The voice of B.C.'s organized fishing industry workers
A solid strike produced an offer
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Ninety cents sounds like a lot of money. In fact, given that shoreworkers and tendermen work fewer than three million person-hours in a year, the cost of the wage settlement was equal to about 1.5 cents on the sockeye, which was settled first in any case. There is no doubt the association companies, particularly Weston's B.C. Packers, had no intention of settling as high as they did. They were forced to the table only by the unity and determination of fishermen, shoreworkers and tendermen.
Twice in negotiations — on Aug. 5 in shoreworkers' talks and at dawn the next day with the fishermen — association bargainers underestimated the determination of the membership to win better offers. On each occasion, the union committees announced they would recommend rejection and on each occasion, the companies improved their offers in an effort to win acceptance.
The strike that no one wanted began to seem inevitable July 21 as all three sections of the union met in lengthy and futile bargaining sessions with Fisheries Association negotiators. Pressing on the union was the question of a strike deadline. It had already been determined that strike action would begin July 25 or Aug. 1, depending on which date would exert maximum pressure on the companies.
On July 22, the union could delay no longer. The companies' so-called "final offers" were on the table: last year's contract for the wage earners and major cuts for fishermen down to $1.00 for sockeye and 30 cents for pinks.
In a long and tough debate that evening, with Native Brotherhood representatives present, members of all three sections wrestled with the first key decision of the struggle. Some feared to take the offers to a vote, claiming that workers might accept. Others wanted immediate strike action, even though the Adams River run still was at least a week away.
The decision to take a vote and to postpone strike action until July 30 at 11 a.m. served a double purpose: it united the different sections of the industry around a single date and allowed the essential process of democracy — control by the rank and file — to continue. Democracy demanded a vote and strategy demanded a date late enough to produce maximum pressure just before the Adams run arrived. Events were to prove July 30 a near-perfect date.
Within a few days, those who feared erosion of membership strength saw their concern proved groundless. Union president Jack Nichol reported that an overflow stop-work meeting in Prince Rupert produced a 95 percent rejection of the company position. Rejection votes elsewhere were equally heavy, exceeding in many case the original strike votes. Fishermen voted 82 percent to reject cuts. Shoreworkers rolled up an 87 percent margin and tendermen turned down their offer by 76.4 percent.
Fisheries Association negotiators Mike Burgess and John Star responded to these crushing votes with a promise to "keep the lines of communication open" and then silence. The companies had decided to have a strike.
Fishing in the week leading up to the strike was poor, but west coast trollers and fishermen in the central area phoned in reports of some exceptional sockeye landings. The International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission confirmed fishermen's suspicions: the Adams River run was arriving and appeared strong.
This was the first big victory of the bargaining: all three sections had held fast on their positions for the moment when the companies would feel most pressure to relent.
The late timing of the strike paid other dividends by allowing events to destroy the many company arguments about markets and Alaska catches. On July 26, with a minimum of fanfare, the United Kingdom ended its embargo on half-pound cans of Canadian salmon. The previous day, a lengthy Cordova Bay strike for better pink prices ended with a settlement of 23 cents in U.S. funds.
The price was poor but the militancy of the Alaska fishermen, in the face of U.S. antitrust legislation, was a foretaste of what was to come in B.C. What's more, fishermen's strikes in Bristol Bay and Cordova, combined with sockeye and pink runs far below forecast, suggested
Geoff Meggs photo
• A long and difficult debate July 22 lead to selection of the July 30 strike deadline, a decision which proved correct as the strike began. Participating in the discussion were (left to right) UFAWU business agent Bill Procopation, secretary-treasurer George Hewison, president Jack Nichol and shoreworkers vice-president Bill Jarvie as well as a full committee including Native Brotherhood representatives.
Fed up with the companies' intransigence, the shoreworkers instructed union president Jack Nichol to break off negotiations to allow consultation with the full shoreworkers committee.
As Nichol reported to the full committee the next morning, "we have made major concessions, we've cut everything down to a straight economic package." Yet the opening company offer of 30 cents in two increase, none of it retroactive, had come only after four days on the picket line. Two days of bargaining had produced only 14 cents more.
As shoreworker Ray Neita told the full committee, "That last 20 cents is an insult. It's nothing." No one would be working when it finally was paid. Added Prince Rupert local secretary Barry Hale, "This kind of offer is scandalous. We shouldn't even take it back to the membership."
By this time, all three sections of the union had scheduled membership meetings at week's end to discuss negotiations and'report on the strike. Less than 24 hours remained. But by this time it was clear that the companies wanted agreement — the fishermen's dawn settlement a few hours before had established that.
As Nichol told the shoreworkers, the companies had made some large adjustments in payments to fishermen to achieve the recommended agreement. The shoreworkers negotiating committee needed no argument to vote rejection of the offer then on the table. Nichol advised company shore negotiator of the decision and talks resumed within hours.
By the time wage earners were again at the table, fishermen were balloting on their proposed settlement. Their agreement had taken more than 36 hours of talks to resolve, including the final marathon 18-hour session in the hotel.
The tendermen were the next to achieve a tentative settlement, voting at 11 p.m. to recommend acceptance of a one-year agreement calling for an eight percent wage increase, an improvement in grub allowance and other minor concessions.
For shoreworkers, the end was in sight. A final meeting produced a last five-cent increase from the association, bringing the retroactive increase to a full 70 cents. By 1 a.m., the shoreworkers had voted to recommend acceptance. Balloting began and the strike ended officially with a coastwide announcement at 2 p.m. Aug. 7.
With the proposed agreements came the third decisive victory for the union — all three sections ratified by large margins. Every step of the way, membership had endorsed its representatives' moves by large majorities, giving them the authority to bargain and backing that authority with strong action at the ballot box and on the picket line.
For fishermen, the cuts on sockeye and pinks are the third reverse in as many years, a bitter pill but not nearly so devastating as the one the companies forced U.S. fishermen to swallow. At strike's end, it was clear fishermen have the means to obtain increases, but some lack the will to use them.
Despite the union's hot declaration on troll sockeye, many trollers took advantage of the strike to increase their harvest of this traditional net fish. It is impossible to calculate the volumes that were caught, but it is certain that every pound of salmon landed during a strike lessens the strength of the striking fishermen. FISHERMAN — AUGUST 13, 198275
Jim Sinclair photo
• Fishermen's committees.in camps like Duncanby, in Rivers Inlet, established picketing on the grounds.
Strong votes, the right deadline and coastwide picketing lead to the final settlement
that the huge inventories predicted by the processors could never materialize.
Now a very different tune was being sung by U.S. processors who had threatened early in Alaskan bargaining to shut down for the season. Now they complained about a lack of fish, and undermined their own arguments about weak canned markets by shipping some of their fish to Vancouver in an effort to get a Canadian label on the can. UFAWU shoreworkers nipped that plan in the bud with a pledge not to process Alaska fish until B.C. fish prices had been settled.
All that was left was to organize the strike. The union's central strike and policy committee went into daily, session to update strike policy.
In a major policy shift, the committee exercised its authority, approved by convention, to declare troll catches of sockeye, pinks and chums to be unfair production during the strike. Trollers were allowed to continue fishing for springs and coho, provided they delivered to the U.S.
Promptly at 11 a.m. on July 30, thousands of shoreworkers left the plants and set up their picket lines. Fishermen on the grounds did the same, gathering in a dozen communities and camps to elect strike committees and establish pickets. When the first major openings occurred late Sunday, Aug. 1, the strike had been well consolidated.
Despite the activities of so-called cooperatives and some scabs, it was clear that the overwhelming majority of the net fleet had tied up. Picket lines were solid, the plants cleaned up and shut down.
In the inevitable confusion as the strike
began, a new and potentially divisive cry arose on the grounds for food fishing permits. Once again, the central strike and policy committee stood firm and upheld convention policy barring food fishing for the first week of the strike.
It was obvious that picketing would be difficult, if not impossible, if fishermen mounted a large-scale food fishing operation in the first days of the strike.
The strong votes, the orderly plant closures and the consolidation of picketing marked the second major victory for fishermen and wage earners. The companies were watching closely to see how serious workers were about a strike. By Aug. 2, they had their answer. On Aug. 3, Burgess asked for a meeting with the fishermen's price committee.
Now began the first halting steps toward a final settlement. Both shore-workers and fishermen met in lengthy sessions Wednesday, Aug. 4, trimming their demands in an all-out effort to win a settlement. Negotiations resumed Aug. 5, this time on the "neutral ground" of the Denman Place hotel, but progress was agonizing.
After two days of hard bargaining, shoreworkers were confronted with a completely substandard offer. After a number of significant moves, company negotiators stalled at an offer of 54 cents, broken into three sections: 22 cents retroactive to April 16, 12 cents on day of signing and 20 cents on Jan. 1. Even this meagre increase would apply only to regular employees. The UFAWU was seeking 80 cents April 16, 25 cents effective mid-J uly and other improvements for trades.
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