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TORONTO — Across Canada,
Postal workers and their friends
Marked the first anniversary of
the passage of Parliament’s hate-
ful law Bill C-8

It wasn’t a time for sombre
Mourning over the death of
CUPW’s collective bargaining
and strike rights. No. It was a day
Marked with defiiant celebration
— Packed meetings in the houses
of labor, and spirited marches in

Streets — preparation-for the
ght ahead.

The crowded rally in Van-
Couver, attended by repre-
Sentatives of the B.C. labor
MOvement including federation
President Jim Kinnaird, the
March in the streets of Halifax,
the Meetings, and picket lines

ughout the west and Quebec
€choed the same refrain; the
€deral government used parlia-
Ment to crush a Canada-wide
Postal strike on Oct. 19, 1978, but
1 couldn’t crush the union, the
Struggle continues.
In Toronto, CUPW stewards

: Now is the time for-all good
nion men to come to the aid of
© company.”’

Lee Iacocca, Chairman
Chrysler Corporation.

a Iacocca. has requested

on concessions from the Un-
d Auto Workers. Included in

S Was a specific proposal for a
heer freeze on wages which
Union rejected as early as last
gust. But now, after contract
€ments at General Motors
Ford, Douglas Frazer, UAW

| : P Tesident, has indicated that the

al oe
-4to maker is in ‘‘absolute

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‘<p Pardy”’, giving as the reason
forces beyond the company’s
Such as federal fuel-ef-
m4 Standards for cars.”’
ea ey the union is appa-
«¥ Prepared to consider
ae to save Chrysler.

Rec the July-August issue of
Publishea Notes, a magazine
oan €d by the New York-
Socia Labor Research As-

tes, focuses attention on the

Te
Son for the Chrysler crisis. It

Ciency

attitua Up the company’s callous

€ In Viewing its workers as
Ndable while expediting
oa rhe company’s debts
: and insurance com-
conta the same time as the
’Verythi Ng stockholders grab
most was they can to get the
Orin of their investments.
res Stance, in 1978, the com-
$209. Ported a loss of more than

xpe

ital +,..,/00, while owners of cap-
cis $1,017-billion out of
in dj aan Including $231-million

nds and interest pay-

ficial On top of this, the top of-.

increase wed handsome salary
While eal and stock options,
€Xpense ing and administrative
De S swelled by such ex-
by age count items as rakeoffs
fees Sing agencies, lawyers,
advisers and a
Tew, of parasites at the
b reaerae 3 the corporate
Teport Carter administration is

as having decided in

picketted and leafletted, outside
the offices of the Ontario Labor
Ministry, and Toronto City Hall.
Citizens, including Mayor John
Sewell stopped to take a leaflet
and offer his encouragement to
the postal workers.

The leafiet urged people to en-
courage their unions and com-
munity organizations to press the
government to cease the legal
victimization of CUPW, drop all
charges against the union’s mem-
bers, and to rehire those unjustly
fired.

Postal workers further called
on the people to demand their
MPs and government pass laws
turning the Post Office into a
crown corporation so postal
workers can come under the pro-
visions of the Canada Labor
Code.

“Instead of firings, cutbacks
and union busting’’, the leaflet
declared, ‘‘demand hirings, ex-
pansion of postal services, and
the full rights of labor. In working
class unity and solidarity there is

favor of massive government
guaranteed loans in answer to
Chrysler’s request for $1-billion.

UAW president, Frazer, has
suggested that the U.S. Govern-
ment get a 30% equity in Chrysler
instead of merely going along with

‘the company’s request for $1-

billion in aid. (An interesting side-
light in this connection is the
speculation — reported in the
press — that the Carter administ-
ration may guarantee a loan to the
company from its employees’
pension fund of $800-million).

On the other hand, the LRA
magazine mentioned above,
points out that the government
could take over Chrysler for less
than $500-million, by simply buy-
ing up all of the common stock at
the current market price, and
substitute - workers, engineers,
consumer representatives, ac-
countants, etc., for the over-
priced crowd of officials running
the company now.

The magazine says the com-
pany’s banks, and other specu-
lative large stockholders, stand to
gain most from the government
loan guarantee.

‘The principal interest of the
officials and speculative large
stockholders is to make an ‘asset
play’ of Chrysler — to sell the
entire company or major parts of
it, as close as possible to ‘book
value’, which is more than four
times the market price of shares.

“The more they is aie the
more jobs of Chrysler workers are
apt to be wiped out!’’ the LRA
magazine article concludes.

It is highly probable that no
‘sacrifice’ made by the workers
will be of any consequence to
save either the company OF the

‘workers’ jobs, since the current

Chrysler worker’s productivity is
high and the worker payroll and
labor costs are low. :
All that will happen by grantmg
special concessions to = the
Chrysler corporation, is to open
the door wide to an attack on
wages, benefits and working con-

Why make workers
the scapegoat?

- Cross country meets plan CUPW’s fight

TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS

Toronto CUPW local members leafletted the Ontario Labor Ministry and City Hall to mark Oct. 19.

strength.’’ You could be next.
~ CUPW Toronto president Ar-

ditions in the rest of the industry,
while the big auto moguls will
speed up rationalization, mergers
and technological changes, all at
the workers’ expense by depriv-
ing them of. their jobs .and
livelihood. ~

As the Communist Party has
pointed out: ‘“The U.S.-Canada
Auto Pact is no guarantee of jobs
for auto workers in Canada or the
well-being of the communities in
which the industry is located.
This is proved by the massive
layoffs in Windsor, Ontario.
Canada is paying a heavy price for
a branch-plant economy and the
price is likely to grow in the days
ahead unless new policies are
won.

‘**A4 Canadian Government loan
to Chrysler Canada is not likely to
change the situation and should
therefore be rejected. In its place
the government should declare its
readiness to invest in some form
of joint government-Chrysler op-
eration. In such a partnership the
Canadian public would establish a
stake in the auto industry by way
of jobs and tower prices for cars.
At the same time the way would
be opened for more basic solu-
tions. These lie in working for a
fully Canadian-owned and con-
trolled auto industry based on
public ownership. pig

‘Chrysler has been using the
present situation to call upon the
auto workers to make sacrifices
for the ‘common good’. But the
‘common good’ turns out to be
the profits of the coporations
taken out of the sweat, blood and
jobs of the workers. Past experi-
ence has shown that such policies
lead the workers up a blind
alley.”

The only way to beat inflation
and unemployment is by wages
that stay ahead of inflation and
shorter hours of work to maintain
jobs. This is the way to expand
the home market and create new
jobs, all of which will promote the
‘“common good’, and the na-
tional interest as well. -

nold Gould noted that two of the
five members fired last year for
taking part in the strike were still
on the streets fighting for justice.
The three others including Barry
Strome, Dave. Williams, and
George Mann have been re-
instated but had to suffer through
suspensions.

The picket outside the labor

¥ ministry was to show support for

Howie Mandell, one of the
remaining members whose ad-
judication was being heard inside.

Management wanted to make
an example of the five they fired,
Gould said. The attack on the
five, most of whom were stewards
was a method of intimidating the
membership in general, he said.
‘They wanted to leave the impre-
ssion in people’s minds that if
management can get rid of stew-
ards, what can they do to us,”’ he
said. :

Facing the expiry of their cur-
rent ‘‘contract’’ Dec. 31, the pic-
ketting CUPW stewards showed
they were ready and willing to
fight the kind of winning battle
CUPW national president Jean
Claude Parrot said he was ready
to lead that same day in Halifax.

The news of the decision by the
Canadian Union of Public
Employees convention in calling
for the resignation of Canadian
Labor Congress president Dennis
McDermott struck a responsive
chord. ‘‘It’s absolutely excel-
lent’, Gateway steward Tom
Nichols said.

‘‘We feel that eventually we're
getting more support from the

labor movement from unions like’

CUPE and others who really
know what its all about’’, he said.

Jeff Bennie, another Gateway
Steward noted the anger of many
postal workers because their
rights were taken away. ‘‘We’'re
going to have to reach them the
convince them that this time
around labor is going to be around
us, even stronger,”” he said.

The government, he said had
tried three different approaches to
deal with postal workers. The
first was the Bryce Mackassey
plan of signing an agreement but
not living up to it. The second was
the 1978 Lamontagne plan —
provoke a strike then pass strike
breaking legislation. But with
labor’s support in 1979, he said,
“this time their plans aren’t going
to work.””

‘Steward encouraged
by support for union

For exercising his right to strike
Dave Williams was first fired,
then re-instated with a four month
suspension when he was able to
show in his adjudication hearing
the charges against him were
groundless.

“I feel I was unjustly done by”’,
Williams said Oct. 19 marking the
first anniversary of the law that
took away his right to strike and
negotiate better conditions. ‘‘I
missed four months of work and
had to pay my own OHIP during
the time I was off.”

But, like most postal workers
these days Dave Williams is look-
ing ahead, and is encouraged by
what he sees as growing support
for his union and their just cause.

“I’m sure the labor movement
now is more aware of the situation
we're in’, he said. ‘‘It seems

_there’s more support there now
than before and the door should
be open to more open negotia-
tions.

“Morale in the plants is up

.Now, particularly when members

start seeing the guys who were
suspended coming back. They're
prepared to move and they won't
stand the same b.s. from man-
agement as last year.”

Dave Williams left, explaining
the CUPW story to a passerby in
Nathan Phillips Square.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— NOVEMBER 2, 1979—Page 5