YEAR END REVIEW

BY TIM BUCK

[LABOR FRONT |p:

By WILLIAM KASHTAN

The issue of job security continues-to be one of the
central questions confronting the trade union movement.
Technological developments, automation, speed up—all these
have brought about a growing displacement of labor from
industry and is one of the major factors in the emergence of
chronic mass unemployment which afflicts the Canadian
economy. :

While this process has been operating in most industries,
it has been felt most keenly in the railway industry where,
from a peak of 145,000 workers in 1950, the number has
declined to about 110,060 today. And there are forecasts
that it will decline to 70,000 within the next
10 years,

.Faced with this constant threat to the
loss of their jobs, railway workers, like
workers in other industries, have been press-
ing their unions to place the issue of-job
security. to the forefront of negotiations.
Various proposals have been advanced. to}
cope with this problem ranging from. de-
mands for additional paid holidays, sever-
ance pay,. double time for overtime, the
guaranteed annual. wage and supplementary
unemployment insurance. No union has. so
far taken the bull by the horns by taking
up the battle for reduced hours of work with
no reduction in take home pay. even though this demand,
within the limits of capitalism, is the best way to tackle
the problem. ‘

* * %

The joint negotiating committee for the railway unions
has also side-stepped this issue and advanced an alternative
which in many respects is a novel proposal — that jobs be:
frozen to the level of 1961 for all workers in the industry
with at least five years seniority and that those workers
with less than five years seniority when laid off, receive:
supplemental unemployment insurance to an amount which
together with unemployment insurance, equals their previous
earnings.

These, together with an improved health and welfare plan
and 25 cents an hour increase for a two year agreement,
constitute the key demands of the railway unions.

It would have been preferable in my view, to have made
the issue of reduced hours of work with no reduction inj} -
take home pay the central issue of job security. But this
dces not take away from the great value and significance
of the present demand for job security.

In placing the issue on the: ‘negotiating table the railway
unions are challenging the right of the CNR and CPR to
force the workers to pay for technical progress through loss
of employment. These ‘companies, like all others, have gen-
erally taken the attitude that hiring and firing is their
business and that workers. should not stand in the way of
technical progress. In placing the issue that way they falsify |
it. The question here is not that workers stand in the way
of progress, something they do: not do. The real issue is
whether the workers should. benefit” from’ ipchuipicejca! ad-
vances or be its victims.

The railway companies propose they be ae victims; the
unions propose that the workers reap some of the | benefits
of technical advances, :

* *.  . > @

The howl of rage which. emanated from the head office
of the CNR and CPR shows that. they have been touched in
a sensitive nerve. It is interesting to note that the CNR was
the first to rush into print to. oppose the demand for job
security. Does this reaction reflect government policy or is
it only the position of the CNR? In any case it raises an
important question—is the government and the CNR, asa
publicly owned system, opposed to job security? Put another

way, shouldn’t the government and a publicly owned trans-
portation system be giving a lead to employers by acceding
to the demands of the railway unions and opening the door
to a measure of job Security for railway workers?

: The right to a job and the right to work ought to be the
centre of government) and public policy. These rights are
inviolate under socialism whilst under capitalism the work-
ers are plagued with the threat of layoffs, insecurity and
unemployment. This does not infer however, that the workers
do not have the means of protecting themselves to some
degree from the evils of capitalism through united and
militant struggle. They have the strength and they have to
exercise it to win through on their a negotiations.

* * *

The last time negotiations opened up it took the railway
workers 18 months before a settlement was reached. And
if the railway companies have their way this. time it may
take another 18 months or two years before a settlement is
reached again. To avoid this delay it may be useful for the
railway workers toegive advance notice to the companies
that any settlement must be retroactive and perhaps to go
further than that by making clear at the outset that “no con-
tract means no work.”

If CLC President Jodoin can be torn away from his
present preoccupation with union raiding in Sudbury, per-
haps he can begin to do some sis liberating for the railway
workers.

Looking backward over 1961 and forward to 1962,

Because of this, the feder-

al general election expected
this year will be fought larg-
ely around the question of

“What shall Canada do to
meet the radical changes
which are mirrored’ in the
‘European Common Market’;
in the “Berlin Crisis’; in the
panic of the imperialists at
the visit of communism —
the society. of material and
spiritual abundance planned
‘concretely in the new pro-
gram of the Communist
Party. of the Soviet. Union;
and in the fact that the Cu-
ban people have brought the
world socialist revolution to
the Western Hemisphere?”

Each one of the crucial is-

sues named
“above and a
*number of
thers, are re-
lected in the
risis in the
»Canadian ec-
nomy. Every
roposal relat-
ng to this cri-
: is expresses
TIM BUCK an attitude to
the great issues which char-
acterize this “turning point”
of history.

‘Whether any serious action
will be taken to solve the
crisis in the economy of our
country by means which will
help to consolidate world
peace depends entirely upon
whether the democratic for-
ces which desire such meas-
ures will muster enough
strength to overcome the res-
istence of those who want to
continue . the — short-sighted,
suicidal policy of staking. ev-
erything on preparations for
war

One in.4 Jobless

The crisis in Canada’s ec-

onomy. is deep. The factors
which have obscured it from
the. majority of people until
now are aggravating it every
day. While the Diefenbaker
government boasts about the
unprecedented profits of big
business and tries to ‘‘put a

good face” on- the employ-
ment situation, the bottom is

literally falling out of the

prospects. for the majority of
Canadians.

Seven percent of all Cana-

dian workers are unemployed
now. The growing concern of
those spokesmen of big bus-
iness who do any thinking is
indicated in the public state-
ment by the vice-president of
Dupont of Canada Limited
that unemployment is going
to continue to grow until one
out of every four Canadian
workers will be without a job.

Walter Gordon, when he

was chairman of the Royal.
Commission on. Canada’s Ec-
onomic Prospects for the Lib-
eral government, made a fore-
cast that per capita produc-
tion would increase by almost
four percent of 1960. Exact-
ly the opposite has happened.
Per capita production has
declined by about four per-

cent.

it becomes evident that events will decide a number of
questions in 1962, which the Diefenbaker government
has evaded until now. The Canadian people will not,
alone, decide the answers to these decisive questions, but
the answers will certainly affect every Canadian.

Thus per capita production
today is actually less than it
was in 1956. It is seven per-
cent less than the Royal Com-
mission declared to be neces-
sary. This is why the Finan-
cial Post bleats:

“The warning signals that
very profound. changes must
be made can be seen very
clearly indeed, in the chronic
unemployment, ‘in. our ex-

tremely sluggish business

growth-and in the horrendous
deficit in Canada’s interna.
tional balance of payments—
all of which have been devel-

opments since the mid-
1950's.”
What To Do?

The question of what

should Canada do, will be
the background of all the ser-
ious debate of the federal
general election.

The U.S.-Canadian monop-
oly capitalist oligarchy which
controls our country will pro-
vide lavish financial support
for the Tory and Liberal cam-
paigns of double talk, to de-
lude workers and farmers
into believing that one or the
other of those parties really
believes in the measures
needed to meet the crisis.
This cynical mass decep-
tion is the linch-pin of the
parliamentary monopoly of
the two old parties of big bus-
iness — the linch-pin of “‘cap-
italist democracy.”

But the only decisive dif-
ference between Tories and
Liberals today, is that the
Tories are in and the Liberals
are out. Contrary to all mem
bers of the Tory government
in their election campaign
speeches, the Diefenbaker gov
ernment has kept Canada on
exactly the same main line

of policy that the Liberals

were pursuing — and _ that
John Diefenbaker promised
to change.

Their common denominator
which unites the real polic-
ies of the Tory and Liberal
Parties at their source, is the
fact that each of them is com-
pletely in the service of the
predominantly U.S. monop-
oly-capitalist interests which
control this country and each
of them is committed to in-
tegration of Canada in the
United States preparations
for war and against the path
of Canadian independence.
This has been demonstrated
conclusively by the leaders
of both parties.

Both parties being complet-
ely committed on these decis-
ive key issues, each one is ac-
ceptable to the monopoly.
capitalist oligarchy as a sub-
stitute for the other. Neither
one will defy the United
States monopolies.

Reject Policies of

Imperialism, War

It is important to empha-
size the decisive issues in

‘Canadian politics today be-

cause socialism is now the
successful and challenging al-

Big decisions ahead in ‘62

ternative imperialism.
More uae people than
ever before want to know
about this, and the circum-
stances make it possible that
mass. disillusionment may. ar-
ise with the policy of sacri-
ficing Canada to the United
States ambition to dominate
the world.

It is” particularly import-
ant to help workers to under-
stand the process by which
agreement at the sources of
capitalist -policy. makes. all
‘the pretenses of basic: differ-
ence between the Tory and
Liberal parties cynical a
tion.

‘Understanding
linch- ‘pin of ‘capitalist ‘mon
opoly of parliament will’ help
thousands of democratic Can-
adians to understand also;
why it is vitally important to
strengthen the fight. within
the new Democratic Party to
get it on the path of struggle
for complete and general
world disarmament, to with-
draw Canada from NATO and
from Norad, for a foreign pol-
icy of neutrality and extend-
ing economic, cultural and

countries, to include large
scale economic assistance to
Cuba, and other economical-

The fight to win majority
support for these aims in the
New Democratic Party is in-

is to be ‘really politically
different from the
_and Liberals and not simply
a parlimentary
which accepts the same pre-
mise as that which unites
the Tory and Liberal ‘parties.

‘The acceptance of this
premise, at present, was em-
phasized when Stanley
Knowles told unemployed
miners and steelworkers in
Nova .Scotia that he wants
even more economic integra-
tion with the United States.
It was emphasized again in
the founding convention.

vents the NDP from being
the rallying centre for united
political action by all patrio-
tic, peace-loving Canadians.

This struggle to help demo-
cratic Canadians to realize

the policies of the NDP is an
indispensable part of the
struggle to elect a democratic
people’s majority to the
House of Commons, and
thereby, a labor-farmer gov-
ernment.

The Communist Party has

emphasized the possibility of

the election, eventually, of a
people’s: majority to the
House of Commons in an elec-
toral victory for the NDP.
We shall continue to hold
to this view and our party
will strengthen the possibil-
ity by its role in the federal
election. In the constituen-
‘cies © in which Communist
Party candidates are nomin-
ated and everywhere that our
party speaks to democratic

the federal election is going
to be part of the battle to
win the people of Canada to
reject the policies of imper-

ialism ‘and war in 1962.

January 5, 1962—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 2.

of Phat:

political intercourse with all .

Tories ~

alternative

the necessity for a change in.

Canadians our campaign in —

ly underdeveloped countries.

disputable if the new party

It is a barrier which pre- 4