CANADIAN LABOUR-SASKATCHEWAN

SUPPORT SASKATCHEWAN CONSTRUCTION WORKERS:

The following is a request from the Communications, Energy and paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP UNION) for online solidarity against recent proposals of the Saskatchewan government to make it harder for unions to organize in that province. Bill 80 is a plot of the conservative Saskatchewan Party to "crack down" as much as possible on ordinary people. I've been away from my old home province for over a quarter of a century now, but my memory of how it was a place where the class struggle was as stunningly visible as a prairie blizzard still seems to hold true. With a caveat, of course. Nowadays it seems that only the right wing is willing to pursue its interests with any vigour, just as they are doing with Bill 80. The "left", either within the NDP or stuck like berries on the outside of a fruit bread, is drifting. Like in most of the left in the world. one hopes that Saskatchewan's old radical tradition may yet surface with a vision that goes beyond electing an NDP government and then hoping against hope that it will deliver some fundamental shifts in power. If I were to give an estimate of the influence of the left in the NDP today I would put it at about 25% of what it was when I quit the party way back in the early 70s, and it could hardly muster 1/3rd of the party even then.. However unlikely I might have viewed such a prospect even 25 years ago the NDP left today is pretty much what it is across Canada ie a collection of granola munchers and academics. I cannot see a resurgence of socialism with such a base in any near time point of view. Tie actual reforms such as a reform of the taxation system or fundamental changes in labour relations to the determination of such a "left" to ram their own lifestyle choices down the throats of a population that can't afford them, and what do you get. Mockery at best. Fierce anger at worst. What a sad obituary to what was once referred to as "the cradle of socialism in North America".

Here's the appeal from the CEP.

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Stop Bill 80's Amendments to the — Construction Industry Labour Relations Act:
Web site: http://www.cepunion.blogspot.com/
Background (Preamble):
On March 10, 2009 the Saskatchewan Party Government Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Rob Norris tabled amendments to the Construction Industry Labour Relations Act.

“Assistant Deputy Minister Mike Carr confirmed in a stakeholder briefing that the construction and other unions in Saskatchewan did not ask for this and that none were consulted prior to its introduction. The government says it’s about so-called freedom of choice for employers and employees. We say it is about opening the door to certain employer-dominated unions to do wall-to-wall certifications of construction projects,”says SFL President Larry Hubich.

Trades unions have long argued that wall-to-wall certifications, rather than the current system of certifying on a craft basis, will lead to deskilling and lower wages. The amendments also remove ‘maintenance’ from the definition of construction industry, which means a significant portion of unionized construction work will no longer be covered by the Act.

“Once again, the government is gutting legislation that affects thousands of workers without consulting them in advance. We saw this with last year’s essential services legislation and the amendments to the Trade Union Act. Now they’re doing it with the construction trades. This government is obviously intent on breaking unions in every sector,” says Hubich.

“It makes no sense to change the way in which construction workers are certified: the government’s own numbers show that despite the giant boom in construction over the past five years, that the unionization rate has remained the same. The system works for the trades union members because they are assured of a collective agreement and it works for employers, who are provided with skilled labour out of the union hiring hall.

Saskatchewan Federation of Labour Press Release.

http://www.sfl.sk.c/pdfs/News%20Release_Sask%20Party%20vs%20trades.pdf

Saskatchewan Building Trades Council Written Submission to Human Services Committee

http://www.saskbuildingtrades.com/docs/BuildingTrades%20June%2016%20FINAL.pdf

Saskatchewan Building Trades Council Press Release

http://www.saskbuildingtrades.com/docs/BuildingTrades%20June%2016%20FINAL.pdf

FACE BOOK GROUP HAS STARTED

http://www.facebook.com/pages/CLAC/126728855936#/group.php?gid=96626284086

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Please go to the link below to sign the following petition.

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Petition:
The amendments purposed under Bill 80 to the Construction Industry Labour Relations Act are unjust and unnecessary. That the present system has worked fine with over 17 years without a work disruption.

That the Saskatchewan Party Minister of Government Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Rob Norris stop the amendments to the Construction Industry Labour Relations Act as purposed under Bill 80.
Sign the petition

CANADIAN LABOUR:

FORESTRY WORKERS PROTEST IN OTTAWA:

Long before the present financial crisis the Canadian forestry industry had been going from bad to worse. Workers in this sector increasingly see the need to take more and more radical actions as their jobs disappear beneath the. Last Tuesday, June 2, workers from across Canada, represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, Canada's largest forestry union demonstrated in Ottawa, calling on the Conservative government to offer the same sort of 'bridge loans' to forestry as are being offered to the automotive sector. The interesting part about this is that it following the occupations of seven federal Conservative offices across the country the day before. The occupations were arguably more effective in putting pressure on the government than the Ottawa demonstration. See the CEP website for more details. Here's the story of the demonstration from the CBC.

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Thousands of forestry workers protest in Ottawa:
CBC News
Thousands of unionized forestry workers from across Canada demonstrated in Ottawa on Tuesday, demanding the government do more to support their industry.

They wanted to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss solutions to the forestry crisis, including protection of workers' pensions and a plan to keep viable mills operating with the help of federal government loan guarantees and other measures.

"The reason we're here is the forestry industry has taken an awful downfall in northern Ontario," Joseph Lefebvre, a pipe-fitter with AbitibiBowater in Iroquois Falls told CBC News.

"We want the Harper government to get off their butts and do something about it."

In the past six years, the industry has lost about 130,000 jobs in Canada.

"Our main demand has always been for the federal government to backstop loans so that viable companies can keep operating, saving jobs and communities," Dave Coles, a spokesman with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, which represents most of the workers, said in a release. "We are not asking for a bailout."

The issue came up in question period, sparking a heated exchange between government ministers and opposition parties.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe accused the government of offering "crumbs" to the forestry industry in Quebec while throwing out billions for Ontario's auto industry. He said the government supported GM, because it would cause the loss of thousands of spinoff jobs and crush communities dependent on the automaker, which Duceppe said was exactly the same situation the forestry industry faces.

NDP Leader Jack Layton called on the government to create a strategy for the forestry sector. "What we need is some fair trade for a change. What we need is to stop raw logs from going across the border and creating jobs down there in the states," said Layton.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper replied that the forestry sector is struggling because of changes in the market and a dramatic decline in demand for lumber in the United States.

The government, he said, has taken action by offering assistance to help laid-off workers and communities, as well as increasing financing for the sector through the Business Development Bank of Canada.

He also hit back at opposition parties for refusing to support the 2006 softwood lumber agreement with the U.S.

Workers from as far away as British Columbia and the east coast took part in the protest, which kicked off at Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt's office and wound through the city to the prime minister's office.

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MOLLY NOTES:

1)As pointed out over at the CEP website Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff (Icky Iggie) was conspicuous in his absence from this to and fro of debate. Keeping his slate clean for soliciting corporate donations from American connected companies before the next election I guess.

2)As a point of memory the 2006 Softwood Lumber Deal passed because of the support of the Bloque Quebecois, one of the multitude!!!! of times when Harper's minority government survived only by the sufferance of the BQ. Try to remember this if Sneaky Stevie tries to play 'Captain Canada versus the evil separatists' again as he did last January.

CANADIAN LABOUR/LE TRAVAIL CANADIEN:

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION/JOURNÉE NATIONALE MANIFESTION:

The following appeal is from the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada/Syndicat Canadiene des communications, de l'énergie et du papier (CEP/SCEP).

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June 2nd National Day of Protest - 2 juin, journée nationale de manifestation:‏

Greetings,

We need your help to pressure Prime Minister Stephen Harper to hold a meeting with a CEP forest workers' delegation in Ottawa on June 2nd. On that day, thousands of CEP forest workers from across Canada will be demanding that the federal government take action to help workers, their families, and their communities. Please take a few moments to read the attached and send it to Mr. Harper.

In solidarity,

Dave Coles

CEP President

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Salutations,

Nous avons besoin de votre aide pour faire pression sur le Premier ministre Stephen Harper afin qu’il rencontre une délégation de travailleurs forestiers du SCEP, à Ottawa, le 2 juin. Lors de cette journée, des milliers de travailleuses et travailleurs forestiers partout au Canada demanderont que le gouvernement fédéral agisse pour aider les travailleurs, leur famille et leur communauté. Veuillez prendre quelques instants pour lire la lettre et l’envoyer à M. Harper.

En toute solidarité,

Dave Coles

Président du SCEP

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THE LETTER/LA LETTRE:

Cliquez un des liens ci-dessus pour envoyer cette lettre à M. Harper. Click one of the links above to send this letter to Mr. Harper.

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Mr. Prime Minister,

I request that you meet a delegation of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union on June 2nd regarding the crisis in the forestry industry and solutions to help workers, their families and their communities. On that day, forestry workers from across Canada will be coming to Ottawa to express their concerns regarding the loss of over 55,000 jobs in the last two years alone as well as the threat to their pensions.

Forest industry workers played no role in the financial crisis. Yet, they are the direct victims of a crisis that has been ongoing for over five years. They need help that only the federal government can provide.

I hope you will engage in a productive exchange with CEP on June 2nd.

CANADIAN LABOUR/CANADIAN POLITICS:

PROTECT WORKERS' PENSIONS:

The following appeal is from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. With all the billions that are being thrown at business bailouts during this economic crisis little attention has been paid to workers' pensions. The CEP wants to correct this.

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Subject: CEP campaign to protect workers' pensions:

Greetings,
The banks and big corporations have received billions of dollars in government aid, while workers are forced to the back of the line. Have your say now, while the federal government is holding consultations on changes to workplace pension legislation. Join CEP's online campaign to protect workers' pensions, by clicking here to send an e-mail, before April 17, to Ted Menzies, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Minister of Finance.

Thank you

Dave Coles
President
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada
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Objet: la campagne du SCEP pour protéger les pensions des travailleurs et des travailleuses:

Salutations,

Les banques et les grandes compagnies ont reçu des milliards de dollars en aide gouvernementale tandis que les demandes des travailleurs et travailleuses sont constamment repoussées en bout de ligne. C’est tout à fait injuste. Dites-le maintenant au gouvernement fédéral qui tient présentement des consultations sur des changements à la loi sur les régimes de retraite en milieu de travail. Joignez-vous à la campagne en ligne du SCEP pour protéger les pensions des travailleurs et travailleuses en cliquant ici pour envoyer un courriel, avant le 17 avril, à Ted Menzies, Secrétaire parlementaire du ministre des Finances.


Merci,

Dave Coles
Président
Syndicat canadien des communications, de l’énergie et du papier

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THE LETTER:

Please click on the link above to send the following letter to Parliamentary Secretary Ted Menzies. Il y a aussi une version français. Cliquez le lien ci-dessus.
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Ted Menzies

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Greetings:

Department of Finance consultations on private pension plans arrive at a very critical time. We are in an unprecedented financial crisis caused in great part by the greed and the incompetence of big business. However, they will not have to deal with the consequences. Companies are proceeding to major layoffs when they are not simply going bankrupt. Thousands of workers lose their jobs and too many of them will see a large part of their retirement income disappear. They have worked hard all their life to be told that now, they cannot get the retirement benefits they are entitled to.

The proposed reforms are not only insufficient to face the current economic crisis, but some of them will actually make the situation worse. It is urgent to protect workers’ pension plans. The Conservative government must:

1) implement a federal system of pension insurance
2) change the federal bankruptcy laws that put workers’ interests first
3) increase Canada Pension Plan benefits from 25% to 50% of the average industrial income and those of the Old Age Security to 15%.

The banks and big corporations have received billions of dollars in aid, but there is still nothing to protect the pension plans of workers. This is patently unfair. It is high time to act!

Respectfully,

CANADIAN LABOUR-WINNIPEG:
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS STRIKE NOW IN THIRD WEEK:

Since Thanksgiving Monday, October 13 staff at the 'Winnipeg Free Press', represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union have been on strike. The workers are due to vote on the latest offer from management tomorrow.




One of the interesting things about this dispute is that the workers involved have set up their own news website to continue serving the people of Winnipeg for the duration. You can see it here at FreePressOn Strike.Com. There is also a Facebook group for the strikers and their supporters. More on the meaning of these tactics later, but first the facts of the strike, as presented by the workers involved.
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The Free Press Strike FAQ:
What’s the strike about?
Free Press co-owner Ron Stern demanded concessions from nearly all 1,000 people who create the newspaper every day – from the carriers who deliver the paper to the pressmen who print it to the reporters who fill it with news.





He wanted to eliminate scores of jobs, weaken the pension plan, cut the pay of night shift workers and make carriers do more for less.





More than a week into a strike that is costing the paper at least $250,000 a day, Stern has backed away from most - not all - of those concessions. But we’re still far apart on wages, a fair deal for carriers and a small list of demands union members have. Remember, Free Press workers went into this with their own wish list - reasonable things like better vision care and vacation pay for part-timers. We haven’t even really talked about those things yet.
Are there talks?
Yes. Bargaining started over the Thanksgiving Day weekend, even though Free Press employees have been begging to negotiate for months. It then turned into a stalemate late last week. Talks started again Tuesday and are ongoing.
Why should I care?
The Free Press has been a Manitoba institution for 136 years.All Free Press staff — from columnists to circulation managers — are proud of our ability to provide innovative, in-depth and independent news coverage.We can’t let Stern erode all that. We want to maintain the quality of the newspaper you get every morning and the quality of life of the people who make it.
What are you doing in the mean time?
Until the strike ends, our reporters, photographers, web experts and editors will continue to cover the news in Winnipeg for this site.We’re committed to keeping you informed, just like we have for generations.Thanks for your support.
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And also from the same site.
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An open letter to our readers from Free Press workers on strike:
Dear Readers,
Free Press Publisher Bob Cox recently accused striking employees of putting “misleading and outright false information” on the record about the strike, which began Oct. 13.





We believe Bob Cox to be a reasonable person. If Bob Cox was negotiating the contract for the Free Press, we’d probably all be back at work.





But he isn’t – Vancouver-based owner Ron Stern and his hired pitbull of a negotiator, Milt Christiansen, are pulling all the strings. And what they’re engaged in is anything but a negotiation. After refusing to bargain for nearly three months, Christiansen almost immediately started delivering ultimatums in the form of what he called his “last, best and FINAL” offer that left no room for discussion or compromise.But it wasn’t a final offer at all. The offer was so riddled with mistakes that the company was forced to offer “clarifications” via e-mail. Those clarifications left the union even more confused. On Friday evening, the company put those clarifications in a revised final offer that came in after 6:30 p.m. and bypassed the conciliator. That revised offer was posted on the CEP website as soon as possible.The union has made it clear the offer is unacceptable. If it’s truly a final offer, our only logical response is “NO.” Talks will not get going again until the company moves off its offer





Here are some more clarifications:
The wage offer
The union’s five-year wage offer was contingent upon the company agreeing to withdraw all concessions and give laid-off workers and proper severance. It was part of a package. In an attempt to paint the union as greedy and obstructionist, Cox has plucked one part of that package offer out of the deal. That offer is now off the table.
Free Press pay
This is an old canard Stern always hauls out at contract time – that Free Press workers are radically overpaid. It’s true a veteran journalist tops out at about $70,000 a year and an experienced pressman makes about the same. But there are hundreds of people at the Free Press who don’t make anywhere near that . The average carrier makes between $12,000 and $14,000 a year. A mailroom insert controller makes just over $30,000. Have a look at our last contract – it’s posted online at www.ceplocal191.ca – and you’ll see many, many job classifications that pay $8 to $14 an hour. Those are hardly luxury wages. Meanwhile, the company’s latest wage offer would give telephone service reps a salary that falls below minimum wage.
Severance
As many as 40 workers, most of them pressmen, are facing layoff. While the severance money offered by the company is good, we are insisting that it be subject to a binding dispute resolution process, preferably through the grievance procedures that are already part of the contract. The company is refusing. If we accept the final offer, we would be asking our members to trust Ron Stern. We are not prepared to do that.





Finally, the bargaining committee has been almost uniquely transparent. Proposals and counter-proposals from both sides are posted on the union’s website – www.cep191.ca. The union’s position on the final-final offer is also posted.





This comes down to who you trust – the bargaining committee, which is made up of rank-and-file Free Press workers who have no reason to mislead members or readers? Or Ron Stern, who has repeatedly attacked his workers by demanding concessions and then refusing to bargain.
This is an emotional time, and we respect the company’s right to spin. But cherry-picking facts and torquing them to suit a multi-millionaire owner does nothing to solve this dispute.

CEP Local 191
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ALTERNATIVE SERVICES DURING STRIKES:

Molly has to note that what the Free Press workers are doing via their "alternative news site" during the course of this strike is hardly unique. During the strike at Le Journal de Québec in Québec City from April 2007 to August 2008 the people involved, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), not only set up a news website but also brought out a printed tabloid, Media-Matin, to serve as a community news source during the duration.







Now CUPE, of course, has far deeper pockets than the CEPU, and it would be unrealistic to expect the people here in Winnipeg to go as far as they did in Québec. Still, the Free Press workers have to be commended for trying out this novel tactic to both keep solidarity within the strikers and to gather public sympathy. One of the readers of their site suggested in a letter published there that they make their website permanent, under the heading of a producers' cooperative. That would be fine, but there is still a great need and place for actual printed papers, a need that the internet cannot yet fill.







There is also the fact that few of the people involved in the strike would likely have the ambition to do away with their boss at this time. Even in the Journal de Québec strike the people involved eventually settled and went back to work for their previous employer, and one can certainly say that they were further down the road to doing away with the boss than is the case now. The idea of actually running workplaces democratically under self-management without bosses will only become popular as the results of a long ideological struggle to make this goal seem desirable to ordinary people.



In the absence of wide acceptance of the idea the tactic of providing alternative services and/or of resuming production without the bosses as a pressure tactic still has great value. To mention a few previously discussed on this blog...It was done in the Alcan smelter in Jonquiere, Québec in February of 2004. The Journal de Québec strike has already been mentioned. The 'Strike Bike' in Nordhausen, Germany last year is another example. The largest movement of this nature in recent years has been the factory takeovers in Argentina where something of an "alternative market" has been set up to distribute the products of some of the workplaces involved.



What is the biggest limitation of such recent efforts ? They are hardly ever undertaken except in "crisis" situations where massive layoffs or even workplace closures are imminent. This means that the workers involved start with an obvious handicap- the enterprises are close to terminal, and it takes considerable ingenuity to get them running well and to sell the product. This limitation also means that the people involved are often quite happy to receive a slightly better offer from the previous managers, and the occupation ends. It also means that there is a lot of temptation to listen to this or that social democratic or leftist party who take advantage of the situation to sell the illusion that government takeover of the enterprise involved would be an improvement. It may be in that the workplace would keep running-maybe- but at the cost of exchanging one boss for a much larger and more powerful one.


All that being said the idea of resuming production in occupied workplaces or of providing alternative services is a great tool for labour to win its due, and the spread of the idea should be encouraged as much as possible. It is obviously more applicable to some workplaces than others, and how it could work depends upon the imagination of the people involved. The final point, however, is that it is a very limited tool as long as the majority don't see the desirability of removing bosses entirely. If they do the tool would be used in other than crisis situations and would be much more effective.