at, a ae

CLC resolution opens way
for labor to play full role

TORONTO — Action to
strengthen labor’s role in de-

termining national policies,

shown by the outcome of the
recent federal election to be
“an urgent necessity for all
workers, farmers and forward-
looking professional. people,”
has been opened up by the
resolution on political action
adopted by the Canadian La-
bor Congress convention.

This is the view of the LPP
national executive as express-
ed in a statement issued this
week, Full text of the state-
men reads:

The Labor Progressive party

welcomes the political action
resolution adopted by the Can-
adian Labor Congress in con-
vention. We weicome particu-
larly the terms in which the
resolution deals with the task
of building a parliamentary al-
ternative to the Liberal and
Progressive-Conservative par-
ties. It places this correctly as
the task of developing co-
operation between all progres-
sive forces in united electoral
action.

Canadian Communists have
advocated exactly such a con-
ception continuously since the
day that we founded the
Workers’ Party of Canada in
the Labor Temple on Church
Street, Toronto, in 1922.

It was the central proposal
that the LPP placed before
the electorate in the recent
federal general election. It is
right at the centre of the LPP
proposal, in our national pro-
gram, for the development of
independent working - class
political action and _labor-
farmer unity.

The outcome of the federal
general election shows clearly

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that such action, now envis-
aged by the CLC, is an urgent
necessity for all workers,
farmers, and forward-looking
professional people.

The CLC resolution opens
up for discussion of, and calls
for action upon, the necessity
to strengthen labor’s role in
determining the national poli-
cies of our country. It accom-
panies this with a strong rec-
ommendation that
organizations should work to
bring together trade unions
and other progressive organiz-
ations with “liberally-minded
persons interested in basic
social reform and reconstruc-
tion through our parliamen-
tary system of government.”
To emphasize the broad popu-
lar character of its central pro-
posal the resolution calls for
“the broadest possible partici-
pation of all individuals and
groups.”

It is clear that the resolution
is not a call for the immediate
establishment of any Labor
party as such. Moreover, it
does not commit the CLC to
any specific organization or
form of organization.

The attempts to describe
the action of the convention as
mainly a decision “to work
with the CCF,” misrepresent
the purpose of the resolution.
To describe the decision as a
commitment of the trade union
movement to support any one
of the existing political parties
is in direct contradiction to the
clear terms of the resolution.

The essence of the resolu-
tion is a call for a wide-open
discussion throughout the la-
bor movement. The LPP wel-
comes this; its effects will be
beneficial to the working
elass.

It is necessary also to warn
against some tendencies to ex-
aggerate the immediate effect
of the convention’s almost
unanimous vote. It is assumed
sometimes that adoption of
the resolution means that the
struggle to achieve united in-
dependent working-class’ poli-
tical action is completed.

Such an assumption is com-
pletely wrong. The resolution
unfreezes political alignments
within the Canadian Labor
Congress and invites the trade
union movement at all levels
to take up the question of poli-
tical action in a new way. This
positive constructive action
opens the way for develop-
ment of broadly-based elec-
tion unity.

The actual building of such
united action will be the task

affiliated .

of the affiliated organizations
and the democratic forces
around them, which include
farm organizations, the LPP,
and the CCF,

The task now is to win the
majority of members of the
trade union movement for the
idea set forth in the conven-
tion resolution and to give the
idea organized expression. As
the resolution indicates, this
may develop at first in the
form of local actions.

It will require consistent
painstaking effort, with pa-
tient explanation of the urgent
need for united labor political
action and of the tremendous
possibilities that. its develop-
ment holds for the workers
and farmers,

It will involve sharp ideo-
logical differences of opinion
and debate and in some cases

sharp contests betwéen the
Left and the Right.
It will require maximum

energy on the part of pro-
gressive trade unionists to en-
sure that the. aims stated in
the convention resolution are
expressed in organized action
and that the political basis
of the united action, the work-
ing agreement, expresses the
real interests of the workers
and farmers in their necessary
struggle against finance-capi-
tal and its great monopolies,
for peace, to stop the sell-out
of Canadian sovereignty to the
United States.

Communists will do every-
thing in their power to de--
velop consistent fraternal co-
operation with supporters of
the CCF — and with all for-
ward-looking people — in car-
rying forward the proposal set
forth in the resolution of the
CLC convention. Our aim is
to work with all progressive
forces in developing system-
atic discussion of the resolu-
tion and going forward in
united action to give the idea
in the resolution organiza-
tional form. .

The Labor-Progressive party
does not seek any narrow
party advantage in helping to
develop such a broadly-based
farmer-labor alternative to the
Liberal and Conservative. par-
ties. The building of such a
movement is an indispensable
part of the historic advance of
the working people of Canada:
to political action independent
of the capitalist class, against
the stranglehold of the mono-
polies and their senior partner,
United States imperialism.

It is by such political action
that the working class of the
two peoples of our country,
French and English-speaking,
will win their way to the lead-
ership of their nations,

%& Howard P. Jones, U.S. ambassador to Indones!” }
here drinking a toast with Indonesian Preside® A |
Sukarno, had a less cordial summons from 1" gg
Subandrio last 0
questioned Jones about speeches U.S. Secretary et!
Jobn Foster Dulles reportedly made at the NATO 0
in Copenhagen holding that an Indonesian attack
Irian (the western half of New Guinea claimed
nesia and held by the Netherlands) would be #

Foreign Minister Dr.

the entire Western world.

BCE rate

hearing on May j

The Public Utilities Commission hearing on B.C: Pl
application to boost electric rates opens this coming |
May 21, at 10:30 am., in Elks Hall, 595 Hornby st
the company will ‘present its case and cross“e%

witnesses.

After the BCE completes its
arguments the hearing will

adjourn until June OSG

give municipalities and groups
opposing the BCE proposal
time to prepare briefs.
Indications are that opposi-
tion to the rate increase will
be strong. Burnaby municipal
council has blasted the pro-
bosal and asked the Union of
B.C. Municipalities for joint
action against the BCE bid.
Civic Reform Association,
which is preparing an opposi-
tion brief, this week issued a
copy of The Buzzard (appear-
ing in form suspiciously like
The Buzzer distributed weekly

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- a pie
on BCE buses) which ‘il
at the BCE’s dema™ ¢
other $16 million
from its custome! Be
“Vancouver has a Ce oe
electric rates of i, th
cities in Canada @*° ag] |
lottetown,” says 7H om hs
“This boost is not ve {3
“Sooner or latel
BCE octopus must ed
over by the gove™ Hy
the public interes ft i
hydro is publicly ont? A
in Montreal, TO of ya
Winnipeg, the price gM
tricity is less tha? veh
we pay in vance
case for public OW
overwhelming.” Ae

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May 16, 1958 — PACIFIC TRIBUN?—