i ____ Special to the Tribune
wit In 1978, thousands of Chilean

cot} Workers tumed up for a May Day
ili’ Tally even after dictator Pinochet
al hysterically announcedrepressive
hat) Measures against those who took
ty) Part. As was expected, troops
git Were sent in and hundreds were
| Tested, including 87-year-old
ited Central Union of Workers (CUT)
tt founder Clotario Blest.

ly Some months. later, when an
nell a AFL-CIO-backed boycott of
ite ‘Made with Chile. was announced,
ol the junta staged a mock rally to

ov SOW ‘workers’ repudiation” of

me the Measure. Shifts were ended
farlier and armed troops were
uct Sent out to bus people to the rally,
oll Sut most workers flatly refused to
Nel 80. The well-guarded rally was
fiet! © Oly attended by a few hundred
ws lightened people. __
en) , These two incidents illustrate
he present situation of the labor
~™Ovement in Chile, the most
; hverful and best organized of
: 197 Continent up to the Sept. 11,
5 3 coup d’etat that toppled
Tesident Salvador Allende’s
€mocratic government. Looking

v) Ck, significant progress has un-
als) oubtedly been made. Whether
ite! _jle dictatorship likes it or not, the
t the ilean labor movement is

he ‘Pidly pulling itself back to-

8ether, and voices of protest
4ainst the regime’s genocidal

a -£Conomic policies and political
nat Bession grow stronger every
y.

Chile’s major labor organi-
Zation, the CUT continues to
| €Xist illegally, and plays a vital

Tole in leading workers’ reorgani-

Zational efforts. New federations

designed to fill the vacuum left by

the outlawing of CUT have re-
_ ently refused to dissolve when
Ey veted to do so by a junta’s
_ <&cree-law, and continue to fight
for full respect of workers’ rights.

Owever, collective bargain-
4g, union meetings, elections,

Strikes and walk-outs are still

- Chilean labor fights
| back against fascism

banned under Pinochet. The crea-
tion of new forms of union strug-
gle, and the election of new anti-
regime leaders outside the legal
boundaries imposed is the result
of workers having simply decided
to overpower the junta, regard-
less of reprisals. ;

Leaders Vanished

Still, many union leaders are to
be found among 2,500 political
prisoners who vanished after
being arrested by DINA-CNI,
Pinochet’s brainchild. Indeed, the
military have unsuccessfully at-
tempted to silence growing dis-
content among workers who have
seen their standards of life de-
teriorate to unspeakable levels,
while unemployment, inflation,
hunger and poverty continue to
grow steadily. _

Operating within the significant

-elbow-room gained in the past six

years, organized workers are now
publicly displaying their anger
and opposition to the dictator-
ship. Pinochet’s morally bankrupt
regime is rapidly being cornered
into having to respect workers’
rights. Today, growing opposi-
tion within Chile and the watchful
eye of an outraged world public
opinion have tied the regime’s
hands to a certain extent.

But even if more days of
repression under the fascist boots
lie ahead of Chileans, it is no less

true that this year’s May Day ~

commemorations will once again
reassert their strong resolve to
carry out the mandate given them
by President Allende on Sept. 11,
1973: *‘May you continue to know
that rather sooner than later you
will open the great avenues
through which free man will pass»
to build a better society :..”

(On May 1, 1979, Santiago
workers staged one of the biggest
demonstrations since the fascist
coup. Pinochet’s police arrested
400).

mine.

high.

Chile.

TORONTO — Supporters of ;
Democratic Chile were out on the streets
here again April 27 — this time in front of
the offices of Noranda Mines to protest
that corporation’s proposed multi-million
dollar investment in Chile’s Lonquen

‘*For Canadian workers,’’ read a press
statement, ‘‘the proposal is part of the
trend of multi-national corporations to
move jobs out of Canada to countries
where wages are low, therefore, profits

**For Chilean workers, the investment
would be a boost for the fascist military
dictatorship which has driven down their
living standards and obliterated their
rights ...”’

The protest took place on the day of
Noranda’s annual shareholders’ meeting
and was organized by the Toronto
Committee for Solidarity with Demoractic

We nservative leader Joe Clark has
amed voters not to vote for the NDP

Use they haven’t a ghost of a

eo chance of forming a government. He
jt | °8¥s that only his party can do that. So,
Voters want to throw Trudeau out,

| th

| "te Conservative.

cir votes will be wasted unless they

* * *

fate ‘‘wasted vote’’ syndrome is a
Onte ploy of those parties that have

Othing to offer voters but more of the
SMe. It is a direct frontal attack on the

_ 20st important aspect of the electoral

|= Process, i.e., making up one’s mind on

.W and what to vote for. The next
portant step is to cast that vote in the

| .J8nner so decided. One does not
__Waste’’ such a vote and those that -

aim you do, are either mindless or
“Coundrels. .

|| _ An election is not a game of chance

ere **you pays your money and takes
Sur choice.’’ Neither is it a game
tere you knowlingly vote for some-

| ‘ng you don’t want. For instance, -if

a Ne wants a government that puts
People ahead of the multi-nationals,

§ ne would be foolish to vote for a party
_Ommitted to uphold high, high corpo-
i: Tate profit which can only be secured at

_ J€ expense of one’s own living stan-

* * Lae

tl dards, That indeed, would be a’
| Wasted vote’’.

Both the Conservative and Liberal
Parties uphold corporate profit in-
terests. Both are favorite parties of the
multi-nationals. Both compete with

_ one another in demonstrating which can

best serve those interests. There are
now seven Conservative provincial
governments. The present federal
government is Liberal. All of these
governments, each in its own way,
uphold the corporate profit system.
The Liberals ‘and Conservatives are
equally famous for making election

promises which they have little, or no.

intention of keeping. Trudeau and

Clark are competing fiercely in making

such promises. ;
Just one example of the worth of such

promises. Saturday's (April 28) press

quotes Trudeau as promising house-
wives and widows a new deal on pen-
sions if he is returned to office on May
22. He has been in office for better than
10 years. So why- hasn't he already
acted to improve the lot of housewives
and widows? But, one of the actions he
did take while in office was to cut family
allowances.

The Communist Party in its election
platform (published in the April 30 is-
sued of the Canadian Tribune) says:
that both the Liberals and Conserva-

Pees sa)

|Make your vote count ;

Marxism-Leninism in Today’s World

tives believe ‘‘that Canadians will sup-
port policies which in effect cut their
own throats, undermine their future
and Canada’s. ;

_ The Communists say that these two
old dine capitalist parties are wrong.
They say that most Canadians recog-
nize that the present state of affairs
cannot be allowed to continue — that

real change is necessary. And: the
- Communists say that the people are

right. They say also that working
people have to not only vote for real
change if that is what they want, but
they must fight as well as vote to win
that change. And they, the Com-
munists, will fight shoulder-to-shoulder
with their fellow workers to achieve
this goal.

Up to now the NDP has resisted the
necessity for real change and the need
for united action to achieve it. This re-
sistance is reflected in its limited prog-
ram which shies away from public
ownership under democratic control of
the basic sectors of the economy. But
this is the very heart of real change. Just
as united democratic action is the only
means open to the working people to
achieve real change.

The election of Communists to
parliament will open the way for united

democratic action in Parliament for
new policies that serve the vital in-
terests of all working peopie. Com-
munists in Parliament will strengthen
the fight outside of Parliament to win
policies that must be fought for if they
are to be won. a
te eee
The more votes the Communists get,
the more it will help in the battle which
will undoubtedly go on after the elec-
tion to compel that new Parliament and
government to act in the interests of

_ the working people. This will be the

case whether the new government be

Liberal, Conservative or a minority

government relying on either NDP or
Socred ‘support. :

For those who consider that the al-
ternative advanced by the Communist
Party is sound, they should support the
candidates of that party. Every vote for
a Communist candidate is a vote

. against corruption in government,

against exploitation and inhumanity of
the capitalist system. It is a vote for
opening the way to a new society in
which the people own Canada and its
resources and control their own de-
stinies.
* * : ok

A vote for the Communist Party is a
vote for better conditions today, and for
a future of security and prosperity.
Make your vote count.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 11, 1979—Page 7