recent Canada-wide rail tions concerning the non- which was resolved by giv- the workers a 6.5 percent increase on Jan. 1, 1969, br 6.5 percent on Jan. 1, plus some minor fringe , found the railways bar- from strength, and the leaders acting as company ngs, which in fact they are, essentially the same old t took to the hills dur- ‘the 1966 railway strike. ne balance of strength should teen the other way round. of course would have been e if the negotiating teams major rail union groups faced up to their responsi- Ws true that both politically j economically the atmosphere ‘wasn't favorable for obtaining a jarge wage increase. Neverthe- fess, if other well-known factors had been taken into considera- tion and collectively acted upon, conceivably the workers could have obtained a better contract. The non-ops could have received percent annual wage in- or better, plus higher benefits. This was what Mackasey, Federal Minis- Labor, personally awarded of the Canadian Air- Employees Union of Air gh several railways were involved in the negotia- ns, the CPR because of its outspoken defense of the “free srprise system.” and the dom- | role it plays within the Canadian state-monopoly capit- system, was allowed to set ne tone and was in effect the chief spokesman for the railways negotiating team. “It was the same CPR which found itselfin tax difficulties with the Federal government to ‘tune of $48 million for fail- to pay income taxes on land deals executed by two of its wholly-owned rail subsidiaries ‘British Columbia. ‘The Federal Minister of La- ‘bor, from the very beginning of Megotiations, displayed an undue Optimism for a contract settle- ‘ment, even setting a date for ‘the final signing of the contract | (Dec. 19, 1968). when it is re- /called that in the past railway ive agreements were only arrived at after lengthy delays, involving sham _ negotiations, government conciliation and more often than not, a strike. Why was Mackasey able to make this prediction? People close to the govern- ment openly state that there was a behind-the-scenes accord he- tween the CPR and the Federal government, which was given tacit approval by the class col- laborators of the negotiating committees of both the Associa- ted Non-Ops and Division No. 4 Railway Employees Department, which bargain for 75,000 and 22,000 workers respectively. The accord was a simple one which had two branches, both leading to the-CPR’s financial trunk. The Federal government would accept $30 million in settlement for CPR tax arrears, thus saving the company a neat $17.5 mil- lion. The other portion of the accord in time will prove even more lucrative, for it comprises a preliminary agreement con- cerning the terms of the event- ual take-over by Canadian Pa- cific Airlines of the government crown corporation, Air Canada. Leslie Roberts, popular Montreal radio commentator. has demand- ed that the Federal government make available to the Canadian people all aspects of the deal now being negotiated between the Federal government and the Canadian Pacific Airlines con- cerning Air Canada. In a lead article dated Feb. 5. 1969 appearing in the Montreal French-language La Presse, An- dré Boily writes that politicians are presently occupied discuss- ing the fusion of Air Canada with Canadian Pacific Airlines. As a fringe benefit to the CPR, it would seem that agree- ment has been reached between the government and the CPR concerning how the CPR would pay the $100 million it owes to the CPR Emplovees’ Pension Trust Fund. The CPR’s original reaction to Bill C-221 was to space payments of the $100 mil- lion over a 100-year period, ra- ther than abide by the 25-year limit stipulated by law. By the way, what became of the Asso- ciated Non-Ops and Division No. 4 Convention resolution demand- ing that the CPR pension plan be negotiated? In return for all this, the CPR agreed to make “a substantial” ee wera wage offer to its employees which would be binding on all railroads if accepted. The Fed- eral government which speaks and acts for monopoly-capital agreed to all this, because it was one way of avoiding a possible repetition of the embarrassing (for the government) 1966 rail- way strike. Thus everybody wins. The CPR achieves its end. The Federal government need not bother its head about a poss- ible rail strike, and the poor rail workers as usual are saddled with an inferior contract. Knowing all this, the best policy for the union negotiation teams should have been a flat refusal of the company’s 6.5 percent wage offer, followed with strong union demands which have strength only if there is a threat of strike action. The Associated Non-Ops were the first to accept the company offer. This was easy, for the negotiating committee had carte blanche and did not need mem- bership ratification of the con- tract. The only honorable excep- tion was the CBRT, whose membership voted in favor of acceptance, realizing perhaps that a negative vote under the circumstances would have been useless. For a while it looked as if the negotiating committee of Divi- sion No. 4 which bargains for the shop men was going to put up a fight. But in the end, what the rank-and-file took for action on the part of the committee turned out to be shadow boxing. The committee dealt itself a knock-out blow when it accepted the contract and offered it to the membership in a package deal. This despite the knowledge that the mechanics would receive only 2.5 cents hourly increase per year for skill pay, and that important changes had been made in seniority clauses which restricted bumping on the ter- minal during annual vacation close-down of the shops. The contract, apart from being a sweetheart contract, had other negative aspects. The main ones are lack of participation by the workers, followed by the demor- alizing process of going through the motions of ratification, al- though the workers justifiably felt that they had been sold ART IN CALIFORNIA. . . Using paper containers and the wire fence around a strikebound Stand- il refinery in Richmond, California, an anonymous artist discovers a new media for the message. down the river by the leadership. In other words, the 75 percent vote in favor of accepting the contract was not a vote as such in favor but rather a demonstra- tion of lack of confidence that the unions’ negotiating commit- tees would put up any kind of fight on returning to the bargain- ing table. It is to be hoped that members of the unions’ negotia- ting committee will draw the proper lesson from this situation. The history of the working- A railway worker speaks up on new pact class in general, as well as the history of particular struggles and strikes, has proven that workers can only achieve victory when real leaders will advance a fight for policies which are supported by a militant working- class, or a group of workers who are determined to win a particu- lar strike. The events surround- ing the recent rail negotiations point up the fact that the lack of fighting leadership remains the rail workers greatest weakness. in brief... Rand protest grows The Ontario Federation of Labor is circulating a four page bro- chure titled A TIME BOMB (A criticism of the Report of the Royal Commission Inquiry into Labor Disputes under former Justice Ivan Rand). A punchy centre section called the ABC of the RRR (Rand Report Recommendations) deals with The Essence of the Report, What Started the Rand Inquiry and the Issues Spelled Out. The document is being widely circulated in the labor movement along with a tiny folder called “15 telling Points.” They are available at the OFL office, 15 Gervais Drive. The West End Unity Committee, composed of representatives of the United Automobile Workers, Steelworkers, Allied Food Work- ers, Chemical, United Electrical Workers and directly chartered CLC locals have issued 10,000 post cards addressed to Premier Robarts attacking the Rand Report. It urges workers in the West end of Toronto to “tell the govern- ment we want improved labor legislation, not shackles on the workers.” It also issued a leaflet condemning the Report. The Allied Committee Against Implementation of the Rand Re- port has also issued a mass leaflet titled “You Be The Judge.” It has scheduled a meeting of Toronto union stewards ‘and activists for Sunday March 9, 2 PM at the Labor Lyceum, 348 Spadina Ave. Dr. Morton Shulman, NDP MPP will be the main speaker. ask for the NEW... communist viewpoint the theoretical and political journal of Canada’s Communist Party, featuring Marxist-Leninist analysis of Canadian and world affairs, polemical articles dealing with other views among the radical left, exchange of experience in the revolutionary movement, documents, etc. The new journal meets a pressing need for day-to-day direction on the basis of a scientific socialist outlook in today’s fast-changing world. A must for every trade unionist, student, radical activist, socialist-minded and progressive Canadian. IN MONTREAL: IN TORONTO: Book Cellar, 1184 Bay St. IN WINNIPEG: IN REGINA: IN EDMONTON: IN VANCOUVER: On sale at the following stores or outlets 75c Editions Progressives, 5327 avenue du Parc Bonders Book Store, 1188 Bernard West International News, 2187 St. Catherine St. W. Progress Subscription Service, 487 Adelaide St. W. Book World, 72 Gerrard St. West Lichtman’s News Stand, 112 York St. Co-op Book Shop, 882 Main St. New Times Book Service, 100 Northern Crown Bldg. Universal Gift & Books, 10553 - 97 St. Co-op Book Store, 341 West Pender St. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 7, 1969—Page 5 _—