dPotential force for change, ex-
ised by the growth in numbers
ee inside the movement,
ind the special problems that
Hen face in the work-place and
apCiety ,
€urged attention to the prob-
KS of equal pay for work of
al value, and the development
HOMen in leading positions
i the organized trade union
“ment.

H Immigrant Women .
te Montero addressed her-
4° the problems of immigrant
40. These women, she said
se a deeper exploitation
ePPression beyond the dou-
¢Ploitation felt by all women
i SOciety.
( “Ng about getting to the
,f Women’s and especially
eran Women’s oppression,
(TO said ‘‘discrimination of
j-" Will not be ended until the
tation of men in the fac-
Sis ended.”’
Said 40% of all immigrant
i are financially responsi-
j' themselves and their chil-
He Ost working immigrant
,0 are married and they
M the lowest paid, unor-
fed and labor intensive kinds
Pe ‘Many need to be in-
{« Of their rights and to be
itt that they will not be
as for exercising them’’,

ordinator for the NDP wo-
h Committee, Vi Thompson,
ee her party’s platform to
a Ith the special problems of
‘ e Such as: equal pay for
i €qual value, and free 24-
| Sremunity-controlled child
: She spoke of the need for
, Men in government posi-
a a part of the solution to
_ 'Ng these objectives.

‘Heart? of Fight-Back

fy McDonald brought the

Unist Party’s militant greet-
a expressions of solidarity
al 8athering and to Interna-
lees men's Day. Rapid
..., 2 the world situation,

in’ brought about by the
8 strength of the world

Lo,

aa
PS

SEN
Pht aie
LT
& °:

So oN

3

CS te Le
“Ne os ATA
DIVER ST mTaOURSUNITNGURRGON MONAT,

socialist system and the victories
of the anti-imperialist forces,
have stimulated changes in Cana-
da.

Communists, she said, recog-
nize that the struggle for equal
rights for women is inseparable
from the struggle of the working
class for better living conditions
and escape from exploitation by
monopoly.

Urging the labor movement to
be the ‘‘heart’’ of a fight-back
movement against the federal
government’s_  Anti-Inflation
Board slashing of living stan-
dards, and the Ontario govern-
ment’s social services cutback
program contained in the notori-
ous Henderson report, McDonald
drew attention to the Communist
Party’s ‘“‘program for the fight-
back’’, and urged all democratic
and progressive organizations,
including the labor movement and
the NDP, to join together to de-
feat these slashes and cutbacks.

Peace First Priority
Jeannette Morgan, of the
Canadian Peace Congress, linked
the fight by women for equal
rights to the struggle for peace.

The effort for peace she said,
‘‘must become the first priority
for-women of all countries.’’ She
pointed to the swiftly escalating
military budget in Canada from 3
to 5% over the last year, and said
that the arms race in general is a
tremendous drain on people’s liv-
ing standards and one of the main
factors leading directly to the in-
creasing cost-of-living and higher
prices.

Morgan called on all of the par-
ticipants at the meeting to sign
and circulate the 1975 Stockholm
Appeal as.a concrete measure for
disarmament and defence of erod-
ing living standards and social
services, and to build a popular
movement to lead the struggle for
disarmament and world peace in
Canada.

Dr. Jagan said that the whole
question of women’s rights can
ultimately only be solved within
the framework of socialism. Un-

der capitalism, he pointed out,
women struggle to find a job, to
maintain it and their families and
to maintain.a living standard.

In socialist countries com-
munal services are being de-
veloped to take care of house
keeping so that women can be
freed to pursue careers and jobs
outside of the home. In addition,
universal child care facilities are
consciously developed, so that
women will have the incentive to
enter into the work force and ease
the labor shortage experienced in
most socialist countries.

' Support. for disarmament and
peace as well as the anti-
colonialist and anti-imperialist
movements, he said, is a sure way
for women to achieve their goal of
equal rights and a prosperous liv-
ing standard.

Control Corporations

The meeting was concluded
with the adoption of resolutions
calling for unity of all democratic
forces behind the labor move-
ment to develop a strong coalition
to effect control over the corpora-
tions who are the main cause of
the present economic crisis.

The Stockholm Appeal was
endorsed by the meeting, and
support given for the declaration
of the UN conference on Interna-
tional Women’s Year held re-
cently in Mexico City to declare
1975-1985 the Decade of Women.

A resolution submitted by the
Toronto Chilean Association was
passed, calling for the condemna-
tion of all political trials in Chile,
those involving Luis Corvalan
and others, the release of all polit-
ical prisoners, implementation of
the UN resolution on ending polit-
ical repression and torture in
Chile, and calling on the Canadian
Government to exert economic
and diplomatic pressure on Chile
to prevent the trials from taking
place.

The meeting also endorsed a
resolution calling on the Canadian
Government to recognize the Af-
rican National Congress and to
sever relations with South Africa.

By NAN McDONALD.

THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED CONFERENCE on wo-
men trade unionists, sponsored by the Canadian Labor Con-
gress, and the Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario Federa-
tions of Labor, held in Ottawa March 5-7, was significant in the
fact that it brought together delegates from across Canada to
discuss the many problems women face, from the struggle for
more participation at the local and leadership levels of the
trade union movement, to the many-sided problems of dis-
crimination that women as a whole encounter in Canada.

The conference was attended by close to 400 delegates, includ-
ing men. Shirley Carr, CLC executive vice-president, opened
the Friday night session with a message from CLC president
Joe Morris, who was out of the country. Guest speaker Laura
Sabia (Ontario Status of Women Council), told the delegates
she was angry, as she watched the recent Conservative Party
leadership convention on television, at women who still kow-
tow to their men.

Precious few legislative changes were made during Interna-
tional Women’s Year, Sabia said, and then only to prove
politicians were committed to the equality of the sexes. ‘‘Even
the proposed changes in the new human rights code that is still
before parliament is ‘an unmitigated disaster,’ allowing the
captains of the business world, the insurance companies, the
pension funds, to discriminate at their pleasure,”’ she charged.
She expressed amazement at how quickly politicians can put
an end to programs that help women. Child care facilities are
an absolute necessity for women in the labor force who have
small children, yet in Ontario, Sabia said, daycare got the axe
in budget cuts.
* * *

ON SATURDAY, DELEGATES listened to a panel discus-
sion on collective bargaining, affirmative action, women and
the law and the organizing role of women’s committees within
the organized labor movement.

Vivian Zachon, Montreal representative of the Office and
Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), said
that there are health insurance plans where the woman must
prove that she is the breadwinner before she can get coverage
for her husband and dependents, and that the field of welfare
benefits was a gold mine to insurance companies when it
comes to women workers. She cited examples of wage dis-
crimination from a Montreal Board of Trade report of 1974,
where a junior bookkeeping machine operator (male) earned
$522 a month, while a woman doing the same job got $469.
Zachon said that figures for 1975 are not available because last
year ‘‘for the first.time,’’ the Board of Trade did not publish
separate figures.

Mary Eady, director of Manitoba Women’s Bureau, told
somewhat the same story, ‘‘that the average individual wage
for a male worker was $9,564 annually and for a woman
worker, $3,920. Delegates were urged to be more energetic in
the struggle for women’s rights. A shocked murmur came from
the delegates when they were told that under Quebec law,
women workers still have to have their husbands’ permission

- to become a member of a union.

* * *

In workshops on panel topics to review existing CLC policy,
delegates had the opportunity for some input. The panel on
affirmative action, chaired by Evelyn Armstrong, United
Electrical Workers representative, discussed the role of union

-and management committees at the local level, and how they

assist women who are discriminated against. Such discrimina-
tion occurs in the areas of skills and ability, when applying for
job postings, unemployment and layoffs (how these affect
women), and paid maternity leave. Compared to women in
socialist Cuba, who are guaranteed under law 18 weeks paid
matemity leave, Canadian women face the bureaucracy of
unemployment insurance benefits, which do not give them full

’ pay, but only 17 weeks, including a two-week waiting period,

and at two-thirds of their weekly earnings. This, in a country
whose economy is further developed than Cuba’s, and whose
natural resources far outnumber Cuba’s.

Delegates met also on a province-wide basis to discuss the
problems affecting them through government legislation. The
Ontario session came down hard on the Henderson report, and
called for full support to all organizations and coalitions that
are fighting the Tory cutbacks. There was unanimous opposi-
tion to wage controls. Some 30 resolutions will go to the CLC
executive committee to be considered for presentation at the
forthcoming CLC convention in May. One urges the CLC to
set up a women’s division with a director of women’s prog-
rams to co-ordinate future seminars, and to encourage
affiliated unions to establish women’s committees. Another
resolution calls for 24-hour child care service, financed by
government, but controlled by parents. It urges that a wo-
men’s program be pursued within the Congress as vigorously
as the CLC’s current anti wage-control action. One workshop
resolution requested that the CLC invite international guest
speakers, that they be selected from all countries of the world.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 19, 1976—Page 7