year are the burning questions of

eey in the minds of auto work-
_ rs? There are many but I would

Ke j F

tt mention what I feel are
i. e demanding ones.
~ “conomics— i
Dinan How am I going to

ver-rising cost of livi
hen w, : g of living
Rte fe aren't able to strike or nego-
zi, an increase in pay during the
er Our contract?
fe Fy
tthe apa Auto Pact—What are
Cations of such a deal? Is it

done.
hat Peieet Only going south and
MF not eng g2¥otts—tight U.S. dollars
Ht're , UB Money to buy the car
é © building?

1° Canadi .

bout the a Independence — What
:

PS our pl
> ame t

Working condi

? What aa tions getting

: have U.S. bosses to
Nat dogmatic tone? De-
Speed, because “that’s.

2 at’s
aye do it back home?” Why
aes tell them where to
More militant fight to
Buys? What about my rights

Ce for the workers?
en

4 don’t

iF Prete

IS, but : nd to ha
Femma the
(’ How
» is?

v ve all the an-

am relating to you the

= ea auto worker is

you grapple for .solu-

When

the into weir tee Trade Agreement
P "8 on LBJ’s ranch the

\ s 1
enemy ene in other words,
Hh pee always Visible.

St
Y alloweg ples the Auto Pact not

» But gave the
oma a free hand to per-
erg 'on. of the Canadian
ally, ©MOmically and psycholo-
pene fj
Reet Canadian independence
fite Bs an domination came un-
Most immediately. Ameri-

SUpervig;
-. isio :
trig} relati. trouble shooters—in-

ted a] 'Ons experts—wére im-
x the pst as fast as the USS. Rents
gZealoy ' was signed, They are
vi : Protecting the mono-
ing are ck Henry, Ford II but in
4 eng their methods and
jthe former ¢.0U. down the throats
0 '9N ang th anadian Ford adminis-
a ae Canadian auto employ-
Outing mans thought the old
{Pate to wee bad, nothing can
© BSengey b dogmatic, chauvinistic
“OSt of Ys from the south. ;
Welcome. Workers would accept
PE that the automation, with the
the abuc, . Machine would receive
Today fe and not they.
he i ee “Yankee go home,”
Wh the top eerom the workers but
; hosstem He he brass (what’s
e Os }
pints as ae _Who defended their
itt &cho meen are now just a
; Bced to meens They are either
(Pecial ~S« in the corner, put

it
$
fi
fe

as
S, or ke eument, doing menial
a fireq “"'Y retirement in lieu
y

- Of
Afding ene Canadian supervisors,
s/ehent, a 'n the top level of man-
‘" ene occasign essed this on more
We Yan th.
and nie factory more efficien-

@ So ang s® ‘abor problems than
1PM so So Yankees . . . Those
08Nd act yy. 80'S invade this coun-
if’) 800d-ng © Conquerors rather than
PP out ¢, we Neighbors they're
, ~ ++. Assitsance is one

A Ford

worker
speaks
his mind»

thing but rape is something else alto-
gether.”

Another personel officer said to me
when it was known yet another Can-
adian boss was being retired before his
time: “If I had his money I would tell
them. Yankees where to go and what

to do before retiring but since I[haven’t, -

I'll just have to be more diplomatic and
say ‘Yes, sir’ instead of ‘No, sir.’”
The rise of certain types among Can-
adian supervisors to positions of Gene-
ral foreman or superintendent suggests
very strongly that the only Canadians
to get ahead in Ford must be—and it
is a known fact that most of them are
—neo-nazis. Anti-Semitism and Hitler-
type hate literature have always been
freely distributed in the plants, and
some of those who have been promot-
ed lately were associated with, or
friendly to, the known fascist group in
the plant.
The total disregard for the union

,and its contract has become more

evident. The answer from the boss to
a grievance or some other problem now
is, “I have a boss, too, and what he
says goes, no matter what.” This
leaves you with the feeling that this

boss is in Detroit, so there is no use
arguing with a computer or a new poli-

‘cy memo from across the river.

Frustrating, to say the least,

The picture presented to the public
of what a benevolent employer we
have makes your hair curl (if you have
any left by now), For instance, they
boast to the government health inspec-
tor how nice our washroom facilities
are. Why, we even have hot and cold
running water! They’re half. right. But
the water, whenever it happens to be
running (which is not too often) is cold
in one basin and scalding hot in the
other. The washrooms are washed all
right, maybe once a week.

The hospital and ambulance service
is second to none. But just don’t get
hurt on the job. If you do become sick
and are forced to lay down, you'r time
is deducted from your pay. The sick-
ness might be caused by the consump-
tion of fumes or lack of good air—but
that’s all right, you’re not supposed to
breathe in these so called imaginary
fumes.

Ambulance service is great. The fire
lanes are blocked on numerous occa-
sions by dollies and stock. If the am=

and not they.’

"Most of the workers would accept and >
welcome automation, with the hope that

the machine would receive all the abuse

bulance can get down the aisles to the
spot where you’ve been hurt you’ll find
they have sent a 100-pound nurse by
herself. She has to drive the ambu-
lance stretcher-mobile by herself, hel»
you or lift you on the stretcher and
drive you back to the ‘hospital. Quite
a chore, especially if you’ve broken a
bone or are bleeding badly.

During the Christmas season a ter-
rible tragedy occurred in which a fel-
low worker was sent home by the
company during the afternoon shift.
The company and first aid officials said
he was under the influence of alcohol.
This man was killed crossing the high-
way in an attempt to hitch-hike a ride
home. The policy of Ford when an em-
ployee is fired or suspended is to escort
him to the parking lot. When you be-
come ill and wish to go home the plant
protection men give you a ride to the
bus depot but in this case the total dis-
regard for a human being resulted in
death. :

The denial of the right to hand out
leaflets or take collections at the plant
gales means you must stand out near
the highway. Then Ford calls the
police in an attempt to blame the union
for blocking traffic and causing work-
ers to be late for work and subject to
disciplinary action by the company.
Thus the union gets blamed tor the
poor entrance and exit facilities.

The problems created by the impori
of a new form of slave labor are many
and they’re like a bowl of jelly: eva-
sive, slippery and continually moving.
If you do resolve one item, you are
immediately faced with another new
one or an old one breaks out in an-
other area. The growing amount of
wildcats and sitdowns and the overall
contempt of the workers for Ford are
the result of these frustrations. They
also reveal an acute awareness by the
workers that the only thing the boss
understands is loss of profit or no pro-
duction.

All this has brought about a loss o1
prestige for the union leaders. First
the leaders ask the membership to sup-
port them in the fight against the boss
and at certain times this’ results in a
wildcat. Then the workers are told by
the union they must return to work
either because it’s the decision of the
local executive or because the compa-
ny has threatened mass firings or sus-
pensions if they don’t return.

The cause for the majority of labor
disputes in Oakville is the manage-
ment’s rights clause in the agreement.
These rights management has taken
for themselves and imposed on the
workers without any negotiations
whatsoever. They deny every human
right or gain made by organized labor.

These so-called rights must be chal-
lenged once and for all. Wage parity
must not be allowed to interfere with
or take away our rights to live like
and be treated like human beings,
not pigs or slaves. Negotiations must
be put on a democratic and humane
level in which workers rights are put
into the right perspective.

This battle against management

“rights takes all the time and strength

and money of our local to try and hold
our own, let alone keep from slipping
backwards.

If union leaders do not become part
of the militant forces now growing ‘in
the plants and the new left and young
people who are willing to take up the
banner for Canadian identity and the
necessity to fight for economic parity
in production and profits, they will,
I'm afraid, be swamped by the tidal
wave of growing discontent.among the
members.

What they have to fight for is: Can-
adian independence, a turn-back of
U.S. domination, a curb on monopoly
control, control of prices and cost of
living and last, but not least, a demo-
Cratic way of life inside and outside
our union.

March 10, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5