MONTREAL — Remembered
y his contemporaries as a fear-
| “ssadvocate of class struggle and
| *Committed and dedicated trade
Unionist, Jean-Marie Bedard is
dead at 68.

Bedard, the former Eastern

anadian director of the Inter-
national Woodworkers of Ameri-
Ca, died in his sleep of a heart
attack Feb. 14,

His contribution to the labor
and progressive movement dated
ack to the 1930s when he began

S$ working life in Quebec as a
Teporter for the daily le Soleil.
$00n he became directly involved
Inthe trade union movement, and
by 1943 was the Quebec regional
Wector of the Canadian Con-
gfess of Labor — the Canadian
Counterpart of the Congress of
Industrial Organizations (CIO).
_ He was expelled from the CCL
I 1947 at a convention where he
fast the lone vote on the exe-
Cutive against supporting the

arshall Plan.

ntil recently, he was the

’A’s top eastern Canadian of-
ficial, committed to the arduous
_ task of trying to organize and ser-
vice union members across On-
tario, Quebec and the Atlantic
Provinces,

It was a job that never seemed
{0 tire him, and one he performed
Without complaint. Val Bjarna-

TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS

JEAN-MARIE BEDARD

son, former national secretary-
treasurer of the United Electrical
workers, who for the last decade
worked with him in building the
Action Caucus, recalled his as-
sociation with Bedard as a great
privilege.

‘“‘Jean-Marie never lost the
grass-roots touch’’, Bjarnason
said. ‘“‘He actually ‘bunked’ in a
tiny room at the IWA regional
office in Toronto when he wasn’t
on the road. He was a rarity
among present-day trade union
leaders — a working class intel-
lectual.”’

Bedard once said that he was
influenced at the beginning of his

life by the ideas of early Quebec
Marxists like Albert St. Martin.
Throughout his life, he pursued
his socialist ideals, and in 1967-68
was president of the short-lived
Parti Socialiste du Québec.

Over the years Bedard was a
warm friend and generous sup-
porter of the Canadian Tribune.

Cliff Pilkey, president of the
Ontario Federation of Labor, ex-
pressed his ‘great respect’’ for
Bedard’s talents as an orator and
trade union leader.

‘‘He was a committed and de-
dicated trade unionist who had
the weifare of working people
uppermost in his mind at all
times’’, Pilkey said. ‘‘He was an
excellent representative of the
working people through the
IWA.”

His friends remember him as a
people’s champion who kept up
to date on all current economic
and political issues. An avid
reader, Bjarnason said, he had a
solid grasp of the fundamentals of
Marxism-Leninism and he was
fearless in advocating those class
struggle policies in the conven-
tions of the Canadian Labor Con-
gress and provincial federations
of labor. Thoroughly bilingual, his
eloquent voice was heard within
the halls of labor in both English-
speaking and French Canada, and
it will be missed.

Ford workers to resist globally

LONDON — Ford workers from 16 countries, representing
140,000 workers, met here last week at the first ever Ford World
Workers Conference. Participants in this historic meeting agreed
on a plan of action aimed at stopping the transnational cor-
poration from defeating industrial action taken in any one plant
around the world. The workers agreed not to allow Ford to
increase or substitute production elsewhere or to import substi-
tute vehicles or parts when workers in a particular plant are in
dispute with the company. Conference chairperson Bernie Pes- —
singham said he was confident all plants would act together if —
Ford tried to close any of its European factories, as has been
contemplated.

Rail negotiator attacks CN layoffs

OTTAWA — The president of the Canadian Council of Rail-
way Shopcraft Unions, representing some 50,000 railway work-
ers currently trying to negotiate a new contract with the CNR,
last week told CN that its planned layoff of 474 workers across
Canada in ten days is endangering the talks. Abe Rosner, chair-
man of the umbrella group representing about one dozen rail-
way unions involved in the talks with CN, responding to the
March 18 layoffs, said he rejects CN’s arguments that it’s pos-
sible to envision a national contract settlement while workers are
being laid off.

Postal strike still possible

OTTAWA — Federal Labor Minister Bill McKnight last week
postponed til the end of the month conciliation commissioner Vic
Scott’s deadline for presenting recommendations for a settlement
in talks between Canada Post and 1,500 members of the PSAC
who work in the post office. This will put the union in a legal strike
position by the end of the first week of April. Outstanding issues
are job security and ending regional pay disparities for workers
doing the same jobs.

The labor movement has every right to be concerned
With two current summit meetings involving the prime
Minister of the country, for the outcome of both will have
a resounding impact on working-class politics for a long
time to come.

The Shamrock Summit (some have called itthe Blarney
— or worse — summit), has clearly demonstrated the
Main aspect of the Mulroney agenda — surrender of
“anadian sovereignty and independence on the altar of

free’’ trade.

The other meeting scheduled for Ottawa on March
22-23, involving selected representatives of Canadian

OVvernment, business and labor, will be aimed at the
Seduction of labor into the PM’s slick but, treacherous

esigns,

While both U.S. President Reagan and the prime
Minister were off key in their final rendition of “When
Corporate Eyes Are Smiling’, they were perfectly in
tune around encasing Canada into U.S. military-in-
dustrial plans. The PM agrees that Canada should move
towards “‘free’’ or ‘‘freer”’ trade with the U.S. The con-
Sequences for Canadian workers, and for Canada, will be
devastating.

The Canadian Government's total capitulation to the

-S. is the natural result of the economic and political
Stranglehold which the U.S. has had over Canada during
this period of the deepening cyclical and structural crisis
Of capitalism. Prime Minister Mulroney openly greets
\ 18 prospect as a means of salvation for monopoly capi-

in this country.

A Costly Danger a
But what about the people of Canada? “Free trade
will be like the proverbial ‘‘free’’? lunch. There 1s none.
Free trade will prove extremely costly, because even
Supporters of closer ties to the U.S. admit that labor
Must cooperate with management to reduce labor costs,
and that labor must become more productive in order to
freely compete with U.S. industry where the work force
'S only 19 per cent organized. f ; ;
__ Big business’ must invest in capital-intensive machin-
ery, (spelled layoffs and redundancies). In short free
Or “‘freer’”’ trade means lower wages, more exploitation,
and more layoffs to Canadian workers. :
_ Once we travel down this path, the way back will be
Infinitely more difficult, if not impossible, for as pastes:
Sor Wonnacott from the University of Western Ontario,
4 Supporter of ‘‘free’’ trade himself points out, a one
© area would be ... much more irreversible (an)

Labor in action

option for Canada than it would be for the United States.

‘Tn a fully rationalized Canadian-U.S. economy, U.S:
companies would have a limited reliance on the small
Canadian market but Canadian companies would be
heavily dependent on sales in the U.S. Thus an Ameri-
can threat to terminate the agreement would be very
difficult to resist and might conceivably be exercised to
influence Canadian policy in quite unrelated non-eco-
nomic areas.”

So, if ‘‘free’’ trade is so bad for Canada, and Canadian
workers, how does the Tory Government sell it? Solu-
tion: co-opt labor! Method: conferences and sham con-
sultation!

Labor will be asked to ignore the reality that workers
real incomes are declining, while corporate profits
soared by 44.6 per cent since last year; to join in a social
contract while plants continue to shut down; and, to join
in campaigns to raise labor productivity while social
programs are destroyed.

Mounds of “Consultations”

So far the new Tory government has proceeded cauti-
ously, with mounds of consultative papers, and a labor

minister, Bill Knight, who proclaims his ““commitment”’ |

to ‘‘consultation’”’. :

The tri-partite summit of March 22-23, chaired by the
prime minister and orchestrated in part by Stanley Hartt,
(conciliator in the recent postal dispute), will no doubt
feature a renewed effort to pull labor on side, in imple-
menting a vast labor-rationalizing scheme of continental
integration. : é

An example of the desperation with which the Mul-
roney government views the need for labor’s co-
operation at this time, is the fact that Robert Hawke,
former leader of the Australian Trade Union Congress
and now Labor Party prime minsiter, will be brought in
ostensibly to tell Canadians about the virtues of the
Social Accord worked out in Australia.

But despite the slickness of Mulroney’s strategy (un-
like Maggie Thatcher or Bill Bennett), he will find most of

Two summits — one theme

Canadian labor cool to his plan to transform Canada into
an appendage of the U.S.

Most labor is opposed to free trade, including the New
Democratic Party, which only needs to abandon any
second thoughts on its policy of withdrawing from
NATO and Norad to eliminate any inconsistencies in its
stated positions.

As for social contracts or tri-partite schemes to en-
hance productivity at workers’ expense, the labor
movement’s position has been made quite clear in con-
vention.

But in coming to grips with the new situation brought
on by the Tories’ sharp move to integration with the
U.S., labor in Canada will need to step up the campaign
to popularize its own program, for without an alter-
native, Canadians will have no choice except monopo-
ly’s solution.

Such a program must involve extricating ourselves
from the American grip. Instead of free trade, we need
multilateral trade with all countries, including the social-
ist and developing countries.

Labor’s Program

Instead of becoming more dependent on the U.S.
market, we need to expand our home market. This is
where labor’s program comes in: shorter work time with
no loss in take-home pay; higher pensions; lower taxes
for low and middle incomes; social housing; remove the
sales tax; rent freeze; free collective bargaining; and so
on. ‘

In addition we need to develop secondary manu-
facturing.

And where does the money come from? Again labor
has the answers: stop the export of dividends and profits
and divert that $18-billion annually to job creation. (It is
conservatively estimated that one billion dollars creates
50,000 jobs.) :

End corporate tax deferments which last year ex-
ceeded $23-billion (cumulatively, and is rising by more
than $4-billion annually). Slash the useless $9-billion
military budget. Nationalize the banks so that we can
properly plan the country’s destiny and use their swollen
profits to invest in the country’s future.

To end the economic blackmail hanging over our
heads, and to use our resources for Canada, we need to
nationalize U.S.-owned corporations in this country.

And, finally, we need to match our foreign policy with
labor’s made-in-Canada policy — a foreign policy of
peace and independence.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MARCH 27, 1985 e 7