Labour

~ CLC moving to ‘new internationalism

International solidarity has always been
one of the comerstones of the world trade
union movement. Through the years, it has
helped win many tough strikes in different
countries.

The lives of many political activists and
trade unionists have been saved due to
campaigns taken up by labour centres,
labour councils, and local unions all over
the world. ;

In the recent tribute to Nelson Mandela
in London, it was the African National
Congress leader himself who thanked
those who had chosen to care and get in-
volved. Before millions of TV viewers, he
personally thanked the people and or-
ganizations that were part of the Free Nel-
son Mandela campaign.

At last month’s Canadian Labour Con-
gress, one of the highlights was the debate
on the international affairs paper. After an
interesting and highly charged discussion,
“Worker Solidarity and the Challenges of
Global Change” was referred back with
instructions.

Those instructions were that, rather
than just having the CLC decide what in-
ternational organizations labour councils
and federations should have contact with,
the central should work with those bodies
to enhance intemational solidarity.

The referral was also to clear some
outstanding problems that have faced
Canadian trade union activists for a num-
ber of years, including support for the
struggle for a Palestinian state and the Con-

John MacLennan

gress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU) in South Africa.

It was guest speaker Moses Mayekiso
from COSATU who said pointedly that if
you want to help the struggle in South
Africa, you must stop supporting two
centres in the struggle.

His reference was to the congress’s
position of supporting COSATU and
NACTU. COSATU has 10 million mem-
bers while NACTU represents 100,000.

But in general, it appeared that a “new
internationalism” is on the agenda. Ac-
cording to the document:

“The CLC will vigorously promote the
concept of a major international con-
ference to discuss the impact of world trad-
ing blocks on workers everywhere.”

Under the title “Organizing Intemation-
al Solidarity,” the paper continues: “To an
increasingly large degree, the ability to
achieve our goals will depend upon reach-
ing out in other countries, and effectively
communicate, plan and strategize ways to
lobby international decision making.

| LABOUR IN ACTION

“The CLC will undertake a program
within the formal structures of the interna-
tional trade union movement in the 90s to
ensure the vision, goals and values of
Canadian workers are well articulated. .

“The focus of such a program will be to
ensure that the Canadian labour movement
is able to combine its efforts with of others
to defeat the international corporate agen-
da.”

In addition the CLC will pursue
whatever contact with national labour
centres are necessary, irrespective of inter-
national affiliation, to ensure Canadian
workers are able to exchange their views
and coordinate policies with the widest
possible number of trade union organiza-
tions around the world."

Clearly that means the CLC is adjusting
to the new global reality. With transnation-
al corporations embracing “free trade”
here (Mexico included) and the 1992
project in Europe, and promoting a
speeded-up restructuring, a new kind of

solidarity has to go well beyond the sort
practiced to date.

Next November in Moscow will be the
12th congress of the World Federation of
Trade Unions (WFTU). That convention
will try and deal with some of the
problems of the new world economic
realities. Canadian trade unionists have
been invited in the past, but due to the
CLC’s affiliation to the International Con-
federation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU),
few have been able to take part.

That ideological barrier should now to
be removed, particularly in light of the
relentless attack by the transnational
corproations. The events in Eastem
Europe, and in some cases their naive ex-
perimentation with free market strategies,
make it essential that contacts and meet-
ings between trade unions and trade

unionists take place.

The WFTU meeting won’t be the only
chance the CLC will have to put its new
policy to the test. But this is a golden
opportunity to put Canadian international
solidarity into action. :

There are new organizational attitudes
that also must be taken to the world trade
union movement. Centres like the WFTU,
ICFTU and WCL must put aside their
ideological and political differences and
start the urgent process that could evolve
into one trade union centre that could most
effectively take on the TNCs economic
and political agenda.

Privatization result of underfunding: HEU {

Continued from page 1

pany representatives and the hospital’s per-
fusionists. “Certainly, there have been recur-
ring staffing problem(s) at the Vancouver
General Hospital, as elsewhere in this
country, and there have been discussions
about ’going private,”” he wrote,

Tyers suggested a time slot for a study
session which “might also allow interested
perfusionists from other centres in the

province to attend.”

A Wall Street Journal article describes
PSICOR as arising star with 250 U.S. hospi-
tals under contract and a company “in the
rent-a-perfusionist business.”

The company is trying to break into the
international market, and has scored con-
tracts in the United Kingdom and recently
achieved a foothold in Canada at Toronto
General Hospital, Allevato reported.

There are 780 patients on the waiting list
for heart surgery in B.C. Contracting the

services of perfusionists to PSICOR -will
only make it easier for the skilled tech-
nicians — usually respiratory therapists or
registered nurses who take one year of train-
ing at Cariboo College and another at Van-
couver General — to move to the U.S., she
said.

“We don’t see it as improving, but rather
exacerbating the waiting list.”

The heart surgery crisis in B.C. is caused
by the shortage of perfusionists and critical
care cardiac nurses, Allevato said.

‘Not part of Kelowna deal,’ says Zander

Continued from page 1

this thing. Labour was looking bad. There
was some good news. It appeared as though
the BCGEU was getting closer to a settle-
ment. And so on November 10, we con-
vened a meeting of all the Operation
Solidarity executive. Everyone was there.
Joy Langan, vice-president of the B.C. Fed;
Lief Hansen of the United Food and Com-
mercial Workers Union; Jack Adams of the
BCGEU; Larry Kuehn of the BCTF; Roy
Gautier of the Building Trades; Jack Gerow,
chief spokesman of the Hospital Employees
Union; Bill Zander of the Carpenters Union.
Everyone but Kube. He was at home. Out of
it. We met in my office and we sat there a
good part of the night to see what we could
do. We all felt we were heading for insanity
and that we had to get a settlement. So at
about four or five in the moming we agreed
on a package. We wanted to see Bill 2 killed,
and we wanted an exemption from Bill 3 for
all public sector unions. There were to be no
reprisals against any strikers and education
funding was to remain at 1983 levels. We
wanted changes to the human rights and

Pacific Tribune, June 11, 1990+ 8

landlord-tenant legislation and consultation
on social issues.”

But he was not a participant in that meet-
ing and was not even part of the body that
proposed the deal referred to by Munro,
Zander asserted in his Jan. 5 letter.

“I was not ever on the Operation
Solidarity executive, and never attended a
meeting with you and the others (either at
your office on Pender or at any other place)
to put together a package which resulted in
your flight to Kelowna and a verbal accord
reached with Bennett,” the letter stated.

In his letter, Zander also expressed. his
disagreement with Munro’s assessment of
events in the fall of 1983, adding that he did
“not believe that Bennett had the upper
hand,” and did not think that labour was
“looking bad,” as Munro had claimed. '

“The 26 bills caused the largest public
uprising this province has ever seen and a
backlash against Bennett to the point that he
packed it in before the next election,” it said.

Zander told Munro: “Jack, what you did .

was, in my opinion, neither stupid nor brave
as you put it. What you did was allow your-
self to be used to derail, with all its faults and

problems, a movement fighting to stop the
abuse of a government bent on trashing long
established social conditions and the rights

of ordinary people.

“So that history is recorded accurately,”
he added, “I request that references to
myself be removed from any. further edi-
tions. Further to this, I hereby request that
you provide me with a written retraction of
the error made in reference to myself.”

BANGS <civs issue as
Address:

FIFIBUNE.

Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C, V5K 1Z5. Phone: 251-1186

Be no nc te oe ee) Ode!
| am enclosing: 1 year: $20 12 years: $35 C3 years $50 ClForeign 1 year $32 OC)

Operations like PSICOR make their offer
to hospitals attractive through low initial
rates. But “our experience is, when institu-
tions get hooked on privatization, the costs
rise and the service deteriorates.”

PSICOR sometimes fulfils its contrac-
tual obligations by using lesser trained per-
fusion assistants, thus reducing the quality
of health care at hospitals, she noted.

VGH administrators in subsequent state-
ments have claimed the hospital is not look-
ing at privatizing perfusionists, and have
indicated that Tyers sent the letter on his own
initiative. .

But privatization of hospital services
continues in other areas, and with the aid of
elected Social Credit members and ministry
staff, the union noted.

Union staff say the government’s scheme
of sending B.C. heart patients to the U.S. for
surgery is one form of privatization. Another
is the contracting out of laundry services,
which has already been done at VGH.

Another hospital, Royal Inland in Kam-
loops, is examining going with the VGH
contractor, K-Bro. And the firm is building
a plant in Cumberland to service the hospi- _
tals in Nanaimo, Comox and Campbell —
River. i

neeee Beueeeeeee

Oe ore ps 8 eal ey eee
S