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‘Workers have basic right of job security’ —BCFL

The 10th annual Convention % the B.C, Federation of Labor BCFL) opened its sessions Mon- '“8y in the Vancouver Bayshore Im, Close to 400 delegates ftom ail key areas of the province fe in attendance, their aims as ; y well defined by a con- Yention banner reading, “What. © Desire For Ourselves, We ish For ‘All,”

For the majority of delegates

itis a «working convention” with Minimum of time given over to Celebrity” speeches.

Officially opened by BCFL Tesident E.T. Staley, the con- €ntion heard a brief greeting

of welcome by Ald, Halford Wil- son on behalf of the Vancouver City Council, A message of greeting and thanks for BCFL assistance was also read from

‘U.S. Civil Rights leader Dr.

Martin Luther King, who ex- pressed the hope he would be able to attend the next BCFL conven- tion,

In his opening remarks Presi- dent Staley said: “During those 10 years we have accomplished much, We now have 273 union locals affiliated to the Feder- ation, representing approxi- mately 110,000 members, . .Our accomplishments might have been more significant but for the

B.C. Fed. delegates join

Climaxing a brief but hard-’ tting report to the Tuesday 2 €rnoon session of the BCFL Stvention by delegate F.G. €ddes of the Oil, Chemical and : jfomte Workers (OCAW) on its tter and protracted strike at Titish-American Oil for the th ic right of job security,” © entire delegate body of con- —"Sntion delegates joined in a Massive OCAW picket line.

With the BCFL Executive aa in the lead the conven- 02 demonstration marched up hee and Pender streets to : a B—A central office building

1201 pender, There, carrying ‘dreds of “B—A On Strike” . ecards, well over 400 conven- | °% delegates and supporters / parched around the B—A office | “Uilding for nearly an hour.

It Was an impressive demon-

tion of trade union solidarity, and Office staffs of B—A as well a Surrounding office buildings a ec glued to the windows while ‘ dramatic BCFL solidarity

g Picket was on,

QP a

Bee who witnessed this his- © BCFL picket demonstra- me, representing its 110,000 a Federation, left no

ts in the minds of anyone “€re the sympathies of B.C.’s a union movement stood in

Pect to the oil workers strike, the “basic right of job secur-

fled o

oil workers picket line

ity” as the central issue of this struggle. The BCFL convention session discussions are already giving top priority to the vital issue of job security in face of expanding automation,

Prior to the BCF Lpicket dem- onstration, executive member George Johnson, chairman of the BCFL Strike Co-ordinating Committee appealed to conven- tion delegates on the urgent need of “more men and more financial aid to assist the OCAW strike:

Financially, many BCFL af- filiates have contributed to the BCFL Defence Fund Johnson declared, in order to provide financial assistance to the oil and other strikes, “but many as yet haven’t, although this is their fight too,”

Johnson reported that his own Union (Meatcutters) had «adopted a B—A service station and main- tain a picket’ line there every Friday night. Other unions could do the same.”

Delegate Johnson reminded

convention delegates that the.

BCFL had recently established a co-ordinating strike head- quarters at 319 East Broadway, where all voluntary picketing or other assistance to the striking oil workers or others, can be

centralized.

introduction of some of the worst anti-labor legislation in North

-America, The Federation fought

its introduction in 1960, as it is now fighting its enforcement.”

Both the opening reports of:

President Staley and the BCFL Executive Council report given by Secretary-Treasurer E,P, “Pat® O’Neal highlighted many of the vital issues coming before the convention.

Top among these is the issue of automation and the working- man’s “basic right of job se- curity,” faced by the adamant and antiquated attitude of man- agement, “a clear indication that management intends to exploit (automation and technolog- ical change, Ed.) to the fullest possible degree,”

Other highlights in the execu- tive reports cover the imple- mentation of the Hall Commis- sion recommendations on a com- prehensive Medicare health charter for Canada; the sub- sidation of citizen education and retraining, collective bargaining and the right to strike for civil servants, so-called “manage- ment rights,” the scuttling of the new Federal Labor Code by the granting of wholesale “exemp- tions from the provisions of the code” to big corporations, etc,

A number of important reso- lutions have already been adopted by the BCFL convention, These include: the building of a Can- adian Merchant Marine, the re- moval of nuclear weapons from Canadian soil and “withdrawing from any treaty agreements or organizations which promote the spread of nuclear weapons.”

- Other resolutions adopted call for

the removal ofall tolls on govern- ment ferries, repeal of the sales tax on building materials, etc.

One highlight of the BCFL con- vention to date was the address given by Mr, E,A. Cote, Deputy Minister, Department of Nor- thern Affairs and National Re- sources, During his recent visit to the Soviet Union touring the Soviet Arctic and later as hostto a Soviet delegation touring the Canadian North, Mr. Cote drew many interesting comparisons on the extent of Northern develop- ment in the two countries,

Mine-Mill scores big gain in pension plan

History was made in Trail last week, with the signing of terms for a new pension plan, jointly administered by union and management, to replace the uni-

- Jateral company plan which has

been in existence since 1926,

In terms of the amount of pension payable this is believed to be the best non-contributory pension negotiated in heavy in- dustry to date, ‘

The new plan, negotiated by the Mine Mill & Smelter Workers

with the support and participation

of three other unions, broke nev ground in several respects, Itis unique in that it not only “stacks” the Canada Pension Plan and the Old Age Security Pension on top of the previous company pen- sions, but in addition advances the latter two pensions to age 65 from the first of January, 1966.

For example, a typical.Com- inco employee retiring at age 65 in 1966 will receive a company pension of $1,750 a year, plus a temporary annuity of $900 equal to the Old Age Pension and pay- ‘able by the government, In addition, he will receive a life annuity of $400 to compensate for the fact that he will not be eligible for the Canada Pension Plan,

He will also receive a “supple- mentary retirement Benefit” payable for life, of approximately $325. Thus his total pension will amount to $3,375, Men re- tiring in subsequent years up to 1971 will be entitled to similar amounts of pension,

Another unusual feature of the plan is that it covers former employees now on pension, No matter when they retired, or at what level of pension, these will receive a minimum pension of

Sudbury vote

By unanimous decision the On- © tario Labor Relations Board (OLRB) has ordered the taking of a representation vote in the ‘15,000 man bargaining unit at the INCO-Sudbury operations, The vote will be between Local 598 Mine-Mill and United Steel- workers,

_ A meeting Wednesday of this week between officials of the OLRB, company, and unions will set the date for the vote and ‘other details,

At press time no further infor- mation was available,

$100 per month, Also, if they are not yet eligible for the Old Age Security Pension, this will be paid to them out of the new plan. An example being quoted: is an employee who retired last year on a pension of $57.50 per month, who will now be boosted to $175.

There are also provisions for improved disability pensions, widows’ pensions, and improved basis for retirement at 60,

The pension agreement is to run for five years, at the end of which time, it will be renego- tiated in the same manner, and at the same time, as the collec- tive bargaining agreement, Esti- mated cost of the new benefits, for the five year period, is $8,000,000,

OBITUARY

a ree ete William (Bill) Laird

Suffering from a long and ser- ious heart condition, William, “Bill” Laird of North Vancouver passed away last week in his 80th year, Emigrating to Canada from his native Scotland in the mid-thirties, Bill Laird and his family first settled in Saskatch- ewan, There with thousands of ‘others Bill felt the full impact of that era known as the “Hungry Thirties,”

Moving to B,C,, Bill Laird tried his hand at farming in the Cloverdale area for a time, then moved into Vancouver and became a shipyard worker. There he joined the Ship and Dock Workers Union and later the Marine Workers and Boiler- makers in which he was held in high respect for his active union work, and remained an honored member of the Marine Workers until his death,

For many years Bill Laird was a devoted reader and sup- porter of the Pacific Tribune, and regardless of failing health, would always make the periodical trip to the PT office to renew his sub, leave a donation to the paper, and words of encourage- ment for the staff.

William Stewart, secretary of the Marine Workers and Boiler- makers Union paid a tribute to the work of Bill Laird in the building of the shipyard union,’ and to his outstanding integrity as a union man,

The PT editors and staff ex- tend their deep sympathy and condolences to Mrs, William Laird and family in their be- reavement, With them the ranks of labor and the progressive press have losta devoted worker.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE Z

Wai Ren.

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November 5, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 3: