By RAE MURPHY
E current dust-up between
Walter Reuther, president
* of the United Automobile
Pes and director of the In-
ae Union Department of
_ ale AFL-CIO and George Meany,
_ 48ing president of the AFL-CIO,
Painises to have wide implica-
Ons in the North American
abor movement.
would appear that the is-
F es involved in the dispute are
a basic nature, and the align-
ent (and realignment) of forc-
4 mavithin the trade union move-
Bich, in the United States are
c.,, that make it difficult to
Nceive of a saw-off develop-
Se Or of a long continuing set of
«cumstances that will keep the
lid on.”
iad the confrontation deve-
Ss, American monopoly inter-
BSUS re getting into the act. In
Men tora in ‘the American
‘ cath Market. a journar WHich
‘alls itself, “The authority of
. Steel and metal industries
Ce 1882,” the feud is dis-
Ussed in some depth.
€ editorial states:
u ‘Mr, _Reuther, visiting the
_ dtversity of Pennsylvania cam-
+S, told students that organ-
om labor presently ‘is failing
a 'ts broad responsibility to the
™munity.’ And he laid the
ame for this squarely on the
palders of George Meany &

‘Meany group — Reuther group’

“The word ‘community’ was a
key one. Until now, most observ-
ers of the labor scene believed
the two top union officials were
at loggerheads mainly over for-
eign policy, a rather nebulous
matter when it comes to the
bargaining table. Although the
pair can trace their rivalry back
long before merger of Mr. Reu-
ther’s CIO (Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations) and Mr.
Meany’s AFL (American Fede-
ration of Labor) into the AFL-
CIO in 1955, it had been thought
most of their disagreements over
domestic and internal union
policies had.been resolved.”

The “rather nebulous” matter
of foreign policy to which the
editorial referred is approached
again in the article. :

“It’s been public knowledge
for some time_that the two top
union leaders don’t see eye to
eye on the AFL-CIO Executive
Council’s firm support of the
President Johnson, particularly
of his Vietnant policies.”

It is hard to understand how

-.a disagreement over the war
policy in Vietnam can be con-

sidered “nebulous” given the
reality of present American
politics. Yet when this contra-
diction is tied in with Reuther’s
criticism of some domestic as-
pects of Meany’s reactionary
policies in the area of civil
rights, social security and anti-
poverty programs, the essential

connection between a_ dirty
foreign war and retrogressive
domestic policies is pointedly
brought home.

As important as the wide
sweeping and basic nature of
policy differences in the Ame-
rican labor movement may be,
it is of equal importance to
glimpse the line-up of forces
emerging and general political
ramifications this is bound to
create on the American scene.

The editorial speaks of a
“Reuther group”, and there are
strong indications that this
“group” includes the leadership
of the United Steel Workers as
well. as other key. industrial
The American Metal

unions.
Market writes:
“The AFL-CIO’s ‘Reuther |

Camp’ is seen highly critical not
only .of Mr. Meany & Co., but of
current labor relations philoso-
phies of big industrial concerns
and ‘many policies of President
Johnson. The ‘Reuther Camp’
further is viewed as_ strongly
backing XS: Sen. Robert Ken-
nedy in whatever future poutical
ventures he gets involved in.”
The Metal Market links this
dispute inside the AFL-CIO
with the trend toward joint bar-
gaining, mergers and other forms
of inter-union cooperation and
is plainly quite concerned.
“Lately many union leaders
and their propaganda arms have

American unionists

By PEARL WEDRO.

hae progressive, peace-
Bt Person in the United
by €s and Canada is distressed
aiy the unconditional support
Bet by the AFL.Cin—i..

up Fs . . IT) aeBoel”
resident Johnson’s bru-

$5 rack on the Vietnamese

Teen, €. But it is important to

raqeze that there are many

‘th

g

aa Union leaders and tens of
ers end of rank and file work-
aa ho oppose the war in Viet-
AFL and the policies of the
“CIO Executive Council.
Desc “Trade Unionists for
Nave b in Vietnam” committees
tes een organized in different
One In the USA. Speaking at
ae meeting in Detroit,
: iste Livingstone, president of
oa 65, Retail Wholesale and
ent Store Employees
issue ene “We must take the
. - peace or war for debate
eak € local unions; we must
the wall of silence and
wad 'n that way will the work-
a a chance to learn. It is
aie of democracy in unions
| Permits the backing of the
_'n Vietnam.”
ar ,b8stone added “This dirty
ke 'S poisoning us. Expose it,

me to the workers for a great

The

Ww
Ww

Amalgamated Clothing
‘S-union ‘has adopted
Important statements on

the war at its conventions ‘and
other meetings. At a meeting in
Detroit to celebrate the 25th
anniversary of the ACW’s Cen-,
tral States Joint Board. Soon:
tary-1reasurer Frank Rosenblum
said: “The war in Vietnam is not
a popular one. It's a war we
can’t win. We in the labor move-
ment, when we find ourselves in
a war we can’t win, find a way
to extricate ourselves. To lead
ourselves to a lost cause doesn’t
make sense.”

“The important thing today,”
he said, “is to make our stand
and to challenge the forces of
reaction. The ACW does not
agree with the overall AFL-CIO
policy on this war, and I hope
we wil not be cowed into sil-
ence.”

Patrick Gorman, secretary-
treasurer of the Amalgamated
Meat Cutters and Butcher Work-
ers, to which the Fur and Lea-
ther Workers are affiliated, has
also taken a stand against the
war in Vietnam, and has ex-
pressed himself on the subject
many times. He accepted an in-
vitation recently to speak to a
meeting of trade unionists in
Detroit but when he was unable
to attend he delegated Sam Pol-
lock, president of District 47 in
Cleveland. In his speech, Pollock,
stressed the need for defending

‘the rights of the Vietnamese to

oppose imperialist aggression

Speak up for peace

and to be a united people and
rule themselves.

Abe Fineglass, vice president
of the Amalgamated Mectcut-
ters and director of the Fur and
Leather Department, has made
many important statements on
the fight for peace in Vietnam.
Highly critical of the Meany-
Lovestone line and condemning
the American imperialist attack
against the Vietnamese people,
Fineglass said at a large meeting
of trade unionists in New York
that “this is the time for union-
ists to stand up and be count-
ed, this is the time to speak up
for peace.”

The Fur Dressers and Dyers
Joint Board in New York has
also carried on action to stop
the war in Vietnam. Many dis-
cussions have been held in mem-
bership meetings about the war
and a special leaflet was issued
in support of the Madison
Square Gardens meeting to halt
the war on Dec. 8. res

These important activities In
the name of peace, which have
developed in the American trade
union movement, point up the
need for Canadian unionists : to
act on the policy statements
adopted by our trade union
movement, and to initiate action
for peace. This is not in contra-
diction to the bread and butter
issues, but an important addi-

tion.

ow wide the split?

been playing up a trend toward
more inter-union and _ intra-
union co-operation and coordina-
tion. The UAW has played a
major role in this trend, as have
the United Steelworkers of
America (USW), the Interna-
tional Union of Electrical Work-
ers (IUE), the Mine Mill & Smel-
ter Workers (MM&SW), the
International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers (IBEW), and
the railroad brotherhoods.

The National Association of

Manufacturers recently pinpoint-
ed this move, telling its mem-
bers, ‘There is a new trend
toward coalition bargaining with
different unions getting together
to bargain jointly, or the same
union representing employes in a
company’s several plants want-
ing to bring their contracts to a

common expiration date.’ Said
the association’s NAM Reports.
‘The tactic of combining goals,
stategies and demands can only
result in even greater concentra-
tion of union power, not to men-
tion an: inflexibility in tailoring
contracts to meet local needs’ ”

The “concentration of greater
union power” which the Natio-
nal Association of Manufactur-
ers worries about, :combined
with the irresistable winds of
change in the political attitudes
of the American labor movement
developing in the context of a
crucial bargaining year, is bound
to have a rather large effect on
the whole range of American
politics’ and economic life in
1967. This will also have its
effects on the trade union move-
ment in Canada.

TEACHERS’ DEMANDS

‘More like trade unions’

The chairman of the Toronto
Board of Education, 32rrv
Lowes, has predicted that To-
ronto teachers will demand a 25
percent wage increase during
the next bargaining session.

“Teachers are becoming less
professional in their manner of
asking for increases and more
and more a union when it
comes to bargaining,” he added.

Lowes said his prediction was
based on a study of the labor

scene rather than direct know-
ledge of what the teachers in-
tend to ask for when Negotia-
tions begin in January. Officials
of the Teachers Federation have
already indicated that Lowes
predictions are close to the
mark.

The current pay scale for
teachers in Toronto ranges from
$4,100 to $5,700 in the first cate-
gory and $6,800 to $11,200 in:
in the seventh and top category.

went to bed.”

“It must be sleep that made me sick; | felt terrific when I

Australian Tribune

Draftsmen

The 12-week old strike of
draftsmen at Otis Elevator Co.
in Hamilton has ended on the
basis of a 14 percent wage hike.
William Tully, chairman of the
Draftsmen’s Association, an-
nounced the acceptance by the
men of a three-year pact which
aside from the wage increase
contains a considerable improve-
ment in seniority clauses, a re-
evaluation of classifications and

_ the inclusion of an automatic
December 23, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5

end strike

progression in wage rates.

A committment was also
made by- the company that the
union’s certification would con-
tinue when the plant moves to
Burlington shortly.

The strike Was marked by a
determined effort on the part of
the company to smash_ the
union, and by the degree of mili-
tancy shown by the hitherto un-
organized white collar and seml-
professional workers.

ph