the guys on the job are like- the
eae that gets tossed between the
‘02? zs

The daily press had a field day
with this aspect of the situation.
ile the headlines screamed
about the workers mobbing their
leaders, the editorials wept tears
about the unioh leaders now
Teaping the seeds of the con-
tempt for the law they have de-
Monstrated around the issue of

injunctions, Some issues of the

; amilton Spectator were so
farful, the pages were soggy—

but Stelco stayed i
shut into the
Weekend, :

outing Thursday and Friday
“Ne local leadership tried to get
Mm Contact with the “leaders” of

© wildcat. Perhaps forgetting

er own past, ignoring the
Pride and discipline of the steel-
Workers, forgetting also the his-

» tory and heritage of the working

ies of Hamilton, the leadership
ae d not conceive ‘that the
aes themselves were cap-

€ of such a degree of organi-

en They looked instead. for
< oes and clandestine groups

(ch organized the strike. They:
sae hone, and when an appeal
ieee to the picketlines for the
= abe Of the strike to meet
tha the local executive more
h i 500 men marched to the
all. At this meeting a group of
: Tepresentatives of the strik-
TS Were elected.

‘whole. complex situation,

There were many other-unfor-
tunate examples of the lack of
communication and confidence
between the membership and
the leadership, such as the re-
sistance to holding a member-.
ship meeting, the remarks made
about the strike and the strikers
on the open line program of one
of the radio stations by both
Morgan and Cooke. Last but far
from least they appealed for-
police protection.

Here again the press played.
the role of the jackal, and: the .
illusion was created that this
strike was essentially a strike
against the union, or the union
leadership.

The men have many serious
and deep going criticisms of the
way their affairs have been—
handled, they resent the poli-
tical machine that has been built
up in the local, the interference
of the area representative into.
their affairs. Many resent the.
chummy relationhip between

-their own “labor statesmen” and-

the city fathers, the police and
the rest of the Hamilton estab-
lishment. A lot of these ques-
tions surfaced during this wild-~
cat, and the air is going to be
pretty thick around Hamilton for
a long time. But make no mis-
take about. it, this strike was -
against Stelco and nobody else.

Why the strike now? In this
the

consensus one can gather boils
down to a stark and simple an-
swer.

Stelco is making all kinds of
money, and the workers want
some of it. They were taking no
chances of coming up this year
again with a poor offer on a take
it or leave it basis around Christ-

-mas time. In-this context there

are a whole number of factors,
speed-up, the threat of .automa-
tion, pensions and many other
questions, but essentially it
boils down to cash.

Stelco has been getting away
with murder the past number
of years. It has been able to in-
vest millions of dollars into
developing its complex, until to-
day the Hilton works stands as
one of the most advanced and
efficient steel producers in the

_world. Number 35 open hearth

in Hamilton, although not the

largest open hearth in the world,

owns all the production records
and the whole setup in Stelco

reflects this dynamic develop-

ment. This whole period of rapid
expansion and capital invest-
ment has not been accompanied
by the customary temporary de-
cline in profit but instead that
money making machine has been
setting profit records.

During this whole period

working conditions and wages .

in a relative sense have deter-
iorated. The Hamilton steelwork-

_er, once the top dog in that in-
dustrial city has been bypassed
by the autoworkers, the electri-
cal workers, and many other
unionized men in the city.

The last round of negotiations
dragged on and were not fully
settled until just before the
Christmas period. A bad taste
was left in the mouths of the
men. :

This disatisfaction was. capi-
talized on by David McDonald
when he was running unsucess-
fully to be re-elected Interna-
tional President. In a speech in
Hamilton, McDonald was quoted
as saying: “There is much un-
happiness among union mem-
bers in Canada with their pre-
sent leaders and especially with

the manner in which the two

recent agreements were nego-
tiated.” In an example of how
distant the Canadian brass of
steel were from the aspirations
of their membership, Mahoney,
the Canadian Director of the
union in what has to be the
freak public statement of 1965
red-baited David McDonald ana
implied he was a tool of the
Mine Mill.

If one were to generalize on
the Hamilton wildcat, it could
be said that it is an example-of
the new militancy of Canadian
workers. They have had it up
to here: with the baloney of the
old guard establishment.

CAUGHT WITH ITS STACKS DOWN

,

The sad era of the “labor
statesmen” is drawing to a cloSe.
There is a message to the bosses
that they are going to have to
come across this year and a
Message to the union officials
that they are going to have to
restablish communication with
their membership and deliver
the goods, or as the old song
goes: “they shall be removed.”

Further evidence of the “new”
in the labor movement is the
coming forward of a new gene-
ration of leaders. The commit-
tee of representatives which
emerged. from the strikers were
almost all between the ages of
20 and 30. The majority appear-
ed to be in their early 20’s On
the picket line the rapport be-
tween the older and younger
workers seemed present all the
time. There did not seem to be
the conflict between old and
young nor any substance to the
charge in the press that the

strike was made up with active

punk yahoos while the older men
stood aside.

The strike illustrated that the
militant traditions and pride of
place which has characterized
the Hamilton Steelworkers is
being passed on to a new gene-
ration. This of course spells
trouble to some, but for the
Canadian workingclass. it is the
promise of the future.

IN QUEBEC ©

Hospital workers win

Wi a 90 percent yes vote,
32,500 non-medical Quebec
hospital workers voted to
nd their strike and return to
Work last week. Thus another
Stirring chapter in the struggle
4 Quebec workers for a decent
‘ving reached its conclusion.

The settlement of the 20 day
Strike represented a major vic-
the workers. The new

Month agreement provides
or an immediate wage boost of
j : Week plus a further $5 next
Ne y. The agreement also re-

uces the work week from the

‘Present 40 hours to 35 hours”

i Office workers and 36%
‘ours for other workers. Im-
Proved yacations and other

fringes were also won by the
Union,

The key breakthrough achiev-
__ by the union was on the
Ftciple question of promo-
‘Ons. In this area the workers
the® long been victimized by
© archaic system of church
Control over the Quebec hospi-

al system and the preferential

treatment given nuns in the hos-
pitals. One of the most bitter
complaints of the workers dur-
ing the strike was their claim
that nuns secured all the admin-
istrative promotions leaving the
workers forever on the bottom
rungs. With the signing of the
new agreement a system of job
posting with competence the
main factor in deciding promo-
tions to supervisory and admin- _
istrative posts at the first two
levels above the bargaining unit
comes into operation.

Tt was on the question of pro-
motions that the Quebec hospi-
tal board balked even after a
wage pattern had been nego-
tiated. Management maintained
that giving the union the right
to challenge promotions would
seriously weaken the hospital
system.

While the ‘strike itself added
up to a victory for the National
Federation of Services and the
trade union centre to which it
is affiliated, the Confederation
of National Trade Unions, there
are many ominous portents emi-

nating from the Quebec govern-
ment.

The last stages of thé strike
saw the government move to-
ward enacting compulsory arbi-
tration to force the workers
back to work. Premier Daniel
Johnson had already ordered the

convening of the Quebec legisla- .

ture to deal with the strike. |

While the successful conclu-
sion of the strike averted the

. calling of the special session of

the legislature, Johnson stated
at a press conference that the
government intends to change
both the Hospital Act and the
labor code “so that this first
hospital strike will be the last.”

This implied threat to deprive
the hospital workers of their
newly won right to strike will
open. up a government offensive
against the whole labor move-
ment. In this context the victory
of the Quebec hospital workers
marks the end of a battle, but at
the same time sets the stage for
the larger battles which loom on
the horizon. A

N BEE, |
we Od a WAFS

THE COMMUNIST party in Hamilton yesterday issued the
following Statement concerning the conclusion of the wildcat strike
in the Steel Company of Canada opeations in Hamilton:

Stelco workers are back on the job with their eyes still on
the ball. They are determined to win their demands in collective
bargaining. They are more united and stronger and can see better
the opposition ranged against them.

The company line of divide and-smash is better understood. The
calculated try at getting a bitter first-swinging, union destroying —
fight within the union has been defeated. The good sense and dis-
cipline of the membership saved the day.

The demands raised immediately after the walkout for a
membership meeting broke ‘through official resistance. The mem-
bership demanded and got a full report on negotiations and made
democratic decisions. They put union business where it belongs.

The widespread campaign to blame the strike on a dissident

group Canadian autonomists, Communists and so on floundered.

The use of police on the picketlines and in the union halls and
held in readiness for the membership meeting was calculated to
damage the union. The news media campaigns picturing an irres-
ponsible and violent minority pushing a responsible majority and
leadership around was simply a propaganda lie. It was all intended

to destroy the wide public sympathy for the Stelco workes and
project Stelco as responsible and guiltless.

to
ty

The entire power structure in Hamilton was operating to get
this picture across. In spite of the widely questioned activities of
top Steel staff-man Cooke, the members insisted on taking a hand
in negotiating and decision making. It is hoped that all sections

of the leadership got the message.

The real attitude of Stelco is shown in the penalizing of some
strikers on their return to work reveals how anxious they are to
- prevent negotiations and to ‘provoke a split. The actions of the
men who replied by signing a union leaflet urging the men to stay
on the job shows strong workingclass discipline on top of their
militancy. Further provocations of the company can be defeated.

The Communist Party in Hamilton congratulates the Stelco
workers in Hamilton for their inspiring contribution to labor and
community advance. We will do our best to assist, :

August 19, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5