LABOUR

TRIBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN

Members of various Building Trades unions demonstrated outside the office of the Industrial Realtions Council in

Vancouver Sept. 13, the opening day of hearings called by the IRC to inquire into “‘interpretation’’ of Sections 37 and 53 of the Industrial Relations Act. The two sections are central to the de-unionization of the construction industry, allowing union companies to set up non-union arms and virtually eliminating union sucessor rights. Unionists charge that the hearings were called in an attempt to have unions break the B.C. Fed boycott and appear before the commission. In an echo of the government's attempts to get the labour movement to discuss cosmetic amendments to Bill 19, IRC commissioner Ed Peck had suggested that the IRC might use its discretion in interpreting the two sections if unions made submissions to

the hearings.

Probe Kerkhoff contract: union

The B.C. Provincial Council of Carpen- ters this week called on B.C. Transport and Highways Minister Cliff Michael to investi- gate discrepancies between the wage costs claimed by a sub-contractor working for J.C. Kerkhoff and Sons on the Coquihalla Highway project and the wages actually paid to the employees.

In a letter to Michael Sept. 14, council secretary Colin Snell also called on the min- ister to probe the

affairs of the two companies to deter- mine if the provi- sions of standard ministry of highways contract and the Public Construction Act had been comp- lied with.

With the letter

went copies of four

affidavits sworn by SNELL former employees of the Kerkhoff subcon- tractor, ALC Construction, testifying that they had been paid rates ranging from $8 to $10 an hour — substantially less than the wage rates spelled out by ALC in docu- ments submitted to the highways ministry for payment.

In an appearance Sept. 1 before the commission of inquiry probing the huge cost overruns on the Coquihalla Highway, Snell read from a labour purchase order from ALC to Kerkhoff, which quoted wage rates ranging from $19.82 an hour, includ- ing travel allowances, for labourers to $31.15 an hour for*foremen. The purchase order was apparently the basis on which Kerkhoff submitted bills to the highways ministry.

But according to affidavits sworn by former employees, ALC paid only $10 an hour for labourers and included no provi- sion for travel allowance.

Snell said that the affidavits were sent in response to a comment made by Michael in the legislature July 15. Responding to ques-

tions from the New Democrats, Michael challenged those making charges of wage discrepancies to provide “ta signed docu- ment, an affidavit” to substantiate the claim.

“He’s asked for this material and we’re providing it,” Snell said. “We want him to investigate it further.”

Snell said that in addition to the four affidavits submitted to the minister Mon- day, three more were on their way to the union’s offices from Merritt and a further three were expected to be prepared over the next several days.

In each case, the documents reveal that the actual wages paid were substantially less than the rates outlined in the documents presented to the inquiry, he said.

Significantly, the Great Bear Snow Shed project on which Kerkhoff was the general contractor, and ALC a sub-contractor, was a prime example of the huge cost overruns on the highway project. Bid at $5.5 million, the actual cost of the project had risen to $10.1 million before the highways ministry instructed Kerkhoff to stop sending bills.

Most of those swearing affidavits had worked on the snow shed project although other projects in which ALC Construction had provided labour for the Kerkhoff Group of companies were also named.

In three of the four affidavits, former ALC employees also noted that they had either been hired by, or had worked under

the direct supervision of Ken Yaretz, Kerk- '

hoffs superintendent on the Great Bear snow shed project.

That same close relationship between Kerkhoff and ALC also appeared two years ago on a Defence Ministry construction project in Chilliwack where the Carpenters were successful in winning back wages for ALC employees who had been denied the federal fair wage standard then stipulated for federal projects. Employees working for Kerkhoff on the project had been paid by ALC Construction.

But whatever the relationship between

12 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 16, 1987

ALC and Kerkhoff, the highways ministry should determine whether Kerkhoff comp- lied with the provisions of its contract with the highways ministry, Snell said. Those provisions include the stipulation that all sub-contractors be approved by the high- ways ministry, and that the wages paid “be not less than the wages current in the district in which the work is being carried out.”

In his letter Snell called on Michael to investigate:

@ “Why these workers were paid only $8 to $10 per hour (with no payment in lieu of travel) when the contractors were paid con- siderably more by the Ministry of High- ways.

@ “Tf the provisions of clauses 20, 22, 28, 49, 52.1 and 53 of the standard Ministry of Highways contract were complied with on the projects where these workers were employed.

Snell also asked the minister: “If these workers were not paid in compliance with the wage as provided for in clause 53, would you as Minister of Transport and Highways be prepared to have the Ministry of Labour audit ALC Construction or the Kerkhoff Group and have the appropriate adjust- ments made to the workers’ wages and benefits?”

SEE eS

~The B.C. Federation of Labour will mount a major long-term organizing drive to bring new members into the trade union movement, B.C. Fed president Ken Geor getti said Sept. 10.

The announcement came as the fedefa tion’s executive council met last week adjust the labour movement’s boycott tactié to allow certification applications initiat before the boycott of the Industrial Rel@ tions Council to proceed and to allo¥ unions to place new applications for certiff cation before the IRC.

Federation communications directo Tom Fawkes said Tuesday that the organiZ ing campaign represents a new determina tion by unionists to move over to the offen sive.

““We’ve been circling the wagons for too long,” he said. “Over the last four or fivé years there’s been a certain siege mentality and it hasn’t been healthy for the labou! movement.

“The labour movement needs to get ou! and organize.”

Fawkes said that opinion polls take® over the past six months have provided encouraging signs for the success of thé organizing drive. “We've also had a lot of calls from people phoning the federatiof and wanting to know how they can join 4 union,” he said.

“Public opinion polls done over the pas! several months indicate that the time is right for an organizing drive of this magnitude,” Georgetti said in a statement last week: “Non-union workers are more interested in joining unions than they have been for sev- eral years. I think they now realize that the ‘boom days’ are gone forever and they need some protection to keep their jobs.”

He said that the campaign would be broadly based throughout the trade union movement but would also target certaif industries and areas for concerted organiz- ing.

Fawkes said the federation would bé establishing an organizing fund and would be working with affiliates to co-ordinate organizational staff and other resources.

Early next week, on Sunday, the B.C. Fed is scheduled to open its three-day con- ference on the Bill 19 boycott. Several key- note speakers are scheduled to address the three-day meeting and delegates are slated to discuss the organizing campaign, work- ing with community organizations and boycott strategies in workshops and plenary sessions. :

The conference includes a public forum on “The Community and Bill 19” on Mon- day, Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m. in the Robson Square Media Centre.

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