John Fryer, president of the National Union of Provincial Government Employees, talks to report- ers at Vancouver VIA Rail station Monday as B.C. Government Em ed the train for the Nov. 21 demonstration in Ottawa. Some 50 unionists got on the train which will pick up NUPGE members and others in various cities across the country. j ployees Union members board- —SEAN GRIFFIN ETA, “TRIBUNE PHOTO PUTS Aaa B.C., Ont. pressing WCB B.C. provincial Council of Car- penters president Bill Zander said Monday that his union ‘‘wants to make it bloody clear to the Work- ers’ Compensation that we are not going to accept any cop-out by the Board” on the presently guaran- teed right of workers to refuse haz- ardous work. He added that if there was any watering down of that right by the WCB, ‘‘then carpenters may be in violation of the law but so be it.” Zander, whose opposition was echoed by Verna Ledger, safety di- rector for the International Wood- workers, was speaking before a panel of NDP MLAs which open- ed hearings in Vancouver Monday. The panel was set up by the NDP caucus in Victoria to hear subrnis- sions on the performance of the WCB and to buttress the demand voiced by the B.C. Federation of Labor and others for a royal com- mission into the operations of the compensation board. 3 The right to refuse hazardous work, presently guaranteed work- ers under Section 8.24 of the WCB regulations, has been thrown into question in recent weeks because of a July 17 WCB letter — which in tum was based on an earlier deci- sion from Sept. 30, 1980 — which Suggested that the WCB did not have the authority to enforce the regulation : As a result, it has proposed that the section be amended to put the issue of enforcement on to arbitra- sgrer = a Te % Address @ City or town @- Postal Code aS Published weekly at Suite 101 — 1416 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V5L 3X9. Phone 251-1186 . Read the paper that fights for labor ee ce ease 0 eh wee eae 2 8 lam enclosing: 1 year $12] 2years $220 6 months $7 D OldO New Foreign.1 year $15 0 Bill me later CF Donation $ PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOV. 20, 1981—Page 12 tion boards or to the Labor Rela- tions Board, and had opened the door to possible disciplining of workers who refuse to undertake unsafe work. ; The Carpenters has rejected that “cop-out”’ by the Board, and ear- lier declared, in a submission to the construction safety inquiry, that it would ‘‘be illegal for the Board to attempt to divest itself of its re- sponsibilities.’’ : “Tn fact, the union said, quoting the Workers’ Compensation Act, “‘the board has the widest possible powers to issue orders and direc- tions specifying the means or re- quirements to be adopted in any employment or place of employ- ment for the prevention of injuries and industrial diseases.”’ The disputed change to the regu- lations is slated to go before public hearings Nov. 25. Meanwhile, in Ontario, more than 500 injured workers marched on the provincial legislature Nov. 7 to demand that the Davis govern- ment scrap its white paper which proposes sweeping cutbacks in benefits to injured workers. The demonstration, organized by Coalition Association of Injur- ed. Workers and several commun: ity groups,. began on University Avenue in Toronto, with many participants arriving in wheelchairs or walking with the aid of canes. The proposed changes to the Workmen’s Compensation Act which were drawn by former B.C. Labor Relations Board chairman oo SE. Paul Weiler, have aroused protest throughout the labor movement in Ontario, particularly because the government’s tactic appears to be to ram them through the legislature over any opposition. ~ Rally chairman Emilio Scar- digno, told the demonstrators that the six member groups in the Asso- ciation had sought a meeting on three different occasions with Tory labor minister Robert Elgie, but had béen refused. Among the particularly regress- ive changes proposed are: @ Replacement of existing monthly pensions with lump sum payments related to the injury with periodic, ‘‘wage-loss’ adjustments which would not continue past age 65; @ Deduction of Canada Pen- sion Plan benefits from WCB benefits; @ Reductions in temporary benefits which would be based on 90 percent of net earnings instead of the current 75 percent of gross earnings; @ New provisions forcing WCB recipients to accept work which the WCB and its doctors, not the recipient’s own doctor, deem suitable. Injured workers mass in front of the legislature in Ontario WCB : protest. TER TSE TTT, screens Que. vote confirms| shift away from — U.S. building trades| ‘struction went up from 12,107 | Quebec construction workers last Tuesday concluded a critical round of voting to determine which labor central will repre- sent them in collective bargain- ing and the result, though incon- clusive, could well mark the be- ginning of the end for the inter- national building trades in Que- bec. The result will also have a _bearing on the continuing Building Trades-Canadian La- bor Congress dispute although ~ the impact will probably not be felt immediately. In the government-supervis- ed vote completed last week, the CLC-affiliated Quebec Federa- tion of Labor Construction de- partment (FTQ Construction) garnered 45.3 percent of the votes of some 68,000 building trades workers who cast ballots. The Quebec “Building Trades Council (QBTC), made up of the international building trades unions, received 23.7 percent while the Confederation of Na- tional Trade Unions (CSN) got 19.1 percent and the small Democratic Union Central (CSD) got seven percent. The vote was part of a com- plex process laid out under the provisions of Quebec’s Bill 109 which was passed by the Parti Quebecois government last year in response to demands from the Quebec Federation of Labor (FTQ). Under the legislation, con- struction workers were to deter- mine, in a series of run-off votes, which labor central would represent them at the bar- gaining table. The first vote was completed in March of this year. This month’s vote, in which all construction workers were required to cast ballots, was to determine the final outcome — with bargaining rights going to that central with an absolute majority of construction work- ers. Although direct comparison of the results in the March and November votes shows that the QBTC vote up slightly from 19.6 percent in March to 23.7 - percent this month, while FTQ Construction went down from 49.3 percent in March to 45.3 i percent in. November, these comparisons are misleading be- cause of the different ways the votes were conducted. The March vote was held in each building trades union local with only the membership pres- ent for the vote casting ballots. Determined to make a good showing, the FTQ worked hard to turn out its supporters. In the vote just completed, however, all building trades workers were required to vote, and the result was probably | closer to the real measure of } support for each group. The numbers of ballots cast | for each group in the two votes | is more significant in compari- son, Although the QBTC vote . | only went up from 9,434 to | 16,264, the vote for FTQ Con- PRR AEE 2M DR CEE EST WREST OS A AOR NORE ST . tral is even more evident when - solute majority necessary torep- son, secretary of the B.C. Pro- © _ which has waged a vigorous in March to 31,024 this month. | The dramatic shift away from the international building — trades to a Canadian-based cen- contrasted with the situation that prevailed just one year ago, | when the QBTC represented | more than 68 percent of build- ing trades workers. In the vote this month, only 23 percent of workers were prepared to con- tinue that support. s A large part of that shift was prompted by a rejection of the | building trades action in precipi- - tating the split with the CLC over an issue of Quebec auton- — omy, among others. It is also a measure of support for CLC af- filiation, with the FTQ as the ve- hicle for that affiliation. Parts of the vote are still com- plete — some workers have not cast ballots and must do so in January and February of next year — but all indicators now point to an informal arrange- ment between FTQ Construc- tion and the CSN to gain theab-_ } resent workers at the bargaining table. The next round of con- — tract talks is scheduled to begin - next spring. If that FTQ-CNTU agree- ment goes ahead — and there are already new areas of cooper- ation between the two centrals_ — the QBTC would effectively | be pushed out of the province. Ironically, the secretary of the QBTC,: Maurice Pouliot, re- marked last February that the | FTQ “‘is going to find itself | squeezed out of the gamein No- | vember’’ — an example of the remoteness from the member-” ship of many among the inter- national building trades leader- — ship, How the vote result will affect the present freeze-up in negotia- tions between the CLC and the Building Trades is still a ques- tion mark but some local build- ing trades leaders have pointed to the vote result as a salutory. lesson for the internationals. ‘Now that the vote’s com- | plete, that’s what the situationis in Quebec and there is nothing — that the CLC can do for the next three years,’’ said Lorne Rob- — hts vincial Council of Carpenters campaign to compel its own in- ternational to get back into the CLE Robson added that, in bal- — ance, ‘‘the vote will mount — pressure on the Building Trades to get back into the CLC. It pro- ved the shift of the membership to independent affiliation to the ~ FTQ. “The realistic-mindedleaders | among the internationals | should realize the uselessness of their refusal to be inthe CLC as_ | ameans of trying to pressure the CLC to change FTQ policies,”’ he said. “The internationals should — pay up and get back into the Cues a 2.8 TARTRATE