RS LE ES Se SATE ET, Ry oy lepe SS LABOR Chrysler pact anti-concessions victory — By MIKE PHILLIPS TORONTO — The significant victory by more than 10,000 Canadian Chrysler workers settled more issues than were on the bargaining table. At one stroke United Auto Workers- Canada members proved tht concessions can be beaten and the union vindicated Its decision to become independent. “It dealt with the myth that unions leaving internationals are doomed to stumble and fail’’, UAW presidential as- ee eee Hargrove commented Oct. “Our victory showed we could bar- &ain and win a contract on our own, and In that sense it was an important lesson for those who argued that once outside the international we’d fall on our faces. It was the icing on the cake.” UAW-Canada president Bob White, after the 97.2 per cent approval voted for the contract by Chrysler workers Oct. 20, proudly noted that every one of the workers’ bargaining objectives was Teached. With the Canadian contract talks ap- Parently stalled in mid-flight and corpo- Tate executives, here, unable to make the MOves to settle the dispute without Chrysler boss Lee Iaccoca’s permission, hite and Hargrove hopped a plane to UAW proves independence step New York for a dramatic encounter with the cigar-comping tycoon. Chrysler had invited the Canadians to New York after U.S. contract talks ground to a halt with the departure of the American UAW bargaining team for Huntsville, Alabama and a progress re- port to Chrysler council members there. After what White described as his “one cigar’” meeting with Iaccoca, he and Hargrove returned to Toronto with the framework of a settlement to the four and half day strike. The successful meeting and the con- tract that followed demonstrated how right autoworkers were to form an in- dependent Canadian union, and showed the power of the trade union movement when it is united behind, and prepared to fight for, clearly defined and progressive goals. When a tentative pact was reached, the UAW had blocked Chrysler from reaching its key bargaining goal — mas- sive job classification reductions in order to lay the basis for “‘Japanese style’’ pro- duction norms. The workers achieved their number one priority — full wage and benefits parity with Ford and Gen- eral Motors Canada workers and ‘‘catch up’” money to compensate for ‘the mil- lions taken from them by the corporation through concessions. The 55-cent wage spread between Chrysler and the other two auto giants was eliminated and the workers will get the same wage and benefit increases as the others in next year’s raise. The corporation also kicked in $1,000 for each worker and about 3,500 retirees as catch up, and gave $600 to each sur- viving spouse of a deceased Chrysler pensioner. In addition, for the first time each worker will get the chance to cash in company shares they got in 1979-80 con- cessions pact. Some workers could get a payout of more than $6,000. But probably the most significant fea- ture of the UAW victory for all Canadian trade unionists was the message the con- tract and the strike relayed to the employers that the UAW is on the offen- sive against corporate designs to slash workers’ living standards, undermine union rights and effectiveness. Iaccoca’s determination to restructure in-plant work rules and reduce job classifications to six, coupled with the corporation’s recent announcement of a 50-50 venture with Mitsubishi Motors for an $800-million auto assembly plant in Illinois, point to an intensification of the corporation’s drive to get Chrysler workers to produce more for less pay. With the advent of the developments — like the Saturn Agreement between GM and the American UAW, tying the union to a shared ‘‘mission”’ with the corpora- tion, to make auto workers more ‘“‘pro- ductive’’ and the industry more ‘‘com- petitive’’ — and all oncorporate terms — the stage is being set, for a further assault on workers’ living standards, jobs, and union rights. The corporate demand for greater worker productivity is also a standard Tefrain in Canada as employers seek to maximize the benefits of new technology for fatter profits. Now that Canadian autoworkers have put concessions behind them it’s time to help lead the entire trade union move- ment in a stepped-up fight for jobs and to allow workers and their families to enjoy the benefits of the technological revo- — lution. Along with the continued demand for better wages and working conditions, the fight for shorter work time has to be lifted from the resolution books and policy papers on to the bargaining table, if jobs’ are to be created and living standards advanced. The Chrysler victory can be a turning point in a renewed labor offensive. The auto industry is a good a place as any to Start. - - Free trade, aparthe top CUPE convention id ~ Regina retail union — WINNIPEG — The 300,000-member Canadian Union of Public Employees came out forcefully against free trade with the U.S. at its biennial con- vention which concluded Oct. 18. In an emergency resolution submitted by the CUPE National Executive Board, the delegates Urged their union to inform the federal Tory 80vernment and the people of Canada of CUPE’s total opposition to free trade and pledged CUPE’s full resources to promote labor’s alternative pro- 8ram of economic renewal.”’ P face and South Africa also was on the con- Vention agenda as the delegates approved a sub- Stitute resolution calling on the federal government 0 reverse its policy of letting Canadian corpora- Hons Participate in ‘‘Star Wars’’ research and to Strongly Oppose”’ its development by the U.S. or any other country © emergency resolution on South Africa en- dorseq by the delegates was in effect a six-point Program to mobilize CUPE and the labor move- Ment into action to press Ottawa for stronger ac- ton against the apartheid regime in Pretoria. he CUPE resolution called for the Canadian 80Vvernment to take economic sanctions against the -*partheid regime and pledged to do its part as a Union to Support such sanctions by organizing a <{mpaign in co-ordination with the SACTU Solidarity Committee to remove all South African Products from CUPE workplaces. , he resolution also committed CUPE to act ‘through the Canadian Labor Congress to mount another campaign urging companies, institutions 8nd pension funds to withdraw any funds they © t have invested in South Africa. In addition, CUPE reaffirmed its support for the "can National Congress, the United Democratic ront and the South African Congress of Trade nMlons, (SACTU); pledged to encourage CUPE Members and the general public to boycott South Conn tt 800ds; and promised to make a regular *ntribution to the SACTU strike fund. ; of € four day convention also saw a continuation pees leadership renewal process begun in 1983 'th the election of Jeff Rose to succeed Grace U "tman to the presidency of the public employees Nion, : fated incumbent secretary-treasurer Kealy at ings for the number two spot in the CUPE Honal leadership. Laniel had thrown his hat in the ring for the secretary’s job in 1983 and appeared to be a certain winner with no candidate running against him, when he withdrew his candidacy in favor of Cum- mings after the latter was narrowly defeated for the president’s job by Rose, who at the time, was the leader of Metro Toronto’s inside civic workers, By KIMBALL CARIOU REGINA — The struggle against concessions is continuing to heat up on the Saskatchewan labor scene. In the latest development 120 employees of MacDonald’s Consolidated, members of the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), were locked out Oct. 21. Local 79. This time it was clear that Rose backed Laniel’s candidacy against Cummings. Rose was acclaimed to the union’s top post for another term. Although wages are a factor, the company’s demand for complete freedom to hire part-time workers is central to the dispute. Tradi- tionally, more than 95 per cent of the workforce have been full-timers at . MacDonald’s Consolidated. - OTTAWA — Ina reversal wel- comed by a number of trade union leaders, the Canadian Labor Congress decided Oct. 10 not to take part in federal government - advisory committees on free trade negotiations. The decision came from the CLC’s 38-member executive labor leaders including CLC secretary treasurer Shirley Carr, Dave Patterson of the Steel- workers, UAW president Bob White, and National Union of Provincial Government Em- ployees leader John Fryer are said to have opposed earlier statements by Congress president - Dennis McDermott favoring par- ticipation in the advisory com- “mittees. _ McDermott had maintained that labor should accept Inter- national Trade Minister James _ Kelleher’s invitation to join the _ advisory committees because, it _ would be “‘better to be on the in- _ side looking in, than on the out- side looking in’ as the com- mittees discussed the merits of _ free trade agreements with the _ United States. __ Inhis Oct. 10 statement declar- council where several prominent CLC rejects trade body ing the CLC’s refusal to take up Kelleher’s invitation, McDermott _ expressed the congress’s belief. that discussion in the. advisory committees will be restricted to the question of how, and how fast to implement freer trade.”’ “On behalf of our two-million members we wish to re-state em- -phatically that the CLC is op- posed to the concept of free trade because of its threat to existing jobs and to Canada’s economic, political, social and cultural sovereignty’, McDermott said, adding: ‘‘we have no interest in legitimizing a process which is in-_ tended to implement an arrange- ment to which we are unalterably opposed.”’ : He concluded by calling for a _“‘full, open public debate on the issue’ before any free trade nego- — tiations take place with the U.S. The Congress followed its deci-_ ‘sion with a message to all ranking officers and CLC affiliates urging — the unions not to take part in Kelleher’s advisory and sectoral committees and pointing out that it would be, “‘hazardous in the ex- treme for affiliates to break ranks on this issue.” Picketers point out that the company’s parent, Canada Safeway, made $77- million in profits in 1983, $66-million last — year, and wants to increase profits by elim- inating the better earnings and benefits the union has won for full-time workers. The lockout began two days after city police intervened to ask 18 workers who had been occupying the company ware- house to leave. Picketers have succeeded during the first few days of the lockout to stop produce and delivery trucks from entering the premises to unload. ~ Union official Len Wallace said it is ob- vious that Safeway is out to weaken labor’s position in the retail industry, an effort, he noted, which has had some im- pact in B.C. and Alberta and which is now extending to other parts of Canada. Contract talks with Safeway, itself, are going badly, with the RWDSU facing a barrage of concessions on working condi- tions. : The union points to an influx of Management personnel to the Mac- Donald’s warehouse from other prov- inces, and to a current scab recruiting * drive by Safeway, as evidence of a con- certed attempt to weaken the union. People responding to ads announcing openings for ‘‘all positions in a retail store “‘were informed they would receive “temporary work during a labor dispute.”