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In a lucid editorial, from the Feb-
Tuary-March issue of Comment, the
Monthly journal of the Canadian Union of
Postal Workers, CUPW president Jean-
Claude Parrot scrutinized what he called
“the low profile approach” of the leaders
of the New Democratic Party and the
labor movement in responding to the
stepped-up attacks against workers’
Tights and living standards. His conclu-
Sion is that the approach is a disaster for

Workers and should be abandoned by both ©

the NDP and the labor movement. Believ-
ing Parrot’s viewpoint is an important
Contribution to the discussion about which
‘ labor should take in fighting the
Current economic crisis, the Tribune is
reprinting the Comment editorial below,
for our readers.

-Recently in Ontario, 12,000 hospital
Workers defied provincial legislation and
Walked off the job in a bitterly fought
Struggle with an employer whose view of
industrial relations belongs in the Stone
Ages. In fighting to achieve a decent liv-
Ing wage, better working conditions and
to protect their jobs against further cut-
backs, these hospital workers also had to
fight for their basic right, the right to
Negotiate with the right to strike. In doing
So, they were forced, despite the law, to
Teject binding arbitration, defy court or-
ders and injunctions and stand up against
an employer who provides them with the
Worst working conditions of all hospital
Workers across the country. And that in
Ontario.

The response of the labor movement

to this most, important labor struggle
launched by CUPE was very eloquent in
its silence. The absence of visible sup-
port for these workers by either the
leadership of the labor movement or the
NDP in face of one of the most significant
labor struggles in Ontario since the Inco
workers’ strike in Sudbury, opens to
question what I call ‘‘the low-profile
approach’’

As a joint strategy, the low-profile ap-
proach is designed for the labor move-
ment and the NDP to be perceived by the
public as being nice and reasonable.
Their reasons for this are, first, that they
do not want to provide the government
with an excuse to introduce bad legisla-
tion taking away your right to strike or
other rights you have under the law.
Secondly, they do not want to create
controversies that will provide ammuni-
tion against NDP candidates at election
time. While many leaders of the labor
movement and of the NDP might be
implementing this low-profile approach
in good faith as a strategy, the fact re-
mains that this approach hurts those who

_ counton these leaders the most, the work-

ers themselves.

Presently, we, Canadian workers in
both the public and private sectors, are
coming under increasingly serious at-
tacks from employers. The Ontario
Hospital Association, B.C. Tel,
Chrysler and Treasury Board are but a
few examples of employers who are tak-
ing an increasingly “‘hard line’’ against
their employees. Judging from recent
statements made by federal and provin-

LABOR

Dump the ‘low profile’ approach

cial governments, we can expect even
more attacks in the future.

It is the present practice of major lead-
ers of the trade union movement and of
our political allies to take a low-profile
approach during major confrontations. Is

the ‘‘low-profile’’ approach the answer .

to the ‘‘hard-line’’ approach of the
employers? Obviously not. This was
surely not the answer in the case of
CUPE hospital workers in Ontario, nor
was it the answer in the Inco steel-
workers in Sudbury or the postal work-
ers’ strike.

The struggles of Canadian workers are
too serious and too difficult for the labor
movement to drop from sight. Fortunate-
ly, several other -leaders of the labor
movement have understood this. One
just has to look at what the B.C. Federa-
tion of Labor is doing to organize actions
all across British Columbia in support of
workers who are in a serious struggle
against some of the most anti-worker
employers in this country.

The labor movement has the ability to
provide effective leadership to Canadian
workers during what is likely to be a
period of increasing attacks by
employers. It’s simply a question for the
leadership to change its strategy, a
strategy that is not working and is, in
fact, becoming a disaster for the work-
ers. Furthermore, this strategy does not
work for our political allies either, as it
seems that a low profile equals low votes
for NDP candidates who take this low-
profile approach not only for workers’
issues, but even on their own party
policies.

f

Jean-Claude Parrot

In the final analysis, this low-profile
approach is, in my opinion, perceived as
a sign of weakness and, therefore, does
not prevent the government from intro-
ducing bad legislation and does not help
NDP candidates at election time. If lead-
ers in the labor movement expect sup-
port from the membership and if NDP
candidates expect support from the pub-
lic, they must be perceived as being
strong, committed, dedicated and pre-
pared to take a stand on controversial
issues. Respect must be eatmed.

Who are the friends of Polish workers?

Solidarity has long been an honored word in
the world trade union movement. It sums up the
need for workers on an enterpise, industry, na-
tion and on a world-wide basis to unite in strug-
gle to.defend and advance their economic and
social interests. The song, Solidarity Forever, is
like a mini-anthem for trade unionists.

Solidarity today, however, is endowed with

yet another meaning. It is the name adopted by
the newly-emerged trade union centre in Poland
which has long since branched out from being a
trade union centre into a force challenging the
leading role of the Communist Party in Poland.

Building socialism in any country is by no
means a simple straight-forward task, especially
in countries which begin with relatively back-
ward economies, weak democratic traditions
and heavy religious influence. All this coupled
with organized attack from the outside by im-
perialism, with its centuries of experience and
cunning, massive means of communications
and sophisticated espionage net-works, makes
the task of Communist Parties, the entire work-
ing class and its allies, painstakingly exacting
and demanding.

The Communist Party in Poland, by its own
admission, has failed rather substantially to

measure up to the responsibilities resting on its

shoulders and the result is a major crisis for
Poland.

The Party makes it quite clear that re-
sponsibility for the present situation lies in the
deformation of socialist legality, socialist demo-
cracy and socialist political economy. ‘In the
best traditions of Communism it is discussing its
mistakes with the working class and people as a
whole; taking the difficult measures of rectifying
those mistakes and assigning responsibility for
their happening so that they will not be repeated

- in the future. :

This is indeed a difficult task for a party at arly
time, let alone a party responsible for state

power in a country beleaguered by imperialism
both politically and economically.

It is to be expected in such a period that all the
forces of imperialism will attempt to aggravate
the situation within Poland, to try widening the

Labor in action
William Stewart

- crisis made by socialist deformations, into a

full-scale counter-revolution, and to pull Poland
from the camp of socialism, back into the im-
perialist orbit. at

Perhaps, while we may bemoan the fact, it is
also to be expected that imperialism’s lieuten-
ants inside the labor movement, the AFL-CIO
leaders and their counterparts elsewhere, would
use their influence to aggravate the situation and
sharpen up the contradictions in Poland.

But there are others stirring up the muddy
waters in Canada, trying to attach themselves to
the imperialist vendetta against Poland, allying
themselves with the right-wing forces at the
centre of attempts to turn the events of Poland
into a full scale counter-revolution.

These forces wear the cloak of leftism. The’
Workers Communist Party, for example, pur- —

sues a policy of deliberately using the events in

Poland to push the Canadian trade union —

movement into collaboration on this issue with
the most right-wing forces in the trade union

. movement and in political circles. They are ex-

tremely busy knocking together little sects in
support of Solidarity, pushing resolutions in
trade union centres, all aimed at weakening real
socialism in the world.

Their real aims might be better understood by
Canadian workers if they would make it ‘clear

that their point of departure in politics is their
support of the tortuous policies of China.
While smearing the entire post war history of
Poland under socialism, in which Poland arose
to be the ninth industrial power in the world,
where poverty, disease, hunger and unemploy-
ment were eliminated, the Workers Communist
Party gives its unqualified support to a political
party which authored the slaughter of more than
three million Cambodians, has placed in

jeopardy the great, Chinese revolution and

advocates a policy of world nuclear war.

It is clearly not in the interests of Poland that
the WCP carries through its ‘‘support’’ of Sol-
idarity. It is in the interests of strengthening the
power base of China in pursuit of its pro-war,
anti-socialist anti-working-class aims. Perhaps
the WCP would like to explain the dismal role of
trade unions in China, the role of the military
and the abuse of democracy which has been
characteristic of the past two decades in China.

It would be wonderful if countries could pur-
sue a straight march forward to socialism, avoid-
ing the difficulties and errors which now show
up in Poland, and are particularly grave in China
and have affected other socialist countries at
times. This would make it much easier for work-
ing people, looking for answers to their prob-
lems in a capitalist system beset by crisis.

Workers can and will however, learn to dif-

-ferentiate between problems confronting them

in the process of building a new classless society
and the counsel of those wishing to divert them

. from this path, onthe left and the nght.

Our solidarity is with the Polish working class
and with its Communist Party and the other
allies of the revolution now undertaking the task
of rectifying serious mistakes while maintaining
the great victories socialism has.already brought
their country.

Canadian workers who genuinely want soli-
darity with people’s Poland should find them-
selves in sympathy with this view.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 15, 1981—Page 9 «