| By MIKE PHILLIPS < WINNIPEG — While putting the labor move- pa On a war footing against the multi-nationals their governments in Canada, the 14th CLC | lVention left labor with its guard down on the "Ucial international affairs flank. y delegates were disappointed, as the con- n drew to aclose, to be given an international Venti P backward for the labor movement in address- : Its responsibilities in the fight for peace and oe disarmament, and in support of workers in alvador, Chile, Turkey, the Middle East and shi Africa, fighting for national and social ion. Rumours were rife as the convention began that CLC leadership was divided on the direction foreign affairs report would take. It became dus by May 27, significantly after the congress “ctions were.over, when the international affairs “Port Was presented to the convention that the Wing forces in the leadership had decided to reign policy as their battle ground to blunt the : tant impact of the class struggle policies ,_-Pted on the economic front in the convention’s St days. The Teport tied the congress to the most right © interpretation of the foreign policies of the Cmational Confederation of Free Trade Unions, ¥CFTU) and in the case of El Salvador, Canadian “Or was more closely identified with the positions h the federal government than with either the New ~*Mocratic Party or the Socialist International. D zs, particularly the U.S., as the cause of the hy S face and the main threat to world peace, the C based its position on peace and disarmament 4 Sanctimonious ‘condemnation of both im- fnialism and the socialist world. _ The report ignored numerous resolutions from cal affiliates urging the CLC’s endorsation and irculation of the ‘Peace is Everybody’s Busi- Ss" petition which has already accumulated more an 100,000 names and has the support of a wide 8¢ of trade union organizations including the p,ecst union in Canada, the Canadian Union of 2 blic Employees. Instead it called onlabortomake : taneous disarmament an urgent priority tn ugh actions inchiding the circulation of labor j;’cment peace petitions, support for the ICFTU 3 ent program targetting both “‘super- &Vcrs’’ as the enemies of peace, and called for the “Multaneous dismantling of military alliances. | This latter point was seen as a move to avoid ‘Ving to go on record in demanding Canada’s | drawal from NATO and Norad, positions ¢. ch the New Democratic Party adopted at its last “eral convention. » United Electrical workers, (UE), treasurer Val “mason blasted the international affairs com- for ‘‘tearing the guts’’ out of the many mili- “ Tesolutions which came to the convention ating with international policy and peace, and he Used the leadership of ‘‘crawling on its hands” he multi-nationals and toward U.S. foreign pol- Y in particular. nebad can we say the mutli-nationals are our . “Mies on the economic front, then come crawl- ee them on our hands on the foreign policy \wstOns”’, Bjarnason said. ‘‘What in hell is wrong ene Naming them and the U.S. government as the My of the international front? They’re the ‘o,.t to world peace, they are the ones who'll Se a nuclear war if we don’t stop them.” LABOR ‘CLC stumbles over key | foreign policy issues airs report which in some areas represented a. fusing to hammer the multinational corpora-. He pointed out that even the NDP and the United Church of Canada have taken better posi- tions on peace and international solidarity than the international affairs committee of the CLC. Another UE delegate, Joe Schofield, opposed the CLC resolution on disarmament for its weak- ness and lack of serious action proposals to pro- mote world peace. Noting the loss of more than 20 million lives by the Soviet Union during the last world war, Schofield said Soviet workers and the people want peace and know a great deal more of war’s horrors than most Canadians. “In a recent visit by a delegation of Soviet work- ers to Hamilton’, Schofield told the convention, ‘they expressed the grave concern they, as work- ers, have over the threat of a nuclear holocaust.’ He urged the-CLC to begin taking part in world peace meetings and to resume its exchanges of trade union delegations with workers throughout the world especially in the socialist countries. ‘“We have to live together on this beautiful planet, let’s have some dialogue’’, Schofield said. A significant feature of the debate on the interna- tional affairs report and the resolutions flowing from it was the unanimity of the traditional right wing forces in the leadership and the represen- tatives of the so-called ‘‘Workers Communist Party’’. While the genuine progressive forces took strips off of the committee for its anti-working class international positions, the WCP spokespersons stood by the leadership echoing the same right- wing line. _ The resolutions on Poland and El Salvador sparked heated debates. On Poland the committee came down in full support of the anti-working class elements seeking to smash socialism in that “country. ; ae J.M. Bedard, Eastern Canada regional vice pres- ident of the International Woodworkers of Ameri- ca, (IWA), said the resolution condemning the Pol- ish government would place the convention, *‘in the company of the most reactionary elements in the world, Reagan and the multi-nationals, who are stimulating the movement ‘‘Solidarnosc’’ against the socialist state of Poland. ‘“‘These reactionary elements are not only the enemies of socialism’’, Bedard said, ‘but they are also the enemies of the labor movement.’ The Polish government, he said recognizing its mistakes in the past, had to act after its efforts to work out a compromise with Solidarnosc were re- jected and the country was brought to the brink of civil war. *‘The existence of socialism — was at stake’’, Bedard told the convention. ‘‘Documents were found containing the names of government officials who were to be assassinated, the country was on the verge of civil war. ‘“General Jaruzelski had no alternative, he acted in defense of socialism and brought the situation under control’, Bedard said. ~ On El Salvador, Fishermen’s delegate Walter Tickson criticized the committee for failing to con- demn the fascist junta and not incorporating ele- ments of a resolution on the subject submitted by the B.C. Federation of Labor. That resolution called for support to both the FDR and the Faribundo Marti National Liberation Front as the representatives of the democratic forces in Salvador while the CLC position ignored the FMLN. It also urged the CLC to demand the Canadian government give no aid to the current reactionary government. Tickson also criticized the committee for not speaking of the fact that the U.S. government is training El Salvador’s fascist army and police or for not mentioning the total lack of trade union freedom in that country. TORONTO — Local 28 United Auto Workers still haven't heard a word from CCM management about the company’s willingness to negotiate a new contract. Canada’s biggest bicy- cle manufacturer hasn't moved from its selfish demand that workers take a $3.50 cut in wages and benefits which Local 28 plant chairman Rafe Murray says amounts to about 33% of what the workers have gained so far. : CCM is also “demanding” contract changes aimed at weakening the union, including a longer probationary period and extended management rights. “It’s obvious the company had no intention of negotiating as far as I'm concerned”, Mur- ray told the Tribune June 2. é : Speaking for the 150 striking CCM workers Murray said, “We're staying with our position of no concessions and no takeaways. We’re available if they want to talk, but if they keep us out a long time, the 8% wage increase we're asking for may have to raise considerably.” = MANITOBA LABOR BACKS PEACE WALK : WINNIPEG — Organized labor in Manitoba has endorsed the June 12 walk for peace being held in conjunction with the United Nations second special session on disarmament. Endorsement came from the Manitoba Federation of Labor executive, June 2 and the Winnipeg Labor Council, June 1. The labor council has also set up an ad hoc committee to mobilize member locals to participate in the walk. CORPORATION’S COURT HITS PUBLIC WORKERS OTTAWA — True to its class loyalty to the government of big business, the Supreme Court of Canada gave the federal government unlimited authority, March 31, to designate whichever workers it wants as ‘‘essential’’ during a federal public service strike. The court‘unanimously turned thumbs down on a Canadian Air Traffic Control Association (CATCA) appeal of a lower court decision saying the feds could designate 1,729 of CAT- CA’s 2,200 members as “‘essential’’ employees. During the last air traffic controllers strike the union had argued that 272 ofits members could be considered essential to provide emergency services during the conflict. This view was upheld by the Public Service Staff Relations Board but chal- lenged in court by the feds, where Ottawa won the fight. CATCA president Bill Robertson said the decision strips public service workers of the right to strike. ‘‘There is no recourse from the decision as far as the right to strike is concerned’’, he said. Pierre Samson, president of the 200,000-member Public Service Alliance of Canada said the ruling, tums the PSSRB, which in the past has been responsible for essential services designations, “‘has now in effect become a rubber stamp for the federal government.’’ He and others pointed out that the feds are likely to try preventing the bulk of public service workers from exercising their democratic right to strike. LAYOFFS HITTING STEEL INDUSTRY SAULT STE. MARIE — Canada’s second largest steel producer, Algoma Steel Corp., brought the total of its laid off work force to 2,100 last week when it announced the most current batch to be laid off numbering some 400 steelworkers. At Stelco, in Hamilton, Canada’s largest steel mill, the closing of a blast furnace has put 200 members of Steelworkers Local 1005 out of a job. This brings the current jobless tally at Stelco to 2,200 with management hinting that another 400 workers could get the chop as a result of the blast furnace closing. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 11, 1982—Page 7