Labor will mount campaign against Kerkhoff contract: The B.C. Federation of Labor and the B.C. and Yukon Building Trades Council declared Monday that they will be mount- ing a campaign of opposition against the decision of B.C. Transit to award the con- tract for its $28-million ALRT bridge to the anti-union consortium of J.C. Kerkhoff and Sons and the South Korean multina- tional Hyundai. The B.C. Transit board confirmed the worst fears of trade unionists Friday with its decision to give the contract to the low- bidding Kerkhoff-Hyundai consortium, even though Kerkhoff has never under- taken work of this kind and though every other contract on the billion-dollar ALRT. system has gone to a union contractor. Grace McCarthy, the minister responsi- ble for B.C. Transit, declared Monday that the decision would not be reviewed or reversed — an indication of the hollowness of the Social Credit leadership candidates claims that they will “lessen confrontation” in the province. “The federation sent her two letters ask- ing for a meeting on the contract — and she never even gave us a reply,” B.C. Fed president Art Kube told the Tribune Mon- day. “It’s pretty clear that the government intended the contract to go to Kerkhoff and just stonewalled any discussion of it. “It’s a real slap in the face for the trade union movement, especially since it was announced just after the Building Trades signed a tentative collective agreement with Construction Labor Relations,” he said. Building Trades Council president Roy Gautier called the contract award “an incredible decision by a body responsible to the taxpayers. “Having successfully completed con- struction of ALRT to date using expe- rienced, proven union contractors and highly experienced Building Trades workers, it is an irresponsible decision to gamble on awarding this work to a local contractor who has never tackled a project of this size and complexity, who has a long history of conflicts with the trade union movement and who may experience serious difficulties in finding the necessary skilled trades peo- ple,” he said. Gautier said that the Building Trades, | together with CLRA had made representa- tions to B.C. Transit to “point out the real dangers of gambling on the Kerkhoff- Hyundai group. We also pointed out the dubious record of the Korean government which directs Hyundai’s operations. “The one thing these two new partners have in common is a record of being anti- union and paying low wages,” he charged. Contract tenders on the bridge, which will carry the Skytrain system across the Fraser into Surrey, offered two options — a steel span or concrete. B.C. Transit went with the concrete option for which the Kerhoff-Hyundai bid of $28 million was $2.8 million less than the lowest union bid, submitted by SCI Engineering and Con- struction of Calgary. The contract involves procurement out- side the province to a value of some 30 per cent of the total dollar value, “‘and we think ‘they’re going to be bringing in steel from South Korea, taking many jobs away from British Columbians, ” said Kube. He added that Hyundai, which parlayed its low wage, anti-union policies and its influence with the South Korean regime into $35 billion in construction world-wide last year, “may be trying with this contract to break into the Canadian market.” Hyundai, one of the largest multination-_ als in the world, with holdings in the ship- building, steel and automobile industries as - well as construction, is one of the mainstays of the repressive anti-labor policies of the Chun Doo Han regime in South Korean. The company is headed by former South Korean dictator Park Chung Hee. All unions, including the regime-spon- sored FKBU, have been expressly kept out of Hyundai’s operations, utilizing Korean legislation which allows the labor minister to fire trade union leaders and disband unions and prevents trade unions as well as church assistance gorups from expressing solidarity with other unions or union cen- trals. Kube said the federation met with the Building Trades Monday to begin mapping a campaign against the Kerkhoff-Hyundai contract. Gainers ‘sham’ report rejected The president of the Alberta Federation of Labor has condemned a government inquiry recommendation that striking employees at Gainers meatpacking plant in Edmonton settle for substandard wages. Calling the report, by former Labor Rela- tions Board chairman and former deputy labor minister Alex Dubensky, a “sham” and a “crock,” Dave Werlin pledged the federation’s continued support to the Uni- ted Food and Commercial Workers in its campaign for wage parity with meat pack- ing workers across the country. He said in an interview that a “boycott Gainers” campaign-is gaining momentum, with most major food store chains refusing to carry the products of the company, owned by multi-millionaire and arch Con- servative, Peter Pocklington. Ed Seymour, the UFCW’s national representative, called the Dubensky report “vague” on several points and said the union could not recommend it to the members unless the points were addressed. He said that while the report recom-. mends that all Gainers employees be rehired, it fails to mention whether scabs currently doing unionized workers’ jobs will be hired. While calling for improvements in pension fund contributions from the com- pany, the report does not address the ques- tion of what happens to the fund unilaterally cancelled by Gainers, and ignores contentious issues on overtime, Seymour said. And, he pointed out, the report provides no guarantee that those strikers facing con- tempt of court or criminal charges will have a job, noting that the company has pledged to fire those workers charged during picket line confrontations. Regarding wage increases, Seymour said Dubensky “didn’t really give us a hell of a lot,” noting his recommendations were close to those already agreed to by Gainers during negotiations, and fall well short of parity with other meatpacking plants across the country. The Dubensky report recommended that 8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JULY 16, 1986 the Edmonton-based Gainers, which has been operating with scab labor since the strike began more than a month ago, reach - a settlement that would pay less than the national industry standard for starting wages. The rates Dubensky recommended — $8.19 an hour retroactive to the last con-. tract’s expiry date, and $8.71 an hour beginning June 1, 1987 — fall below the industry standard of $9.38 and $9.77 an hour, respectively. Werlin pointed out that the start-up wage across the industry had been more than $11 © an hour two years ago. But that was before Gainers’ employees settled for concessions in the rate of almost $4 an hour during negotiations for the previous contract two years ago. “That’s the price of concessions,” said Werlin, noting that the rollback was repeated i in contracts throughout the meat processing industry. Werlin accused Dubensky of “chicken- ing out” in his report, which stated that the downturn in Alberta’s economy meant “a settlement of an increase of 19 to 20 per cent would not be realistic.” = “The whole strike underlines the corpo- rate agenda for labor. That includes deregu- lation and undermining labor legislation,” Werlin said. Meanwhile, the federation has stepped up its support campaign, which calls on food stores and customers to boycott Gain- ers products. Werlin said most major food chains, including Co-op stores and Safe- way, have refused to carry the products. Some 5,000 lawn signs bearing the slogan “Boycott Gainers — Change the Law” have been distributed throughout the Edmonton area, and more are planned for the rest of the province. The flip side of the sign — which can be displayed once the strike is settled — bears the slogan, “Change Labor Laws Now.” As with the Building Trades struggles of recent history, the Gainers dispute has gen- erated a broad campaign within the labor movement to change legislation governing working conditions, labor rights and corpo- rate practices. The campaign has presented Alberta’s Conservative government with four demands: eliminate the loophole that allows acompany after a 24-hour lockout to cancel the collective agreement; institute anti-scab legislation; establish tough new pension regulations; change the labor act to prevent “double-breasting,” a practice widespread in Alberta whereby unionized firms set up non-union subsidiaries. The federation scored a victory seccuttt ; with an LRB ruling — subsequently backed up by the courts — that Gainers table doc- uments of the company’s pension plan for examination. The company is pppesnns the ruling. . Meanwhile, job action at Gainers has spread, with workers at three B.C. plants in Richmond, Kamloops and Victoria walk- ing off the job Monday. David Cherrille of the UFCW, Local 188, charged that the -,company has been selling Gainers products, declared hot by the B.C. Federation of Labor, through B.C. outlets. Werlin said the dispute has shown Alberta labor something of “the Tory _ agenda for working people. “This situation really cries for labor unity. It tells workers not only to become ‘more militant, but to seek allies to stop the corporate agenda,” he said. _ to declare strike notice lowing the announce _ province-wide strike 1 _ IWA members _ thro : ($6.1 million) have al also re . significant j jump in earnings Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5. Phone 251-1186 lamenclosing 1yr.$160] 2yrs.$280) 6mo. $1000 Foreign 1 yr Bill me later CL Donation$ \ READ THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LAS y /