*W union founded

| 10

’ miter TO — The Canadian

Mlustriee tte PUP and paper

Mt Cans, built a new independ-
dian union at a found-

Snvention held here ‘last.

Th 450 aa
Detnherg itlegates, who were
Yorkers # ne United Paper-
toted th Mational Union,
teenizat € new name for their
Mermorkers the Canadian
Lembo ii nion, By. Sep-
fesent’ 9. NeW union will
Yorker mately 52,000
ie cand ™
ANE fo, e
terly ee convention came
! by the f a referendum vote
tase of ee
a 0 the separation
telerende rational union.
es vote arose out
4 10n of the UPIU Ex-
“i 1, 1974 ohn ores January
mireatoe’
lon founding convent;
J Minar t ie pe potion dealt
i con establishing a
é, tian penition for the Cana-
f wet of Orkers Union and
te went re Constitutional de-

Og

mf Dinion Sau smoothly” in
es . Many of the dele-
| The teviewed, ;

it Slong =i Constitutional provi-
| lon o ! allow the Canadian

Demon, wPlete authorit i
One ee cemand y to im-
t tne of The Paes
itl National

Natj
if *Bteem Onal

Tst unions to be-
with the partial

ent .
of the international.

; But thera 8 of Assets
¢

|, ratio, . V88 a snag in the
/ 85 a mai eroceedings and it
Hf Micioteg ae One of the

ned in the Janu-

kon ORLANDINI
Toro ttling. yr The contrasts
to hote) “2 one downtown

f] is More than 450
. tog Me ad -democratic-
mi tay? 82Daraty making deci-
Other aa from their in-

4) fing Ow ion, While in an-
f) ing “Week, “ie hotel, in the
y, Meta tes inten ful of build-
| Reet” os Tnational repre-_
Ret 5 88 ang 33 holding secret
Mogg" und eo weking ways to
cently autonomy resolu-

Ven Passed at the
ion, Labor Congress con-

cone ee of the Wash-
Mage tives ‘ ational repre-
4.00 the © hesitant to com-
the nite secret i
Tribin proceedings
RS that °, ame did make
| wsetssions, some light
+ Ptesen ~ Eloi
t tative ° the Canadian
Steamtitt. of the Plumbers
tyitlect ries who was one
Woda €w who attended
i ty Etwary Meetings in the
| onl the Tote, June 6 and
inte, e in a tele-.

|
Reenter, “Yes, we dis-

We .° Of § autonomy reso-
teya Sas CLC and ithoagh
tons ay able to make any
by ot Palin © there was some
 Vuhign & Out of the CLC
= Not n and others. ”
O was asked if
: re thecussion ‘was not
° ecision.
Where th. Id=in- Vancou-
© delegates -voted

ary 31 meeting was a declara-
tion that a Liaison Committee
of the Canadian and American
officers. would be established to

determine an equitable sharing -

of the international’s assets. Of
the approximately * $13-million
assets in the international’s
treasury, the assumed “equitable
sharing”, would amount to about
$2.5-million for: the Canadian
union. be

On the opening day of the
convention delegates were told
by L. H. Lorrain, then chairman
.of the organizing committee
and later elected president of the
new Canadian union, that, “The
American members of the Liai-
son Committee, after seeking

additional legal advice, are now .

of the opinion that there can be
no division of the assets without
a constitutional . amendment
which, as you well know, can
only be achieved at an Interna-
tional Convention.” And to com-
pound the difficulty, Lorrain re-
ported that the Canadian mem-
bers of the committee learned

of the legal advice only “a lit-"

tle over a week ago.”
Acted in Good Faith

As the legal wrangles were to
be worked out, the delegates
were told, by Lorrain that the
local unions in Canada “must be
current in their per capita pay-
ments and other financial obli-
gations to our union (the inter-
national) up to and including
the date of the implementation
of the separation. That date has
been set for September 1, 1974.”

Lorrain stressed that the
Liaison Committee had “acted
at all times in good faith” and
he assured the delegates that

116 to 98 against a resolution
that would have used the threat

of withdrawal from the CLC, St.

Eloi said, “The decision’ taken
at the Vancouver policy ‘confer-
ence was not representative of
the thinking of the building

- trades because of the high repre-

sentation of delegates from B.C.

and the Yukon. And besides we |

don’t care what decisions were

‘made in Vancouver, we have to

do what we think is pest for our

unions.” :
St. Eloi’s reference to the B.C.

and Yukon’s delegation prob-

ably was made because the two

delegations were the most vocal

in their opposition to the threat

for withdrawal from the CLC
No Firm Decisions

When asked why the meet-
ing was held in secret, St. Eloi
had no comment. But the meet-
ing was so secret that the
union representatives 1n Local
46 of the Plumbers and Steam-
fittesr did not even know which
hotel St. Eloi was staying in
while in Toronto. (His head-
quarters are in Winnipeg). :

There were no firm decisions
made at the secret meeting but
the Tribune learned that one
of the options discussed. was
the formation of a new centre
for the Canadian trade union
‘movement.

‘And while the private meet-
ing was taking place in To-
ronto, things were also busy in
Washington, D.C., where many

Paperworkers go Canadian

the members of the committee
would continue to do so.

But not all the delegates were ~

as sure of the good faith as Lor-
rain and several told the Trib-
une, “We think that the legal
problems are just a road-block
by the ‘international, to prevent
séperation.”

On the fourth day of the con- ~

vention, the international presi-
dent, Joseph Tonelli, addressed -
the delegates and received a
warm reception when he told
the delegates that he “promised
action to ensure that the assets
of Canadian locals remained
with their new union.” But
what the delegates wanted to
hear about —: the international
funds — was still a subject of
some hedging by the interna-
tional president.
‘| Was There”

In a press conference after
the speech, Tonelli said that the
matter of the international funds
“still had to be decided by the
liaison committee of the Cana-
dian and American officials.”

The problems of the finances
did not, however, dampen the
delegates’ enthusiasm for their
new union, and in summing up
the convention one delegate told
the Tribune; “I’m delighted ‘with
the way things went. The only
problem that remains is the re-
distribution of the funds. The
divorce is completed and now
we are simply arguing over the
alimony.” :

At the close of the convention,
each delegate was given a but-
ton that read: “I was there when
the Paperworkers did it—June,
1974.” They all put the buttons

on.

the Financial Post (June 8,
1974), reported that Martin
Ward, general president of the
Plumbers and Steamfitters was
also getting into the act on the
autonomy question. Ward has
decided that the “35,000 Cana-
dia members cannot comply
with the new CLC ‘autonomy’
rules without running afoul of
the union constitution.”

: Resolution

In the event that the Canadian
members decided that they
wanted to separate from the in-
ternational, Ward said that he,
“would not oppose or resent it.”

-But Ward also made it clear
that he “opposed the Canadian

autonomy resolutions because
they represented an unwarranted
intrusion into the affairs of the
union affiliate.”

Then, speaking in, his Wash-
ington’ office, he counterposed
the policies of the CLC and the
AFL-CIO, noting that ‘in the
US3 the AFL-CIO does not tell
member affiliates how to elect
officers or how to determine pol-
icy,” and the did not think: the
CLC “should be allowed to exer-

cise

FREE BUS TRIAL

ity of Seattle, Wash. of-
core Peed bus service. Under
this one-year experiment, every-
one can ride buses at no cost
within a 105-block section of the
downtown area of the city. It’s
apparently off to a great start;
the number of riders - has

doubled.

such powers over affiliates.”

The Communist Party of

Canada, concerned for the life

of Greek patriot Antonis Amba-
tielos, has cabled the Greek
prime minister. Ambatielos, a

‘trade union leader and Com-

munist Party activist, has been
imprisoned since February and
is now reported seriously ill. The
Communist Party wire, signed
by the National Executive Com-
mittee, reads:

We have learned that Antonis
Ambatielos is seriously ill in
prison, denied medical attention
from the doctor of his own
choice, his relatives are refused
permission to visit him. We con-

demn this inhuman and savage -

treatment of Mr. Ambatielos and
demand his immediate release.
In a further effort to save the
health and life of the man who,
during World War II as a leader
of the Greek merchant; seamen,
did much to keep allied supply
lines open, Alfred Dewhurst,
Organizer of the Communist
Party of Canada, wrote on June
10 to Canada’s Minister of
External Affairs, Mitchell Sharp.

Canada’ maintains diplomatic
relations with the Greek military
junta, both independently and
through their mutual partner-
ship in NATO.

The letter to Mr. Sharp was
as follows:

It was with deep alarm that

_we learned that Antonis Amba-

tielos, internationally known
leader of the Greek Seamen and

_a leading member of the Com-

munist Party of. Greece lies
seriously ill in a Greek prison.
The authorities deny Mr. Am-
batielos attention by the doctor
of his own choice. His relatives
are denied permission to visit
him. : :

We strongly urge the Govern-
ment through the good offices
of your own department to
immediately intercede with the
government of Greece on behalf
of Mr. Ambatielos in order that
he may be attended by the
doctor of his own choice, that
his relatives may be permitted
to visit him, and that he
be released from prison imme-
diately.

Firestone breaks pact,
union ready for action

By JIM: BRIDGEWOOD

HAMILTON — The long quiet
strike of Local 113 of the United
Rubberworkers of America
against Firestone Tire Company
erupted last Tuesday, June 4.

A picket line with but a
handful of police in attendance,
or on routine duty, became one
of struggle where more than 100

' police appeared without identifi-

cation ‘badges to force the
picketers to allow a train load
of tires out of the plant.

Leo O’Rourke, president of the
local, charged that the company
violated an agreement .with the
union that was made before the
strike. The agreement stipulated
that there would be no attempt
to ship tires out while the strike
lasted, in return for an orderly
picketline and no interference in
allowing the office staff to cross
the picket line.

The action by Firestone was

‘provocation because the tires

were to be shipped to the Ford
Oakville plant where five trailer
loads of tires are sitting in the
yards.

With ‘the federal elections
under way, Labor Minister John
Munro rediscovered his constitu-
ency and got into the scene in
an attempt to win votes. After
months of silence on the strike
he said the action was a provo-
cation on the part of the U.S.
parent plant in Akron, Ohio.
After Munro’s: statement the
Canadian Manufacturers Associ-
ation waded into the battle and
rather meekly took Munro ta
task for not allowing .the com-
pany its “egal” right to break
the strike with the aid of outside
strikebreakers. 7

The Hamilton and _ District

Labor Council Executive in a
resolution at its meeting, stated.

its complete suoport of< the
striking local. The statement
also chareed, that the actions

taken by the comnany were pro-

vocations directed from the U.S.,

‘creating a situation that made
it difficult to engage in free col-
lective bargaining and meet the
requirements of Canadian law.
Support Local F13

“In view of this serious situ-
ation this Council will support
Local 113, URWA in any action
they deem necessary to main-
tain their legal strike and
protect their bargaining posi-
tion,” the statement said, con-
cluding by calling on all its
affiliates to do the same.

During the debate on the
resolution, Leo O’Rourke stated
that, “If the company does not
agree by Monday to restore
things to where they were for
the last three months,” then he
would call for “a mass picket
from all union locals in Ham-
ilton.

“And we'll do it even if it
means some of us will go to
jail,” he said.

John Ball president of the
United Electrical Workers Local
504 said that a new dimension
had been forced on the city’s
labor scene. “Corporate for-
eigners are manipulating Can-
ada’s labor laws to deny the
right of Canadian workers to
faithful bargaining with their
employers,” he said. “The-power
of labor must be shown on the
Firestone picket line and it’s not
going to be difficult. Many
workers were champing at the

-bit and were prepared to pour
“out of the Westinghouse plant

in support of the Firestone
strikers.” :

Jim Coffer, president of the

12,000 - member Steelworkers

Local 1005, stated that if the -

call went out “we'll be there;
we don’t want a bloodbath but
we're prepared to have one, if
necessary.” :

At the last minute on Sunday
(June 9), Firestone agreed to sit
down at the bargaining table
on Monday morning and the

mass picket line was called off.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JUNE 14 1947-PAGE9