LABOR The decision by the officers of Region 1 of the International Woodworkers to withhold nearly all its per capita dues from the B.C. Federation of Labor will almost certainly deepen the isolation of the IWA and the leadership under Jack Munro from the trade union movement. The union last week carried out the threat voiced earlier by Munro and announced that only some S0 people from each of its 13 locals in B.C. would be affiliated to the federation. The move will effectively reduce the [WA’s per capita contribution from the $183,500 in 1983-84 to just $500. The IWA had already pulled all its members off the federation’s executive council, Three were nominated at the con- vention last December but all declined on the decision of the caucus. The union will presumably maintain its representation on local labor councils which like the federation, are chartered by the Canadian Labor Congress where Munro sits as a vice-president at large. At a news conference Jan. 29, Munro confirmed that the decision, threatened at ‘the time of the convention, was prompted by his defeat as first vice-president, a posi- tion traditionally held by the TWA. “We are entitled to that spot,” he said. . “Now that agreement has been destroyed by the federation and we can’t pretend it hasn’t happened.” Munro was also critical of the federa- tion on other points, terming the labor’s central’s longstanding picketing policy “ridiculous” and questioning the weight exerted by some smaller unions. Art Gruntman, who defeated Munro in the federation election last fall, called the IWA decision “unfortunate”, a sentiment echoed by many in the trade union move- ment. The widespread feeling is that the action will isolate the IWA even more from the trade union movement. The policies of the union under Munro’s leadership have been increasingly distant from those of the federation over the last year and the with- drawal of funds will likely alienate many more unionists. . Munro’s defeat at the convention was a result of several factors, involving continu- ing bitterness over his public statements during the secondary picketing by pulp workers, his refusal to set an example among private sector unions by putting the IWA fully behind the public sector strike in 1983, and his role i in the Kelowna accord. Even the IWA council’s decision to Dues cutoff will deepen |WA’s isolation break ranks with the pulp unions in joint bargaining and sign a trend-setting three- year agreement with a first-year wage freeze was criticized by many unionists. That decision in turn reflected the posi- tion of the regional leadership which has been to accept that the crisis in the forest industry is the result of a world-wide reces- sion and that little can be done about it. At its last convention, the leadership explicity rejected a militant response to the crisis, arguing that the industry “‘is at the mercy of international markets.” Analysis Munro himself has been increasingly identified with a tripartite approach over the last year. At the Jan. 29 press conference, the IWA president also used the occasion to repudiate the Native Indian groups who have opposed logging on Meares Island. He backed MacMillan Bloedel’s bid to log the island, telling reporters, “the island should be logged.” Munro’s stand on Meare’s logging gives significant support to MacMillan Bloedel at a time when there is widespread public opposition to logging the island. Although the federation will be affected by the withholding of per capita — offset by the recent affiliation of the 25,000 ‘ member Hospital Employees Union — the “bigger problem will be the division created by the IWA’s action and the weakening of the IWA membership’s position. The IWA will be going into bargaining without any real hope for a turnaround in the forest industry and IWA members have already expressed concern that the employers will seek to impose terms sim- ilar to those in the U.S. where the WA has signed a 5-year contract. A recent letter sent out by the TWA Committee for Progressive Leadership — which ran Willie Fleming and Joe Lychak for the regional leadership last fall — warned that the employers were “on the offensive using depressed condi- tions.” Although it was sent out before Mun- ro’s press conference announcement, it warned: “Let’s face the facts — we cannot afford to go it alone. “More than ever we need to strengthen the labor movement, not to pull out of the B.C. Federation of Labor as some of our ‘leaders propose.” Hewison takes union By SEAN GRIFFIN At age 40, United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union secretary-treasurer George Hewison isn’t exactly in the category of veteran in the labor movement in B.C. Yet when he steps down from his UFAWU post. at the union’s convention. this week to take a position as industrial secretary of the Communist Party in Toronto, he will already have 20 years under his belt as full-time representative of the union. The central executive committee of the Communist Party announced last week that Hewison has been named to the post, to take over from Bill Stewart who will be taking up an assignment as the Canadian _ party’s representative on the editorial board of World Marxist Review. Taking that step across the Rockies is a momentous one but George says in an interview that working full-time for the CP has always been one of his goals. “It’s an opportunity to work directly in political activity — something you don’t get a lot of time to do as a trade unionist. “I think I can make a contribution although I’ve got a lot to learn. I’ve always been rooted in B.C.,” he says. In fact, those roots are deep, both in the fishing industry and the Communist movement. The son of Campbell River fisherman Jack Hewison, George recalls going out with his father at the age of eight. He began fishing for a living at 17 and joined the UFA WU that season. Later that year — in 1961 — when he began studying at the University of B.C., he . joined the Communist Party, following a family tradition set by his parents. He continued fishing during the salmon season while attending UBC but in 1965, he cut his university career short to take an appointment with the UFA WU as northern organizer, based in Prince Rupert. Even before the - appointment he was a member of the union’s general executive board. “It (the appointment) was to be for a year and then I was to go back and finish univer- sity,” George recalls now. “But I got more education in that year than I had got in the previous 16.” He stayed, moving to Vancouver as the local’s union organizer in 1972, to business agent a year later and finally to secretary- treasurer in 1977. As a Communist in the UFAWU, George has also been part of a long tradi- 12 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 6, 1985 tion. From virtually the beginnings of the industry in this province, socialists and Communists have been an integral part of fishermen’s union organization. The names of such people as Frank Rogers and George Miller and more recently, Bill Rigby and Homer Stevens occupy a major place in the union’s history. “The fishermen’s union isn’t just a union — it’s really a anti-monopoly coali- tion made up of wage workers and fisher- men who own their own boats,” George points out. “And the union’s strength. depends on maintaining the unity of that coalition.” Maintaining that unity depends in turn on developing a program that takes into account the interests of all sections of the work force in the industry, he emphasizes. “There are few other industries that have to formulate policies on international trea- ties, on the environment, on catch division and aboriginal rights, all apart from collec- tive bargaining.” And it has been the left in general and the Communist Party in particular that has played a decisive role in developing that comprehensive program and has provided militant leadership, he says. The UFA WU is also unique in that it has to sign up its fishermen members every sin- gle year —a process that has helped to reaffirm the union’s rank-and-file character and the bond that exists between the members and their elected leaders. The strength of that bond was demon- strated particularly through the Cold War years when, despite his widely-publicized Communist Party membership and ‘the attacks on the union from the federal Com- bines branch, the employers and even the raiding Seamen’s International Union, Homer Stevens was never challeneged in a union election. “If there’s ever anything that the mem- bership’s concerned about, you'll soon know — there’s no way that you can be out of touch,” George says, adding that the union’s officers have always had the “full backing of the membership” for the work they often undertake in the broader labor ” movement. For George, that work has assumed a higher profile in the last couple of years, most notably as chairman of the organiza- tion committee — and its offshoot the unemployment committee — of the Van- couver and District Labor Council. It was experience to cP post TRIBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN 1983: Hewison (inset). from that position that he was catapulted to the chairman of the Lower Mainland Budget Coalition and the chairman of the huge rally of 35,000 people in July, 1983 which kicked off the historic Solidarity campaign. “The Solidarity movement provided a lot of lessons — for one, it demonstrated that the anti-monopoly coalition- that we’ve _ talked about wasn’t just a pipe dream, that it could become reality,” he says. “Tt also showed me that there are a lot of groups who are active in the community who are distrustful of labor and distrustful of the Communist Party but once we start working, there’s a trust and a co-operation that develops. “There have been a lot of bridges built and everybody has gained a lot of expe- rience,” he affirms. George acknowledges that the situation elsewhere in Canada is considerably differ- ent but adds that the experience of the last two years particularly “has made me better equipped to deal with the issues.” He emphasizes that there is a mix of younger and older leaders with whom he’ll be working on the party’s executive com- mittee which will assist in broadening his experience. And although he’s rooted in B.C., he has wide contacts among trade unionists across Lower Mainland Budget Coalition rally of 35,000 against Social Credit budget July 23, the country, many of whom supported his ; 5 bids for election to the Canadian Labor Congress executive. Many know his reson- ant bass voice as much from the concert stage — he toured several provinces in — 1983 singing labor material and publicizing arecord that he put out recently — asfrom |. the microphone at labor conventions. From the members of the UFAWU, he | says he’s had “nothing but best wishes. They recognize the need to consolidate the left and I think they realize that something more than working in the union has tobe done.” More than anything, he looks forward to the opportunity to work full time for the CP. He’s been a member of the B.C. pro- vincial executive and the central committee . for several years but adds: “I’ve always.con- sidered it a particular honor to work on full-time assignment.” And there are growing opportunities for the Communist Party, George emphasizes. “T think the Communist Party is going to start coming into its own,” he says. “The times are increasingly favorable for a left alternative in the working class, especially since the right wing policies are proving their inability to solve the economic crisis. “The Communist party has a clear program — and there’s a job to be done getting it across to the working class.” oar