LABOR

Stating that “‘all reasonable steps must
be taken to maintain and restore unity
within the labor movement,” B.C. Federa-
tion of Labor president Art Kube said
Feb. 7 that he and secretary-treasurer Cliff
Andstein would meet with the regional
officers of the International Woodworkers
“to try to come to a satisfactory arrange-
ment,” on the I[WA’s withdrawal of per
capita dues.

But the federation president made it
clear that any agreement would have to be
subject to “the supremacy of the constitu-
tion of the federation and the decisions of
its conventions.”

Kube told a press conference that an
initial step had already been taken with the
decision to establish a committee on con-
stitution and structure which will hold
hearings and submit a report to the execu-
tive council at the 1985 convention.

The discussions with the [WA would be
“based on maintaining labor unity and
hopefully on getting them to participate in
terms of input,” Kube said. Munro has
reportedly agreed to the talks but has
given no indication that his union leader-
ship is prepared to alter its position.

If the attempts at resolution of the issue
fail, a delegation made up of the federation
‘president, secretary-treasurer and two
vice-presidents will meet with the presi-
dent of the Canadian Labor Congress.

The press conference followed a meet-
ing of the 14 officers of the federation and
was the first official response since the
IWA announced Jan. 29 that it would

only affiliate 50 members of each of its 13
locals, thus cutting per capita payments
from $183,000 to just $500.

Munro said at the time of the
announcement that the pullout was
prompted by his defeat by convention
delegates for the position of first vice-
president, a- post he argued rightfully
belonged to the [WA. Immediately follow-
ing the convention vote, the IWA with-
drew all its nominees from the executive
council elections.

He also pointed to convention represen-
tation as an issue and criticized the federa-
tion’s picketing policy, calling it
“ridiculous.”

Although the TWA action was headline
news, the only formal notice that the fed-
eration received “‘was a copy of the press
release which was dropped off at the
office,” Andstein said.

Despite the criticism levelled by Munro,
the two federation officers declined any
comment in response, stating they would
“not engage in any personality conflicts.”
They added that picketing policy and
representation “are questions of internal
policy.”

Kube did note that the convention
“made certain decisions and we all have to
live with those decisions.

“Sometimes we don’t like it but never-
theless that is the outcome of the conven-
tion,” ‘he said.

Kube was also insistent throughout that
any discussions and possible agreements
with the TWA would have to be strictly

B.C. Fed-IWA talks set over split

ART KUBE (r), CLIFF ANDSTEIN...

within the confines of the federation’s con-
stitution and the annual convention.

The one area where change may be
recommended — on constitution and
structure — will still be subject to ratifica-
tion at the 1985 convention.

However, Kube denied that the estab-
lishment of the committee on constitution
and structure was in direct response to the
IWA criticism of convention répresenta-
tion. He said that “‘one organization which
will seek affiliation very shortly” had
already raised questions about structure
and a “number of affiliates” had done
likewise.

Still, any move towards increasing the

. as wellas the [WA and BCGEU but failed

to meet with Munro.

overall representation of big affiliates such
as the IWA and B.C. Government
Employees Union would likely be met by
stiff opposition by convention delegates.
Ironically, the current system of repres-
entation of delegates was first established
in 1981 and was the result of efforts by the
IWA and the BCGEU to increase their
delegate entitlement. The first constitu-
tional change submitted to that conven-
tion was backed by the federation officers

to get the necessary two-thirds majority.
But a compromise resolution which was
finally accepted gave both unions consid-
erably increased delegations.

Kennedy full-time in VDLC post

Vancouver and District Labor Council
president Frank Kennedy moves over to the
council’s full-time post of secretary-
treasurer this month, where he will take
over from Paddy Neale, retiring after 21
years in the job.

The change was one of several to the
executive board of the 60,000-member
council as delegates
wound up the elec-
tions Feb. 5. None
of the positions was
contested, however.

First vice-president
Doug Evans, presi-
dent of Local 1-217
of the International
Woodworkers, accep-
ted acclamation as
president, an indica-
tion that the [WA
will continue to play a role in labor councils,
if not in the B.C. Federation of Labor.

Kennedy, who will leave his position as

ceaEDY

secretary of the Canadian Area of Interna-
tional Longshoremen’s and Warehouse-
men’s Union — a post he has held since
1965 — said he wanted to devote more
time to the labor council and the various
campaigns in which it plays a part. He is
president of End the Arms Race and
chaired the COPE-Unity campaign which
carried Bruce Yorke to victory in the Feb. 2
byelection.

In a brief parting address, Neale told
delegates that he had just begun the 47th
year of his career in the labor movement
which began in 1938 when he joined the
woodworker’s union.

One of the most turbulent years in that
career was in 1966 when Neale and several
other unionists served jail terms for con-
tempt of court in the bitter Lenkurt strike,

_ one of a number of strikes in the 60s and

early. 70s which focused the labor move-
ment’s battle against court injunctions.

““We went on to see wages and conditions

established that we never dreamed of in the
30s,” he said.

“But now we see a threat in this pro-
vince,” he warned, “Because of the eco-
nomic conditions, employers are attempting
to take away long-established rights.

“This is the thought I want to leave with:
be vigilant. You’ve got to maintain vigilance
and unity.

“You're going to have to fight the Labor
Relations Board, the courts, the eS
— the whole bloody works.

“Stick together and fight together,” he
said.

New president Doug Evans also offered
the council’s best wishes to outgoing vice-
president George Hewison who leaves this
month to take up a post as industrial direc-
tor of the Communist Party in Toronto.
UFAWU business agent John Radosevic,
who was acclaimed as chairman of the
council’s legislative committee, will main-
tain the union’s representation on the exec-
utive.

Robson steps down from Carpenters council

Lorne Robson, long-time secretary
treasurer of the Provincial Council of Car-
penters announced his resignation from the
council last week, citing personal reasons
and the “need for a change after 18 years.”

But he made it clear that he won’t be
leaving the union and intends to play an
active role.

Colin Snell, a vice-president of Local 452,
was appointed by the Provincial Council
Monday to fill out the remainder of Rob-
son’s term of office which runs until
October when the biennial elections are
scheduled.-

In his letter of resignation, Robson told
the council: “I am not quitting the struggle
of our membership at so crucial a time. I
will continue to be an active participant in
our union, playing a role to the best of my
ability — perhaps one that has a more
direct contact with our members.

“T feel that the most important task

_ within our union is to re-establish a united
organization based on the principled posi-

12 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 13, 1985

tions of trade-union unity, the best interests
of our membership and the carrying out of |
the democratically reached decisions at all
times,” he said.

He urged members “‘not to lose heart in
these difficult times but to rally around the
union.

“The tide against the Socreds’ attack on
working people already is turning,” he said.
“Our union must be in the forefront of the
fightback...”

A member of the Carpenters since 1953
when he joined Local 452, Robson was a
full-time business agent for the local for nine
years before his election to the Provincial
Council in 1967.

He won the post as business agent in the
first elections allowed by the international
following a three-year trusteeship, first
imposed in 1955 on the specious grounds
that the local had ordered 100 copies of a
speech by CCF MP Colin Cameron oppos-
ing the re-arming of West Germany from
the B.C. Peace Council. Robson played a.

prominent role in the local defence commit-
tee set up to oppose the trusteeship.

Robson said he is completely in support
of Snell’s appointment and would be doing
“everything possible to assist him and Bill
(Zander, council president) in carrying out
the policies of the union.”

Snell also spiked the media speculation
about a “shakéup” in the Carpenters,
emphasizing that there would be “no
change in the direction the council is going
to take.

“The policies are set by convention and I
will follow them just as Lorne did,” he said.
He confirmed that he would be running for
the post in elections in October.

He cited unemployment and the attack
on the labor movement as the central issues
facing the union and emphasized that the
policy would be to “continue the. fight-
back.”

Snell, 44, was first elected to the executive

~ of Local 452 in 1966 and has been a full-

time officer of the union since 1970.

Fed ‘adopis’

_ Slade and Stewart workers, locked
out for nine months in an effort by their
employer to get rid of their union, will
get a boost as a result of a new initiative
from the B.C. Federation of Labor.

B.C. Fed president Art Kube said
Feb. 7 that the labor central will
“adopt” each one of the locked-out
workers, picking up the costs for strike
pay and other benefits for as long as the
dispute lasts. The costs are currently
being met by the Retail Wholesale
Union.

“If the dispute goes on for two, three
years, we will pay their costs,” he said.
“We won't let them fail — and we're @
going to knock some sense into the.
employers in this province ' who think it
is Open season on unions.”

The “adoption” of the 76 workers,
locked out at four Slade and Stewart _
locations in the province, marks a_
change in federation policy which in the
past has been to make donations to.
unions involved in disputes through the
federation’s defence fund.

' But that was not considered dee
quate in the current situation, Kube
said. The federation will get commit-
ments from some of the “bigger affil- _
iates and others who can afford it” to
provide the support to the RWU
members.

Kube said there were other actions -
being considered by the federation to —
_back the Slade and Stewart workers but
added that they would not be made.
pic

It’s understood that unionists are
seeking to apply new pressure to cut off -
sources of supply to Slade and Stewart '
which is continuing to make deliveries"
of produce and other food Sh ‘scab