AT THE RAND INQUIRY

A distorted image of labor

R.. JUSTICE Ivan C. Rand,
M currently acting as a one

man royal comniission in-
vestigating labor dispu.es, claims
he has-an open mind both in
relation to the problem of labor
management relations itself and
the proposed solutions. This may
be quite true; however, he sure
can act out a fantastic imperson-
ation of a man who has his mind
firmly made up.

While it, would be foolish to
second-guess the actual recom-
mendations that will be forth-
coming from his commission, the
line he has advanced to date is
enough to cause concern.

An image has been created of
the Ontario labor movement as
a power hungry, semi-lawless
band of irresponsibles which by
some quirk of logic enjoys a
privileged position in our society.
Rand seems to have his mind
made up on some such orijenta-
tion, and he js not a man to be
lightly swayed by the facts.

This impression jis gained by

~ Communists propose —
charter of labor rights

In its brief to the Rand Com-
mission the Ontario committee
of the Communist Party pro-
posed a “Charter of Labor’s
Rights.” :

Such a‘ charter, said Bruce
Magnuson, Ontario leader of the
party and its spokesman before
the commission, would include
the following provisions:

e The right to gainful employ-
ment and the guarantee of an
adequate and progressively ris-
ing annual income, a progres-
sively shortened work-week and
security in employment.

e The unfettered right to
peaceful assembly, and to strike
and picket to protect jobs of
striking workers. (Anything
short of this is inconceivable in
our kind of society and unac-
ceptable to labor.)

e The right to consult and to
negotiate with management col-
lectively through the trade
unions on all matters arising out
of technological changes before
such changes are introduced.
(Employers’ adamant opposition
to this right is the pivotal point
of all employer efforts to attack
and weaken the trade unions.)

e The right to strike during
the term of a collective agree-
ment when prescribed grievance
procedures prove inadequate
and bargaining fail to solve mat-
ters in dispute, including issues
not covered by the collective
agreement.

e The right to take all meas-
ures necessary to protect the
safety and health of workers on

the line of questions he uses at
the hearings, and his overall at-
titude to the answers he re-
ceives..

One day last week two briefs
were presented. In the morning,
the Ontario division of the Can-
adian Union of Public Emplo-
yees appeared. The main em-
phasis of its cautiously word-
ed brief was on the rights of
public employees to organize, to
bargain collectively and, if need
be, to. “withdraw their labor”
(to strike).

The commission’s counsel
pointed out that everyone is free
to “withdraw their labor — they
can quit if they don’t like their
wages and conditions.”

On the serious problem of the
right to strike by public employ-
ers Rand did not fool about. “I
am revolted by strikes in the
public service that are directed
against the public,” he said. .

When told that the CUPE
local at Ontario. Hydro has 9,000
members, he said: “It’s 9,000

the job, including strike action.

e The right jo share with
management in the planning of
production, and the right to
share fully in the benefits de-
rived from technological chang-
es, rationalization of production
and automation.

e The right to leisure, higher
education and proper training
for new jobs while receiving an
adequate income at all times.

@ The right to a comfortable
and secure retirement.

The Rand Commission was es-
tablished by the Ontario govern-
ment to inquire into labor dis-
putes in the province. It has
been holding hearings in Ontario
centres for the past several
months.

In its brief, the Communist
Party described itself as “frank-
ly partisan to all people who
labor by hand or brain.”

“Communists within the labor
forces,” the brief continued,
“take an active part in the daily
struggles to advance material,
social and cultural needs. In this
sense there is no difference be-
tween a Communist worker and
a worker of other political and
ideological persuasion who still
believes in capitalism. The dif-
ference between a Communist
and a non-Communist worker is
that a Communist worker, be-
cause of his scientific approach
to the laves ef motion of society,
is able to combine past and pre-
sent experience in such a way
as to illuminate the general di-

against 7 million (the population
of Ontario). :

“Do you think that any minor-
ity should have that power?”

K. C. Cummings, president of
the Hydro local, said employees
should be permitted to withdraw
their services in face of an un-
reasonable position by Hydro.

“You say, ‘we are going to
throttle you, if you don’t give
in to our demands,’ ”’ Rand com-
mented.

When Rand _ representatives
brought home their point that
employment is not permanent
because municipalities often dis-
card their work forces and con-
tract out sanitation services,
Rand responded:

“You insist on a level of wages
that was considered outrage-
ous.”

The discussion with CUPE
ranged back to the signing of
the Magna Carta, and Rand was
able to find some way in which
the Magna Carta gave a sort
of legal precedent to compulsory

rection of future social develop-
ment.

“As a political organization
we are of course not directly in-
volved in collective bargaining
and in strike situations in the

-same way as the trade unions.

But insofar as the solutions to
the problems involved are not
to be found in the economic
sphere alone, but has to be
looked for even more strenuous-
ly within the political sphere of
human relationships, we believe
that our views can be of assist-
ance to your inquiry.”

Pointing to the _ struggle
against the use of injunctions
in labor disputes as the back-
ground on which the commis-
sion was established, the brief
stated there was ‘“‘skepticism in

arbitration. :

When. CUPE national. repre-
sentative Pat O’Ketfe said earli-
er that unions were not going
to return to the days prior to
Runnymede, Rand said, “I don’t
accept that kind of talk.” When
O’Keefe persisted, stating that
compulsory arbitration had no
place in Ontario in 1967, Rand
said, “You're wasting my time.”

So much for the CUPE brief.

In the afternoon it was the
turn of the Ontario committee
of the Communist Party.

Rand heard Bruce Magnuson,
the party’s Ontario leader, out
until Magnuson said that labor
must have the unfettered right
to strike. Predictably, Rand said
something about this right in
Russia. Magnuson answered that
workers have the right to strike
in the USSR. When Rand dis-
agreed, Magnuson told him that
if he was so interested in labor
relations in the Soviet, Union,
he should go there to see for
himself, “It would be just as

the ranks of labor concerning
the commission.

“It remains,” the brief con-
tinued, “for this particular in-
quiry to justify or to disprove
such skepticism on the part of
organized labor.

“As for the government, the
onus rest on it to act favorably
and quickly on any recommen-
dations. of ‘this commission
which may go in the direction
of greater assumption by the
government of responsibility for
adopting and enforcing the kind
of legislation that will give labor
a greater voice in industrial man-
agement. In our view, such an
approach js the only realistic one
in circumstances of technolo-
gical revolution to bring demo-
cracy to our industrial and com-

the company’s terms.

Appeal for boycott
of Coleman goods

Striking Coleman workers have appealed to all Can-
adian workers and consumers to boycott products of the
Canadian Coleman Company, ~—

On strike since last October, the workers have been
faced by all the coersive methods that the company could
devise in an efforts to force them to return to work under

The Canadian Labor Congress and local labor councils
are supporting the campaign not to buy Coleman furnaces,
heaters, water heaters and camping equipment.

The strikers are also asking that workers send letters
to MP's and MPP’s protesting the condoning of this Ameri-
can company’s policy toward Canadian workers,

“movement, and

May 26, 196

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