If members of the big business
establishment in British Columbia
were polled to name their favorite
labor leader, Senator Ed Lawson of
the International Brotherhood ‘of
Teamsters would be their first
choice.

However, the senator is under
heavy fire from an active rank and
file movement in B.C., centered in
Local 213. According to the 1978
directory published by the provin-
cial ministry of labor, that local had
8,678 members, out of a provincial
total of 21,016 for the union as a
whole.

The movement against Lawson
and for more democracy in the pro-
vincial set-up of the Teamsters is
spearheaded by the B.C.-Yukon
chapter of the Teamsters for a
Democratic Union. The only other
Canadian chapter of this rank and
file movement, which originated in
the U.S., is in Toronto.

According to a recent publication
issued by the B.C.-Yukon chapter,
Lawson receives $150,000 a year,
plus expenses and benefits for
holding down five jobs. He is cur-
rently director of the Canadian
Conference of the Teamsters (ap-
pointed from the U.S.), interna-
tional vice-president of the
Teamsters, president of Joint
Council No. 36 (covering B.C.), a
trustee of Local 213 and a member

very busy man!

A recent TDU circular
(September-October 1978) really
puts the senator on the spot:

“Ed, with the high rate of
unemployment, do you need
$150,000 plus expenses and benefits
per annum, plus five jobs?

“Is this where the $1.30 per
capita tax per member each local
pays to the Joint Council No. 36
and the 40 cents per capita tax per
member each local pays to the
Canadian Conference, goes?”

A newsletter in support of Jack
Vlahovic, who was elected as

Kthea removed after union trials in

of the Canadian senate. All in all, a.

secretary-treasurer of Local 213 and .

which Lawson acted as prosecutor,
reports that Lawson
$82,246.77 in 1977 for his services
as IBT vice-president.

On’ April 30 of this year,
Viahovic will appear before the
Supreme Court of B.C., seeking
relief from the situation he finds
himself in, after finally exhausting
all appeals within the international
union.

According to the Vancouver Sun
April 28, 1978, ‘‘Vlahovic was con-
victed on a series of charges pressed
by union: officials, including
Senator Ed Lawson, and ordered

LABOR
COMMENT

BY JACK PHILLIPS

removed from office, barred for life
from holding any union office, fin-
ed $1,000 and told to reimburse the
Teamsters about $25,000 for
unauthorized expenditures.’’ (The
trials referred. to were internal
union trials.)

However, the international ex-
ecutive board of the Teamsters, rul-
ed that Vlahovic will be eligible to
run again in 1982. It also overturn-
ed all the financial penalties impos-
ed upon him, except for certain
legal expenses he incurred while ser-
ving as secretary-treasurer of Local
213.

On the other hand, the interna-
tional executive upheld Vlahovic’s
conviction on charges of refusing to
obey directives from the interna-
tional secretary-treasurer and of
violating the union’s constitution
by seeking court action against
Teamster officials before ex-
hausting internal union remedies.
On that basis, the board found, his
removal from the office of
secretary-treasurer of Local 213 was
justified.

According to Vlahovic’s sup-
porters, he was convicted of

received .

(Autonomy demand could spur
TDU's fight for democracy

disregarding a directive from
Washington to remove 2,000
members from Local 213 in order to
transfer them to a new, interior
local. Funds for this project were to
be taken from Local 213 and
transferred to a new local (No.
180). Before Vlahovic could
transfer the members and funds, an
injunction was granted forbidding
the transfer of members or funds
until the Labor Relations: Board
heard the case. Vlahovic’s sup-
porters also claim that the members
were never consulted and never
wanted to leave Local 213.

The Teamsters For A Democratic
Union, -is, as stated earlier, an
American rank and file movement
with a chapter in Toronto and one
in the British Columbia-Yukon
area. It has a large and influential

» following in the U.S.

In July, 1978, Vlahovic wrote
about the TDU in these words:

“Governments and courts have
tried to clean up the Teamsters
Union down through the years
without much effect.

“The only people who can do
this effectively and permanently are
you, the rank and file teamsters.
This means all the men and women
joining in the fight to restore
justice, fair representation and,
most of all, restoring democracy to
our union. We have to be able to
say ‘I’m proud to be a teamster and
proud of my brothers and sisters.’

“T will not give up until all
these restorations have been com-
pleted. for the membership.”’

While it is frankly stated by ac-
tive’ members of the TDU
Canada that there is more internal
democracy in Canadian locals of
the Teamsters than is the case in
most American locals, they never
the less believe there is room for im-
provement in Canada.

I recently attended a _ public
meeting in Vancouver sponsored by
the TDU. The feature speaker was
Pete Camarata of Detroit,
Michigan, who is co-chairman of
the TDU for the U.S. and Canada.

in

VLAHOVIC, CAMARATA...need to raise issue of Canadian
autonomy.

Camarata. came across as an in-
telligent, militant and courageous
fighter against bureaucracy and
corruption in the American section
of the Teamsters. He was par-
ticularly effective in making a case
for the TDU to oppose all forms of
discrimination, i.e., against black
people and other minorities, and
against women. As he: put it, the
TDU could not win in many locals
unless it took a clear stand against
discrimination and in support of af-
firmative action. By affirmative ac-
tion he meant special provisions to
assist minorities and women to
achieve equal rights in the true sense
of the term. For example, special
opportunities for black workers to
receive training and opportunities
for skilled positions, opportunities
previously denied to them.

However, when he was asked
about a Canadian union for
Teamsters in Canada, his reply in-
dicated he held the same position as
the international officers: Because
we are dealing with multi-national
companies, he said, we should be in
one union on both sides of the
border.

What he does not understand is
that the best form of international
solidarity between American and
Canadian workers is that based on

in the true sense of the term, is in-

mutual and voluntary cooperation
between the workers of two, in-
dependent and sovereign labor
movements. The increased
awareness of Canadians that they
must have a national identity of
their own and must be independent

evitably reflected in the trade union
movement. I am sure that the TDU
leaders would be the last to argue
that Canadian Teamsters operating |
trucks and heavy equipment at an}
operation in B.C. owned by}
Japanese capital should belong to af
Japanese trade union. i
It is my opinion that the TDU]
would have more appeal in Canada
if it called for Canadian autonomy
within the international, with
regular Canadian conventions and
the election of all Canadian officers
by convention delegates, includi
the Canadian director who is now |
appointed by the head office in the |
U.S. This type of affirmative action |
would greatly assist the Teamsters |
in Canada and the U.S., and the J
labor movement as a whole. :
Inevitably, the Canadian trade |
union movement will be fully in-
dependent and sovereign. The fight
for Canadian autonomy in unions
like the Teamsters is part of the pro-
cess to achieve that goal.

Demand for seamen’s pay takes unionists to Anchorage

CBRT Local 400 president Tom”
McGrath didn’t particularly want
to make the trip to Anchorage,
Alaska last week, but he went
nevertheless — and the crew of a
‘flag-of-convenience’ ship won
some $91,000 in back wages as a
result of his action.

The owners of the freighter
Westbulk were compelled Friday to
pay both crew and officers back
wages owed to them since the ship
. sailed last November as well as to
sign a new agreement under terms
laid down by the London-based In-
ternational Transport Workers’
Federation.

But, as McGrath pointed out in
an interview with the Tribune this
week, the money likely wouldn’t
have been paid, had he and another
Local 400 member Cyril McCor-
mick, gone along for the trip to An-
chorage, the Westbulk’s next port
after it left the bulk loading ter-
minals at Port Moody.

On numerous occasions over past
years, action ITF affiliates such as
the CBRT and the Seafarers’ Inter-
national Union — known by the
ITF as ‘‘inspectors’? — have suc-
ceeded in winning back wages for
the crews aboard ships whose
Owners are either not party to an
ITF agreement or who are violating
its provisions. But the intransigence
of the Westbulk’s owners demand-
ed more dramatic action.

SAGAS Ve

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 9, 1979—Page 12

TOM McG RATH .

pay for seamen aboard

Westbulk.

“We were afraid the owners
would order the ship to sail without
paying the wages — and the crew
had the same fear,’? McGrath said.
“‘That’s why Cyril and I decided to
sail with her. As long as we were
aboard, we were the stumbling
block. The owners wouldn’t have
wanted to head out to sea with us
on board.”’

Although the Westbulk was party
to an ITF agreement which
stipulates a basic rate of pay of

eo Ara

_ wins back :

some $579 a month for able-bodied
seamen, the crew — most of them
from Bangladesh — was being paid
only the equivalent of $100 a
month. The Indian officers were
receiving various rates of pay but all
of them were well below ITF rates.

The demand for full pay was put
to the captain before the ship sailed
Monday but when the owners refus-
ed to meet the commitment
McGrath and McCormick went on
board.

Still the demands weren’t met —
instead the Westbulk set sail for
Anchorage. :

Finally, four days later in An-
chorage, and after the captain had
spent five hours trying to contact
the owners in one of the four coun-
tries in which they have addresses,

" an agreement was won for the pay-

ment of back wages — totalling
$91,000. The crew members had
wage claims ranging from $2,500 to.
$4,000 each while some officers had
as much as $7,000 coming.

‘*We also got the captain to signa
new ITF agreement — the old one
had just expired — and individual
agreements with each crew
member,’’ McGrath said.

But if action by the CBRT and
other unionists in this province has
won wages and conditions for many
crews the flag-of-convenience ships
still pose a formidable problem.
And the Westbulk is typical.

Like hundreds of others, it is
registered in Liberia to avoid taxes
and union and other regulations. Its
owners are hidden behind a whole
facade of foreign addresses — in
Norway, New York, Hong Kong,
even one in Monte Carlo. ‘We
never did find out who the owners
were,’’ said McGrath.

Despite the difficulties, the ITF
has won agreements with about 13
percent of the flag-of-convenience
ships — a considerable figure since
‘jt translates into about 1,200 ships
— and all have come as a result of
action such as that taken ey the
CBRT local.

But in the long run, the unions

' Address .....

a Sees

Read the paper that fights for labor

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City or town Sek Bt oes tots x sProvincaicsesteiss
Postal Gode=<5 <.: ci. sts.

| am enclosing:
1 year $10[ ] 2 years $18[ ] 6 months $6[ ]
Old{ ] New[] Foreign 1 year $12 [ ]
Donation $. . .

involved are looking towards winn.
ing legislation like that in Finlani
and some other northern European —
countries where, if a ship does n
have an ITF agreement specifyin
minimum wages and conditions,
-doesn’t get a cargo.

That, in turn, is part of a larg 5
campaign, currently being pressed
by the CBRT, the Marinework
and Boilermakers, the Seafarers
International Union and oth
maritime unions in this country, to”
compel the government to enact
‘legislation regulating shipping
and ultimately to establish a Cana:
dian merchant marine, built and
manned by Canadians. LG

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