We invite you to contribute short items to this column as a way for other fighting workers around the world to read about and learn from these important struggles. Jot down a few lines about what is happening in your union, at your workplace, or other workplaces in your area, including interesting political discussions.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Two hundred forty striking Air B.C. pilots and their supporters, including flight attendants, rallied at the Vancouver International Airport on January 27. Marching outside the terminal and handing out flyers to passengers they chanted "Fairness and Equality Now" and "No Scabs."

The striking Air B.C. pilots are among the 900 pilots across the country who are on strike against Air Canada's regional airlines - Air B.C., Air Ontario, Air Alliance (Quebec), and Air Nova (Maritimes). As of submission of this article, a tentative settlement had been reached at Air B.C. and Air Nova. The Air B.C. pilots were scheduled to vote on the offer on March 9.

Picket lines are up in Toronto, Halifax, and Montreal, as well as Vancouver. The bosses are taking a hard stance against the pilots, pressing their attack on the wages, working conditions, and job security of all the workers at the regional airlines. The main issues are the right to be integrated into a main seniority list with pilots at Air Canada, as well as stopping the attempt by Air Canada to get rid of several routes.

"We want equal treatment. Why should we go to the bottom of the seniority list if we transfer over to Air Canada?" Jeff McLellan, a 10-year pilot with Air B.C., told this reporter. "It's unfair. Air Canada's regional airlines are profitable, yet the workers are paid less. There's a second tier wage structure here. Were fighting for job security.

"Air Canada wants to get rid of several regional routes like Portland and cities in Alberta," added McLellan

Dawn Thompson, a flight attendant and member of Teamsters Local 31 who was at the rally, said, "We're supporting this rally because this fight is not just about pilots' jobs, it's about our jobs. It's about Air Canada contracting out jobs."

Pilots at Air B.C. are organized by the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) and have recently voted to join the 45,000-member International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations. Pilots at Air Canada split from ALPA last year over the issue of a merged seniority list

Air B.C. flight attendant Linda Gendron explained that a two-week strike by flight attendants in December ended in a victory. Kathy Peters, a representative of Teamsters Local 31, told the Militant, "We got a substantial pay raise of over $1.21 per hour, plus our hours of flying time were cut back from 85 to 75 per month. With the wage increase, flight attendants are getting the same or more take home pay. Plus, contract language was cleaned up and the company was forced to take back proposed concessions."

Thompson added, "We got a victory because the company was feeling the heat. We struck during holiday season and they felt it. And other unions respected our picket lines, like the bus drivers in ICTU (Independent Canadian Transit Union). For many of us it was the first time on strike. It was great."

Florida shrimp workers protest company abuse
DEERFIELD BEACH, Florida - About 175 people demonstrated here February 13, against the abuses by Kitchen of the Ocean, a shrimp processing plant. About half were from the company's workforce and others included union retirees and staff people.

The rally was organized by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) to protest the company's refusal to negotiate with the newly unionized workforce. In September 1996, the workers at Kitchen of the Ocean voted 173 to 18 to join UNITE. The only response from the company was to fire nine workers who were leaders of the unionization effort.

The majority of the workforce of 230 are from Haiti, and many at the demonstration said that this is part of the reason the company discriminates against them. Ludovic Laferriere is one of the workers who has been fired. "We want a place to sit down and better working conditions, and respect," he said. Laferriere is fighting his firing.

"There are no decent bathrooms, no running water, no place to store food," said Jean Claude Jean. Most workers there make $4.75 an hour.

Unionists back fight by musicians for better pay
SEATTLE - Hundreds of union members, including Longshoremen, Teamsters, Machinists, and dozens of others, packed the sidewalk in front of the Fifth Avenue Theatre here February 19.

The theater had canceled the opening night performance of the musical "Beauty and the Beast." The company had flown in nonunion musicians from around the country to replace 18 unionized musicians who had gone on strike February 12.

The musicians, organized in the American Federation of Musicians Local 76-493, were demanding a new three-year contract increasing their salary to $106 per performance, an increase of $13 from the present $93 per show. The Fifth Avenue Theatre bosses offered only $96.

After the mass picketing, theatre management agreed to meet with the union to continue negotiations.

At the next evening's performance, 400 people showed up to protest and picket, although the performance did go on.

A third mass picket line, this time with 700 people packing the street around the show, was organized for the Saturday night performance. The spirited picketers chant of "No contract, No peace, No Beauty and the Beast!" loudly echoed through downtown Seattle. They were accompanied by a street band of supporting musicians and cars honking their support as they drove down the narrow streets.

These mass pickets had a big impact on the morale of the strikers. "I'm excited about the turnout tonight," Dewey Marler, a striking musician, told the Militant. "This demonstrates that we've got mass community support."

Ned Dmytryshyn, member of IAM Lodge 764 in Vancouver; Rollande Girard in Miami; and Scott Breen, member of IAM District 751 in Seattle, contributed to this column.  
 
 
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