| B.C. Fed |

besaseads | |

trades

} The executive council of the

| B.C. Federation of Labor last |
| week reversed an earlier deci- }”
} sion which would have allowed |

i the building trades unions to |
} stay inside the Federation and |
} moved to comply with the Ca- |
} nadian Labor Congress-order- |
| ed suspension of the 12 building |

i trades affiliates.

| The effect of the-decision — |
} made Wednesday at the execu- |
} tive council meeting — was felt |
| almost immediately as two |

} building trades representatives |
| were both told that they would j

| not be permitted to attend a

| Federation meeting Wednesday |
} night of union staff representa- |

} tives.

+ Carpenters provincial council
secretary Lorne Robson, one of

| those barred, voiced dismay at

| the executive council decision, |
| emphasizing that the Carpent- |
| ers had paid per capita dues for |
| its 15,000 members to the Fed- |

i eration — in keeping with the

} May | resolution of the execu- |
| tive council ‘‘to do everything |
} possible to have the building |
} trades remain in the B.C. Fed |
| and the CLC, through methods |
| approved bythe CLC, including }
} payment of CLC and B.C. Fed |

| per capita to the B.C. Fed. . .”

Jim Kinnaird who has been the
i key figure in seeking to maintain
| the affiliation of the B.C. build-
} ing trades locals pending defini-
tive resolution of the dispute.
Indications were in Wednes-

tion of those building trades

The new position of the ex- |
ecutive council was seen as a set- |
back for Federation director |

sme

| day’s meeting that «he had }
j sought to continue the affilia- |

—

prepared to pay per capita to the |
Federation — including the por- }
tion earmarked for the CLC — ]
but was unable to uphold that |
position because of pressure |
from some larger affiliates, not- |

| ably the International Wood- }
| workers and the B.C. Govern- |

} ment Employees,
| with the CLC.

to comply |

| Although the Federation de- |
| cision will have impact on labor |
} councils throughout the prov- |
ince, the positions they have |
} taken have so far been variable. |

The largest council, the 60,-

‘ 000-member Vancouver and |
voted. last }

} District Council,

i month to keep the building |
} trades inside the council while |
} pressing the CLC and the build- |
} ing trades for settlement of the |

| dispute.

} Last Wednesday the New |
| Westminster and District Labor |

circuitous route. Delegates vot-
ed only on a motion to ‘‘receive

j tion.

AAR i PSR NR A Ne

| Council put the trades out al- |
though it did so by a somewhat |

and file” the letter from the }
CLC on the suspensions which |
nevertheless had the effect of re- |
moving the trades from affilia- |

Earlier, the Port Alberni and |

} District Labor Council voted to |
} comply with the CLC, thus sus- }
| pending its two building trades |
| affiliates while the Prince |
| George and District Labor |
} Council, according to secretary |
| Cecil Kelley, is maintaining the }

status quo with building trades |

L delegates remaining seated.

TRIBUNE PHOTO— SEAN GRIFFIN

The Office and Technical Workers announced plans this week to
step up picketing action as it entered its 10th week of strike against
the Insurance Corporation of B.C. ICBC had earlier spurned a union
_ proposal to put all outstanding issues to binding arbitration after

In last week’s labor comment,
dealing with contract negotiations
in the forest industry, I stressed the
importance of unity between the
International Woodworkers of
‘America, the Canadian Paper-
workers’ Union and the Pulp,
Paper and Woodworkers of
Canada. The major corporations
in the industry are integrated com-
panies, producing wood and pulp
and paper products. If the IWA
goes on strike, it is possible that
members will picket all the opera-
tions of the struck companies, in-
cluding pulp and paper plants. This
could apply in reverse if one or both
of the pulp and paper unions went
on strike. :

In the Tribune Sept. 26, 1975, I
wrote an article that described the
end result of such disunity:

‘On Tuesday of this week we
were treated to a rare but tragic
spectacle.

“On that day, the Canadian
Paper Workers’ Union and the
Pulp, Paper and: Woodworkers of
Canada revealed their scaled down
demands in Victoria.

“The top leaders of the Interna-
tional Woodworkers of America
rushed in to condemn the pro-
posals before the employers had
enough time to:state their collective
postion.

“On Wednesday, it was an-
nounced that the employers had re-
jected the pulp proposals. Also that
the pulp negotiations had been
recessed. Simultaneously, it was re-
vealed that the IWA negotiators
would meet with the employers on
Thursday in a bid to settle their
dispute separate and apart from the
pulp unions.”

It was that disunity which led toa
situation in which the. Barrett
(NDP) government utilized the
split between the TWA and the
other unions to enact its much
criticized back-to-work legislation.
The two pulp and paper unions
were on strike when the legislation
was enacted and it was obvious that
if the strike had continued, most
IWA operations on the coast
would have been closed.

Almost six years have passed
since then. While some good
statements have been made about
co-ordination in negotiations, it
would appear there is still a long
way to go. In my book, the leader-
ship of all three unions share
responsibility for the disunity that
exists, to a greater or lesser degree.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 5, 1961 eess 12

A feature article in the Van-
couver Sun May 25 indicated what
line the forest corporations will
follow in negotiations: wages vs.
expansion. The opening paragraph
said: ‘‘Some of the $5 billion ear-
marked to rebuild and expand B.C.
forest mills and transportation
links could be jeopardized by over-
ly generous labor settlements this
summer, industry executives say.”

Rae Smith, president of Mac-
Millan Bloedel made this state-
ment: ‘‘What obviously happens in
simple terms is that capital that
should go to these programs could
be funnelled off into the settle-
ment.’’ The $2 billion MacMillan
Bloedel intends to spend amounts
to 23 percent of what is proposed
for the entire industry.

Don Saunders, spokesman for
the employers’ Pulp and Paper In-
dustrial Relations Bureau, put it
this way: ‘‘An over generous settle-

ment will certainly increase our
costs and make it difficult to com-
pete. Investment means security.
It’s true in any industry .

The multinational corporations
which control the industry waited
for the Socred government to bring
down a new Forest Act in 1978
which gave them expanded control
over forest resources for longer
periods. Now, after holding back
for many years, they are making
heavy capital investments in order
to tighten their control and to pile
up even greater profits through cut-
ting back the work force and get-
ting more production out of those
who remain on the job.

The Communist Party program
for the forest industry in B.C.
adopted in 1979, made the follow-
ing projections, which, I suggest,
are worth considering in the current
situation:

‘One thing should be clear: the
new investment is not designed to

‘expand the processing and

manufacturing base of the forest
industry, which is the only sure way
to establish thousands of new jobs
on a permanent basis. Instead, it is
aimed at expanding and con-
solidating the raw material and
semi-processing nature of the

TECHNICAL
+88 UNION

forest industry. Over the long run,
it will obliterate our forests at a
faster pace.

‘What is needed is a program to
ensure that workers in the industry
have a greater say in the changes
that are coming in so far as capital
investment, jobs and working con-
ditions are concered. Labor must
also concern itself with the fight for
anew forest policy which will make
maximum use of our forest
resource for present and future
generations through a sound con-
servation policy and large scale
development of processing and
manufacturing of wood
products.”

That program calls for Mac-*
Millan Bloedel, B.C.’s largest cor-
poration, to be placed under public
ownership, to be followed by the
public takeover of the foreign-
owned multinational corporations.
This is a political issue which must

‘Labor Comment

Jack Phillips

be fought out in the political arena.
However, the fact remains that the
corporations who dominate the in-
dustry will do their utmost in the
next few months to get the cheapest
possible settlement through collec-
tive bargaining in order to ease the
burden on the shareholders in
respect to capital investment. That
would mean holding down
workers’ pay in order to generate
maximum profits. The workers, on”
the other hand, are compelled to
fight in order to protect and im-
prove their-living standards and
working conditions, particularly so

City or town
Postal Code

See ee ee

five days of bargaining, stating that it would arbitrate wages only:
OTEU Local 378 president Fred Trotter charged that ICBC manage
ment “is like B.C. Tel management — dictatorial and threatening”

_ they have good statistics to prové

_We can be sure that no matte!

‘good settlement. No effort a

Published weekly at Suite 101 — 1416 Commercial Drive,
Vancouver, B.C. VSL 3X9. Phone 251-1186

Read the paper that fights for labor

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ee ee a tes ee ee a

eoee cee ewer bene she

2 oo erei~e Ole saue A680 0 egie e

| am enclosing:
1 year $120 2 years $220) 6 months $7 0

OldO New Foreign 1 year $15 0
Bill me later CF) Donation$..........

BONEN NE NLD

ye

with inflation now at 14 percent.
According to some well:
informed sources, the leadership of
the pulp and paper unions are of
the opinion they should be the
pace-setters: this year. They j
this by arguing that in 1980 the pro-
fit picture for pulp and paper wa5
much better than for wood pro" -
ducts. From what I have learned,

their point.
However, this is strictly a tactical
question which should be di
between the negotiating commill
tees of the three unions in order tO, _
work out aco-ordinated approach:

which union settle first, the othe
would find it difficult to recom’
mend a lower settlement to theif
members, particularly whell
the dominant companies are int?
both wood and pulp and papé
production. The fact that the tw?
sectors are closely connected in thé
production process should also be
borne. in mind. Withoul
woodworkers, there. would be 10
logs and chips for the pulp
paper industry.

At this timeit is vitally a
for the IWA to roll up a massivé
vote in favor of strike, which h® —
been called for by the leadership. i
the two pulp and paper union |
followed suit, the forest companié’
would get the message that iy
workers are determined to get

be spared to bring about a cO”
ordinated approach in collectiv®

bargaining on the part of the three
unions. That would really drive thé
message home to the companies
This should be raised at mem
ship meetings where possible. Thé

leadership of the three unions wil

work harder for unity at the top if
‘there is a wide movement for unity
from below, at least in my opiniot