FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1974

Trib,

VOL. 35, No. 9

Tenants lobby demands

emergency gov‘t action

T

B.C,
i
Shermen’s lobby in background.

€Nants Organization president Bruce Yorke addres

Av.

ses tenants lobby in Victoria Tuesday. The

Sean Griffin photos

UFAWU marches on Victoria
in protest over injunction

Still den;
THRE (lenied even the minimum
Code sc of the provincial labor
lurisdicts Caught between the
leders Jonal see-saw of the
L0Vern. and provincial
tishermocntS: Some 300 herring
PF AWU — members of the
egislaturs, marched on the
the ae .Tuesday to protest
lunction Ing of an ex parte in-
Pacific a the strikebreaking
demang; Tollers Association and
Ment o U8 that the NDP govern-
to ah oT full trade union rights
ae U fishermen.
the pwlunction was granted to
URqWy Saturday forcing
tion and Pickets off one opera-
Unlog enabling the company to
While 2>-Caught fish.
banned © Parte injunctions are
TeStriot 0d Other injunctions
e, the under the new labor

len fishermen, despi

: . : pite a
tion, ? “ampaign to win recogni-
legis tio Ot, included in the
fishe In denying the

Gia) 5 8 inclusion, the provin-
tedersy €rnment argued that the
aot Which count had jurisdic-
uld not -

by the province be supersed
“en members of the
nt, UFAWU officials

Meg};
Rovere

accompanied by Len Guy, Bill
Stewart and Clive Lytle
representing the B.C. Federation
of Labor, called for legislation to
be passed immediately granting
the fishermen the same rights as
other trade unionists under the
labor code.

Outside, fishermen filled the
roadway at the foot of the steps
with signs calling for ‘‘No more
exparte injunctions’’, ‘‘No
special favors — just include us
with labor.”’

In insisting on the
government’s responsibility to
assume jurisdiction for
fishermen, the UFAWU
emphasized that both Nova
Scotia and Newfoundland, the
provincial governments have in-
cluded fishermen in provincial
labor legislation — with no

‘challenge from the federal

government.

The union also called on the
government to take action to set
the injunction aside. While the
original — limited in scope — ex-

pired Wednesday, a further in-

terlocutory injunction which
would prevent all picketting of
PTA operations, was being
sought immediately upon expira-

tion of the old one.

UFAWU president Homer
Stevens emphasized the danger
of the injunction in the herring
strike and pointed out that “‘it
allows the PTA’s strikebreaking
machine to wreck our strike.’

See FISHERMEN, pg. 12

By FRED WILSON |

VICTORIA — The largest lob-
by of the B.C. Tenants Organiza-
tion ever to hit Victoria came
here Tuesday to press the
government for favorable
amendments to the Landlord and
Tenant Act. As tenant
spokesman Bruce Yorke told the
NDP caucus, ‘‘We’re here twice
as strong as last time because
the housing crisis is twice as bad.

‘“‘We know you have taken
some steps to solve the housing
crisis, and we support you as
far as they go, but we are con-
cerned with the here and now,
the thousands and thousands of
tenants faced with rent increases
in the order of 20% and higher.
They can’t wait for more houses,
they need emergency action
now.”

The BCTO asked the govern-
ment to “consider and swiftly
pass into law’ that effective
January 1, 1974 rent increases
for a calendar year be restricted
to a maximum percentage equal
to the cost of living index, and
that the government authorize a
full scale public investigation
into the “‘buying, rent raising and
remortgaging practices’ that
have swept the housing market.

The 160 tenants from 12
organized tenant councils
throughout B.C., together with
Jack Lawrence from the Van-
couver Labor Council, Tom
Alsbury from the Pensioners
Association, and Bruce Erikson
representing the Downtown
Eastside Residents Association,
made their pressure felt on the

government as they lobbied 15
NDP MLA’s, met with the
caucus and later’ with the
government’s special committee
on housing.

‘What we're asking for are
your own election promises, and
politically speaking if you fail to
come through on them, the con-
sequence will be a right wing
reaction.’”’ Yorke warned the
caucus, “‘The public will say that
you're no better than the
Socreds, that will be the mass
reaction.”

The warning, although met
with silence, seemed to impress
the caucus. Yorke went on to ex-
press the tenants ‘‘extreme dis-
satisfaction’’ with the
government’s action in turning
over landlord-tenant relations to
the Law Reform Commission.
“We find it absolutely inex-
plicable and intolerable that you
would hand this over to some
liberal and tory lawyers. Every
aspect of the Law Reform Com-
mission report is permeated with
a landlords philosophy.”

There was no mistaking the
mood of the tenants as all 160 of
them jammed the caucus room
tightly, eager to applaud the
forceful statement of Yorke and
tenant’s secretary Frank Izzard.
Just as it was time for the caucus
to reply they were saved by the
bell, calling them back to the
legislature. Attorney General
Alec Macdonald agreed to meet
later with the BCTO in a special
committee meeting, that in itself

See TENANTS, pg. 12

Fishermen gather on the Legislature steps Tuesday demanding full trade union rights and end to ex parte in-

junctions. (See story, this page.)

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