Members of fhe United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union and the Native Brotherhood of B.C. were com- pleting ratification votes this week for new wage and salmon price agreements covering fishermen, shoreworkers and tendermen. The vote, to be announced Thursday, was expected to follow the recommendation for accep- tance advanced by the shoreworker and tendermen’s bargaining committees and the ee UFAWU-Native LABOR SHOREWORKERS AT B.C. PACKERS PLANT . . . new one-year agreement will give them an 8-cent-an-hour wage hike, im- proved health and welfare benefits. Brotherhood fishermen’s com- mittee. If the new pact is ratified, it would be the earliest that a settle- ment has been reached with the Fisheries’ Association, which represents the fish companies. -Tendermen working on fish packers will receive a nine percent increase, boosting daily wage rates between $9.09 and $10.62. Tendermen currently receive bet- ween $101 and $109 a day depen- ding on vessel class. The settlement package also in- Adams strike report blasts courts, RCMP, labor board A report issued by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union on the. Adams = Laboratories strike has sharply 8 criticized the role of the courts, = the RCMP and the Labour Rela- tions Board, charging that the ac- & tions of the three agencies ‘‘en- 6 couraged the employer to prolong © the dispute.”’ The union, which waged a tough 14-month strike to win a first contract at the vitamin FISHERMAN P| : e ff 5 5 E & also emphasized that the strike “shows the power and the need for union solidarity...and shows cludes new provisions for severance pay as well as im- provements in supplementary wage rates, grub allowances and health and welfare benefits. Shoreworkers are to get a wage increase of 85 cents an hour — the base rate is currently $8.25 — while tradesmen will get increases ranging from $1.04 and 1.24. The one year agreement provides for increases in health and welfare benefits. The new salmon price agree-- ment imposes a cut in sockeye salmon prices to 89 cents a pound from last year’s minimum of that there is no substitute for hard-nosed collective action.”’ The lengthy report, which in- cludes a detailed chronology of . events beginning with the applica- tion for certification in April, 1978, noted that employer op- position to organization and the presence of strikebreakers ‘‘are not uncommon in strikes for a first agreement. “But what is uncommon about the Adams strike,’’ it added, ‘‘is the series of actions by the courts, the RCMP and the Labor Rela- tions Board...actions reminiscent of the 1950’s and earlier (which) Settlement seen in fishing industry $1.05. All other prices will remain _ at 1979 levels except for chums which will rise to 64 cents from ‘last year’s minimum of 62 cents. UFAWU president Jack Nichol said that the cut in sockeye prices was dictated by the huge run expected for Bristol Bay, Alaska which, he said, “‘will upset world markets.”’ The prices to B.C. fishermen are also 80 percent higher than . those paid to Alaska fishermen, indicating the bargaining strength of B.C.’s organized fishermen in face of the general depression of prices. point out how heavily the legal | process still favors the J} employer.”’ - mea a Even though injunctions were } supposed to have been removed }- from the area of labor relations, it said, ‘“‘our union was faced with 7 threeinjunctions...oneofthemex | parte.”’ : In addition, six strikers and the union itself were convicted of contempt of court and subjected to heavy penalties by Justice Mur- 9 ray, the same man why, in 1966, 9 had sentenced Paddy Neale, Jeff | Power and Tom Clark to sik | months for defying an injunc-— tion. Z The report declared: ‘The sentences against the Adams strikers are unequalled in recent F years. They represent a serious at- § tack on the rights of all workers.” | It also stated that the RCMP | “routinely...played a biased role in support of management.” The policy agency only conceded that it had “‘erred’’ in handling the | strike after many complaints” from the labor movement. a The actions of the LRB also 7 weighed against the union, the report said. It took weeks to res- cind decisions that had been made hastily, and in one case, levelled | ‘‘a_ vitriolic attack’? on the RWDSU in ruling on a decer- tification application. _. Bargaining on pensions next on the agend The public rallies held by the B.C. Government Employees Union and the B.C. Federation of Labor to protest the new pension legislation by the provincial government were an outstanding success. The campaign across the pro- vince culminated in two. giant rallies in Vancouver and Victoria. The Vancouver protest drew some 4,000 people and the Victoria demonstration on the grounds of the legislature drew some 6,000 people. What was most significant about these rallies was that the vast majority of those who participated were provincial government employees who took time off from work to demonstrate. The action that triggered the demonstrations was the decision of the provincial government to in- troduce changes to pension legisla- tion without consulting the unions directly involved. Some 140,000 public sector employees. are covered by pension plans under a provincial government agency and these plans are not subject to the collective bargaining process. Those affected include provin- cial government employees, ferry workers, employees of the In- surance Corporation of B.C., tran- sit workers, municipal employees, fire fighters, policemen, registered nurses, hospital workers and teachers. ' Two days after the huge rally in Victoria, the provincial govern- _ment announced that it had re- quested the directors of 'B.C. Hydro to placea ceiling on the cost- of-living adjustments for pen- sioners under the Hydro pension plan. Universities minister Pat McGeer, who is also a Hydro direc- tor, explained this move, saying that ‘‘everyone in the province has to be treated alike.’”’ It should be noted that true to form, the Socred government did not consult the unions representing the 9,000 employees of Hydro before mak- ing a “‘request’’ to the Hydro direc- tors. In this case, a request is tanta- mount to an instruction. It should also be noted that the announcement on the government’s intention in respect to the Hydro pension plan came after a meeting between members of the cabinet and leaders of the LABOR COMMENT BY JACK PHILLIPS B.C. Government Employees’ Union, which took place as a result of the Victoria demonstration. What was discussed at the meeting was not disclosed up to the time this article was written. As reported in the Tribune May 30, the main demands of the pro- test rallies were: ; e Withdrawal of the pension legislation; e Government consultation with the unions directly concerned; e An inquiry into the. pension plan investment policies; © Negotiation of pension plans as part of collective bargaining. The last demand is, in my opi- nion, the key demand. Pension coverage is so vital to the 140,000 employees directly concerned that it amounts to a denial of natural justice to keep it outside the scope of collective bargaining. The government at present is free to consult or not consult with the unions, and is free to change the PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 27, 1980—Page 12 terms of the plan without regard to the wishes of the employees, simply by introducing amendments to ex- isting legislation. The concept that pension plans (including the level of contribu- tions for those employed and the extent of pensions for the retired) must be the subject of collective bargaining is now gaining wider ac- ceptance among public employees in B.C. as a result of the protest rallies. : For example, a circular dated June 6, 1980, was posted on hospital bulletin boards by the in- dependent Hospital Employees’ Union which has more than 20,000 members. The circular informed members that the HEU was part of the Municipal Employees’ Pension Committee, along with the follow- ing unions: Canadian Union of Public Employees; Policemen’s Union; Fire Fighters’ Union; Registered Nurses’ Association of B.C.; Health Sciences Association and the Municipal and Regional Employees Union. Out of this group, only CUPE and the Fire Fighters belong to the B.C. Federation of Labor. The re- mainder are independent unions. This committee was formed to “advise” the provincial govern- ‘ment on pension matters and has been in existence for many years. Significantly, the last paragraph of the circular indicated that the committee was in some measure of agreement with the government, as follows: | ‘“‘With respect to the proposed legislation to control indexing of. pensions at eight percent or less, the committee, including HEU’s nominees, have agreed in principle with such proposed legislation but is seeking some further clarifica- tion.” However, on June 19, after the provincial convention of the Hospital Employees’ Union, Jack Gerow, business manager, an- nounced that the convention had decided to press to make the pen- sion plan an item for collective bargaining. I am informed that a similar position was adopted by the recent provincial convention of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. All delegates to the Kelowna convention participated in the protest rally in that city. Also, the unions representing Hydro employees have expressed concern over the intention of the government in respect to their pen- sion plan. It was in this setting that the Public Sector Committee of the B.C. Federation of Labor was scheduled to meet this week in order to evaluate the campaign to date and to plan the next moves. | As far as the main metropolitan centers were concerned (Van- couver and Victoria), those who. participated in the stop work pro- tests were overwhelmingly from the B.C. Government Employees’ Union and the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union. I am hopeful that the Federation will be able to devise a program of action that will lift the struggle to a new * level by involving all or a part of the other public . employees, irrespective of affil tion, and with the unders and support of unions in private sector. When conventions like the cent CLC convention call fot @ widening of the scope of coll bargaining, it should be incum upon the affiliates to apply those decisions in their day-to-day wor I suggest that the issue of pensions negotiable is a very one, in terms of fighting to ext the limits of collective bargaining. The Socred government 18” prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of the taxpa! money to subsidize the delivery our coal to Japan, to the d of industrial development in B: But it is not prepared to s L small percentage of that amount to — guarantee adequate pensions for public employees. This, after investment of the pensions fundsat sub-standard rates of interest for many years, should prove tO public employees that the de to withdraw the pension bill is fully justified. It should also prove that the Socreds are not governing 12 interests of the people. 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