katchewan Federation of Labor
calls for complete disarmament

A call for total and complete world disarmament and for exchange of trade
union delegations with socialist countries featured the foreign policy resolutions
adopted by the recent convention of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labor.

On disarmament the resolu-
tion adopted by the SFL de-!| example for complete disarma-
“Beit resolved that this: fed-|
3 _ eration is unalterably opposed
to the testing of atomic and
hydrogen weapons of war,
“Be it further resolved that
_ this federation favors the gov-
ernment of Canada setting an

| CASE FOR_DISARMAMENT
What could we do
jwith $1,710 million?

“What could be done for the people with the
military’s one and three quarter billion dollars a
year?” Clearly there are many answers that could
be given to this question. The Pacific Tribune has
received a copy of the research bulletin of the
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers
which puts forward one set of far-reaching sug-
gestions. Here is what the UE says:

“This year’s (1959-60) federal military bud-

_ get totals $1,710 millions. Below we have worked
out a picture of what could be done with such a
total of funds annually. To stay within the bounds
of practical reality, we have assumed that the
whole military establishment would not be com-
pletely. dissolved overnight — so we-have taken
only a 50° percent cut in armed forces and related
civilian personnel (although this obviously cur-
tails the peaceful alternative use of funds by a
Sizeable amount).

1, Pay and allowances for remaining half of
armed forces and related civilian ‘personnel

3 _. $3850 MILLION.

2. Actions~° which would directly . increase
people’s purchasing: power —

(a) cut personal

cnt exchange of delegations,
the convention decided:

“Whereas the trade union
movement has not seen fit to
send its own delegates to visit
Russia and other Communist
countries, and as a reSult has

income taxes by
COST $400 MILLIONS
(b) increase old age pensions and family
allowances by one-third,
COST $325 MILLIONS
Increased consumer goods to the value of this
- total of $725 millions could be produced by simply
diverting the efforts of the 50,000 people now
producing for the military to civilian production.
_ 3. Embark on a 17-year program of provid-
ing modern home accommodation for everyone
over 65 years old. This amount of housing would
be worth about. $500 millions a year, and could be:
rovided by using the efforts of the released half
of the.armed forces and attached civilians (or an
equivalent secondary shift of workers) to produ-
cing’ materials and products going into housing
and housing construction, COST $350 MILLIONS
4. Carry on continually a big development
project (or series of projects) comparable to the
recent St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Papject
(U.S. and Canadian),
“ANNUAL COST $214 MILLIONS.
5. Government -sponsored medical research
at the immediately practical level of $3 per per-
son, recommended by Dr. Selye of Montreal (This
is more than five times the present level of med-
ical research in Canada),
ADDITIONAL COST $43 MILLIONS.
ild seven big new hospitals a year. This
would. increase by one-third the total amount of
funds now expended for new construction and
improvements of all public hospitals in Canada,
COST $28 MILLIONS.
$1,710 MILLIONS.

Total of all above:

had to rely on reports from
business and government dele-
gates,

“And whereas there is rea-
son to believe that these re-
ports are likely to be slanted
and distorted,

“Be it resolved that this
convention urge the Canadian
Labor Congress to set up the
machinery for the exchange of
trade union delegates with
these couniries, and that the
Congress be further urged to
make some financial contribu-
tion towards the sending of
such delegates.”

The federation also welcom-
ed “the recent exchanges of
the heads of state for Russia
and the USA, and _ considers
this as a forward step in inter-
national relations, and a break-
through in the cold war.’ It
urged that the Canadian gov-
ernment participate’ in ex-
changing such visits with all
countries.

Another resolution called on
the federal government “to ac-
tively support and promote the
admission of the People’s Gov-
ernment of China io the Unit-
ed Nations.”

A strong stand for the end
of nuclear tests has also come
from the Manitoba and Nova
Scotia Federations of Labor at
their annual conventions.

The Nova Scotia labor body
further recorded its support of
“any measures which will pro-
mote world peace so as to
make the atom and hydrogen
bomb unnecessary.”

‘De Gaulle
bomb test
denounced

Canada joined in the United
Nations with socialist, Afro-
|} Asian and other countries to
deliver a crushing blow to De
Gaulle’s plans for bomb tests
in the Sahara. The résolution
adopted by the General As-
sembly by a vote of 51 to 16)
called on France to cancel its
proposed tests and expressed
the Assembly’s grave concern
over the French plan.

Beaten with the French on
this vote were the United
States and Great Britain both
of which had worked feverish-
ly to prevent passage of the
resolution. They were joined
by such ‘“‘peace-loving” govern-
ments as those of Franco’s
Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, apar-
theid South Africa and Trujil-

resolve the problem in its own
way during the transition from
an arms economy to disarma-
ment. And it will resolve it in
a way that won’t be advan-
tageous to the working people
of this country. |

members of the trade union
movement who have fallen for
the hoax that armaments are
the answer to unemployment
and are fearful that disarma-
ment would lead to economic
‘collapse or economic crisis.
The right wing within the
trade union movement have

One would think this would

dian trade union movement to
make its voice heard, to give
leadership to the wide popular
sentiment for disarmament, to
become the centre of peace
sentiment so as to ensure that
the Diefenbaker government
and its representative in the
Disarmament Commission will
truly express the views of the
Canadian aces 8 on this vital
matter.

Silence may sometimes be
golden. But surely now is not
the time to be silent when new
possibilties exist to end the
cold war once and for all and
embark on new policies lead-
ing to a just and lasting peace.

* * *

Could it be that the leaders
of the Canadian Labor Con-
gress are so imbued with the
spirit of the cold war that they
have been unable to imbibe the
spirit of Camp David? Are
they so. smitten with anti-
Soviet prejudice and hostility
that they cannot’ extricate
themselves from those reac-
tionary cold. war _ poliicies
which have done the labor
movement incalculable harm?

Have they so lost all sense
of reality that they cannot see
that partial or total disarma-
ment is on the way because the
peoples of the world will im-
pose it?

® me

» Now should be the time for
the Canadian Labor Congress
to advance an alternative pro-
gram that would be designed
to provide jobs for workers
displaced by disarmament and
for those released from the
armed forces; a program io re-
place wasteful war production
with useful :peaceful produc-
tion that would be of benefit
to the Canadian people.

Either that or monopoly will

7

Undoubtedly there are many

Why is CLC silent
on disarmament?

By WILLIAM KASHTAN é
I am sure many trade unionists must be wondering —
why the Canadian Labor Congress maintains silence on the
question of total world disarmament which is now being —
widely debated everywhere. That silence is particularly odd
in view of the position taken by the United Nations and
the fact that Canada is a member of the newly- established —
10-nation Disarmament Commission which will be study-—
ing various government proposals on the subject.

be a good time for the Cana-

reminder

‘lasting peace through a policy

used this for all it is worth tom
tie the workers to the cold war —
and the war economy.

But the facts speak other-—
wise. The arms program is
primarily responsible for the —
present ruinous inflationary —
policy. Inflation and high taxes —
made necessary by the arms
program have continued to
eat into the real purchasing —
power of the dollar. And i
flation in turn has been used
by reactionary monopoly in-
terests to turn public opinion
against the, trade union move- —
ment. Monopoly has. made it
appear that the trade unions
are responsible for price in-
creases and must be curbed by:
anti-labor legislation.

Nor has the arms program
prevented unemployment or —
economic downturns as
workers well know from their
own bitter experience. :

Arms production is no assur-
ance of jobs or security. The —
workers need to extricate
themselves from this mirage
and take a course that fits in
with their own interests and

it is now developing.

Ti can best be expressed in i
the demand for peace and jobs
through disarmament. This de-
mand oughi to be at the centre —
of activity of the trade union ~
movement today.

Slavs push
peace bid
A ringing appeal to Slavic

Canadians to help speed total
disarmament. and peace has_

Slav Committee. It carries th
that local Slavi
committees were formed dur-
ing the war ‘“‘to help speed the —
day of victory.” -

It points out that, “We ine
Canadian Slavs, form a living ©
link between the _ English-
speaking. and. the Slavic peo-
ples. We must at this time help
Canada — as we have in the
past.in the war against fascism,
and in the years of the cold
war — to take the road that -
leads to total disarmament and

af peaceful coexistence, at the
core of which is friendship be-
tween the Slavic and the Eng-

lo’s Dominican Republic.

December 4, 1959—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 2

lish-speaking peoples.”

the —

the realities of the situation as _

been- issued by the Canadian S&