pro

: Assembly Line

pore ITEM: Industrial fatalities and injuries in B.C. reached a new high
971. The Workmen's Compensation Board's annual report shows

th

In

ot 199 workers were killed on the job — 20 more than in 1970.
l¥rles amounted to 109,186, which is nearly 13,000 more than the

Year before. Speedup and employers greed which puts profits before

ves is largely responsible.

Mine bosses spend less

than 1% on pollution

ae a five-year period, the
: ad Industry in British Colum-
+89 S spent only 0.64 percent of
ees on pollution control.
1s the amazing figure pre-
of th BY FE. Bertoia on behalf
ae Regional District of East
ollie to the hearing into
Shon Jon in the mining industry
poll Sored by the provincial
Ution control branch.
uring the same five year
a the mining industry in the
16 aa gross earnings of
ae Regional District spokes-
Te not intimidated by the
Pais: a of expensive pollution
ae measures threatening to
oe down mining operations.
amp ie his authority is for the
that Te of mining operations
Standart against pollution
fits urged that pollution re-
aeons never be lowered to
Minin tate. a particular
ttireste Operation which might
munity the health of the com-
Subsiay - Better the operation be
oe 1zed by outright cash than
poll ugh allowing unsafe
» ution standards.
oe Said the Sparwood (coal)
ae demonstrates the
tim, 1 Public controls. At one
Me the

Peri

sh : Operation was
ine the surrounding
of Re with coal dust at a rate

6 tons per square mile per

mo : :
ae a figure four times
a than the permissible

tion. allowed industrial opera

“LABOR RALLY

Cont'd from pg. 1

thought to becoming part of the
B.C. Federation of Labor.

To enthusiastic cheers, rep-
resentatives of industrial unions
and others pledged their support
through telegrams and in
person. The IWA, the Transit
Union, the Vancouver Labor
Council, Powell River and
Prince George public em-
ployees, teachers groups out-
side Vancouver, high school stu-
dents, the Carpenters’ Union, the
Fishermen, and Mayor Bob
Prittie of Burnaby pledged

support to the fight against the .

government legislation.

President of the B.C. Teach-
ers Federation Adam Robertson
who chaired the meeting
summed up when he said ‘‘Our
cause is just! We must dedicate

ourselves to taking our message -

to the people in every way we
can, rapping on doors and

through every possible chan

nel.”

The huge turnout to the rally
demonstrated once again that
public employees want action
now in defence of their rights.
Out of such united action can
grow the unity needed to oust the
Socred government when the
next provincial election rolls
around. :

SPRING

* Home Baking
. Boutique

* Knitted Wear
* Handicrafts

SUNDAY, MARCH 26

11 .a.m.—6 p.m.
AUUC HALL, 805 E. PENDER

BAZAAR

e Jams-Preserves
e Country Store
* White Elephant Stall

be AUSPICES: VANCOUVER LABOR SOCIAL COMMITTEE

PT INTERVIEWS PHILLIPS:

Union leader outlines
case of civic workers

Five thousand municipal
employees in Vancouver, North
Vancouver, Burnaby, Rich-—
mond, New Westminster and
Delta have been given an ultima-
tum by the Municipal Labor
Relations Bureau — ‘‘You can
take a 7.5 percent salary
increase for 1972 or go on _
strike.”

The Pacific Tribune presents
this interview with Jack Phillips,
CUPE national representative
and spokesman for seven CUPE
locals representing 3,500 of the
5,000 employees.

Q:.What is the main obstacle
standing in the way of a
settlement?

A:.The refusal of our em-
ployers — the elected council —
to recognize that our wages and
salaries have fallen drastically
since 1960, that is in relation to
other sections of the organized
work force in British Columbia.

Q:.You are seeking a 20
percent salary increase in one
year. Isn’t that a very ambitious

target?
A:.Our salary position in
relation to Vancouver

policemen, firemen and elec-
tricians has slipped badly in the
past ten years. It would take a
salary increase of 10.3 percent
on the 1971 rates to restore our
laborers to their former position
and 8.4 percent for our trades-
men. As for 1972, we expect an
increase in line with the current
pattern of negotiated salary
increases for comparable
groups.

Q:.How much have you been
offered?

A:.We have been offered an
increase of 6.5 percent from the
first of the year and 2 percent
from July.1, which amounts to
7.5 percent over the terminal
rates for 1971. In short, the
municipal authorities have
refused to recognize the catch-
up factor. They refuse to do for
us what they have done for the
police, firemen and the elec-
tricians since 1969, that is, to
recognize that we have fallen
behind. It should be remem-
bered that the city electrical
workers get 7.8 percent for 1972
and the police and firemen have
yet to negotiate. (These latter
groups will hardly get much less
than the electricians. )

Q:.Does that mean that your
position is 20 percent or strike in
1972?

A:. Absolutely not! If the muni-
cipal employers will give proper
recognitition to the catch-up
factor and return to the bar-
gaining table in good faith, we
can work out a settlement. Our
demands are negotiable.

Q:.Where do negotiations
stand now?

A: All our seven locals and the

independent Municipal and
Regional Employees Union
(Vancouver city hall staff)

rejected the 7.5 percent offer.
Then the Municipal Labor
Relations Bureau, representing
our employers, broke off
negotiations and called upon us
to reconsider or go on strike.

Q. Are they trying to provoke
you into an untimely strike,
possibly to help the provincial
government cool the rising
protest over Bill 3?

A:.This possibility has been
suggested to us. However, we
are in no great hurry to go on
strike. The Municipal and

Regional Employees Union, with
whom we are co-operating, has
taken a strike vote. Vancouver’s
outside workers, CUPE Local
1004, are in the process of doing
so. When the Local 1004 vote is
in, we will have a look at the
situation and then decide on our
next move. If we have to go on
strike, it will be as a last resort
and according to our own time
table. We would prefer to go
back into negotiations. Our
members are responsible public
servants (inside and outside
workers) and we will not allow
our employers to provoke us
into a strike. Neither will we
cringe from the prospect of a
strike.

Q:.Where do your wages stand
in relation to wages in private
industry?

A:.Our labor rates have
dropped thirty cents per hour
behind base rates in bargaining
units of 1,000 and over in this
area. Our tradesmen rates have
slipped. seventy-six cents. This,
of course, is based on Decem-
ber, 1971 rates.

A:.In the past, your CUPE
locals and the independent
Vancouver City Hall Employees
have gone in different directions
during wage negotiations. What
is the relationship now?

A:.Now, they are called the
Municipal and Regional Em-
ployees Union but they are still
independent. They have the
same basic demands as CUPE,
and we are co-operating. There
are problems, of course, but it is
much better to have problems
arising from unity instead of the
problems of disunity.

Q:.Are you personally op-
timistic about the outcome of
these negotiations?

A:.I am no prophet. What will
come, will come. I have faith in
the membership and sooner or
later there will be a settlement.
Let us hope it will be sooner. If
there is a strike with all the
ensuing inconvenience to the
public, blame the reactionary
politicians, not the municipal
employees.

CUPE’s Harry Greene speaking at
the Gardens rally last Thursday.

CUPE states
unity stand

Harry Greene, president B.C.
Division, CUPE, charged at the
public rally in the PNE Gardens
last Thursday, that “‘there is a
deliberate plot by the Federal
and Provincial governments to
impose wage controls on public
employees, as the first step in
imposing wage controls on all
workers?

Speaking for the 15,000 mem-
bers of his union in B.C., Greene
called for unity to defeat the plot
to destroy collective bargain-
ing. He called for unity in each
union under attack; unity of all
public employees in ‘‘one
common front to go over to the
offensive through all legitimate
means’’ to oppose Bill 3; unity
between public employees and
the entire trade union move-
ment; and unity with all citizen
groups opposing the anti-social
policies of the Socreds.

Classified

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MAY 5— Keep this date open—
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BIRTHDAY. PARTY for.
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UKRAINIAN CANADIAN
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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1972—PAGE 11