IN DRUG MART DISPUTE LABOR COMMENT er legislation continues to eo Main source of friction ele the trade union move- oh and the provincial govern- Pos was reflected in the June We of B.C. Labor, published 4 the British Columbia Fed- ation of Labor. Anarticle by ire ayes, Secretary-Treas- tai of the Federation, con- is the following summation: -. .ltisclear that the key to mp Government's enjoying the Bee astic support of the vast ely of working people in eee Columbia will be the an Re eslation expected in the ey €ssion. In submitting a infer wc railed brief to the Min- : of Labor andhis advisors, if 3 ederation has only asked, ea detail, for the imple- . ae of the NDP policies conve Or passed at successive Reece. We are optimistic nes i legislation to be intro- imple: the fall session will fully the ent these policies, with €sult that the NDP govern- will enjoy such whole- oni Support from trade resist - that it will be able to ce e fectively the attacks by _ pe tations.” issueq a ° 18, the Federation could . Policy statement that n Cla ak precipitated a head- declan. with government. It Mants €d all Shopper’s Drug Urged oe The statement Patron € public to refuse to Calle 12e any of the stores and « en all trade unionists ets Use to handle any pro- tineg panating from or des- Uni} thie Shopper’s Drug Marts attem 3 Company has ceased its their e S to deny the employees repre gal rights to trade union Sentation and has nego- tiate qd : With 4. -Cllective agreement i fart, Patgaining® legally certified “ttiking sh atrtis ert 69 ie agent for the Opper’s Drug Mart.” Statement was made © workers of nine of the ee artsin B.C. had been ISRa E ber of HEVINE, a pioneer mem- ponad © Communist Party of Home 5 Sage returned to his vesPital, pp ancouver General 'Siteg 1. T editor Maurice Rush seat Wishe recently to extend ®aders a from the staff and eae Paper. We are I istakento earlier report the ecenin 'y gave his age as 8) neties.”” His actual age Thien 1° Retail Clerks Union. on strike for almost four months. Union representation in the other stores.was thwarted by the creation of a franchise system which, on the surface, made every unit a separate business operation; by costly litigation forced on the union and by almost every anti-union trick in the book. In these circumstances, the Federation had no other alter- native but to declare all Shopper’s Drug Marts hot, in defiance of the Trade Unions Act of B.C. It took this course with the full knowledge that if the largely unorganized retail field is to be unionised within the next few years, Shopper’s Drug Mart must be compelled to sign a collective agreement. -On June 28, anew dimension was added to the struggle. A staff meeting of some 45 union representatives, called under the auspices of the Federation, discussed the application of the Shopper’s Drug Marts for an injunction to prevent the Fed- eration and its affiliates from pursuing its boycott policy. By this time, 41 members of the Retail, Wholesale and Depart- ment Store Union employed at Western Wholesale Drugs, a Drug Mart subsidiary, had been locked out because they refused to fillorders for the nine stores where the workers were on strike. The meeting unanimously voted to endorse the hot policy of the Federation, despite the possibility of an adverse deci- sion from the court. Afew days later, trade union members gathered at several stores in Vancouver and New West- minster where the employees were not on strike and dis- tributed pamphlets urging the public not to patronize any Shopper’s Drug Mart. Next day, it was announced that the application for an injunction had been dismissed, on the grounds that the evidence did not substantiate the claim that the company’s difficulties arose from the actions of the Fed- eration. This means that the company is free to make a sec- ond application, in the hope that another judge willgive them the injunction it is seeking. Inthe past, the Federationhas set the tone for labor inCanada by establishing the principle that, irrespective of any techni- cal breaches of the law, picket lines should be respected by all affiliates. Now, in this key struggle in the retail field, anew principle has been advanced: Any firm or operation declared hot by the Federation should be boycotted by consumers and trade union members, should refuse to handle any products to or from the designated firm or operation, picket line or no picket line. A leading member of the Fed- eration has advanced this opin- ion: ‘“‘Either we stand up and fight, or else we gounder. If we go under, the job of organizing the unorganized in the retailand service fields will be much harder, and will take much gk) SRV Tae Labor determined |to defend rights longer. If this government in Victoria would honor its commit- ments to the labor movement, it would be much more difficult for big business to prevent union organization and.to perpe- tuate low wages and poor work- ing conditions. If the NDP government gets caught inthe middle, so be it. Who knows? Maybe it will be for the best. Per- sonally, Idon’t believe that we can afford to continue with a stiuation in which this govern- ment takes us for granted and refuses to carry out the deci- sions of the party in conven- tion.” To this we say ‘‘amen.”’ If the NDP government has shown one outstanding weakness, it is in failing to project and win support for a consistent anti- monopoly policy. Their failure to introduce progressive labor legislation flows from this funda- mental weakness. The kind of action initiated by the Fed- eration, backed by a united labor movement, can reverse the trend and thus givenew strength to the most consistent anti- monopoly force, the working people. French test going ahead? Deaf to all protest like the Bourbonkings of twocenturies ago, French president Pompli- dou and the French government seem determined to go ahead with the nuclear tests in the South Pacific, sometime before July 20. Military forces were busy Mon- day evacuating Mururoa Atoll, site of the planned blast, and all ships were warned to keep clear of the area starting Tuesday. In previous tests, the blast has fol- lowed within 48 hours of the issu- ance of such warnings. The French test from the time of its announcement, has met with unequalled protest all around the world. The Inter- national Court of Justice at The Hague called on. France two weeks ago to refrain from nuclear testing after Austra- lian _attorney-general Lionel Murphy said that the people of the southern hemisphere “will pay with their lives for the French decision to go ahead with their spring test program.” In New Zealand, dockers re- fused to handle any French goods as a protest against the test. In Canada, the House of Com- mons adopteda resolution some months ago calling on France to halt the tests and the B.C. Federation of Labor also lodged a formal protest. APPRECIATION Thanks toall PT readers and friends who came to see me during my stay in hospital. Israel Levine ware, ga? Lees OD kIT ee =. o* > ee ON'T SHOP at an SHOPPER'S DRUG MART Leaflet above is being distributed at several Shoppers Drug Marts in B.C. in support of the B.C. Federation of Labor’s campaign urging con- sumers to boycott the stores. Western parley opens in Calgary on July 24 The coming Calgary confer- ence on western economic op- portunities to open July 24 is shaping up as a major political event, with at least ten Federal cabinet members expected to take part along with Prime Minister Trudeau and the four western premiers. Originally, federal govern- ment spokesmen indicated that Ottawa’s approach was to dis- cuss general problems. However, following the meeting of the four western premiers, and growing demands from the west that steps be taken to tackle some of the major problems, the federal government has shown a more Serious concern about the meeting. Meanwhile, it was revealed that the four western commit- tees of the Communist Party and the Central Executive Com- mittee are planning to publisha large advertisement in Cal- gary’s two major newspap- ers outlining the Communist Party’s proposals for new na- tional policies for all-sided de- velopment of the west. Classified Advertising COMING EVENTS July 15th — GARDEN PARTY, Come and Relax under the Old Apple Tree. Borsch with Smorgasbord Supper at Beynons’ 1503 Dovercourt Rd., July 15th from 2:00 p.m. — on. Refreshments and Music. Admission $1.50 — Children 75¢. EVERYONE WELCOME. North Van- couver Club CPC. July 29th = Reserve this day to celebrate 20th Anniversary of CUBAN JULY 26th MOVEMENT. Details later. Ausp. Can- ada Cuba Friendship Committee. July 15th — Sunday, July 15th “Young Worker’? SALMON BAKE. Swimming, Folk Sing- ing, Fun and Games. Re- freshments. Adm. $2.50 — under 12 or over 60 — $1.00. Tickets: Co-Op Bookstore, PT Office, Vancouver Y.C.L. Members. 3310 Cardinal Dr., Burnaby. For directions see map in last weeks P.T. July 22 — PICNIC — SAMPO HALL, WEBSTER’S COR- NERS July 22nd at 12:00 noon. Bus leaves 805 E. Pender at 11:00 a.m. Speaker, Good Food, Program. All Wel- come. Ausp.: F.O. Local 55. July 28 — Retirement Banquet for John Hetman on Satur- day, July 28th at the Russian GENER IALLANS +. PACIFIC TRIBUNE FRIDAY, JULY. 13,1973 RAGEZ Get] Peoples Home, 600 Camp- ‘bell Ave. Banquet 6:30 p.m. —Dancing from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Spons. by Federation of Russian Can- adians. Everybody Wel- come. July 29 — Get away from town for the day, or pitch your tent for the weekend. Come to the SALMON BARBECUE at the Knotthole, 4810 Sooke Rd., Victoria on Sun- day, July 29 from 1:00— 7:00 p.m. Hot dogs, water- melon, etc. will also be avail- able. FUN for the whole family. Proceeds P.E. Fund. WANTED YCL needs Saleable Goods. Phone Donna _ 873-1301 af- ter 5. Proceeds to YOUNG WORKER. HALLS FOR RENT UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CULTURAL CENTRE - 805 East Pender St., Vancouver 4, Available for banquets, wed- dings, meetings. Phone 254- 3436. WEBSTER’S CORNER HaLL Available for banquets. meetings, weddings, etc. For rates, Ozzie 325-4171 or 685- 5836. RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME- Now available for rentals. For reservations phone 254-3430. Pant — ie 6 wet WRN ACIS — Eo ST De