th RL

LEGAL TECHNICALITY

Thousands may be denied

protection of Tenant Act

Thousands of tenants living in,
downtown hotels and rooming
houses may be denied even the
limited protection provided by the
Landlord and Tenant Act unless
the provincial government moves
quickly to remove a legal
technicality in the Act which ex-
cludes such tenants on the grounds
that they are “‘licencees.”

The legal distinction would have
disastrous effects on pensioners
who comprise the majority of
residents since neither the just
cause for eviction clauses in the
new Landlord and Tenant Act nor
the provisions of the Interim Rent
Stabilization Act would apply.

The case came up this week
following reports that rent. in-

BRITANNIA

Cont'd from pg. 1

people of Britannia are not simply
disposed of by this giant U.S.
monopoly.” :

_ Morgan added that the closure
was ‘“‘clearly linked” with the
mining companies’ scare cam-
paign against the Mineral.
Royalties Act and was aimed at
intimidating the government into
backing down. “‘Lives don’t mean
anything when a mining com-
pany’s profits are threatened,” he
charged.

The Britannia mine has been
operating continuously since 1899
but was taken over by Anaconda in
1963. One of the biggest mining
corporations in the world,
Anaconda has major copper
holdings in Chile and figured
considerably in the fascist coup
there in September 1973.

Most of the men presently
working the mine which climbs
steeply up the bluff from Howe
Sound have been there since the
1964 campaign which forced a stay
in the companies’ decision to close
the mine. Even those 10 years have
meant jobs and homes for -300
miners. But now the decision has
again come from New York to shut
down, and the reasons given by the
company are remarkably similar
to what they were 10 years ago.

“Most of the people here don’t
want to leave,”’ Don Collins said,
“they’ve got homes here, their kids
are going to school — they don’t
want to leave.”

‘share washroom or

creases ranging from 30 to over
100% were issued at the Drake
Hotel on Powell Street in Van-
couver. When he took the issue up
with the rentalsman, Downtown
Eastside Residents Association
president Bruce Eriksen was told
that he had first to determine
whether or not the tenants had
“exclusive possession” of the
rental premises, whether facilities
were shared by several tenants
and other related questions.

The term ‘‘exclusive possession”
is the decisive phrase in

distinguishing between what is.

legally a “tenant” and a “licen-
cee” since, without that exclusive
possession, an occupant is said to
be a licencee and, as such, outside
the provisions of the Landlord and
Tenant Act.

The term is rooted in common
law and supported by a host of

legal precedents in Manitoba,

Ontario and elsewhere. Occupants
of a hotel or rooming house -who
kitchen
facilities or who cannot have
guests after a certain hour — both
usually being the rule in hotels —
are deemed not to have exclusive
possession and are therefore only
licencees, even though they may
have rented the room‘on a monthly
basis over a period of several
years.

The new Landlord and Tenant
Act states specifically that it does

not apply to ‘‘an occupation of land _

or residential premises that, at
common law, would be considered
to be a licence to occupy land.”

The Drake Hotel is the first case
where the legal distinction appears
to have been invoked and the
magnitude of the rent increases
indicates that landlords in various
downtown hotels and rooming
houses will charge everything the
traffic will bear, since tenants
apparently have no legislation to
protect them. 3

WORKING MOTHERS

The Department of Labor’s’

Bureau of Labor Statistics in the

U.S. reports that half the married.

women with children as young as
age 6 were working in 1973, com-
pared with only 39 percent in 1960.
Almost one-third of the mothers
of pre-school children were
working in 1973, compared with
less than one-fifth in 1960. —

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1974—Page 12

By WOODWORKERS CTTEE,
B.C. COMMUNIST PARTY

In terms of policies adopted, the
37th convention of regional district
#1 of the International Wood-
workers of America was by far the
most progressive in many a year.
If any one issue predominated, it
was certainly the layoffs affecting

~ some 11,000 IWA members in this

province.
An emergency resolution sub-

mitted by the resolutions com-

mittee commended the provincial
government for inviting IWA
regional president Jack Munro to
accompany the government
delegation on a recent trip to the
People’s Republic of China in
search of markets. It.called on the
provincial and federal govern-
ments to “extend the search for
markets to all other socialist
countries and newly-emerging
states.”

Within the resolutions com-
mittee, some members fought to
have the word “‘socialist”’ deleted
because their thinking was still
colored by cold war ideology, but
they were defeated. The resolution
went to the floor in its original form
and was unanimously adopted.

The main debate on unem-
ployment took place while federal
labor minister John Munro was
present and several speakers did
an excellent job in linking the
question of unemployment in the
industry with the need for a
massive attack on the housing
problem by all levels of govern-
ment, with strong emphasis on low
rental housing, lower interest rates
for mortgages, massive land
assemblies for housing and the
elimination of profiteering.

COMINCO

Cont'd from pg. 1

after 30 years’ service at 58; or on
$400 at 55 after 30 years.

Union leaders in Trail say the
cost of living clause is one of the
best negotiated in B.C. and that it
will provide for a 1.35 per cent
increase for each one point rise in
the cost of living. It also contains a
“roll in’’ provision under which
cost of living increases up to Oc-
tober 1976 will be combined with
wages in one package, and could

- not be reduced even if the cost of

living should decline. Every three
months after, there will be a three
months’ cost of living adjustment
of 1.35 per cent.

Union leaders estimate that the
COL clause will mean an ad-
ditional 15 to 17 cents an hour raise
every thrée months if the cost of
living continues at its present rate.

Two demands thrown in by
Cominco in the previous round of
negotiations, which contributed to
their collapse, were withdrawn by
the company. These were the
proposal that Kimberley workers
go on continuous production jin-
stead of the present 5-2; and a
change in the expiry date of the
agreement. The company has
agreed to the union’s proposal that
the expiry date will be 30 months’
from date of signing, which it is
expected will bring the next expiry
date to April, 1977.

Even though a vote of ac-
ceptance came next week there
may be no immediate return to
work unless Cominco reaches a
settlement with 500 office workers,
members of the Association of
Commercial and Technical Em-
ployees, who are also on Strike.
Cominco and ACTE started
bargaining Thursday.

ason commer |
IWA convention marke@
by progressive policy

Another resolution calling for the
elimination of the 11% federal
sales tax on building materials was
amended to include elimination of
the provincial sales tax.

If there was any weakness in the

debate, it was the failure to drive
home the fact that the present
lumber crisis is part of the current
crisis in the capitalist world. The
fact that the lumber industry in
this province is so heavily
dependent on American markets,
while the U.S. is in a crisis, calls
for a new orientation.

The continental policy adopted

by big business and its political.

parties after World War II has
meant disaster for B.C. wood-
workers.

Clearly the long-term solution. to
the problems of those woodworkers
is connected with the fight for
Canadian independence from U.S.
domination, the search for new
markets and an independent
foreign policy based on detente and
peaceful coexistence with the
socialist community of nations and
the newly emerging countries.
Certainly it is very much part of
the campaign for nationalization of
key sectors of the economy.

There was a good beginning in
turning the convention in ‘this
direction — but only a beginning.
Much more remains to be done, to
fight for the implementation of the
policies that were adopted and to
deepen the understanding of the
membership as to the causes of the
current crisis. The Communists in
the industry have a_ special
responsibility in this regard.

Among the important resolutions
adopted were nationalization of
foreign-owned resource com-
panies, nationalization of B.C.
Telephone, maintenance of the
eight per cent limitation on rent
increases, a rollback on prices,
higher income tax exemptions and
prosecution of monopoly cor-
porations guilty of profiteering.

With an eye to the 1975 contract
talks, the convention also called for
coordination in negotiations among
the IWA in B.C., the two pulp
unions and the IWA south of the
border.

All questions pertaining to
specific demands for the coming
negotiations were referred to the
wage and contract conference
Slated for February. Among the
issues were union hiring, a shorter
work week, percentage or flat sum
wage increases, grievance
procedure and the “‘no contract, no
work”’ proposition.

A resolution calling for delegated
quarterly conferences, however,
was defeated — an unfortunate
defeat, because such conferences
would go a long way toward
providing the necessary com-
munications in such a far-flung
union and a two-way flow of in-
formation and opinion between the
membership and the leadership.

It is to the credit of the IWA that
two excellent resolutions on Chile
were adopted. One called for the
release of all imprisoned trade
unionists and the restoration of
free trade unionism. Another
called for the freeing of all political
prisoners, the restoration of
democracy, withdrawal of
Canadian diplomatic recognition of
the junta, an end to Canadian trade
or credits and the opening of
Canada’s doors to Chilean
refugees.

It came as a surprise to many
observers, after the recent turmoil
in the IWA, that there was no op-
position to the official slate for
executive positions. The

i
;
fe
if

‘ch close! |
“presidents’ club” which close |
ranks in recommending t it
settlement hammered of |
Victoria under the auspie ati
provincial -minister ol
presented a solid front. The ral
the.convention and the con ‘
of the local delegations we" wile |
that there appeared to Pe le |
support for opposition me |
The officers’ who were VIB of te |

opposed by a large section
membership duritey
negotiations were @ pt

strengthen their control va
ching up their differ a
presenting a united from a
membership. “+0 |
It was 2 contradiction that i
little of the mass dissatis!@
a few months ago
reflection in the debate. at |
be explained by two factors. gilt
the almost overwhelming Wr iat
the unemployment situatio iti |
industry. Second, the compe i
of the delegations inate
expressed the widespre@ i ot
voiced a few months ago ee, {
vigorous and deme”
leadership. 5
Now, ai priority talks a
the agenda. The first '
plement the genera i of
program which was adop yolv!
fight for jobs. It must 1 ais.
membership in all the loc?
second involves eee on
the upcoming wage
coniterense’ For the Come
and other left-wingers 12
dustry, -there 1S
challenge, Their job will be |
to bring clarity to a vere
situation and to unite 400
bership around forwar'
licies.
M There can be no retreat j
fight to preserve all
living standards in the ra

the
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4

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layoffs. Instead, the fi ,
better contract must be Fy

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olitical dem :
mobilize the membership a
trade union movement aca of
in the fight for new " f |
policies and full employ™™_

TENANTS |

Cont'd from pg: 1

the courts and not the ret
“Tf this is so,’’ Yorke pe fo
“it is a major rele gi
government. One can im sal
absurd it is to put the tho¥
violations into the cout evel)
But the most shocking é il)
came this week whew {0
Eriksen and_ the
Eastside Residents A
exposed that the new i end
fectively stripped 4 eded
rights from those that n¢ n poh
the most: the roughly 'F get
of tenants living 1 12)» aaah)
hotels. (See story, pase cfiba)
“We have reach
stage,” Yorke stressed, mee
to intensify our position ide “| |
what the government
must carry through
plans.” to rae Ee
The tenants intend e ca
maximum pressure 01 © ty

xy jt i |
to retain the 8% ceiling, pe! Wt

main instrument being ie
campaign to culmin@
October 23 lobby. pe

‘annaire Willa

A questionnaire W? "ion
culated with the perme
gather information i0 ” to io 3
McDonald’s ‘‘challeng ta

_ port their position W! veh

evidence. : pave

Public meetings oD oe
scheduled in Richmond %
16; in Surrey on Octobe
Vancouver October 20-

—
=“_