Today the mass media of im-
perialist countries in Western
Europe and America are con-
ducting an anti-Soviet campaign
of slander under the hypocritical
slogan of “defense of human
rights.” But the real target is the
economic and_ socio - political
rights won by the peoples in the
socialist countries. The cam-
paign to interfere in the internal
affairs of these countries is
bound to fail miserably. The
reason is that the citizens of the
socialist countries prize the real
rights won by them and rightly
feel that the system they have
chosen safeguards these rights
better than any other system.,

Soviet trade unions have a
decisive say on everything rele-
vant to working conditions. A

good example is the auto plant,

in Togliatti (Central Volga area,
European part of the USSR)
built in cooperation with the
Italian FIAT which has a similar
plant in Turin.

Union Approval

In -the Togliatti plant the
trade union is involved in prac-
tically all aspects of production
management. The union com-
mittee must approve standards
for increased labor productivity,
the scale and rate of introduc-
tion of new equipment, or ‘the
vocational training and retrain-
ing of the personnel. The union
committee and management
jointly schedule production and
technical conferences'.and draft
labor protection regulations.

Most of the workers on the
motor car assembly line have
skills in several (sometimes as
many as 20) operations. There-

fore they can change from one-

operation to another to.vary the
routine.

Members of the team them-
selves decide on time intervals
for change. In some teams the
workers change places every
hour, in others — every day, in
still others — every week. It
varies with the job. Sometimes
a worker does not get back to
the point he or she started from
up to eight months: Thus, in a
period of 12 to 18 months a
worker has only one to two
stints doing the same operation.
All this makes for less mono-
tomy and better morale.

Speed Varied

What if a worker must leave
the assembly line? A ‘staff of
reserve workers takes care of
that contingency at Togliatti.
They can replace anyone at a
moment’s notice.

Rest breaks are a usual prac-
tice. in engine assembly, for
instance, the availability of re-
lief workers enables every re-
gular worker to have a half-
hour rest period in addition to
time off for lunch,

Recently the speed of the as-
sembly line in Togliatti was
changed. It is no longer con-
stant but slows down and speeds
up several times during the
shifts. This innovation along
with a longer production line
was introduced solely to im-
prove working conditions.

At the suggestion of the trade
union a two-year study of as-
sembly line workers was under-
taken. Involved in this study
were doctors, psychologists,
physiologists and engineers.

Adjusted to Workers
The study showed that maxi-
mum output is reached approx-
imately an hour after the shift
begins and is maintained three

Soviet autoworker

Modern technology can do a
lot to reduce or even eliminate
-negative aspects of assembly line
jobs that fatigue the worker and
wear down his creativity .. .

hours prior to the break for
lunch. Then the working capa-
city falls. After the lunch break
it takes some 20 minutes before
the worker reaches optimum
level again. Then for two and a
half hours this level is maintain-
ed before it drops a little by the
end of the shift. Fluctuations of
working capacity according to
shift and the day of the week
were also established.

It was on the basis of these
findings that the changes were
made in the speed of the as-
sembly line. At each part of the
shift and one each day of the

week it corresponds to the per-
sonnel’s working potential. Two
additional breaks of 10 minutes
each were also introduced (be-
fore and after the lunch break).
Music is played during these
intervals.

Modern technology can do a
lot to reduce or even eliminate
negative aspects of assembly
line jobs that fatigue the worker
and wear down his creativity.
This is proved once again by
the experience of the Togliatti
auto plant where the job of as-
sembly line workers has been
eased considerably.

Real Socialism

It must- also be pointed out
that a Soviet auto worker does
not face the threat of losing his
job. His income is not being
eroded by inflation. There is no
unemployment and no inflation
in the Soviet Union. The right to
work is guaranteed in the Soviet
Constitution.

This is what real socialism,
where the power belongs to the
workers themselves, means. For
the U.S. and the Canadian auto
worker socialism would mean
vastly improved conditions of
work and the fullest utilization

of science and technology to im-°

prove life for all working peo-
ple. In that way technology and
increased productivity would be
a boon to the workers rather
than what we now have — mak-
ing the rich richer at the ex-

pense of the workers by means.

of monopoly Septet and
profiteering.

es

Rail unions await

By RICHARD ORLANDINI

The Vancouver Joint Council:

of Railway Unions at a recent
meeting laid the groundwork for
collective actions around the
handing down of the Railway
Arbitration 1973 award (Bill C-
217) that is expected on January
16. :

Representatives of all affiliat-
ed locals, lodges and divisions
from the Vancouver area de-
cided that on “receipt of the Ar-
bitrator’s report” all units “will
call special meetings to study
the Arbitrator’s decision.” After
the membership has studied the
report, “their representatives
will meet with the Executive of
the Council. to decide what form
of action is to be taken.”

The representatives of the
Council also sent a telegram to
the Labor Minister, John Munro,
protesting. the long delay in
handing down the report. The
telegram read: “The affiliate
membership of the Vancouver
Joint Council of Railway Unions
wish to express their deep con-
cern over the prolonged delay in
finalization of the Arbitrator’s
report in the 1973 railway dis-
pute. Please advise what pro-
gress is being made.”

More Involved

In their newsletter to the
membership from the Council
there was a discussion of the
B.C. Federation of Labor Con-
vention and special emphasis
was made of a comment from
the Executive Council Report
which said: “It is clear the rail-
way unions, to protect the inter-
ests of their members, are going
to have to become more involv-

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 1974--RAGE 4°,

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ed in the House of Labor
through the CLC and the Feder-
ations to ensure they have the
co-ordinated support necessary
to. be effective in a difficult situ-
ation.” And the newsletter went
on to warn that membership ac-
tivity was necessary and solu-
tions did not lie in the “pie-in-
the-sky dreams of some new
union.” |

Since its inaugural meeting in
1971, the Vancouver Joint Coun-
cil has reached a paid-up mem-
bership of 2,500 and the Council
played a major role in the effec-
tive co-ordination of the rotat-
ing strikes on the West Coast.

In other centres across the
country some moves are being
made to establish similar joint
councils. Presently -in Toronto,
for example, the railway unions
are faced with an analysis of
the arbitrator’s report by indi-
vidual unions.

In Toronto the Canadian
Brotherhood of Railway, Trans-
port and General Workers has a
council to co-ordinate its activ-
ities within the CBRT and GW,
but its activities are limited to
that union. The situation for the
establishment of railway work-
er’s councils has remained static
in Toronto despite what was
said at the CBRT and GW con-
vention in Toronto last Septem-
ber.

Workers’ Councils

At the convention, Don Nich-
olson, the Brotherhood’s natio-
nal vice-president said: “Railway
workers’ councils should play
an important role in bringing
about unity.” The delegates at
the convention gave Nicholson’s

Labor

SASK. LABOR URGES
RESOURCES TAKEOVER

REGINA — Government take-
over of resources and tough
price controls: were advocated
recently by the Saskatchewan
Federation. of Labor in ‘its an-
nual brief to the provincial
cabinet.

The brief called for a national
energy policy that would “use,
preserve, protect and foster our
resources for the people and re-
move their ownership and con-
trol from the hands of. those
who see them only from the
grasping stand-point of huge
profit gains .. .”

ELECTRICAL WORKERS
WIN CONTRACT

The Treasury Board has
agreed to pay increases worth
7.3% annually over 27 months
to 2,400 electronics employees,
members of the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Work-
ers.

The workers will receive 7%
increases retroactive to July 30;
another 3% from Dec. 3, 1973
and a further 7.75% effective
Oct. 7, 1974,

TRANSIT STRIKE

The Edmonton transit strike
went into its fifth week as the
city continued to refuse the
workers the wage increases that
would put them on a parity with
transit workers in other cities.
The workers are demanding a
24-month contract with a top
pay of $5.80 payable in the last
six months of the contract.

arbitrator's report

statement more impact when
they agreed to a resolution that
called for “the Canadian Rail-
way Labor Associations to , es-
tablish and charter Railway
Workers’ Councils in all major
centres across the country, so
that policies adopted by the
CRLA at the national level may
be applied more effectively.”

The same resolution also not-
ed “that should the CRLA dec-
line to take the initiative in
establishing Railway Workers’
Councils, the National Execu-
tive Board (of the CBRT and
GW) should take proper steps
to ensure the creation of the
councils . .. and that adequate
funds be allocated (by the
Brotherhood) to cover any pro-
per expenses incurred in carry-
ing out worthwhile projects of

IN) BRIEF

REFINERIES’
CONTRACT.

The 700 members of the Unit-
ed Oil Workers of Canada, em-
ployed at the Shell and Petro-
fina refineries in Montreal agreed
to a new 36-month contract
minutes before a midnight dead-
line. The new contract won 4
20%
years with the final 4% increase
coming on September 15, 1975.
The contract does allow how-
ever, for a re-opener clause. Thé
workers in the plants produce
about half of the refined fuel in
the Montreal area.

BACK ONT. TEACHERS
The B.C. Teachers’ Federation
has sent a wire to the- Ontario
Federation of Teachers backing
their fight against Bill 274,
which it describes as “a flagrant
denial of basic civil rights.”

The wire says, “it is a funda-

mental right of every employee
to determine who he or she
wishes to work for.’ The On-
tario legislation would deny 4
teacher the right to resign, and
also provides for compulsory
arbitration.

CPP SAID A
$5.8 BILLION RIP-OFF
TORONTO — Star financial
writer Jack McArthur charged
recently that the federal govern-
ment’s handling of Canada Pen-~
sion Plan funds is “a $5.8 bil-7
lion rip-off of the Canadian peO- 7
ple and their economy.
“Pension money tends to be
poorly invested,” McArthur said.

these councils.” :

Since the September Conven- ©
tion the CRLA has done nothing ©
to establish joint councils and”
unfortunately the CBRT and
GW Executive Board has shunt-
ed the issue to the side in each
of its meetings.

If the CBRT and GW Execu-
tive Board is going to take any
initiative in the establishment”
of joint councils then it is going

-to have to be pushed into doing

so. The membership of the

CBRT & GW in conjunction with ©

workers in other railway unions, ©
are going to have to unite t0

apply the pressures that are

needed. And with that unity, the ©
Executive Board, as they had t0

during the strike, will have t0

respond with some serious pro-

posals.

SRS penne Rap nee Babe

£4

The railway cota who protested hs ‘dent government
strikebreaking legislation in Ottawa last September are still waiting

for the Arbitrator’s report.

wm &
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increase over the three |

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