LABOR — The news that the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Hospital Employees Union have worked out a deal to bring the 28,000-member HEU back into the Canadian Labor Congress was greeted with a tumultuous ovation as the announce- ment was made to the B.C. Federation of Labor convention Tuesday. The agreement, which ends HEU’s 14 year exile from the CLC and the federation, was formally announced at a press confer- ence Tuesday and was later put to the con- vention by the two main negotiators of the agreement, CUPE national president Jeff Rose and HEU secretary-business manager Jack Gerow. Under the terms of the understanding, the HEU will return to the CLC as a direct affiliate for a four-year trial period. It will use that time to negotiate with CUPE, with the objective of re-affiliating with the public employees’ ‘union. If the negotiations are not successful in working out any outstand- ing problems, the HEU would voluntarily withdraw from the CLC by Oct. 31, 1988. “But we’re not looking at this agreement in that way at all,” Rose told the conven- tion. He called the agreement “‘very encou- raging news for unionists across the country.” Originally organized in 1944, the HEU was one of the founding members when CUPE was established in 1963 but with- drew in 1970 in a dispute with the national union over autonomy and dues structure. The with- drawal put it out- side the CLC struc- ture as well. In recent years, the union has sought to become a_CLC [gts affiliate but CUPE [al j has balked, claiming JACK GEROW that the jurisdictions of the unions crossed. The CLC has taken a position of not grant- ing charters to unions where it would lead to a proliferation of affiliates in a given juris- diction. The new agreement breaks that impasse, allowing the HEU to take its place in the CLC, the B.C. Fed and local labor councils throughout the province. Gerow called it “one of the most impor- tant events since the formation of Operation Solidarity. “It comes just at the right time — because the labor movement needs a united pro- gram of militant resistance to defend and maintain social services, to defend and maintain public sector bargaining rights.” He credited the experience of Operation Solidarity for putting differences between HEU and CUPE into the background. “We were able to see that there was a bigger goal and a bigger enemy — the reactionary pol- icies of the Social Credit government,” he said. The HEU played a particularly active role in Operation Solidarity and the events it organized in the summer and fall of 1983. Rose told convention delegates that the agreement “send a strong message to the government of British Columbia. “It says that we’ve put unity and solidar- ity first because they are the only way to overcome our common enemy.” 12 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 28, 1984 rr resistance to Socred restraint.”’ . res Sey F # EVERT HOOGERS...*’trench warfare isn’t enough. ..weneedaplanof BILL ZANDER... ."federation needs a progran that says: this is where labor stands.’’. Delegates back fight on code changes Continued from page 1 ized his record and that of the federation of the past year, telling delegates that his leadership was “driven by a total com- mitment to our movement and without any malice to any affiliate.” Throughout much of his 34-page speech, he underlined the disastrous Social Credit policies and the effects they were having on people throughout the pro- vince. “We have felt the brunt of the largest downsizing, rationalization, reorganiza- tion and restraint program experienced in recent history,” he said, emphasizing that the policies were the brainchild of the Fraser Insistute. He also warned that one of the policies of the Socreds was to “destroy or, if that’s not possible, to severely weaken the trade unions.” But that attack “is not new,” he argued, adding that “governments come and go but our movement endures. ..in spite of adversity.” Kube outlined the record of the federa- tion over the past year, including its sup- port of strikes, the difficulties over picketing policy and the decisions made by the executive council over the Operation Solidarity, One of those decisions, he said, was that made last May to “shift asway from mass mobilization. ..to trench warfare.” Ironi- cally, that decision, although it was central to the direction the federation has taken over the past several months, was made despite the near-unanimous rejection by a conference of federation affiliates of the policy document on which it was based. But even in trench warfare, “we need solidarity,’ ’ Kube told delegates. “An attack against free collective bar- gaining in the public sector cannot only be the fight of public sector unions alone but the fight of the whole trade union move- ment. The fight against deregulation should not only be the fight of communi- cation and transportation workers but the fight of the whole trade union movement. The fight against log exports should not only be the fight of the IWA alone but also our fight.” The federation’s executive council report echoed much of Kube’s address, outlining the growing economic problems, the attack on the trade union movement by the Socreds and the efforts of the feder- ation to defend affiliates. That attack will mount, the report warned in its conclusion. “The year has been exceedingly difficult as big business and their nght-wing cro- nies in government have stepped up their attack on the labor movement,” it stated. “We can rest assured that those pressures will mount even higher in 1985 and we must be prepared to fight for our future.” Delegates agreed that the trade union movement “must be prepared to fight” but many emphasized that the federation’s executive “‘hasn’t give us the program to carry out that fight.” Carpenters president Bill Zander, who was given a thunderous ovation as the convention welcomed the Carpenters back on to the floor as full delegates, said, “we didn’t come back into the CLC to be losers. “We came back to be winners — and we tan all be winners if we lay out a program that everybody — including the people on the food bank lineups — can understand and will fight for.” United Fishermen and Allied Workers delegates George Hewison was also criti- cal that the federation lacked a program. “Tt’s time to say we want a housing construction program in this province. And it’s time to put our demand for shor- ter hours with no reduction in pay on the bargaining table,” he said to applause. . Calling it a critical convention, Hewi- son emphasized that the labor movement “faces two choices. “We can lay low or we can take labor’s program to the membership and to the community.” Brotherhood of Airline Clerks delegate Christine Micklewright told delegates that the trade union movement “can’t just stand still and wait for the climate to change. We’ve got to get together and go forward.” “If there’s anything lacking in this report, it’s that there is no program to mobilize our members so we can face the Socreds’ attack,” said Postal Workers delegate Evert Hoogers. “Trench warfare isn’t the answer,” he said. Even the labor movement’s support for strikes has been suffering as a result of dis- putes over picketing policy, Retail Whole- sale delegates Al Peterson told delegates, citing problems in their disputes with Slade and Stewart and Purolator Courier. “A lot of our problems are here because we in the trade union movement have sat back on our laurels and haven’t kept up the strengths that built us as a movement,” said Peterson. “We need to get back to basics: we don’t cross picket lines and don’t handle hot goods. That’s where our strength lies.” “Our backs are against the wall, ” said Carpenters delegate Lorne Robson, warn ing that the predictions the union mad about the effects of the Labor Codé on construction workers were comin} true. The trade union movement will have t¢ battle for its survival he said, pointing t the problems in Calgary ‘“‘where we don” have a single member of the Carpenter: Union working in construction. : “What we need is a program that wil put the lie to restraint and fights back da! to day. “What we need is the kind of unitec leadership that will go to every union an¢ see to it that no union is left alone, that n¢ strike is lost,” he declared to applause. That mood was evident during debat on a composite resolution on public secto! bargaining which was eventually return to the resolutions committee for streng: thening. The resolution called on the federation to develop a plan of action to fight the proposed removal of the right to strike fot public sector workers and called on thé executive to “encourage and assist” CO ordination of bargaining. The resolution came under criticis™ because it was considerably weaker tha? several others submitted by local unions which urged a common front of publi¢ sector unions in bargaining. Delegates unanimously endorsed 4 strongly-worded resolution instructing thé federation leadership “to co-ordinate 4 fightback of the labor movement” to havé the amendments to the Labor Code, pat ticularly the section allowing for the estab lishment of economic development zone repealed. The resolution called for the fightback to be based “‘on labor’s most effective weapons — pickets, demonst!@ tions, boycotts and trade union solidat ity.” The convention also backed an emer gency resolution on universality wht! urged the B.C. Fed to “organize its oW# ranks as well as Operation Solidarity and the Solidarity Coalition to oppose and defeat all attacks on universal social pt” grams.” It called on the CLC do so thé same on a national scale. More women will be on the next fedet® tion executive council as a result of tw? resolutions passed Tuesday over token opposition from Jack Munro and a han@ ful of delegates. One will increase 4 number of vice-presidents to 12 4? ensure that four are women. The ot increases the executive council from 20 !® 25 and stipulates that eight must women.