction
Workers (Confederation of Na-

The Labor Relations Board
has issued its final decision on the
contentious Whistler Mountain
construction dispute, essentially
reaffirming its earlier interim po-
sition that the unions’ “‘non-affil-
iation’’ and ‘‘reservation’’ clauses
were unenforceable, although
putting a deadline on that restric-
tion.

The unions in the B.C. and Yu-
kon Building Trades Council are
still prevented from enforcing
their reservation and non-affilia-
tion clauses — although after
Jan. 1, 1981, they may use them,
according to the ruling brought
down Tuesday by LRB vice-
chairman Ron Bone.

Trades unions had in-
voked their reservation clauses —
which give them the right to re-
fuse to work alongside non-union
workers — and had walked off
the job Aug. 28 to protest con-
tractors’ use of non-union labor
onone of theconstruction sites on
the resort project.

Construction Labor Relations
Association sought a cease and
desist order, prompting a series of
LRB hearings which culminated
in an interim ruling Sept. 15.

In that ruling, Bone stated that
_}| he was prepared to accept that the

Final Whistler ruling out

Whistler Town Centre project
was a “‘single integrated site’? —
thus giving the unions the right to
invoke their reservation clauses
— but declared those clauses to be
unenforceable. The ruling was
widely denounced as “‘sanction-
ing the open shop concept”’ be-
cause of its implicit recognition of
rights for non-union operators in
spite of prevailing collective
agreements.

Of particular concern in the
ruling were Bone’s statements

“recognizing the desire of certain

interests for a non-union presence
. . .andacknowledging the rights
of non-union operators,’’ state-
ments which were moderated on-
ly slightly by his caution that they
“must not be translated into en-
couragement of anti-union activi-
ties.”

In his final ruling Tuesday,

Bone confirmed that the Whistler
town centre was, in fact, a ‘‘single
integrated site.’’ He did not reaf-
firm any ‘“‘rights of non-union
operators”’ but his ruling did give
implicit recognition of their posi-

tion by declaring that, although
the project was “‘a single integrat-
éd site,’’ unionists could not exer-
cise their right to refuse to work

‘the Jan. 1, 1981 date, asking, ‘‘if

alongside non-union workers un-
til Jan. 1, 1981.

Bone also stated that the near-
by Blackcomb Mountain con-
struction site and the golf course
site were not integrated with the
town centre project and should be
considered separately.

Cy Sloan, secretary of the Van-
couver-New Westminster
Building Trades Council which
had been involved in the LRB
hearings, said Wednesday that he
had not had an opportunity to
study the lengthy document and
had not considered its full sii
cations.

“But it looks like the non-
union thrust of the interim ruling
hasn’t really been changed,”’ he
said.

He said he saw no reason for

it’s legal then, why not now?”’

“It’s the first time to my
knowledge that an LRB decision
has been put off to a later date to
take effect,”’ he added.

He was also concerned with the
length of time it had taken Bone
to complete his final ruling —
from Sept. 15 to Dec. 2.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—DEC. 5, 1980— Page 12

tional Trade Unions); the Central
of the Democratic Syndicate and
the Syndicate of Construction
Workers on the North Coast. Cur-
rently there is a bill in the provincial
parliament that would name the
Quebec Federation of Labor-Con-
struction, as the fifth representative
bargaining agency.

To quote again from Lavoie’s
speech:

“Following passage of the law

. these workers will have to de-

cide about their bargaining agent in
construction. They will have to
make a choice between the QFL
Construction and the Quebec Pro-
vincial Council of the Building
Trades.’ Once this special vote is
held (if the law is passed) a new sit-
uation will prevail in Quebec,
which Lavoie explains as follows:

“*_ , there will be then in Quebec
five associations entitled to be rec-
ognized as bargaining agents dur-
ing a raiding period and through a
secret ballot, according to the pro-
vision of the Labor Relations Act
in.construction.”’

In connection with the electric-
ians and linemen (who had broken
from their international some 10
years earlier), Lavoie pointed out
that they had voted unanimously to
be represented by the Provincial
Council of the Building Trades.
After their expulsion from the
Building Trades Council on orders
from the U.S., they had no official
representation at the bargaining
table, and more particularly, dur-
ing bargaining sessions.

It was in that situation, accord-
ing to Lavoie, that the Quebec
Federation felt compelled to inter-
vene and take the electricians and
linemen under their protection.
They also requested the Building

Trades to re-admit them into the.

council but to no avail. ‘“We would
like to negotiate and try to compro-
mise the situation but even if we are
the only one we would like to pro-
ceed that way. But if it takes too
long our members are just going to
quit the organization and go with
the other four labor organizations
operating in Quebec.”’

Lavoie described the position of
the Canadian Labor Congress in

- telation to the Quebec situation as

follows: ‘‘That situation in prin-
ciple. . . and they have no alterna-
tive. . . was accepted by the Cana-
dian Labor Congress.”’

Obviously, there is no quick so-
lution to the CLC-Building Trades

dispute that will please everyone di- ©

rectly concerned — particularly if
the situation in Quebec continues
to be the major issue with the
Building Trades leadership.

Local 452 of the Carpenters’ Un-
ion, in a letter to international
president William Konyha, May
22, 1980, placed the Quebec situa-
tion in these-terms:

“We believe that because of the
‘special conditions’ recognized by
the trade union movement in Cal-
ada regarding the right to self-de-
termination and because of the
fractured trade union movement in —
Quebec, special consideration mu
be given. We do not pretend to.
know the answers but do sin
feel that if respect and considera- 5
tion is given to their problems and |
aspirations, a solution can and
be found in Quebec. If not, the
memberships of the building trades 3
unions will go elsewhere, creating
even greater problems and mofe —

fractionalization.”’

On Dec. 9, the executive council
of the CLC will meet and it is al
most a sure bet that the CLC
Building Trades dispute will be 00
the agenda. If a settlement can be
worked out that will avoid a serious |
split — and in accordance with the |
Canadian standards of self- |
government for its affiliates as laid”
down by convention — it will bene
fit the entirelabor movement. __

This difficult problem must be |
seen in its proper perspective. 4

It is an important development
in the long struggle for a sovereigns
independent and united trade
union movement in Canada beal-
ing in mind that there is no instant
solution. The overall trend is t0-
wards greater autonomy for brat- |
ches of international unions, which
must inevitably lead to a fully in”
dependent trade union movement. —
When that complete independence
is achieved, it will be possible tO
raise international solidarity be
tween Canadian and Annee |
workers to a much higher level, be
cause it will then be based on the
voluntary cooperation of two inde
pendent labor movements. eS

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== DS

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