estat

LABOR

The trade union movement should
move immediately to organize opposition
to the Expo contract awarded to anti-
union contrctor J.C. Kerkhoff and Sons
Construction Ltd. and should map out an
escalating program of meetings, rallies
and other actions, Bill Zander, president
of the B.C. Provincial Council of Carpen-

ters said June 1.

| In a move seen throughout the labor

movement as a deliberate provocation,
Expo 86 awarded a $4.4-million contract
to Kerkhoff to build a gate and bu;ilding
complex at one of the entrances to the
world’s fair site. Kerkhoff was the low
bidder on the project although its bid was
only $45,000 less than that submitted by a
union contractor, Van Construction.

Building Trades Council president Roy
Gautier charged that the contract award
“is bound to cause a dispute.”

That the contract was awarded at this
stage to the man who has been the spear-
head of the anti-union campaign in the
industry — and at a time when an agree-
ment between Expo and the Building Trades

was still supposedly being negotiated —
has added substantially to the charge of

provocation.

A similar contract for a complex at the
western gate did go to a union company,
Onyx Construction, timed presumably to
offset the Kerkhoff contract.

Zander saic that the Kerkhoff contract
was unacceptable “for the simple reason
that we tried to negotiate an agreement for
Expo construction. We had already
waived a number of our contract clauses,
something we’ve never done before in our
history.

“But all we got from Bennett was the
baseball bat.”

He charged that Bennett was “obviously
looking for a fight,” adding that the pre-
mier “has an agenda for kicking the hell
out of the Building Trades and he’s going
to proceed with it no matter what we agree
to.”

Bennett continued his line, laid out ear-

’ lier this year and reiterated during his tele-

vision address, that Expo would be open
to both non-union and.union contractors.

He also stated that all companies have
to do “is demonstrate their ability to do
the job and be the lowest bidder,” indicat-
ing that the low bidder policy followed by
other government departments has been
extended to Expo 86. That policy could
put more contracts in the hands of non--
union companies, including Kerkhoff.

In fact, Touftism Minister Claude
Richmond indicated that may be the case:
“Tt may occur that on any given construc-
tion project, it is in Expo’s best interest
that the work be provided to firms already
engaged on the site.”

Significantly, although he was low
bidder on the one contract, Kerkhoff was
only one per cent below the union contrac-
tor’s bid — yet the wages he pays, by his
own reckoning, are more than 30 per cent
lower than union rates, indicating consid-
erable profiteering by the right-to-work
contractor.

The Expo contract is closely timed with
the growing crisis in negotiations between
the Building Trades and Construction
Labor Relations Association.

_ The cabinet can now move to proclaim the

‘Board to impose any restrictions On

meet this week to map out its strategy.

Stand against K erkhoft contract urged

The Trades were heading into a nego- ~
tiating session with CLRA late Friday but |
little was expected in the face of CLRA’s
continuing demand for a 30 per cent cutin
wages, as well as concessions on hiring,
overtime rates, and other conditions.

The unions on the 17-member Building
Trades Council are expected to conduct
strike votes this month. A lockout vote has
already been carried out among the
CLRA member contractors. ,

Hanging over the heads of the Building
Trades are the amendments to the Labor ~
Code passed by the government May 16.

legislation and, under the provisions of |
Section 73, designate Expo 86 as an e¢O=
nomic development project. That would }
give the power to the Labor Relations |

unions on the site, including stripping —
them of the right to strike or to use their
non-affiliation clauses.

The Building Trades executive was to |

me POE Rta en ear

Action Gaucus m

Special to the Tribune

MONTREAL — Dennis McDermott
was acclaimed to a third two-year term at
the helm of the Canadian Labor Congress
last week, but not before the nearly 2,000
delegates to the Montreal convention dealt
him two strong rebukes.
__ The first was the overwhelming rejection
of the leadership’s economic policy, which a
rank and file upsurge sent back to be
replaced with a tough action program built
around the fight for a shorter work week.

The second was the 45 per cent vote gar-

nered by Jean-Claude Parrot, president of —

the Canadian Union of Post Workers, and
by Joy Thorkelson, vice-president of the
United Fishermen and Allied Workers’
Union, in their bids for seats on the Con-
gress’ executive.

Both ran on the same platform of action,
both drew broad support from delegates for
their calls for mobilization and both won
exactly the same vote — 874 ballots.

The strong votes tallied by Parrot and
Thorkelson were a tribute to the growing

‘strength of the Action Caucus, a national

body supported by the CUPW, the
UFAWU, the United Electrical Workers
and delegates from many other unions. ~

From small beginnings in 1980, the Cau-
cus this year attracted more than. 150 dele-
gates to daily meetings to discuss ways to
win the CLC to policies of mobilization and
unity.

Although Parrot was defeated in his bid
for re-election to the Congress’ executive
council, the standing ovation delegates gave
him when he pledged his support to the
winners was evidence of the tremendous
respect he enjoys throughout the labor
movement.

Parrot’s re-election bid and Thorkelson’s
very strong showing dealt a body blow to
the traditional ‘slate system” under which
‘the incumbent leadership retains its grip on

power. :
Parrot, narrowly elected at the 1982 con-

JOY THORKELSON...chellenges Jack
Munro in CLC vote.

vention, was the first in many years to
“break the slate” and win CLC office with-

out the backing of the incumbents. This -

year, he was offered a place on the official
slate, but only if he pledged to restrict his
endorsements to his fellow slate members.

But as his campaign leaflet said, he
wished “‘to reserve the right to support those
candidates who I believe will be the best for
the whole labor movement.

“I am committed to continuing the pro-
cess to build a strong, dynamic movement
capable of uniting working people in the
struggles ahead.”

The slate system came under fire from

women delegates as well. Although the

leadership was proposing a welcome affir-
mative action program to add a minimum
of six women to the executive council, they
enlarged the executive committee to eight to
ensure no men would lose their spots.

Then the incumbent leadership assigned
one of the new women’s positions to each of
the six largest unions, ensuring these unions
would maintain a firm grip on the CLC’s
top body.

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mark at GLC

_ (The CLC is led by an executive of
four — president, secretary-treasurer and
two executive vice-presidents. Next come
the eight general vice-presidents of the exec-

utive committee. Then come 14 vice- —

presidents at large, including the six women.
All these officers, plus the presidents of the
provincial federations, make up the execu-
tive council.) ;

Thorkelson’s candidacy was not con-
firmed until the convention’s opening day.
She was asked to run by the Action Caucus,
to broaden the debate in the convention

~ over the need for a real labor mobilization.

With her union’s blessing, Thorkelson
agreed to run for general vice-president,
targetting incumbent Jack Munro of the
IWA.

The militant mood of the convention,

-Parrot’s broad support in the labor move-
ment, Thorkelson’s strong speech in the

debate on economic policy together with
rank-and-file frustration at the carefully.
controHed approach to affirmative action
made for a potent showing at the ballot box.

Thorkelson’s 45 per cent vote was not
enough to break the slate, but marked a
dramatic increase above the highest pre-
vious vote garnered by a left candidate in
recent conventions.

Her vote was not only an endorsement of

her call for a “CLC commitment to action -

.. for an economic and social program that
meets the needs of working people,” it was a
rejection of the position adopted by
Munro — nownotorious across Canada —
that workers are not prepared to resist eco-
nomic cutbacks.

Canadian Union of Public Employees
president Jeff Rose polled the most votes in
that race, rolling up 1,904 ballots. Most
incumbents had more than 1,850, but
Munro trailed badly with 1,465.

In the much larger race for vice-president
at large, the official slate tallied about 1,800
votes on average. But Robert McGarry, the
Letter Carriers union president selected to
replace Parrot, polled only 985 votes. Only a
small swing could have seen Parrot
re-elected.

Despite Parrot’s defeat, supporters of the
Action Caucus could be well satisfied with
the week’s work. It takes a massive swing
from one slate candidate to an opponent to

_ break the slate and both Parrot and Thor-

kelson were within striking distance.

The election results confirmed what the
debate on economic policy first indicated —
rank and file delegates are no longer content
with stand-pat policies or ready-mixed
leadership.

Pressure
on Gulf |
wins jobs —

Pressure from the unemployed and
maritime unions resulted last week in
Gulf Canada terminating a_ ship-
refitting contract with a non-union con-
tractor and promising to complete the
work at a union shipyard.

The agreement from Gulf came as
unemployed shipyard workers demon-
strated outside the Surrey Fraser docks
where Can-Arctic Ventures, a non-
union firm working under contract to
Gulf, was refitting the oil exploration
vessel Alaska, which is intended for use
in the Arctic this summer.

The unemployed later set up infor-
mation pickets outside the regional |
sales offices of Gulf Canada. 4

Under the terms of the agreement, |
sent in a telex to the Marineworkers >
and Boilermakers Industrial Union, |
Gulf stated that it would terminate the | —
contract with Can-Arctic May 31 and |
do all further work on the vessel at a |
Marineworkers-certified yard, West |
Coast Manly Shipyards, in return for |
the union taking no action against the }
company.

“It certainly is a victory,” said
Marineworkers vice-president Bill Scott,
who noted that both companies had
been challenged by the trade union
movement two years earlier for their
use of prison and refugee labor in refit-
ting the same ship as well as another, |
the Sunshine Coast Queen. F

Backed by the B.C. Federation of
Labor, maritime unions had picketed
the docks in 1982 after learning that
Can-Arctic Ventures, under contract to
Gulf, had hired prison laborers as well
as Polish refugees to work on the two
ships for low wages. Their action forced —
the contractor to stop work on the
ships.

Scott said that Gulf had agreed at
that time to carry out any future work
on the two vessels at a union shipyard.
But it apparently reneged on that
agreement by going back to Can-Arctic
which in turn was using non-union
workers many of whom were living in
their vehicles.

‘aa penton -