eA AOmns ~_- “TROPHIES VAS -10-81-NE INJUNCTIONS REMOVE LOG HUTS Women replace Inco picketers By JOE HILL THOMPSON, Man. — Wives of striking Inco Metals Co., workers set up their own picket line Sept. 28 re- sponding to an injunction issued against United Steel- workers’ Local 6166. The interim injunction, issued here Sept. 25 orders the Union to remove its barriers and log cabins from access roads leading to the Inco complex and to refrain from supposed ‘‘harassment”’ of management and others try- ing to cross the picket line. Though issued on Sept. 25, the injunction was only served Sept. 27 by a sheriff who had driven 400 kilometres from The Pas, Man. The union had until Oct. 5 to appeal the order. _ While the men were moving the cabins to the side of - the road, the women continued to stop vehicles entering the company grounds in order to make sure that all occupants had proper identity cards. Those who had left their cards at home were sent back for them. About 20 former hourly paid employees, who were made salaried staff the day before the strike began were sent away from the picket line with a chorus of ‘‘scabs!”’ echoing in their ears. A half-ton truck drove through the © picket line with a women picketer on the hood, but the driver later apologized to the union for his actions. — ’ Referring to the terms of the injunction forbidding ‘‘harassment’” of personnel crossing the picket line, Local 6166 president Blake McGrath denied any sugges- tion the strikers were harassing anyone. ‘‘Our people have been forced to show their I.D. cards all their lives, if that’s harassment, Inco has been doing it for years’’, he said. The RCMP, which in Manitoba and some other pro- vinces functions as the provincial police force, warned the women they were violating Manitoba’s Highway Traffic Act by obstructing traffic. The women stressed they weren’t covered under the terms of the injunction restricting the picket line. While Inco has been active in the courts it hasn’t made any changes in its bargaining positions which lie at the root: of the strike, launched Sept. 16 by the 1,900 Thompson workers. ~_A bid to undermine union morale has been made by a shaddowy crew calling itself a ‘‘Concerned Citizens’ Committee.’ This group, which no one.in Thompson, so far, admits belonging to, recently left petitions in a Jocal shopping centre demanding an end to the strike. These have had no impact on the union which remains solid in its determination to force an acceptable settle- ment from the rich multi-national nickel corporation. As the wives’ actions showed, support for the strike is grow- ing in the community. ~ Talks stall for federal clerks OTTAWA — Contract negoti- ations have broken off for 48,900 federal government clerks be- cause absolutely no progress was being made at the bargaining ta- ble, Aileen Manion, vice- president of the Public Service Al- liance of Canada said Oct. 1. After eight days of negotiations treasury board wouldn’t agree to one single change in the clerks’ contract, even though negotia- tions began on Aug. 26, three weeks before the official notice to bargain date, Manion said. . “There is no justification for prolonging contract talks if there is no possibility of reaching a negotiated settlement. “We are determined not to have the clerks suffer under pro- tracted contract talks whichresult in economic hardship and undue frustrations,’’ she said. “Tf bargaining in good faith is not taking place at the table, it is to everyone’s advantage to move to the assistance of. third party.” PSAC has requested the appointment of a conciliator in an effort to help the parties reach a settlement. Manion pointed out. that the early commencement of negotia- tions was an unsuccessful attempt _ to reach a settlement before the expiry date of the contract — Nov. 11, 1981. The clerks, one of the lowest- paid groups of federal public ser- vice employees, receive an aver- age annual salary of $16,018. A total of 8,800 clerks receive an av- erage salary of $12,700 and 170 clerks receive an average salary of $11,097. ‘Statistics provided by the Pay Research Bureau, a government agency, show that federal government clerks are far behind their counterparts in the private sector,’ Manion charged. But treasury board is offering them a 28-month contract and a wage in- crease far below the cost-of- living.. Metro labor backs interest rates protest By CHARLES DANIELS TORON TO — Support for the Canadian Labor Congress’ Nov. 21 demonstration in Ottawa against high interest rates highlighted the Oct. 1 meeting of the Metro Toronto Labor Council. A pmiority resolution noted that the federal government has ignored repeated protests from the labor council against Ottawa's high interest rate -policies. Such rates, stated the council, ‘‘do not reduce inflation; rather, they lead to higher unemploy- ment, social service cutbacks, higher rents and mortgage payments, bankruptcies, plant closures and many other social ills.”’ Now is the time, continued the resolution, to show the federal government “‘the depth of our feeling.’ With plans calling for more than 100,000 people to descend on Ottawa, all council affiliates ‘will have to commit themselves to making the demonstration a success.” . In another major resolution, the labor council called for extention to federal public employees of full political rights, full bargaining rights and the full right to strike. On the right to strike, the council urged that the federal government's entire ‘“‘designation’’ process be abolished. Such a process, by which certain federal employees are ‘‘designated’’ as essential, as with air traffic controllers, has ‘‘been abused’”’ by Ottawa and has resulted in a *‘now you see it, now you don’t”’ right to strike. On bargaining rights, the resolution pointed out that public employees lack the right to negotiate such items as classifications, layoff procedures, pensions, etc. ; Public employees should also be granted the “right cf citizens’ to work for or against candi- dates or political parties in provincial and federal elections. Despite all the current negatives, the resolution also warned that Treasury Board President Don Johnston ‘‘has made overtures about introducing other new collective bargaining ‘rabbit tricks’ as well.’ Speaking to the resolution, Anne Swarbrick, Toronto region representative of the Public Ser- vice Alliance of Canada, declared that labor must not allow a situation to develop that would lead to Reagan-type firings of public service strikers. Swarbrick pointed out that public employees are up to 30% underpaid compared to industrial sector workers. In addition, public service workers must pay 50% of medicare and must meet the latest increase in Ontario's medicare plan (OHIP) in full. In a debate on the resolution, labor council trea- surer Bill Baker declared that the attack on public workers’ right to strike “‘is just the first step in a long procedure to do away with everybody’s rights.’ Toronto Typographical Union delegate Emil Rosenthal, noting that much of the discussion had centred on Treasury Board President Johnston as the villain, stated that Johnston ‘‘is only doing his job as a representative of free enterprise — he is serving the bosses.”” Bad enough though he may be, said Rosenthal, Johnston is not the key villain, but “‘his masters are the bastards.” In other decisions, council supported an Oct. 16 daycare rally at Queen’s Park, organized by Action Day Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators. Focus of the rally will be demands for a $5 a day per space government grant to non-profit centres and for creation of 10,000 new subsidized daycare spaces in Ontario. Council will also be arranging, along with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Toron- to’s St. Lawrence Centre, to hold a forum Oct. 22° at the Centre on the McDonald Commission in- » quiry into illegal RCMP activities. Forum participants will include Ontario Attor- ney General Roy McMurtry and former RCMP. Deputy Commissioner William Kelly, along with Alan Borovoy of the civil liberties association and | Ken Swann of the Faculty of Law, Queen’s Uni- versity. The forum, which will replace council’s regular Oct. 15 meeting, will be open to the public. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCT. 16, 1981—Page 7 :