Be BS 4 ~~ TORONTO — In a near-unanimous vote, the Rise above ideological differences for disarmament ‘Get involved’ for peace urges Ont. labor 27th Ontario Federation of Labor convention made labor history by adopting a policy statement de- voted exclusively to peace and disarmament. For the first time in the OFL’s history, delegates had before them on the convention’s opening day a policy statement that was described by president - Cliff Pilkey on the eve of the proceedings as one of the centrepieces of the labor parliament’s busy agenda. Delegates both welcomed the OFL executive's initiative, and the recommendations of the state- ment but were critical of the analysis upon which these recommendations were supported. Highlights of the proposals recommended by the OFL executive included: a call for affiliates and individual union members to get involved in ‘labor-endorsed peace activities such as the cam- paign against the Cruise missile and the Peace Peti- tion Caravan campaign; pressing Ottawa through the Canadian Labor Congress to develop an in- dependent Canadian foreign policy; calling, through the CLC, for Canada to be declared a nuclear weapons-free zone; continuing labor’s pro- test against the production and testing of the Cruise and its components; and that the Fed, through the CLC, call for mutually verifiable disarmament based on international negotiations. Dialogue, Negotiations United Auto Workers Canadian director Bob White noted the critical role labor must play in linking up with the broad forces which make up today’s peace movement. He stressed the need for dialogue and negotiations between the govern- ments of the U.S. and the USSR on disarmament and to work toward settling dangerous inter- national conflicts rather than promote con- frontation. “The issue facing us today is not which social System you choose to support, but how we can find the ways for the governments of both systems to talk to each other’’, White said. He stressed the fact that no one in the labor movement was advocating unilateral disarmament and that there was no division around the question of the need to get the Soviet Union and the U.S. to Negotiate mutual, balanced arms reduction. ‘The issue facing us as a labor movement today is how we can bring enough pressure to bear on our government to get them to talk peace instead of _ Spending billions on weapons’’, he said. Steelworkers’ delegate Charles Nixon wel- comed the paper but hit out at what he called the hypocrisy of labor leaders who- pay lip service to Peace issues but fail to mobilize their members into action around the question. He urged Canadian labor leaders to rise above their ideological differences with trade unions In other parts of the world, particularly in the socialist Countries. Extended contacts and on-going dialogue among the trade unions around the globe, he said, was indispensable to a successful fight for Peace and disarmament. ~ Unity in Action Reporting on the recent international trade union conference on peace held in Sofia, Bulgaria, and chaired by James Milne, leader of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Nixon expressed his re- gret that CLC president Dennis McDermott had declined an invitation to attend. Noting that the theme of the conference had been “‘trade union Unity in action for peace and disarmament”’ and that many of the participants included unions from the third world and non-aligned countries, he asked: ‘‘Why can’t we find trade union leaders in Our movement who are willing to go and discuss S crucial question with other trade unionists In- cluding those from socialist countries?” : Mike Doesburg of the Ironworkers, identified With the paper’s recommendations, but chastised the OFL for bypassing internationally-respected data analysing the roots of the arms race in favor of -8Ccepting the hawkish NATO view that the Soviet nion instigated the current spurt in the arms race SS-4s and SS-5s. ’ by installing SS-20 missiles to replace its aS TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS 2 SHERATON CENTRE Not only did he reject NATO’s claim that SS-20s upset nuclear weapons parity in Europe but quoted ‘research studies produced under United Nations auspices which show a consistent historical development of new nuclear weapons technology by the U.S. with the USSR playing catch up. “Dual Responsibility” Myth He quoted one study which recorded that the U:S. initiated all 26 of the 26 latest categories of nuclear weapons development. Doesburg said NATO started using SS-20s as the excuse when it became necessary to justify to the public the installation of Cruise and Pershing 2 missiles. : Rejecting the paper’s bid to sell the “‘dual re- ‘sponsibility’ of the U.S. and the USSR for the arms race he contrasted how the arms race de- velops in each country. “In the Soviet Union’, he said, ‘nuclear arms manufacturing is done in publicly-owned enter- prises, its direction and volume determined by government policy, based on the perceived secur- ity needs of the nation. OFL president Cliff Pilkey calls peace resolution the centrepiece of labor's agenda. ‘*No elite in Soviet society prospers as a result, and weapons expenditures, as the government and people admit, are a drain upon the country’s econ- omy.” By contrast Doesburg noted the U.S. corpora- tions in the arms industry rake in profits four to five times higher in weapons production than those ~ investing in civlian industry. ‘This helps explain why 21 out of the 25 largest -American transnational corporations also appear on the list of the top 100 weapons producers’’, the ironworker told the convention. Criticizing the paper’s lack of a working “‘class approach”’ to the roots of the arms race, Doesburg pointed out,.‘‘the military industriak complex finances a powerful lobby, influencing American government decision-making and has a vested in- terest in pushing us closer to nuclear oblivion. ‘*Preparations for nuclear war with the Soviet Union are not only impoverishing the U.S. and Canada, but also make a parasitic capitalist elite increasingly wealthy.” se B.C. a victory delegates told TORONTO — Canadian Union of Public Employees pres- ident Jeff Rose won a standing ovation by more than 1,500 OFL convention delegates, Nov. 23, for, his report on the Solidarity Coalition’s victory in forcing B.C.’s Socred government to back away from its total war on labor and the people. Recently returned from B.C. where he led CUPE in solidarity actions with the striking public sector workers, Rose stressed the importance of seeing Operation Solidarity and the Solidarity Coal- ition’s partial victory as important developments for labor through- out Ontario. te “The most reactionary gov- ernment in the country was forced to deal with the labor movement which was speaking for the entire community, and the government was forced to back down’’, Rose said. He warned workers to read be- tween the lines and beyond the studied pessimism in the big bus- iness press when trying to analyze the results of the strike; and he asked them to keep three things in mind. The major achievement, he said, was the sweeping away of Bill 3, the notorious law that al- lowed the government to fire any public worker without cause or due process. The strike also opened up an avenue for input on the other changes proposed by the government where none existed before. “The second point I want to make is that this struggle taught us that when government attacks us we can draw the line by taking action together in our defence’, Rose said. He explained how the coalition was formed and built and that it remains intact. He also explained how it negotiated with the government on behalf of all B.C. working people, and how the successful strike developed. Thirdly, Rose pointed out that, ‘‘There’s been a truce but the fight continues. If they break any of the deals they’ve made, the people are ready to go out again.” To the standing ovation Rose noted: The people of B.C. achieved something important. They drew the line and the government was forced to pull back.” PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 30, 1983—Page 7