Provincial Netes

en

‘Total opposition vowed

LYTTON — ‘“‘We have one, and only one position on B.C.

operate the plant, ‘‘would total- ly change the lifestyles of the

Hydro’s proposed thermal several thousand Native Indians power station using coal who live around there,” Basil deposits on Hat Creek, andthat said. ~

is total opposition,” declared Steven Basil, energy and resources fieldworker for the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, currently working with the 21 native Indian bands that make up the Hat Creek Com- munications Committee jointly

“More people, more access roads, more ‘weekenders,’ more money floating around — all these features that accom- pany development would dis- rupt deep-rooted social patterns of our people.”

The UBCIC, working with

fighting the project. the Hat Creek Communications B.C. Hydro announced Aug. Committee, has vowed to block 27 that it haddustedoffitsplans the project, and has been in con- to build the $2.6 billion thermal tact with other opposing groups plant at Hat Creek, expectedto such as the B.C. Cattlemen’s generate 2,000 megawatts of Association and the Yellowhead power a year or enough tohan- _— Ecological Association with the dle five years’ growth in B.C. _ view to combining forces. electricity demand, using be- ‘After Hydro has burned off

tween 10 and 15 billion tonnes "all the coal, left a huge hole in

_ of low-grade thermal coalfrom the ground and a ruined envir- Hat Creek deposits north of onment, it can get up and leave Lytton. but we have to stay here,” Basil

The environmental damage added. caused by the emission of 400 Also at stake are land Baris: tons of sulphur a day from the _ including a large piece of landin burning of coal, plus the social —_ the Hat Creek valley, which was and economic impact causedby taken. away ‘‘on loan” and the influx of about 2,000 work- _ never returned to the 350-mem-

ersintotheareatoconstructand _ ber Bonaparte band.

BCTF sets wage targets

nomic welfare staff person said Monday, “‘and we looked at the average wage increases in B.C. this year — 11 percent in the first quarter and 12% percent in the second — as a base from which to develop our wage demands.”’

Other major objectives that teachers will be pressing for when contract talks open for most of the BCTF’s 28,000 members, are assigned class- room hours to be specified in their contracts and lunch pe- riods free of supervision duties.

Currently, teachers’ work

B.C. teachers declared they would be bargaining for catch- up wage increases and improved working conditions — an esti- mated 18 percent package — when» negotiations with local school boards’ open the last week of September.

“Our teachers are taking a very hard look at the extent to which their salaries have been eroded in recent years,’’ B.C. Teachers Federation president, Al Blakey said following a four- day conference of bargaining representatives from most of the féderation’s 79 teacher locals last Thursday.

“The average salary increase of 9.6 percent that we won last year has already been wiped out by inflation, and there’s obvi- ously more inflation to come.

“*We concluded at our con- ference that a package of object- ives amounting to about 18 per- cent of current salaries was both reasonable and justifiable.”

‘“We examined the salary in- creases of nurses and IWA members over the past five to 10 years,”’ Ken Smith, BCTF eco-:

Rupert asks housing $

member Mike Darnell said Tuesday. ‘‘For achange, we will be directly involved in the de- velopment from the ground floor up, including design.”

Although 60 units represents

tract language, because under the Public Schools Act, they can only negotiate ‘‘salaries and bo- nuses.’’ With increased work-. loads, teachers have been work- ing up to 10hours a day, prepar- ing for classes before and after school hours, consulting with parents and marking.

The wage contract proposals recommended by the confer- ence are not binding on each lo- cal association, as each bargains separately with the local school board.

PRINCE RUPERT — Con- fident that its application to the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation for $3.6 million for the construction of 60 mixed rental units will be accepted,

Prince Rupert municipal coun- 5 jot of housing for the 17,000 crthetncrenboardot decors Popuution of Prince Rupet RETR won’t keep pace wi for the ee: s first-ever that continue ‘to pour into non-profit housing COrpora- Ripert upon hearing about the

tion.

Council applied last month for the housing grant under CMHC provisions and also

the area, Darnell said. “It’s a start,’’ Darnell said,

family housing,’’ Darnell de-

‘We are very enthusiastic clared.

about the project,’’ council

hours are not tied down in con- ~

great developments slated for -

voted to begin actively looking ‘‘but the real answer is for the for a full-time paid staff person senior levels of government to to manage the corporation’s begin providing sufficient - first housing complex. stocks of affordable, non-profit

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— SEPT. 12, 1980—Page 12

The 1980 convention of the B.C. Federation of Labor will be a lead- ership convention. Although there is more than two months to go till opening day (Nov. 24) the process of putting slates together for the ex- ecutive council and lining up people to stand for election as delegates at the local level has already begun.

Also,-from what we can gather, the process of developing policy positions for the convention is under way. On the part of the ad- ministration, that means preparing reports, policy statements and ex- ecutive resolutions. At the local un- ion level, executives, groups of like- minded members and individual members will soon be presenting

resolutions to membership meet-

ings on a wide range of subjects. If endorsed, they will go to the con- vention for debate.

Looking back at the last two conventions, we can conclude that by and large, the debate led to the adoption of progressive policies. It is likely that after the report of the executive council is delivered at this year’s convention, there will be a serious questioning of the extent to

which the officers and the executive _

council carried out the mandates of the 1979 and 1980 conventions. That would be a positive de- velopment, because delegates should have the opportunity to

’ know precisely where the candi-

dates for office stand on key issues facing the labor movement. In the long run, the adoption of sound policies and the extent of the fight to implement those policies will be the key factors in determining the effectiveness of the Federation. The question of who should lead the Federation in the coming two years should be seen in that con- text.

The continued high level of un-

‘employment in B.C., particularly

in the forest industry, is sure to come up for debate. The conven- tion will be called upon to give more vigorous leadership in the struggle for ashorter work week, as one of the answers to unemploy- ment. In addition, the convention should take a strong position against mass layoffs and plant clos- ures. Unions should be consulted at least 12 months in advance of in- tended layoffs or closures. There should be adequate severance pay where layoffs cannot be prevented, plus full pensions for older workers with long seniority who cannot ob- tain other, suitable employment. The labor movement should fight for such a program on two fronts, through aetion by the workers and by pressing government to enact legislation acceptable to the trade union movement.

However, while that kind ofa program is necessary to deal with immediate and pressing problems resulting from layoffs and plant closures, the long-term answer lies in a fundamental shift in Canada’s economic policies.

Here, in B.C., the Socred gov-

ernment is speeding up the give- away of oil, gas, coal, hydro and

- forestry resources, to the detriment

of the development of processing

and manufacturing industries in

the province. The convention can

' be expected to take good positions

on this vital issue. A key demand should be for the nationalization of all energy resources in Canada and the construction of an east-west en- ergy corridor for oil, gas and elec- tricity, as a basis for achieving self- sufficiency in respect to energy and for the expansion of processing and manufacturing industries. The vol-

Where will Fed candidates! stand on critical issues? —

ume of the export of natural gas, hydro power and coal to the U.S. and Japan should be seen in terms

of the export of Canadian jobs, which should be prevented.

The sustained: housing crisis in the major urban centres of B.C. calls for vigorous action by all levels of government, with special emphasis on low rental housing for lower income groups. As in the past, the Federation can be expect- ed to take a good position on this issue.

The trade union movement in Canada i is saying very little in the

LABOR COMMENT

BY JACK PHILLIPS

current debate about a new con- stitution for Canada. With more than three million organized work- ers across the country, the labor movement should demand the op- portunity to be consulted and to make its views known on this vital question, along with the Native people and other interested groups.

For example, the prime minister of Canada is pressing for a bill of rights to be included in the new constitution. Such a bill of rights should include (among other fun- damental principles) the basic freedoms necessary for the trade union movement to organize, to be recognized by the employers, to strike and to be free of undue gov- ernment interference in the dis- charge of its normal functions. The bill of rights should also include the principle that government is re= sponsible to maintain full employ- ment and that working people must have a say on all matters that affect their livelihood as working people, such as layoffs, plant closures and investment policy.

The B.C. Federation of Labor is on record, by convention decision, as calling for a new constitution based on the voluntary union of English and French Canada. This position should be upheld and, if possible, re-emphasized without any ambiguity.

With the sharp turn towards the cold war policies of another period on the part of the U.S. govern- ment, the Federation convention

~ can make a very positive contribu-

tion by calling for-an independent Canadian foreign policy. Such a policy should include withdrawal from NATO and Norad and the re- duction of military expenditures. The savings could be used to pro- vide more housing, schools and hospitals, among: other socially useful projects.

The convention should call for the. ratification of the SALT II

===

treaty to be followed by meaning: 2, ful negotiations for a balanced re duction of armaments, starting with nuclear weapons.

These and many more resolU- | tions will no doubt be debated at | the convention and, it is to hoped, good positions will D6 adopted.

We can expect that the many at tacks and threats against the rights” of organized labor will be thor oughly aired and that the government in Victoria will roundly condemned for its actio in this connection. However, it not enough to say, in effect, that the only way to solve these prob- lems is to elect an NDP governmetl in the next provincial election. The last NDP government in B. (1972-75), gave us some good le islation, but it also went along wi the wage control program of Trudeau government and eng back-to-work legislation against the trade union movement.

I am sure that some deleg; will point out that while it is desif able to defeat the Socreds in next provincial election, organi labor will not find the answer to basic problems in an NDP govern: ment that leans to the right and makes it a point to keep a distancé _ between itself and the trade union — movement, in terms of what social policies it will (or will not) intro-—

Ea q

~ duce.

In short, the trade union moves ment should not be the captive of any political party, including the NDP. It should speak out boldly, between elections, during elections — and to whatever government is in — power, and press for the adoption | of its economic and social pro- gram, as adopted by labor parlia- |

_ ments like B.C. Federation of La-

bor conventions. If the trade union | movement fails to assert its class in- © dependence in this fashion, it will” fall short of discharging its re-_

sponsibility to the working people. -

Swedish trade unionists here >

Ten Swedish unionists, repre-_ senting two trade union groups in — that country were in this province | H for five days this week, hosted by - i the B.C. Government Employees _ Union and the National Union of — “4 Provincial Government Em- © i ployees.

Six of the unionists represented the bargaining arm of the Swedish — Central Organization of Salaried Employees, with 260,000 mem- bers. The others were from the — States Employee Union, with 120,- 000 members in such areas as tele- — communications and railways.. ;

The delegation’s itinerary in- a cluded tours of asawmill and paper — mill as well as the University of &g B.C. research forest.

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