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: MONTREAL —In Quebec the
leparations for what the labor
oot here calls the Cana-
bei Day of Protest on Oct. 14 are
Ing developed by the Quebec
€deration of Labor, the only one
uebec’s three labor centres
lated to the Canadian Labor
ngress,
ee president Louis Laberge
nounced two weeks ago, that
ot Organization would take full
Sponsibility in organizing the
4y of Protest and that he ex-
Pécted the response of the Que-
the Workers and their impact on
“i Protest would be éven
aauoed than their numbers
Bgest..Laberge also reminded
€ press at the news conference
a he announced the QFL’s
eo to participate in the pro-
na » that prior to the CLC con-
eee last May, the Federation
‘i Polled its membership for
“aN for the idea of a general
trol € in Quebec against the con-
: an The results showed that in
: ition to supporting the idea of
8eneral work stoppage in Que-
iva the QFL members were even
: € Overwhelmingly in favor of
8eneral work stoppage or-

y| 8NiZed by the Canadian Labor

hgress for all of Canada.

j berge also stressed the im-

Portance of the unity of Quebec

W : :
.| “Orkers with workers in the rest

it)
| *' Canada to guarantee success
{| 2.0

ct. 14,

By JOHN WEIR

¥
e Tribune Moscow Correspondent
h

¢ Moscow — The Central
Suncil of Soviet Trade Unions
i, demanded an end to violence
Ward the indigenous population
al South Africa. The statement
‘SO Calls for an end to the support
Sven by some countries to the
sae African racist regime in vio-
en of United Nations deci-
‘SlOns,
aa. trade unions, whose
.NOrity is felt in many facets of
oe are among the most active in
ie Campaign for signatures to the
ce Stockholm Appeal which
b Ched 160 million in the USSR
¢ the middle of August.
‘OSsmonauts Boris Volynov and
sa Zholobov, while com-
: “ting their seventh week in
eS flight, also called on the
mene: of the earth to back the
OVes for an end to the arms race
Nd for the attainment of world
‘Sarmament.)

Day.

Quebec Federation of Labor pushes Day of Protest

Support of other centers expected

He indicated that he expected
both the Quebec Teachers Feder-
ation and the Confederation of
National Trade Unions (CNTU)
to give full support to the protest.
The QTF, meeting in. con-
vention Aug. 23, heard its presi-
dent Yvon Charbonneau blast the
federal government's wage-
cutting program, including it with
“other repressive legislation”
passed by the Quebec and federal
governments ordering workers
back to work. Charbonneau
hinted that the federation would
support the Oct. 14 protest and
called on the convention dele-
gates to support the concept of a
joint council of the three Quebec
labor centres to co-ordinate
labor’s opposition to the
economic system.
The joint council is not directly

-related to the Oct. 14 protest butis

seen. by Quebec labor as a logical
step toward unification of the
labor movement here. Both Louis
Laberge and the CNTU’s Nor-
bert Rodrigue spoke to the dele-
gates, agreeing with the concept
of unity but indicating more dis-
cussion was needed to determine
how much authority the council
would have over the three com-
ponent federations.

A meeting of the CNTU Gen-
eral Council took place last week,
to get full support from the
union’s affiliates for the Day of
Protest.

Soviet working people cele-
brate May Day as their holiday
but Canadian trade unionists
marching this Labor Day can,
with benefit, ponder the social
security benefits under socialism
in the USSR.

The last unemployed grant was
paid 46 years ago. .

Ninety percent of the gainfully
employed persons in the Soviet
Union receive not only free medi-
cal and hospital care but also
compensation equal to their full
pay during temporary disability.

During maternity leave, which
lasts 112 days, women workers
receive compensation equal to
their wage.

Workers’ pensions are from
50% to 100% of earlier wages.

In defending peace the Soviet
workers are also protecting this,
their way of life, which has
brought them security and
well-being.

m0 CK AKME Ebi SAMANH
1 HM CTABMAA NAPTHA,
KOMCOMOA C SHTYSHASMOM ©
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t Canadian workers can, with reason, ponder the power and benefits of
May unions in the USSR. Above, workers of that country are saluted on

LOUIS LABERGE

A positive reaction is expected
from the CNTU for the Oct. 14
action because it was former
CNTU president. Marcel Pepin
who, prior to the CLC convention
earlier this year, sent a message to
Joe Morris, president of the CLC,
calling on the Congress to initiate
a Canada-wide limited work
stoppage in protest of the wage-
cutting program.

Another factor that augurs well
for the success of the Day-of Pro-
test is the fact that Quebec is fac-
ing a strike wave in the construc-
tion industry which could develop
into a general strike in the
industry.

On Aug. 20, 10,000 electricians
walked off the job to back up con-
tract demands. Quebec’s 140,000
construction workers are in the
process of negotiating with the
Association of Building Contrac-
tors of Quebec who are hiding be-
hind the Quebec Government’s
own wage-cutting guidelines.

A walkout by the workers at the
James Bay Power project occured
Aug. 24 as Montreal newspapers
headlined it the ‘‘starting gun fora
general strike.’’ The James Bay
Energy Co. was reportedly on the
point of declaring a lockout as
construction unions on the site
were taking strike votes and pre-
paring to leave the site.

A general construction indus-
try strike, or a strike wave in the
industry could very well develop,
with the Oct. 14 Day of Protest as
a high point in the campaign.

The Oct. 14 protest by the CLC
is being welcomed by Quebec
workers as one of the best guaran-
tees that the Quebec labor move-
ment is a vital component of the
struggles of Canadian workers. In
addition to being the first mass
Canada-wide work stoppage and
protest campaign ever to be or-
ganized by the Canadian labor
movement, the Day of Protest
will also register historical impor-
tance for another reason.

For the first time both Quebec
workers and their counterparts in
the rest of Canada are consciously
entering into joint struggle against
the government of Canada to de-
feat both its and the Quebec gov-
ernments’ monopoly policies.

SOUTH AFRICAN WAGES

TORONTO — The Canadian
UAW Newsletter recently noted
that the minimum wages for both
Black and white workers in South
Africa’s gold and coal mines have
gone up.

With an increase of $8.99 per
month to $62.26, for Black min-
ers, plus room and board, white
miners experienced an increase of
$51,87 to bring them up to $549.98
a month plus housing and sub-
sidies, the newsletter reported.

By MIKE PHILLIPS
TORONTO — The Labor
Council of Metro Toronto, repre-
senting 160,000 workers, called on
its affiliates to ‘‘pledge complete
support to the Canadian Labor

_ Congress-for the Oct. 14 Day of
: Protest.’’

In an executive board statement
unanimously endorsed by a packed
labor council meeting, the dele-
gates agreed to go back to their
locals and get their fellow workers
committed to participate in the
protest. In addition the delegates
gave the executive the power to
‘take all necessary actions includ-
ing expenditures to ensure a
successful and dramatic Day of
Protest in Metro Toronto.”’

“Call it what you will”, said
council president Sam Fox, “‘call
it a general strike, call it a protest
— we want every CLC member
on that day to demonstrate to the
public and to the nation as a
whole, that we are operating un-
der laws that are unjust, dis-
criminatory and in the worst in-
terests of our country.”’

Fox went on to say that the
labor movement had ‘‘crossed the
Rubicon in a sense”’ in calling this
protest and that the historical task
of organizing the first such na-
tional protest would: require
‘“‘tremendous’’ organization and
preparation with the absolute
co-operation of every affiliate re-

quired.

He called on the delegates to
‘roll up’’ their sleeves and do
everything possible “‘to get every
CLC member out onto the
street."”. To make Oct. 14 a
‘‘Jandmark”’ in the history of the
labor movement, Fox said, ‘‘it is
imperative — it is an absolute
necessity that every sinew of the
labor movement is to be
mobilized for this.’

Delegate after delegate rose to
support the recommendation of
the executive with many stressing
the importance of explaining to
the membership of the unions in
the area the significance of the
protest and of working to get the
members out Oct. 14.

The unamimity of the delegate

SAM FOX

support for the protest extended
to a delegate from the Public Ser-
vice Alliance of Canada who told
the council he could not agree
with the decision of the national
uriion not to support the Day of
Protest.

“I cannot say that I agree with
my own union statement, and
therefore I am working to get
people involved from our local
and to go out on Oct. 14!”

United Electrical workers’ de-

‘legate Al Reese reminded the de-

legates of the breadth of the CLC
call to protest. He noted that the
call was out not only to the labor
movement but also calls on
teachers; groups like the Ontario
Anti-Poverty Organization, ten-
ants groups, and unorganized
workers. ‘‘We have a job to do
notjust in the plants’’, Reese said,
“but in the community to make
Oct. 14 a success.”’

In conjunction with the resolu-
tion endorsing the protest, a
notice of motion for the next
meeting was presented, that an
assessment of 25 cents per
member affiliated to the council
would be requested to finance the
preparations and expenses of the
protest.

Detailed plans of the Council’s
participation in the protest ‘‘will
be forthcoming at an early date’,
the executive told the delegates.

“ Crime does not pay at your level...”

é
PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 3, 1976—Page 5

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