From Sudbury Victory for rank and file SUDBURY — The confidence and enthusiasm. that marked the last three weeks of the campaign to elect Dave Patterson as director of district 6. United Steel- workers, carried over into voting day on May 28. By late evening on voting day, as the phone calls poured into Patterson’s Sudbury campaign headquarters from organizers in various localities, it was obvious that the Patterson vote was maintaining almost a par with the Stew Cooke vote in the small industrial plants of south- em and south western Ontario. And that, with the know- ledge that the votes were not yet in from the large mining locals and the large primary steel locals — where Patter- son was expected to do very well — led to a feeling jubilation and victory among the volunteers for Patter- son who gathered at the Sudbury headquarters. The long nine-week campaign was over and Patterson had won what the Globe and Mail would later call a **stunning upset’. Even as the vote was being tallied, the organizers, many of whom had spent their annual holidays on the road campaigning for Patterson, began their analyses of how the victory was won. There was unanimity on four points. First, Patterson as a candidate presented a ‘‘rank and file’’ alternative to the ‘‘business as usual’’ approach of Stew Cooke to trade union activities. Patterson, who led the eight-and-a-half-month strike against Inco was popu- lar among many workers in all sectors of the steel indus- try in Ontario. Secondly, the Patterson campaign was able to out- organize the campaign of Stew Cooke and the Steel- workers Union’s staff reps. As the campaign progressed, : a senkuoraetamnis oN Dave Patterson’s platform. His call for a separate Cana- as they saw that the Patt :rson campaign and program represented the type of chi ge they wanted in the union. Thirdly, the Patterson campaign developed a program for small steel shops in southern and south western On- tario. This program called for ‘better co-ordination in bargaining between the workers in small shops’’ and insisted that women and new immigrants are better rep- resented in the Steelworkers Union. This program was enthusiastically accepted in Toronto, which in the past, was the backbone of the ‘‘establishment’’ vote in Dis- trict 6. Finally, and most importantly, the general program of the Patterson campaign was accepted by all those steel- workers who wanted a “‘genuine real change in the US-- A.” This general program calls for the “‘implementa- tion of a Canadian constitution for Canadian steel- workers; co-ordinated bargaining; a training program for stewards and grievance committee members; and the establishment ofa full-time organizing committee and an annual District 6 policy conference.” Many of the programatic points were viewed by the voters as a means of democratizing the union. Cooke’s campaign, on the other hand, Patterson or- ganizers agreed, focussed on only two “‘issues’’. The first was an attack stating that Patterson’s call for a Canadian constitution would ‘‘destroy the strike fund and lead to higher dues.’’ This the Patterson campaign effectively responded to by mass leafletting of steel loc- als with statements which gave the lie to Cooke’s first ““issue’’. Cooke’s second ‘‘issue’’ was red baiting. This whole “‘issue’’ was effectively rejected by the Ontario steel- workers themselves. Indeed, in a post mortem of the~ campaign an organizer for Stew Cooke admitted to the Globe and Mail that red baiting ‘‘just didn’t work’’. In fact, he claimed that red baiting had been dropped as a tactic in the last two weeks of their campaign. The spirits of the Patterson volunteers lifted with each area that reported in on election night. They knew they had won, but two major locals didn’t report until the following day. The first to come in was Local 1005 in Hamilton, representing the vote at Stelco. It came in with a substantial majority for Patterson, 4,477 to 1,099. Then came the vote from Local 6500, the local in which Patterson led the fight against Inco. In his own local the vote was 6,447 for Patterson and 1,115 for Cooke. “That vote’’ said Patterson, ‘“‘was the icing on the cake of a very hard fought victory.” PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 12, 1981—Page 6 Patterson victory, mandate to get Canadian autonomy By MIKE PHILLIPS “It was a clear-cut victory for the members of this union. A lot of steelworkers, men and women worked their butts off to get me elected. They did the job and they deserve the credit’’. Dave Patterson, rank and file leader of Canada’s largest industrial trade union local and now rank-and-file director of District 6, United Steelworkers of America, credited his fellow steelworkers, for the stunning upset he scored May 28 against incumbent director Stew Cooke. — Though the international union hasn’t yet released the official tally of votes, the educated guess is that -Patterson beat Cooke by some eight or nine thousand votes throughout the Steelworkers’ Ontario district. Patterson, in a telephone interview with the Tribune, June 3, said his victory was proof that an ordinary union member from the grass roots can come through the ranks and win an election by representing the interests of rank-and-file workers. The response to the Patterson campaign by steel- workers in the shops, mines and mills was extensive compared to Cooke’s bid for re-election which was car- ried forward mostly by union staff representatives. Patterson’s forces, many of whom took their holidays so they could criss-cross the province on behalf of the campaign worked entirely on their own time without pay. ‘No one was promised staff jobs, nobody was pro- mised they'd be looked after’’, the young union leader stressed. ‘‘ They just went out and did the job and said: ‘This is my union and I’m doing what I think is best for my union!’’’ Patterson predicted a positive spin-off effect for the entire trade union movement across the country of this kind of rekindled rank-and-file activism. ‘*I think we’re seeing a return to the rank-and-file by this vote, and there _ are a lot of bureaucrats who might be in a position to worry now, and rightfully so’’, he said. Canadian autonomy-was one of the central planks of dian constitution for steelworkers was bitterly attacked by the union brass but obviously struck a sympathetic chord among the members. ‘‘I don’t think it was a question of nationalism’’, Pat- terson said. ‘‘I think it was an indication of which way steelworkers want to go. “They take pride in their union, but they also take pride in their cultural, philosophical and political dif- ferences on this side of the border. It isn’t an indication that they’re saying to our American brothers and sisters: “Well we don’t want you guys anymore’. ‘They're just saying: ‘If we’re really going to be an international union, let’s spell out those differences and let’s base that constitutional question on equality’, he said. ‘‘T also think what our Canadian Constitution will do’’, Patterson said, ‘‘is bring some power to our national director and our national office. It will bring the national office back in the prominent way it should be, speaking for 180,000 steelworkers. The leader of the epic victory against Inco in 1978-79, said that implementing his election platform and building the steelworkers into the biggest and best rank and file union in the country were the key mandates from the May 28 vote. *‘Nobody can wave a magic wand and all of a sudden cure all of the problems we’re having’’, Patterson stres- sed, ‘‘but the expertise this union needs is sitting right there on the job whether it be in a fabricating plant, a steel mill, a mine, an office or a furniture factory. I don’t think the director’s job should be a one-man show. “‘As for the mandate, it’s very clear’’, he said. ‘‘I got elected on a platform. I have an obligation to work with the people who elected me to ensure that their victory is not just another empty campaign promise.”’ The new District 6 director saw his victory as a posi- tive development in light of the current negotiations in basic steel, and he indicated that he’s contacted Local 1005 president, Cec Taylor, to offer whatever help and support he can in helping the Stelco workers get a good contract in the current round of talks. A consistent advocate of co-ordinated bargaining not only among large locals in the steel and mining indus- tries, but also among small locals in the fabricating indus- tries, where it is feasible, Patterson said, he would work to promote more co-ordinating in bargaining. As for organizing the unorganized, Patterson said he believes there is a potential for the steel union in Ontario | over the next four years to expand its membership any- needed in this union and make it a hell of a lot more DAVE PATTERSON ... international union, let’s spell out the differences and base that constitutional question on equality.” where from 20-40%. ‘‘When people tell me it can t be done, I don’t buy that argument’, he said. ‘‘If we put our minds to it, we’ll make the change: attractive for people to join.’ When Patterson takes his place on the steelworkers’ international executive board he will have a tough ride — ahead of him in bringing his election platform to life. But, 4 Patterson points out, they will have to ‘recognize that mandate and that I’m not doing this against the union, — j I’m doing this for the union.’ Patterson stressed, ‘‘I want to work for this union, if want to make it better, make it stronger and they’d better — understand that. I can justify every proposal I made on that platform. My campaign wasn’t based on a ‘pie-in-the-sky’ approach, but on what the rank and file — talks about every day of their lives. _ “Our members want more on the bottom line’’, he said. ‘‘ They want a better pay cheque at the end of every” week, co-ordinated bargaining and a number of other” things, and we can accomplish those things.”’ Red baiting during the campaign, by the Cooke forces flopped, Patterson said because ‘‘the members are very — mature, they’ ve listened to that argument all their lives. The companies have used it to break them and now they ~ hear guys in their own union using it. When they couldn’t debate me on the issues, what they did was to say: ‘he’s a red’. ss Any steelworker, regardless of his political affiliation has the right to work for the union, and he noted there were many liberals and tories that he and Cooke shook hands with during the course of the campaign. The next four years, Patterson predicted ‘‘will be a hell of a challenge, not only for me, but to every steel- worker and trade unionist in this country. If we’re going to start this decade off on the. right foot we’d better ensure that we do the things that are necessary to make = the movement a lot stronger.”’ Patterson was conciliatory toward the union staff — which worked all-out to defeat him. ‘‘I hope to be able to work with the staff members of this union to make the United Steelworkers one of the most powerful rank and — file unions in this country,”’ he said. ‘‘ The staff has got to realize, I don’t have a ‘hit list.” I’m not going to be as vindictive as some of them were towards me. They work © for the members and all the members want in return is — their honesty, and commitment to the membership.”’ Dave Patterson will assume office next September. — But first he has another very important commitment to — attend to. “‘I’m going back underground”’, he told the — Tribune. “I’m going back to get my miner’s certificate. © That’s going to be my tribute to the members of Local — 6500 for the type of support they’ve given me over the” years. “‘T want to prove to them they now have a director that not only takes pride in his roots, but takes pride in this — local. They issue the certificates in September, and I © want to be one of those guys that will be getting that certificate.”’ Nowhere! An alternative ’ for auto workers Order yours from: 24 Cecil St., Toronto, M5T 1N2- “if we're really going to be an 4 Se