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ae

From a painting by Montreal Art Workshop.

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T= next session of the
; “Northwest Territories
Council, to be held at Ottawa
in January, will have on the
table, during formal debate,
one of the symbols of parlia-
mentary authority, a mace.
According to an announce-
ment made at Ottawa, this
mace has been carved by
. native Eskimo artists from
materials supplied in and by
the Teritories, including gold

- Mace for NWT |

from Yellowknife, parts of a
copper. pot, wood from a
wrecked ship on the Arctic
coast, walrus ivory and sim-
ilar materials. e *

There has been no sugges-
tion yet as to who shall be-
come the sergeant-at-arms or
bearer of the mace.

The ornate symbol is lifted
from the.-table while the
council is in committee, and
is replaced when it goes into
formal session.

By WILLIAM |
KASHTAN

i Catholic Spudicates
_labor’s merger

ee

MOVE is reportedly on foot

within the Trades and Labor
Congress to raid every union
‘affiliated to the 100,000 Cana-
dian and Catholic Confederation
of Labor (CCCL). The opening
Shot in “operation raid” was
taken recently against the
CCCL Pulp and Sulphite Work-
€rs Union in Shawinigan Falls.
It is to be followed up by raids

_ 4gainst other CCCL unions. The

Intention is to destroy the CCCL
mM Quebec. >
This is a rather startling bit
Of news running counter to the
draft agreement on the merger
Which both the Trades and Labor
Ongress and the Canadian
Ongress of Labor have en-
dorsed, fae
That document states: “All
Other legitimate labor organi-
zations within Canada, whether
‘Ocal, provincial, national or
International shall be eligible
Or membership.” Further, it
declares, “the objective in the
Creation of this new labor cen-
re is the éventual unification
of all sections of bona fide
organized labor in Canada.”
_If this all-out raiding opera-
tion is carried through it is
und to do great harm to the
‘Merger. If the CCCL can be
Talded, what guarantees are
there that the top AFL-TLC
€adership won’t turn ~around
and, despite solemn agreements,

'Stive to forcibly absorb the

CCL industrial unions ?
If the Catholic’ Syndicate can
pe attacked what value has the
LC-CCL Unity Committee's
‘Statement that the merger is
© be open to all bona-fide and
legitimate unions ? And what
Suarantee is there for the
Autonomy and integrity of any
UNion within the merger ?
eo ae
Some of the AFL-TLC officials
may argue that the CCCL unions
*re not “bona fide” or “legiti-
Mate” trade unions! therefore
1s quite in order to raid
€m. This argument does not
hold water.

_ The bona fides of a union are

Not determined by a George
“fany or a Claude Jodoin, but

by the workers. By the extent
to which a trade union actively

defends . the t
membership, services them, ne-
gotiates contracts or leads strug-
gles on ‘their behalf. On this
basis there can be no argument
about the bona fides of the
CCCL and its affiliates, ~
Some AFL-TLC top officials
may argue that when they speak
of a bona fide union they refer
to one which is open ‘to all
workers no matter what their
sex, race or religion may be. It
is true that the CCCL and its
affiliates were confined for a
time to Catholic workers in

Quebec.
It is also true, however, that

‘these same unions have by the

nature of things broadened their
scope and membership so that
today they include in their
ranks workers of different
religious beliefs and nationali-
ties. They are considering drop-
ping tHe word “Catholic” from
their official name. ‘
3 * ps.
The fact is the CCCL arose in

Quebec, and in Quebec only, .
because of historical circum- .

stances. Its development, at
first along racial and religious
lines, reflected not only the role
of the Catholic church and its
continuing efforts at influen-
cing and controlling the trade
union movement in Quebec. It

mirrored, at the same time, the- .

national aspirations of the
French-Canadian working class.

Emergence of the CCCL in
Quebec is not accidental. It
reflects deep-seated and un-
settled problems facing the

French-Canadian working class

and the people. Because of this,
it has inevitably evolved in the

course of its history in a two-~

fold direction: towards strug-
gle—policies aimed at defending
the interests of the membership;
and, in a national direction,
pointing again to the fact that
Quebec is not just another
province (as St. Laurent falsely
declared) but a separate nation.

The Trades and Labor Con-

gress’ wish to raid every union

interests of the

affiliated to the Canadian and
Catholic Confederation of Labor
stems in good part "rom the
vicious doctrine of the employ-
ing class itself that Quebec is
not a separate nation. As in
the TLC, this idea was current
at the sessions of the conven-
tion, when the top brass de-
nounced a resolution coming
from’ Quebec, urging — that
French-Canadian delegates be
selected to attend international
gatherings.

The- fact is that the CCCL
has undertaken an active fight
to defend the economic inter-
ests of its membership. Organi-

- zations like the CCCL cannot be

abolished by a stroke of the
pen.

The question could be resolv-
ed were the merger established
on,a federated basis with full
guarantees for the autonomy. of
all affiliates. The CCCL and
its affiliates coulds become part
of the merger as a unit with
no fear of absorption or destruc-
tion. Sea
Recognition of the specific na-

: tional aspirations of the Quebec

workers is the only basis for

French Canadian-English work-

ing-class unity. The present

attitude of the right wing lead-
ers’ is based on “superiority”
of the Englishtspeaking trade
unions.

Such a flexible approach is

‘required because of the. differ-
ent ways in which -the TLC, -
CCL and CCCL evolved. Each
has its own history, its own
background.

It would be wrong for the.

CCCL to insist that it would
only enter the merger if all the
international unions first break
their ties with U.S. unions.

It would be equally wrong

for the TLC or CCL to insist
that the CCCL unions will only
be permitted to join the new
congress if they first . affiliate
to international unions.

The evolution towards a dis-

tinctly Canadian trade union
movement is a matter of time
and experience.
be made the starting point of
basis for the present merger.
To approach it otherwise means .

But it cannot

to accept the fact that no mer-
ger’ will take place in the
forseeable* future.

*

The merger ought to be so
organized that it makes possible
the inclusion of every type of -
union with due regard to their
integrity and their democratic
and autonomous rights. :

There must be room for dif-
fering ideologies within the
Canadian Labor Congress. Dif-
ferences of opinion are both
necessary and inevitable. If
trade union democracy prevails,
these differences will not en-
danger the unity ’of the con-
gress. In the long run they
will give it breater strength.

Were the CCCL to decide to
stay outside the congress, for
the time being, this woyld still
be no reason for raiding. What
the TLC and CCL ought to work
_for then is united action with
the CCCL and every other union.

The battle to eliminate wage,
inequalities still neéds to be
won. So does the fight against
unemployment. Organizing the
unorganized becomes ever more
vital in face of the growing
trend towards runaway shops.
To defeat Bills 19 and 20 as
well as the Padlock Law in
Quebec is, essential for the res-

_toration of trade union and de-
mocratic riphts, 9 Ss

The TLC would commit a
fatal error if it allowed itself .
to become a ‘catspaw in the’
hands of Premier Maurice Du-
plessis of Quebec and other re-
actionary interests who want to
eliminate the CCCL. ; ;

It should be pressed to with-
draw its. decision to raid the
CCCL, replace it with a no-
raiding .pact open to every
union in Canada and work with
every union in this country on
the major task of onganizing
the unorganized. Such®a_ poli-
cy is in the interests of Cana-
dian workers.

HOSPITAL BEDS

- 1,900,000
HOUSING UNITS

PB Mic soevrey PEN.

HEALTH
PROGRAMS

How the needs of the people can be met if arms spending is curtailed.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 25, 1955 — PAGE 9

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