Raise public ownership in oil company threats CALGARY — The major oil companies have raised the stakes in their attempts to blackmail the Canadian people into ensur- ing their profits. : Since the federal budget, oil companies have made daily an- nouncements of exploration cut- backs, coupled with demands for lower royalities and taxes. The budget refuses them the right to deduct provincial royal- ties from their federal income taxes. Now the companies, led by the huge American and European- based “majors,” have thrown ‘the Alberta tar sands into the game — and the tar sands were thought to be Canada’s only cer- tain long-term source of oil. First, Shell Explorer, of Hous- ton, withdrew from a_ partner- ship with its Canadian bedmate, Shell Canada, which was to have built a tar sands_ extraction plant. . = When that didn’t work, they brought out the heavy guns. At- lantic Richfield, another Ameri- can giant, “has taken the first step toward withdrawing from the Syncrude project. Threaten Jobs ~ Its three partners, Imperial, Gulf, and Canada-Cities Service, are already looking to the Alber- tan and Canadian treasuries to bail them out. '. The Syncrude project, to pro- duce more than 100,000 barrels of synthetic cude oil daily, is already partly built. If, as the Atlantic threat implies, construc- tion is halted, it will thtow thou- sands of Albertans out of work. Atlantic Richfield’s excuse is that costs are rising and the eco- nomic climate has grown uncer- tain. That boils down again to not enough guaranteed profits. An- other aspect of the situation is, that the American oil companies are no longer certain they will be allowed to ship the oil across ' the border. Again, Canadian working peo- ple are falling victim to monop- oly’s policies of greed. If the Syncrude project is dumped, it will cost them jobs, and eventually cause oil short- ages. If one government or the other bails the companies out, it will be the same old story. The drain of oil and capital out. of Canada will continue, and even escalate. And still, the national govern- ment is refusing to build a strong national energy policy based on public ownership, de- spite lip service and the gradual cut-backs of oil exports. The only kind of public owner- ship considered viable by the Alberta and federal governments benefits nobody but the oil mo- nopolies — it means bailing out companies that are deserting pro- jects vital to Canada because their profits are not high enough, - Or not guaranteed. The Alberta government had already given Syncrude_ the shirts off working people’s backs — but it wasn’t enough. The Al- berta government is still nego- tiating with Dow Chemical and others, enticing them to build petrochemical plants here in ex- change for low taxes and high revenues, Under the guise of public own- ership, through the Alberta Ener- gy Company, the government will provide them with free capi- tal. But despite the whines and cries, and the threats and eco- nomic bludgeons of the oil mono- polies, progressive people are demanding more and more strongly that Canadian govern- ments recognize the reality of the situation, and act according- ly. The Communist Party of Can- ada, calling for public’ ownership and democratic control of the oil industry coupled with a strong national energy policy, notes an increase in membership in Al- berta — a sign that Albertans, . »also, recognize the threat of the monopolies. New Democratic Party candi- dates in the next provincial elec- tion, trade unions, and other progressives are, quite rightly, calling for nationalization of the ‘ oil industry. 14 MILLION STRIKE IN ITALY ROME — About 14 million workers in Italy’s factories, busi- nesses and government oftices walked off their jobs Dec. 4, de- manding wage hikes equal to’. more than the 20% inflation rate, Europe’s highest. In Milan, brok- "ers joined the strike. Most workers’ in industry, commerce and public offices struck for the whole day. Steel works were exempted from the strike so as not to interfere with the continuous process of pro- duction, union leaders said. First strike in 30 years— Kodak tries to bust union . The International Chemical Workers, backed by the Cana- dian Labour Congress, the On- tario Federation of Labour, and the Labour Council of Metro Toronto, have called for a boy- cott of Kodak products. ICW Local 159, which repre sents 1,200 workers at two To- ronto area plants, have been on strike since November 6 — their first in the 30 years they've had a contract there. Last week ‘Kodak workers, by a 70% vote, rejected the com- pany’s latest offer. The two sides have not met since. Local President Gordon Liy- ingstone told the Tribune, “We're ready to talk at any time. The company’s taking a ‘take it or leave it’ approach.” The union has offered to go to binding ar- bitration but Kodak has refused. ‘Workers at the Brampton plant, largely a distribution cen- tre and the Mt. Dennis manufac- turing plant, are the only Kodak workers in North America with a union. “Kodak,” whose main operations are in Rochester, New York, “seems to want to remedy that,” one union spokes- man said. -Local 159 is seeking a wage boost —- starting rates were $3.83 an hour under the old con- tract — a COLA, and union se- curity. : “The union members are quite solid on this one,” Livingstone said. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1974—Page 8 Europe's auto industry in trouble Cl Lay-offs spread as car sales drop) Auto production, seen by many economists as a major barometer of Western econo- mies, has dropped sharply in Europe as well as North Ame- rica, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported in two stories on Dec. 3. A major merger of French auto manufacturers is being planned with the state playing a large role through its ownership of Renault. In France, where auto sales were off 23% in October by one Globe story and 40% by the other, the government is taking $100-million from a special fund The president. of the Ontario Insurance Agents and Brokers Association, J. Peter Kennedy, is worried: about the state of the insurance market. He sees infla- tion and the monetary dehydra- tion as a market problem for the insurance lobby, and wants a free hand for his Association to do as they please. One of the immediate concessions they want is a stranglehold by the Tory-directed London Life’ In- surance Co. on all the medical insurance policies of all govern- ment employees to continue. The insurance and brokerage business is a most lucrative field for gathering up capital and for pork-barrel politics. Colin Brown, a big wheel in the London-based insurance consortium, has long been known as a front man for the back-room boys in the Tory Party. When they want some dirty work done to brainwash the public against some popular cause that may interfere with their cozy profiteering at public expense they usually call on Brown to the advertising to try and discredit whatever worthy cause or people who happen to stand in their way. Preparing Strategies The enemy this time is the Civil Service Association of On- tario. Their reason for attacking _ the CSAO is at least two-fold. First, the CSAO has demanded an end to the insurance lobby’s control at Queen’s Park. Sec- ondly, they are determined to ‘secure a living wage and are. praes to strike for it if need- The first reason is easy to understand, Colin Brown him- self, according to the estimate of an_ independent actuary, stands to lose a commission which for him alone has amount- ed to some $138,000 over a period of nine years. The second reason has to do with an antici- pated Ontario election in 1975, and the prospect of a Tory de- feat, which according to J. Peter ‘Kennedy of the Ontario Insur- ance Agents and Brokers Associa- tion is a major challenge for in- Surance agents in the province. The association, through its po- “to help Peugeot shore up Cit- roen in their planned merger.” In exchange, the state-owned Re- nault Corporation would gain the 97% stake, Citroen has in Beliet, a heavy vehicle manufac- turer. Citroen claims to have lost $160-million this year and has layed off nearly 3,000 workers. In West Germany sales were off 25% in October. Volkswagen has layed off 10,000 auto work- “ers and plans a similar fate for 6,000 more by year’s end. Opel, General Motors’ West German firm has let 7,000 workers go and will lay off 5,000 more this month. An Opel official is reported as saying, ‘We believe that people want to drive cars and will buy cars and thus we count on gra- dually rising demand.” Volks- wagen has introduced four new models in the last year-and-a- half — none of them successful. . Italian auto sales fell by 33% in October from a year ago. = ss "i ye < a he as ~» y pe Ss 2 rarac ee fk ie : . er pple * es ae 4 Two-thirds of Fiat’s 1000), workers have. been working | : three-day work week since 5) 4 _mer. troy British’ auto sales at NO™iea have fallen by 25%. Manufach Uni ers claim it is because Of © iti reduced work week during f as year’s oil shortage and 10M strikes. al Sweden’s Volvo and SaapP: omy the other hand, reporting ™ t ing slight gains over last ye y and Volvo has recently D0 75% of the troubled Dutch D Co., a manufacturer of 5™ cars. He Raes sg United Left must BY BRUCE MAGNUSON work in elections: litical action committee, is al- ready preparing plans and stra- tegies to’ be directed against the New Democratic Party. To imple- ment this, a so-called ‘Citizens’ Coalition’ has ‘been formed. - Big Capital Besides Colin Brown, the backers of this Tory advertising front include: former premier John Robarts; Donald Coxe, of Mutual Life Assurance Co., Guelph; Peter Hunter and Doug McCuaig of McConnell Advertis- ing Co. Ltd.; John V. Klein of MacMillan-Bloedel; John Dob- son, a Montreal lawyer; Pierre Cote, a lawyer from Quebec City; Hal Connor of National Sea Products; Louis Lapointe of Miron Co.; Fred Jones, former dean of business at Western University; Ernest Manning, for- mer premier of Alberta; and lots more of the ‘same kind of the public - interest - be - damned de- fenders of big capital against demands of organized labor. Thus, while the lavish and costly advertising campaign is directed against the CSAO and their immediate demands, its aims go much beyond this. It is directed to break the back of "organized labor’s fight - back against bearing the cost of capi- talist monopoly profiteering and the resultant inflation and unem- ployment crisis. It is also direct- ed to the aim of blocking work- ing-class and democratic inde- pendent political action and sav- ing the Tories for another term Lay-offs hit utilities : NEW YORK — Layoffs in the big investor-owned electric utili- ties industry are becoming a reality, as 600 workers in the New York area and 400 in South- ern New Jersey have lost their jobs. The cut-backs aré due to the cancellation of $16.1-billion in new power-generating con- struction plans. The companies have raised their rates by an average of 55.4% in the first half of 1974. The cutbacks constitute . ended forthwith. . practices. ‘by a politically alert trade ty of pork-barrel politics f0 rich and mighty monopolié Should Rid Province The Citizens’ Coalition front for the Ontario Tory” net and its disastrous poli@™ Its attempt to hide behind #7 nymous advertisements has blown: sky-high. Mr. Rom support of the financial driv the Citizens’ Coalition am aims and objectives disquall him from carrying out am signment where the public iM est is involved. Consequently i role as a one-man commis investigating the structure ou present form of governme? Metropolitan Toronto shoulé Organized labor, the Democratic Party, the Comm ist Party, and all demo forces in this province must mount:a serious drive to fi province of undemocratic, rupt, anti-labor, racist and 0 anf criminal political policies In the serious crisis noW it ing our capitalist monopoly ws minated society, the time come to bring about drastl@ forms, opening the door to? ingful and fundamental ch anf a mic, social and political fe ‘ A very considerable S ph " polity bringing this about will on united action by the left and the struggle m0" movement on both the ec? and political fronts. 18.3% of the projected is billion original constr budget. : fl In addition to layoffs, the f backs will further agai energy shortages, produc loss of 132 million kilow® a electricity. It is project Electrical World, a trade zine, that consumer ral@ gj) creases will continue un! More money for less powe! higher profits is the utilities are applying.