The Dominion - Saint John

NB Port Workers Said NO CANDU

Moira Peters — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 05:11:24 +0000

Argentina honours Saint John longshoremen for 1979 act of solidarity

They said, “We don’t care about our wages
and we don’t care about the boss.
When your brothers and sisters are dying,
there’s lines you just don’t cross.”
No Hot Cargo for Argentina!
No Hot Cargo for Argentina!
No Hot Cargo for Argentina!

—Maritimes folk singer Nancy White, in “No Hot Cargo,” a song inspired by the 1979 event this article celebrates.

FREDERICTON—Hundreds gathered at Lily Lake Pavilion in Saint John on Saturday, March 13, to honour the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 273 for what has been called "the single most dramatic example of Canadian trade union solidarity with workers in the Third World."

Argentina’s Ambassador to Canada, Arturo Guillermo Bothamley, presented the Orden de Mayo to Pat Riley, business agent for the Saint John Local of the ILA, for the union’s 1979 protest that prevented the shipment of heavy water to Argentina’s military dictatorship—an action that resulted in the release of 11 political prisoners. The Orden de Mayo is the highest award given by the Argentine government to citizens of another country for courage, honour and solidarity.

“We are going to pay an old debt from the heart to some people who put their security at risk for people thousands of miles away,” said Bothamley at the ceremony.

On the morning of July 3, 1979, port workers refused to cross a picket line on the west side of the Saint John harbour the day the workers were supposed to ship a load of heavy water to Argentina for the CANDU nuclear reactor Argentina had bought from Canada in 1973. Heavy water is a component necessary for the functioning of nuclear reactors fueled by unenriched uranium.

The picket had been organized by the NO CANDU committee, the New Brunswick Federation of Labour, and the Saint John and District Labour Council. With signs and buttons stating, "NO CANDU FOR ARGENTINA," and "HOT CARGO," the protesters demanded the release of 17 political prisoners in Argentina, most of whom were trade unionists.

The action was part of a national campaign started by the Group for the Defence of Civil Rights in Argentina—initiated by Argentine expatriates—in response to the brutal military dictatorship that took power in Argentina in 1976.

“The 1979 Argentine military junta was a rogue government in league with other rogue governments, such as the government of South Africa, which was itself notorious for its apartheid policies and its similar threat of acquiring nuclear capabilities," said Riley at the award ceremony.

"The military junta’s most appalling practices were not well-known. Whether you were a newspaper editor, a university professor or a university student, a trade unionist, or simply a person of conscience, you could well disappear if you spoke out about the inhuman practices of the junta.”

It is estimated that 10,000-30,000 people were tortured, murdered or “disappeared” between 1976 and 1983. The government of Canada was enthusiastically supporting business with Argentina, including the export of nuclear technology, despite the Argentine government’s refusal to sign the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The picket line was joined by members of many local unions, including the Canadian Paperworkers, the United Auto Workers, the International Association of Machinists, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Church groups and members from the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, Project Ploughshares and the Maritimes Energy Coalition also joined the picket.

As a result of the protest, 11 of the 17 political prisoners were released within days and three were sent into exile.

Another prisoner identified by the NO CANDU campaign, union leader Alberto Piccinini, was released a year later. During a visit to Canada, he expressed his gratitude to a group of Canadian workers: “Unity is the unity of all of us; and it must go beyond national boundaries. I am very clear that I am free today because of the struggle first of the people in my country and second because of workers elsewhere—especially in this beautiful country.”

At the March 13 award ceremony, Saint John mayor Ivan Court spoke of the workers’ decision to respect the picket line on the July morning, 31 years ago: “People matter first and foremost... So when the longshoremen in this city in 1979 said to the boss, ‘We’re not crossing the picket line. Life is more important than a paycheck,’ that’s what Saint John is all about... People were willing to say, ‘no,’ and ‘no’ did save lives,” he said.

"They were ordinary people knowing that they were doing something to try and change the living conditions—the lives—of people a long way away," said Barbara Byers of the Canadian Labour Congress at the ceremony. "But they were ordinary people taking extraordinary actions. They were ordinary people making history."

Byers went on to draw connections to current political issues in Latin America, including the recent coup d’etat in Honduras and the proposed Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement:

Today the widespread military dictatorships may be on the wane, but we now have a dictatorship of the free markets and free trade agreements. And the labour movement has been at the forefront of the resistance to that new kind of dictatorship going back to the fight against the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement. We learned many lessons from those struggles and we are applying them to the current fight to oppose the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Colombia may not be ruled by a military dictatorship, but human rights violations taking place in that country are equally surreal. The dirty war there is being waged against trade unionists and leaders who dare to organize a union, lead a strike or oppose the government in any way.

Upon accepting the Orden de Mayo from Ambassador Bothamley, Pat Riley expressed his gratitude for the recognition of their action 31 years ago, and reflected on the event.

“The story of the 1979 NO CANDU for Argentina picket line was a story of immense courage, ingenuity and resolve. For the disappeared political prisoners. For the mothers of the disappeared. For the Group for the Defence of Civil Rights in Argentina. For the NO CANDU for Argentina committee and so many others. For the 1979 Port of Saint John picket line and demonstration. The determination to see justice done...was a path for those involved,” said Riley.

Marie-Christine Allard is a member of the New Brunswick Media Co-op. An original version of this article was published by the New Brunswick Media Co-op.

Argentina honours Saint John longshoremen

Irving Refinery Blues

macdonald — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:45:49 +0000

Irving Refinery Blues

Please forgive me-- this may end up seeming like a rant in places, for I simply must get some things off my chest. I hope my prediction that it will make sense by the end is true.

I am a strong proponent of the idea that hitchhiking is simply one of the greatest forms of grassroots journalism. When you enter a new place, the odds are quite high that you are traveling with a local. If this is the case, then you will become immediately armed with “insider” information to which there is little match. The sorts of things I am often lucky to learn, in any case, would certainly not be told in any tourist information booth.

I woke up today in Riviere Du Loup, in Eastern Québec. I made a cold instant coffee and ate some granola bars before wandering across the highway to seek rides further East. I managed three rides fairly easily, each of them pleasant and warm, no hassles and even interesting tangents of separate activity here and there. But what I need to rant about was the ranting of my last ride of the day, a man named Doug who picked me up when I was but one ride from here-- Saint John, New Brunswick.

Business Without Boundaries

Sun, 18 Jun 2006 02:18:06 +0000

New initiative hopes to make Atlantic Canada an 'epi-centre' of international trade

Hundreds demonstrated against the Atlantica Initiative in Saint John, New Brunswick. photo: Chris Erb

Sean Cooper replies without hesitation when asked if there will be negative social or environmental consequences to Atlantica: "No," he says bluntly. "There are none that I'm aware of." Executive Director of the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce (APCC), Cooper has only good things to say about Atlantica - a region encompassing the northeastern US and Atlantic Canada that business leaders are proposing as the new 'epi-centre' of international trade.

The APCC and Saint John Board of Trade recently hosted hundreds of delegates in Saint John, New Brunswick for "Reaching Atlantica: Business Without Boundaries," a conference intended to raise the profile of the Atlantica Initiative and assist in its development.

Proponents of Atlantica believe that Atlantic Canada--largely considered a 'have-not' region--has the potential to become an economic powerhouse; with Halifax acting as an international port, Atlantica is perfectly situated to funnel goods into huge American markets. The purpose of Atlantica, says Cooper, is to allow goods, people and services to move more easily between huge economic zones. Essentially, Atlantica will "move wealth," he says. "And it will create wealth."

Create wealth for whom? asks Matt Schlobohm, co-ordinator for the Maine Fair Trade Campaign. Schlobohm spoke at "Resisting Atlantica: Reclaiming Democracy," a counter-conference that drew a crowd of 300 people--people that do believe Atlantica will have negative social and environmental consequences. Schlobohm is one of those people. He notes that, on the surface, the Atlantica Initiative appears harmless: "Who could be opposed to trade between Atlantic Canada and northern New England? - that sounds great." But in order to understand the values behind the Initiative, one must look at who is behind it, says Schlobohm.

Sponsors of 'Reaching Atlantica' included large corporations like Irving Oil, BMO Financial Group and Aliant. Speakers at the conference included representatives from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS). Registration for members of the public was $595, a fee that demonstrators noted was more than most people could afford. It is the business elite pushing for the Atlantica Initiative, argues Schlobohm, and it will be the business elite who will benefit.

Schlobohm points to AIMS, a think tank he says is "pushing aggressively for Atlantica." AIMS details the "poor public policy holding Atlantica back" on its website. Included in the list are minimum wage legislation and union density, both considered measures of "labour market flexibility." Schlobohm is alarmed that minimum wage legislation and unions, which he considers the "most effective anti-poverty program the world has seen," are being labeled "economic distress factors." He argues that Atlantica, like its predecessor NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), is not fundamentally about trade--which can have many benefits--but about increasing profits for corporations, often at the expense of workers' rights, social programs, and environmental protection.

Police block the entrance to the convention centre where business delegates met to discuss the Atlantica Initiative. photo: Chris Erb

Garry Leech, a member of the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network, has seen this happen in his own province. Nova Scotia Power used to buy Nova Scotia coal. The company has since found cheaper coal in Colombia. Not only have jobs been lost in Atlantic Canada, notes Leech, but the cheap coal is linked to human rights abuses in Colombia. There are other ways of doing business, he insists.

"Nova Scotia power should not be investing in the refurbishment of coal powered plants--which are huge emitters of green house gases--but in wind energy," says Leech. "That would improve the environment and provide jobs in the wind energy sector. And it would de-link Canada from human rights abuses in Colombia." Leech's vision of supporting local economies is far different from the Atlantica model.

"We are about to become a doorway to the industrial might of China and India," Brian Lee Crowley, president of AIMS, told the Chronicle Herald. Crowley envisions a transportation corridor moving goods from the Halifax port to markets in the US. Large numbers of trucks will be needed, notes Crowley, and large numbers of truck drivers. "The answer isn't going into high schools and [talking] about great opportunities in the trucking industry," says Crowley. "Mexico is one of the three NAFTA partners. The answer is to set up a guest worker program."

Mexican guest workers are not granted the same rights as Canadians and are often willing to work for less. Atlantica may encourage cheap labour and goods to move easily across the border, but Leech wonders if immigrants and refugees would be given the same rights. AIMS' recommendations to Ottawa include working with the US on "integrated perimeter security, harmonization of external tariffs and mutually agreeable standards of entry for persons from third countries."

The "Reaching Atlantica" conference concluded with the announcement that an 'Atlantica council' would be created to bring key government leaders on board. Leech is disappointed that, despite protests, representatives from unions, community groups and environmental organizations have not been invited to the table. This isn't just about economics, he says, but also about social, environmental, political and military policies; it's therefore critical that voices other than those of big businesses are heard.

Business leaders in Atlantic Canada say they've found an answer to the region's economic woes. Atlantic Canadians wish somebody would ask them. Hillary Bain Lindsay investigates.

Saint John city official backs secret tax deal for LNG plant

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 13:05:44 +0000

Saint John city manager Terry Totten has announced that the mayor's secret deal to grant Irving Oil and Repsol of Spain a generous break on property taxes was a good idea. The deal was made last March to help the energy companies build a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) plant in New Brunswick's largest city.

According to CBC News, the companies will pay $500,000 per year in property taxes for the next 25 years, about one-tenth of what the land could have brought in.

Mayor Norm McFarlane went ahead with the decision despite opposition from city councillors, including Deputy Mayor Michelle Hooton. City Councillor Ivan Court said the deal was fiscally irresponsible, highlighting the fact that "[the municipality] gave a preferential rate to a company and it cost the taxpayers of this city $112.5 million over 25 years."

At the time of the deal, McFarlane told council that the companies gave him a midnight deadline to make the secret deal, or the plant would not be built. Totten said the loss in property taxes would be offset by investment and employment opportunities at the facility.

Provincial NDP Leader Elizabeth Weir says the proposed tax break for the LNG plant violates the fundamental principles of equal opportunity. Weir told CBC News that just as Irvings was negotiating this special deal, many New Brunswickers were receiving notices in the mail that their own property taxes were going up.

Once completed in 2008, the plant will link up with a controversial pipeline that has prompted opposition by a coalition of anti-LNG protestors, environmental activists and citizens opposed to having the 30-inch diameter pipeline run through the city.