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NEWS ITEM: B.C. consumer services minister said Monday he is
“disturbed” by a one-per-cent rise in food prices in Vancotver in.
August. He said he “hoped” the trend didn’t continue but if it
did the strongest action. the government would take would be to
“monitor” higher prices. Meanwhile, a sharp rise in coffee and
beef prices were expected in the next few days.

Province-wide protests 7
organized for Oct. 14 |

A partial survey made this week
by ‘the Tribune of preparations in
provincial points to mark the
October 14 Day of Protest indicates
that plans for massive par-
ticipation by trade unionists and
the public are well advanced in
many of B.C.’s key centres.

All signs indicate that the Day of
Protest will be the biggest and
most powerful provincial-wide
demonstration ever organized in
B.C.’s labor history. Key points
reached by the Tribune indicate

* the following:

PORT ALBERNI: Reports show
that a complete shutdown is ex-
pected in this strong labor centre
on Oct. 14 with a big’ parade
through the city and a mass
meeting to be held at Glenwood
Center. All local union presidents
will be speaking on the radio in the
next few days to drum up support
for the Day of Protest.

Two locals of the Canadian Union
of Public Employees voted in favor
of work stoppage, one unanimously
and the other 90 per cent in favor.
The labor council will meet with

the co-ordinating committee on
Sept. 28 to decide on the final
arrangements.

Discussions have been held with
the Bartenders’ Union with the aim
of closing all’ beer parlors and
cocktail lounges on Oct. 14. Up to
this point Port Alberni bartenders

‘have not declared themselves.

CAMPBELL~ RIVER: The
Campbell River-Courtenay Labor
Council is going full steam ahead
for the Oct. 14 Day of Protest,
according to council secretary
Nick. Chernoff. A_ special
organizing meeting was held in
Campbell River on Sept. 15 at
which the following plans were

adopted for the Day of Protest:

e Assembly at the Campbell
River labor centre, followed by a
parade to Foreshore Park, where a
public meeting will be held.
Prominent labor leaders will be
asked to address the meeting,
along with Karen Sanford, the
NDP-MLA for the area. :

e Placing of advertisements in
local newspapers to build the rally.
e A possibly rally in Courtenay.

island co-op fighting union

By CAMPBELL RIVER ,
CORRESPONDENT

There has been a nasty lockout-
strike situation at the North Island
Co-operative. Store in Campbell
River Since August 23.

At the heart of the dispute is the
refusal of management, mostly
trade union members and ex-trade
union members, to grant the three
meatcutters and 20 retail clerks
parity in wages with their fellow
workers in the chain super-
markets.

The result has been disastrous
for the store, which handles
groceries, drygoods, sporting
equipment, tools and other items.
By all accounts, sales have
dropped to almost zero, despite the

- fact that the coop store has 200

members. In normal times, this
store is said to have a larger sales
volume than any of its competitors.

The dispute started with a
lockout of three meatcutters,
members of the Canadian Food

and Allied Workers Union, Local

present

212. The twenty members of the
Retail Clerks Union, also without a
contract, then declared a strike.
Both unions are seeking a first
collective agreement and want the
standard agreement ‘in the ‘in-
dustry.

The store was started in 1974 by
members of the Campbell River
and District Credit Union. The
majority of the board of directors
of this credit union are union
members or former union mem-
bers.

A holding company was set up by
the credit union and purchased the
land to provide a building for the
store. The directors of the store
signed an agreement with the
holding company, giving the
directors of that body the decisive
say in store policy, including the
exclusive right to hire and fire.
This means that the directors
elected by the shareholders of the
North Island Co-operative Store
are, in effect, dummy directors.

The chairman of the board of

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MAKVALA KASRASHVILLI

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RUBEN AGARONYAN

Violinist
<—- ELIZABETH PLAYHOUSE —
Sunday, October. 10 - 8 p.m.

et ss acest ge Fhe SARS
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 24, 1976—Page'12-

Tickets at all “Bay” Box Offices

store directors is a prominent
member of the New Democratic
Party. Three directors are
members of the Canadian
Paperworkers Local 1123. Two of
these CPU members and _ the
chairman crossed the picket line a
few days ago to stock the shelves.

Another CPU member, Gordon
Rose, is president of the Campbell
River-Courtenay and District
Labor Council. He disagreed with
the board’s position and argued in
favor of meeting the workers’
demands for the standard
agreements in the industry. As a
result, he was removed from the
board of directors because of an
alleged conflict of interest.

The most recent development is
the lifting of the lockout, but no

talks had ‘been scheduled S press
time.

Nick Chernoff, labor council
secretary, told Tribune that his
council is giving full support to
the strikers. ‘‘The purpose of a co-
op Store is to help the workers, and
you don’t help the workers by

denying your employees the right .

to fair wages and working con-
ditions.

“Tf the 2,000 members have ‘to
pay more for their purchases in
order to provide fair wages and

working conditions, no one will

complain. There has to be a set-
tlement and there will be a set-

tlement. What the workers want is .

simple justice. The majority of the

co-op members belong to unions”

‘and they don’t-want their directors
to act.as strike-breakers.”’

SUPPORT GROWS

Cont'd from pg. 1

CLC and the working people of
Canada, which he professes to
represent.”

. Setting the tone for the week-long
convention which includes many
resolutions from locals supporting
the Day of Protest, the officers
report says: ‘“The officers take this
opportunity to once more pledge
their support to the CLC’s Oct. 14

Day of Protest. We would urge all -

delegates to take whatever actions
are necessary to see that Oct. 14 is
truly a successful and proud day
for organized labor in Canada.”

Strong support also came this

week from a large group of Van-
_ couver-area employees of CN and

CP Rail who voted full support for
a shutdown on Oct. 14 thus en-
suring that no freight or passenger
trains will operate in or out of
Vancouver during the 14- hour
shutdown.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Union
of Postal Workers in the Lower
Mainland, Vancouver Island and
Powell River have voted
unanimously to support the
protest. A union spokesman said,

“We do not consider Oct.-14 a,
‘holiday and we want all our
members out to show how.

dissatisfied we are with the antics
of the AIB.” Letter Carriers in
Surrey this week also voted sup-
port. Locals of the Letter Carriers

across Canada are voting 85 to 90

per cent to support the Oct. 14 -

shutdown, delegates to the Van-
couver Labor Council were told
Tuesday night.

Cliff Bell, IBEW delegate to the
VLC told the meeting that
linemen’s locals in B.C. are voting
support and said four units out of

six in B.C. to vote so far have.

backed the protest.

_ Chilliwack, on Tues.evening, Sept.

‘locations throughout the city,

_ the Queen Elizabeth Plaza.

If this does not materialize, the
alternate plan calls for a car
cavalcade to the Campbell River
rally. ¥
The Courtenay NDP Club hada ies Se
representative at the Sept. 15
meeting and reported that an NDP
membership meeting had voted to |
participate in the Day of Protest.
The spokesman offered the full |
assistance of the club and @
donation of $200 towards the cost of
the rally. ;
Chernoff voiced confidence that’
the vast majority of organized
workers in this heavily unionized |
area will stop work on Oct. 14. |
MISSION-FRASER VALLEY:
Mission. Local 367 of the In |
ternational Woodworkers of
America has scheduled a meeting —
of officers and stewards for Sat.
Sept. 25 to mobilize for a comple’
work stoppage on Oct. 14. The
meeting will be held in the Missio
Legion Hall at 11 a.m. :
The New Westminster- Labor
Council has scheduled a meeting of
union representatives from the
eastern end of the Fraser Valley t
be held in the Evergreen Hall,

28. The meeting will discuss”
proposals of action for the Oct.
Day: of Protest. 2

PRINCE RUPERT: Plans have
been drawn up for a massive public
rally in the Fishermen’s Hall to be
followed by a march on Third Ave. |
Labor speakers will address the
rally, including George Hewison of |
the UFAWU. 3

City protest,

The first details of plans fi
Greater Vancouver activities on
Oct. 14 were announced to the
Vancouver and District Labor |
Council meeting this week. Though
a number of details are still to be |
finalized, the plans for the CLC _
Day of Protest now call for |
demonstrators to marshall at nine

where they will then proceed to |
march past the Anti-Inflation
Board’s Vancouver offices in the
Pacific Centreon to a mass rally in |

The rally in the Q.E. Plaza will
be addressed by a number of
speakers, and will feature’ en-
tertainment. Exact details as to
who will speak are still to be)
finalized. .

The Vancouver demonstration |
will be the major activity in the _
province on Oct. 14, and it is ex- |
pected to draw participants from
all areas in the Lower Mainland