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