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e National president Dave Haggard (right of banner), is joined by B.C. Federation of Labour affiliates, including I.W.A. delegates and Weyerhaeuser

workers at rally.

Workers protest against B.C. job losses

1.W.A. delegates to this year’s B.C. Federation of Labour convention took to the streets to join a rally outside the downtown Wyancnysr office of Ruovancial premier Gordon Campbell.

On November 27, over 100 I.W.A. delegates and rank-and-file members were in the crowd which listened to labour leaders lash out against the increases in job losses that are hittin, workers in both the private an: public sectors and the lack of government response at either the provincial or federal levels.

National union president Dave Haggard joined Fed president Jim Sinclair, BCGEU president George Heyman and others to march from the convention centre to the plaza in front of the World Trade Centre where Campbell has his digs.

Speaking to the assembly of over 800, Brother Hapbend said that workers are going through a “turning point in the pronace history.”

He said that Gordon Campbell got elected on the basis of opening up the doors to business to create employment, but there has been increased instability since the Liberals took power in May.

“Mill after mill and plant after plant are shutting down,” Haggard said to workers, including those in the crowd who have seen closure announcements at Weyerhaeuser plants in Vancouver (see story page

six). He also acknowledged the threats the government is making in eliminating public sector jobs.

“The government of this province has a responsibility to those who elected them and I can tell you here today, whether we like to admit it or not, it wasn’t the corporations that elected the government of this province, it was working men and women throughout British Columbia that said ‘we’re going to give youa chance on your promises Gordon! (Campbell),” shouted Haggard. “And pahat as Gordon done? He's lied to us!

“Where have all the jobs gone?” said Haggard. “Where have all the promises gone? All that he’s done is give tax breaks to the corporate elite.”

“We have to stand up and call upon the government of the province to step forward and hold the Weyerhaeusers of the world accountable,” he said.

He said, although Weyco has a right to close plants, it has a responsibility to put workers in other jobs and take care of its older work force.

He said it’s no longer acceptable for government to sit idly by and allow corporations to close operations “without any consideration for the people that have made their wealth.”

He added it’s no longer acceptable to dismantle communities and leave

workers with a desolate Christmas and desolate futures with only welfare to look forward to.

He took a shot at the United States, saying it is holding Canada to ransom over the softwood lumber tariffs, and leveled criticism at Weyerhaeuser, which straddles the border between the two countries.

Although Weyco said it was neutral on the softwood lumber issue it stepped to the forefront to exempt cedar lumber, and remain “neutral on everything else.”

He criticized the Liberals for offering forest policy changes and as part of softwood lumber negotiations.

“We can’t dismantle the Forest Act to try and appease the Americans. We can not do that because all they do is say ‘thank you Mr. Campbell’ - put it in their back pocket and say ‘what else have you got to offer?” said Haggard.

George Heyman, president of the BCGEU, said during the campaign Gordon Campbell said tax cuts wouldn’t hurt services or public spending. Campbell and current deputy minister Christy Clark said

ublic employees had nothing to ‘ear from the Liberals.

“The Liberals call it government you can trust — integrity in government,” said Brother Heyman. “I ask you, what do you call it?”

“Bullshit! Bullshit Bullshit!” shouted the crowd in unison.

He said Liberal cuts would eliminate one-third of environment inspectors, one-third of child protection workers, women’s shelter workers, and 50 per cent of highway maintenance staff.

He said that public sector unions will join the rest of the labour movement and allies in the communities around the province “who know the damage that Liberal cuts will do.”

Heyman said the BCGEU “will see you in the streets” if the government tries to abrogate existing collective agreements in the public sector.

B.C. Fed president Jim Sinclair said that B.C. is leading the country in lost jobs.

He said a further $1 billion in corporate tax cuts on January 1, 2002 will lead to further public sector slashing.

He said the labour movement must stand together with communities and demand that the government

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“go forwards and not backwards.”

Sinclair encouraged workers to go back to their communities, their families and worksites to “talk about how we can help each other.”

“Fundamentally that’s what the labour movement is all about and that’s what community is all about,” he said. “It’s not about getting the most for yourself. It’s about taking care of each other.”

Stan Pickthall, of the International Association of Machinists, spoke about the September 2002 closure of Western Star Truck in Kelowna which will throw 900 union members, earning an average of $50,000 per year out of work. The plant, which has operated since 1967, was bought out by Freightliner three years ago. It will move operations to Portland, Oregon where heavy government. subsidies will back the company up.

Freightliner said when it bought the plant in September 2000 that it would operate it for at least two years.

“That’s the same commitment from Weyerhaeuser — two years!” said an angry I.W.A. member in the crowd. “Two years are up and they’re shutting down our (Canadian White Pine division) mill.”

“Shame, Shame!” shouted the crowd in unison.

Brother Pickthall said neither the B.C. nor the federal governments would help. He said there was only “absolute silence,” and added that the Liberal party’s constituents are U.S. employers.

Sister Teresa Mund, president of the CUPE at Canada 3000, which went belly-up in mid-November, said Transport Minister David Collenette and the federal Liberals’ $100 million loan to Air Canada to establish the discount airline “Tango” contributed to her company’s collapse, along with the aftermath of September 11.

Although both WestJet and SkyService have hired, Canada 3000 has given both companies a list of union activists and supporters, etectiyely “blackballing” them from ajob.

“Right now, jobs are pretty darn scarce,” she said. “For those of you who face the future, it’s pretty shaky out there. The next one unemployed may be you. It may be your friend, your sister, your wife or your neighbour.” &