LABOR - — Munro stands by Solidarity role International Woodworkers “to leapfrog the [WA agreement.” He also made an oblique reference to the union election challenge, telling delegates that he had “no intention in the near future ’ of turning over the gavel for any extended length of time.” The annual IWA convention opened in Vancouver Sept. 24 with host local presi- dent Roger Lewis noting,that layoffs and plant closures in his own local in Victoria reflected the devastation throughout the industry. More than 3,000 jobs have been lost in his local and the adjoining one in Duncan. Munro also touched on the unemploy- ment crisis but much of his 35-minute address was taken up with answering criti- cism levelled at him over the Kelowna accord and his statements during the pulp lockout. Although he had been widely quoted about the Solidarity events in various mag- azines and newspaper articles, Munro had regional president Jack Munro went on the defen- sive at the opening session of the [WA con- vention Monday, arguing that his actions during the Solidarity events last fall had been necessary to prevent the labor move- ment “from going down the tube” and that the pulp unions were using IWA members Council backs ICTU, Trades Delegates to the Vancouver and Dis- trict Labor Council Sept. 18 voiced their protest over the two latest pieces of Socred anti-labor legislation, the bill forcing bus drivers back to work and the cabinet order-in-council designat- ing the Expo site as an “economic development project.” The executive resolution on the tran- sit dispute condemned the government action in “bludgeoning the transit workers” and offered the full support of the council in whatever action the Independent Canadian Transit Union had to take to win a fair collective agreement. On Expo, the council also blasted the Labor Relations Board for issuing the ex parte cease-and-desist order and demanded the resignation of the board panel, headed by LRB vice-chairman Peter Sheen, which issued it. In a highly unusual move, the LRB had issued the order, instructing Build- ing Trades workers to return to their jobs, as the board was about to begin hearings as to whether the Expo project constituted a common site. It was issued on the employers application without reference to the unions involved. ~ Carpenters delegate Lorne Robson reminded the council that trade unio- nists had fought for more than a decade to remove ex parte injuctions from labor disputes. = RIBUNE Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street ~ Vancouver, BC. V5K 125. Phone 251-1 186 not previously reported to his own membership. He did that Monday, reiterating that he was not alone in going to Kelowna, that he had been in close contact with B.C. Federa- tion of Labor secretary Mike Kramer and that the decisions made were unanimously agreed to by the Federation leadership. “There was no question we had an agreement before going to Kelowna,” he said. “I was only the messenger.” As for the decisions that were made, they were necessary, he maintained, claiming that people ‘were flocking back to work before it started,” and if the agreement had not been struck, “people would be criticizing me today and saying, ‘The labor movement had gone down the goddamn tube and Jack, you could have saved it but you didn’t.” ” He told delegates: “Governments are overthrown by general elections, not by general strikes.” : He made it clear, however, that he was “not a friend of the Social Credit govern- ment,” which he said, “is at war with the people.” Munro also rejected militance in address- ing the unemployment crisis among [WA members. He told the convention that the plant closures and the loss of jobs were the result of a genuine crisis in the industry, brought about in turn “because we’re at the mercy of international markets.” He emphasized that the answer doesn’t lie “in hurling ourselves at the employers. There’s no pot of gold that a fresh blast of militancy could open,” he said. Instead, he argued, the answer lies in find- ing new markets, particularly for manufac- tured wood products. That would be his purpose, he said, in participating in the fed- eral government-appointed Asia-Pacific Foundation. : He did target log exports as a major fac- tor in industry unemployment, adding that “on that issue, the struggle must escalate.” He also told delegates: “We must make sure that Mulroney keeps his promises on jobs and make sure that he keeps remem- bering his promises.” Delegates began Monday afternoon working their way through various reports and resolutions submitted to the convention by local unions. Several resolutions deal with unemploy- ment and plant closures, urging the |WA to establish a task force to present a compre- hensive program on revitalizing the forest industry, including shorter hours, early retirement, timber utilization and market- ing, and to press government for legislation restricting plant closures. _ A number of resolutions call for govern- ment action to develop an extensive housing construction program coupled with interest rate relief. Most local unions submitted resolutions | on log exports, reiterating the union’s oppo- sition to exports and calling for government action to impose a complete ban. :_ ) 1 upp? He was also expecting to seek s ee: = among mainland and interior | prior to the convention this wee* although there will be more campaigning once the referendum vote is set. Unt the union’s constitution, the electiOF must be completed within 50-days f= convention. a ne