On May Day 1974, new victories oe % for _ ‘straints cannot be worked out. “abor leaders are willing to carry that Semen dane ete Km ee Vas a By JACK PHILLIPS eu be celebrated by the labor pe cment in many countries. In Mitish Columbia, May Day will be . € Occasion to evaluate a year of pant struggle and to preva @ man ie ahead, y struggles that Sh Canadian Press report from ult Ste, Marie, Ontario, in the ‘ancouver Sun of April 14; has led ’ Speculation about some top faders of the Canadian Labor _ ~ohgress leaning in the direction of _ 60vernment-imposed --'Straints. wage “Labor and industry are headed Catastrophe’ if price and wage cir responsibility but first want a _ 60vVernment commitment that _ Idustry and commerce will honor @ Similar arrangement.’’ The _ Comment was made by Stan Little, _ Tetiring this year as president of © Canadian Union of Public ™Mployees, the second largest ade union in Canada. He is also a Senior officer of the CLC. € also reportedly suggested _Work stoppages in public Services might be avoided if the 80vernment would answer the €at of strikes by examining both Management and labor positions. An editorial in the Toronto Star April 16 commented on the CLC ‘Presentation to’ the federal government on March 24 and said * this about Joe Morris, president of the Congress: ‘‘Going well beyond the language of the formal, printed statement, president Joe Morris - said the Congress has decided that criticizing the way in which the government manages the economy is not enough. Labor and business, representing producers and in- vestors, must have greater input to the decision-making machinery.” Then a direct quote from Morris: “Tabor will do its part, but only if there is a clear commitment to redress the balance in the distribution of our national income and a guaranteed and visible sacrifice from other elements of the economic machine — the price- ‘setters and profit-makers.” This does not necessarily mean support for government wage restraints. On the other hand, it is not a clear-cut statement of op- position to such a policy. Provincial federations, labor councils and local unions should speak out clearly and sharply against any support to government policies designed to establish an incomes policy against the interest of working people. Can we expect a government which legislated the B.C. longshoremen back to work (with the support of all parties in the house) to be fair to both labor and capital? Can we expect redress from a government which laun- ched prosecutions against federal government employees across the country because they participated in recent blue collar rotating Unitarian Church, THE CANADA-USSR ASSOCIATION Invites You to Join In Commemorating The 30th Anniversary of THE VICTORY OVER FASCISM No more War; Peace: Detente; Peaceful Coexistence SPEAKERS: HARRY RANKIN, DR. P. HEWITT - Films — Songs ~ May 4th — 1:30 p.m. 949 W. 49th Ave. workers strikes-as members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada? * * * In this province, the Employers’ Council, the voice of big business, is carrying on a concerted cam- paign against the contract demands of organized labor. The March 25 edition of their Industrial ‘Relations Bulletin described the contract demands of inside postal this way: ‘Two psychiatric terms appear ap- propriate in describing some current union © demands. ‘Dissociation’ and ‘fuge’ both connote conditions when someone is out of touch with reality. They seem -particularly apt when ap- plied to the current demands of the inside postal workers.”’ When B.C. municipal employees here were seeking parity with public employees working for the provincial government, Crown corporations and hospital workers, the president of the Employers’ Council publicly opposed their demands. In a recent speech to the Duncan Chamber of Commerce he drew attention to the fact that from 1970 through 1974, 21 times as many man-days were lost through strikes in B.C. as. compared with 1960 through 1964. Labor, of course, was named as the villain. Significantly, he was quoted as follows: ‘“Hamilton said he would not generally remove the right to strike or lock out, but added there is no justification to allow strikes at any time in the public service and certain key activities in the private sector.” On April ~14, Pat McGeer (Liberal. Vancouver-Point Grey) rose in the legislature in Victoria and urged a ban on all strikes of school board employees. ‘‘I ad- vocate compulsory arbitra- fone A resolution is to be presented to Vancouver city council from the personnel director, calling for a ban on strikes by policemen, firemen and hospital employees. At the national level, Prime Minister Trudeau chose the recent - management strife: ‘NEW CHALLENGES FOR LABOR Unions face fight against gov't-imposed wage curbs national energy conference to discuss the current state of labor- “What’s wrong?’’ he asked. “Is it our structure for collective bargain- ing? Is it the way we handle negoti- ations?” He told the premiers that “we must look at the problem — both as legislators and employers. . .”” And added, ‘‘collective bargaining will not remain as free if it cannot be made less destructive than it is in Canada today.” The use of the word ‘“‘destruc- tive’’ was significant, since Trudeau was referring to the militant mood of the working class. He used no such word in relation to the oil industry which created a deliberate shortage and raised prices, or about the banks which charge 22% interest on credit card purchases and have increased their profits 300% in the past eight years. There is an obvious danger to free collective bargaining and the right to strike. Governments rep- resenting state-monopoly capitalism act with great speed to legislate strikers back to work, but move in reverse gear when it comes to stabilizing prices, cur- bing the profiteers, breaking the power of the monopolies who dominate the economy and tackling unemployment. There. must be no equivocation and no hesitation by the trade union movement on the issue of the right to strike. Every worker must have full collective bargaining rights, including the right to strike. * * * A united trade union movement basing itself on class struggle, anti- monopoly policies would defeat all attempts to substitute compulsory arbitration for free collective bargaining. It would be a major barrier to those who would impose wage controls in open or disguised form. There are 20 unions in B.C: with membership of. more than 5,000.’ Significantly, the International _ Woodworkers of America is first - MAY DAY GREETINGS FROM THE OFFICERS AND DELEGATES OF THE S VANCOUVER AND DISTRICT _ LABOUR COUNCIL President 206—33 E. 8 Ave., Vancouver, B.C. 879-2421 S. THOMPSON Secretary Treasurer J. M. LAWRENCE and Air; with 45,943 members, of whom 11,000 are still on layoff. Equally significant is the fact that the second, third and fourth are in the field of public employment: B.C. Government Employees (CLC) — 37,637; B.C. Teachers Federation (Independent) — 24,852; Canadian Union of Public Employees (CLC) — 18,096. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (CLC) and the Hospital Employees Union (Independent) rank ninth and tenth with close to 24,000 members between them. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which ranks seventeenth, has some 3,000 mem- bers working as public employees in power, light and gas. The attacks against the right of public employees to strike directly _ affect more than one-quarter of B.C.’s labor movement. Indirectly, these attacks pose a threat to the entire labor movement. In the next few weeks, some decisive contract negotiations will move toward a climax. First there. will be the I.W.A. negotiations on the coast, the southern Interior and the northern Interior. This year, the two Canadian pulp and paper unions, with close to 16,000 members, will be bargaining about the same time as the I.W.A. Their major employers are also involved in negotiations with the I.W.A. and the same bargaining organization will conduct negotiations for the employers in each case. shoe All previous attempts by the ~ three unions to elaborate common demands and strategy failed. But it is not too late to do so this year, even though the I.W.A. is into negotiations with a lower wage demand than that announced by: one of the pulp and paper unions. | Another key set of negotiations involves 5,000 municipal workers in joint negotiations in Greater Vancouver. The municipal em- ployers have filed charges against the eight local unions with the Labor Relations Board as a result of a number of study sessions and job actions of limited duration prior to the signing-out of the mediation officer. But the job actions are continuing and negotiations are under way. Other . negotiations under way are: e Construction and General . Laborers Union, Rock and Tunnel Union, Teamsters, Operating Engineers (9,000) and the B.C. Road Builders Association; e United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, plant employees tendermen (6,000) Fisheries Association of B.C.; e International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 258 (3,000 employees) and B.C. Hydro and Power Authority; e International Association of Machinists Local 764, Canadian Airline Flight Attendants Association and Canadian Pacific e Association of University and College Employees and Simon Fraser University ; e Letter Carriers Union, Canadian Union of Postal Workers and the federal treasury board. Wage settlements in B.C. in 1974 averaged 16% but according to Statistics Canada, the cost of living in February, 1975 was 11.8% higher than in February 1975. Hence the pressure for cost-of-living allow- _ances in collective agreements, to ‘See UNIONS, Pg. 16 PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1975—Page 3 and.