Back to work | threat TORONTO — The following wires were sent Jan. 8 by the Ontario Executive of the Com- munist Party of Canada (On- tario): To Premier Davis: “We view with alarm reports that your government is consid-° ering ordering Ontario teachers back to work. “Responsibility for this strike rests entirely on your cabinet and the Ontario Minister of Edu- cation. Ontario teachers are pre- pared to return to work on basis of your own fact-finders report. “Your government should or- der dispute settled on the basis of this report. : “We repeat our total opposi- tion to any moves by govern- ment to force teachers back to class-rooms.” * * * To Stephen Lewis: “Enclosed is a copy of a wire sent to the Hon. Wm. Davis. “It is to be expected that your Party, which has ‘the-official sup- port of many trade unions in On- tario, will make known publicly Its ‘complete opposition to any government attempt to order Ontario teachers back to their class rooms, “We would hope that your party clearly perceives this op- eration by the Ontario govern- ment and the Federal Anti-Infla- tion (wage-cutting): Board as a key element in the all-out attack by monopoy and its govern- ments on the living standards of all working people in Ontario as well as the other provinces in Canada, « “The most clear and out- * lation protested spoken voice of labor, both the trade union movement and the NDP and Communist Party is es- sential at this time to force the government to back away from its reckless attack on the teach- ers and all labor.” * Rae * The St. Catharines Labor Council has called on Labor Min- ister Bette Stevenson to refrain from using back-to-work legis- in the Metro Toronto teachers’ strike. Council President Gordon Lambert on Jan. 8 sent a tele- gram to the minister stating that the organization “views with alarm and indignation contem- plated legislation forcing the teachers back to work from their democratic right to continue their strike. “Your threatened back-to-work legislation and the federal wage control legislation is aimed only at the working people of this country, of which the teachers are a part, and you must be in- formed that organized labor will resist your attempts to-destroy us with all the strength and de- termination that workers pos- sess,”’ said Mr. Lambert. A conspiracy against the paperworkers’ union? While former NDP. Premier - Barrett legislated B.C. paper- workers back to work in early October, Premier Davis of On- tario has ‘assured us that his Tory government has no imme- diate plans to do the same thing. Nevertheless Labor Minister Bette Stephenson said on Dec. 29 that she was prepared to re- commend legislation to end a strike which she claimed damag- ing to the economy of many Ontario communities. On the other hand, the Cana- dian Paperworkers Union regards Provincial intervention as a means of bailing out the: com- Panies and that a back-to-work order would negate everything the union has fought for since ast July. On the brighter side the CPU has reached an agreement with Manitoba Forest Resources Ltd., a provincially-owned paper com- pany, which could be a pattern for other settlements in the in- dustry. This agreement provides for incorporating an existing 57- cent cost of living adjustment into the base rate to bring it to $5.29 an hour, adding an 85-cent raise in the first year, and a 75- cent raise in the second year. A 12-cent COLA payment would be added in the last six months. But there is still a problem to Overcome, since the agreement 1s going to the Anti-Inflation Board for a ruling and the CPU feels its acceptance or rejection is based largely on how that Board makes its caldulations. If freezing the COLA is con- _ Sidered, it would amount to 16% m the first year. If COLA and raises were lumped together, they would represent a 48.5% increase on the present base rate, The Anti-Inflation Board pre- viously indicated it would con- Sider 14% raise in the first year of a contract, but several locals have rejected this size of settle- ment by large margins. In the meantime other com- panies are said to be offering a three-year contract providing for a raise of 67 cents an hour in the first year, 47 cents in the second and 42 cents in the third © year. There are now strong indica- tions, however, that the paper companies are in collusion to break the CPU strike.and smash the newly independent Canadian union. The companies would ob- viously prefer the parent U.S. union, the United Paperworkers International Union from which the’ Canadian Paperworkers Union declared its independence in 1974. This U.S.-based union did recently sign an agreement with a company in southern United States for a period of 10 years On pure company terms. The U.S.-based UPIU still re- presents some 3,500 workers scattered throughout Ontario and Manitoba. It signed a con- tract with American Can of Can- ada Ltd. at Marathon, Ontario in May, and has reached an understanding with two other companies that have kept its men employed while much of the rest of the industry has been on strike. At one mill where both unions have jurisdiction — the Thunder Bay mill of the Abitibi Paper Co. Ltd. — the CPU. went on strike in July, but the UPIU members stayed on the job. The UPIU members were consequent- ly entitled to collect unemploy- ment insurance when the plant closed -down, while the CPU members- do not even have a strike fund to support them. The CPU blames a UPIU offi- ‘cial for dissuading Abitibi em- ployees from accepting a 25% raise a year ago — an Offer that, if accepted, would in all proba- bility -have eliminated most of the strikes. The UPIU subsequently .reach- ed agreement with Kimberley- Clark Canada Ltd., Terrace Bay, Abitibi at Georgetown, Ontario and at Pine Falls in Manitoba to accept interim raises of 50 to 65 cents ah hour until an indus- try pattern of settlement emer- ges. That, however, could be a long time in coming judging by deve- lopments elsewhere in the in-' dustry. CPU members at Dom- tar mills in- Southern Ontario have rejected offers of 34% over 3 years — with an insulting of- fer of 14% inthe first year. A similar offer by the Ontario Paper Co. Ltd. in Thorold was rejected by a wide margin by CPU strikers. But at Red Rock, Ont., where 550 employees of Domtar have been on strike since Sept. last year, the company indicated it would make a wage offer last Dec. 30 and than failed to do so. The reason given by the com- pany was that no wage. pattern had been established in the in- dustry. Thomas Curley, CPU’s regional vice-president is quoted as saying: “If every company tcok the same position there would never be a pattern estab- lished.” And now the CPU has filed charges of unfair labor practice against Domtar Packaging Ltd. at Red Rock. With the paper monopolies maintaining a solid position of giving the Canadian Union a run-around, and with a U.S.- based union waiting in the wings, as well as a so-called ‘‘Anti-In- flation Board” sitting in Ottawa _Teady to disallow any agreement reached by the CPU, it begins to lock as if a conspiracy is afoot to prevent Canadian workers from having a union of their own in the paper industry. (Next week a lock at another such con- spiracy against Canadian auto- nomy and independence.) COMMUNIST ROLE NEEDED IN NEW ITALY GOVERNMENT ROME — Italy’s. 37th government. since World War Two col- lapsed last week after the Socialist Party withdrew its support from the Christian Democrats ruling. coalition. The coalition was 13 months old. It needed the support of the Socialist Party. With- drawal of support forced Premier Aldo Moro to resign. The Socialists said they could not continue supporting the coalition as it paid no attention to the Socialist’s views on economic issues. They said the coalition of Christian Democrats and the tiny Republican party should be replaced by a broadly based administration that was aware of the crisis situation of Italy’s economy and more open to contributions from the Communist Party, the country’s second strongest political party. ‘ The Christian Democrats’ have been strongly opposed to Com- munist Party participation in the government since gaining power after W. W. II. The Socialist Party, until last week, had consistently supported Christian Democrat governments to block Communist Party influence. The crisis, which the Christian Democrats hope to settle without having elections, came at the same time as revelations of CIA funding to anti-Communist parties in Italy. The CIA, with the approval of Gerald Ford, has supplied at least $6-million to political parties opposed to Communist participation in the: government in an attempt to prevent the CPI winning the next national election. CIA sources say funding began after the CPI won 33% of the vote in consecutive municipal and provincial elections. 4 STRIKES SPREAD AS SPANISH WORKERS OPENLY DEFY GOVERNMENT MADRID — New strikes broke out in Spain last week, following ~ government action in sending army engineers to try and break the Madrid subway workers’ strike. The subway workers settled. on Jan. 9 but strikes in other industries, organized by the illegal Workers Commissions, continued. The strikes affect about 50,000 workers. : Police in Madrid confiscated identity cards of more than: 100 alleged “labor agitators” who had circulated at construction sites, where strikes broke out. The strikes are seen as not only economic, but also political protest against the Juan Carlos regime. The Workers Commissions, organized underground by the Spanish Communist Party and other anti-fascists, call for democratic government where all political parties will participate. Juan Carlos says he favors a government with all political parties excépt those on the “far left”, including the Communist Party. FIGHTING INTENSIFIES IN NAMIBIA WINDHOEK; Namibia — South Africa rushed reinforcements into Namibia (South West Africa) last week following the eruption of heavy fighting. Namibia is illegally occupied by South Africa, and the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) is fighting a guerilla war against South African troops. At the International Conference on Human Rights for Namibia, being held under UN auspices in Senegal, South Africa was con- demned for its violation of human rights and continued illegal occupation of Namibia. Violence in Northern Ireland erupted last week with a series of murders and bombings of Protestants and Catholics. The British government sent in 600 more “peace keeping” troops, bringing the sumber of soldiers to more than 14,000. ‘PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUARY 16, 1976—Page 5