LABOR FRONT

By WILLIAM KASHTAN

At the 1960 Montreal Convention of the CLC one of the
resolutions referred to the executive council for action
called upon that body to take up with the AFL-CIO and
with international union headquarters the amendment of
union constitutions to enable unions in Canada to participate
in political action. "4

With another CLC convention scheduled to take place
next April it would be useful to know
what happened to that resolution. CLC
president Jodoin apparently didn’t think
too much of it because in a statement
issued shortly after the convention he
argued thet unions in Canada had all the
autOnomy they needed.

Whether he or the CLC executive coun-
cil had a change of heart since or because
he might be asked some uncomfortable
questions at the next CLC convention,
in either case, the subject matter of the!
resolution was brought to the attention of the recently held),
AFL-CIO convention by CLC executive vice-president Dodge

According to the press Mr. Dodge warned the delegates
not to “treat Canadians as if they were Texans or New
Yorkers.” Canada, he said, “is an independent nation and
Canadians are very determined nt to be regarded as if they
were citizens of a 51st State.” -

* * *

In any case the press does not report what action if any
was taken by the AFL-CIO convention. Canadian trade union-
ists ought to inquire—did that convention take the request
of the. Canadian trade union movement seriously or did
Meany and company treat that resolution like so much paper
to be thrown into the scrap: heap?

Whether ignored by the dominant leadership of the AFL-
CIO or not, the issue of Canadian autonomy and a completely
sovereign Canadian trade union centre is far from dead.

A recent proof of that is to be seen in a speech made in
Windsor, by Mr, Leonard Woodcock, UAWA vice-president.
Mr. Woodcock was compelled to note what our Party and a
growing body of Canadians have been saying for quite some
time when he said:

“TI am sure I do not need to say to this audience that the
basic concern of Canadians and the root of our growing
division is American economic domination of your extrac-
tive and manufacturing industries . . . As has so often been
emphasized, the basic fear of Canada is that economic dom-
ination, if perpetuated, may be followed almost impercept-
ibly by political infiltration .. . Against this possibility. there
is obvious resistance; a resistance which finds expression in
Canadian sections of at least some of our international
unions in a sharp emphasis on ‘Canadian’ separateness, even
in some cases going to the point of absolute separation.”

* a a

Having made these points one would have hoped that
‘Mr: Woodcock and the International office of UAW would
draw the logical conclusion — the necessity for international
unions in the USA to ‘support the complete autonomy of
unions in Canada as the basis for a fully sovereign Canadian
trade union movement and centre. Instead of doing so Mr.
Woodcock called first, for the integration of the auto industry
in the USA and Canada which in the given conditions is
not calculated to end US domination and control over the
auto industry; and secondly, Mr. Woodcock called for main-
taining the present unequal relationship between interna-
tional unions and their branches in. Canada under the guise’
of strengthening internationalism (!).

_._ Ownership and control of capital is international, there-
fore the trade union movement should likewise be interna-
tional; this was the burden of Mr. Woodcock’s plea. Said. he:
‘7 think teday there exists a much greater reason for a
Single organization of labor in many industries’ on the North
American continent. This is brought about by the very econ-
‘omic penetration which is causing our present difficulty. The.
Ynternationalization of capital and control is not unique to
the U.S. and Canada. General Motors operates wholly owned
subsidiaries in Great Britain, Germany, Australia and other
‘countries. Obviously, if ownership and control of capital. are
‘to be international, then labor must find a means to cope
‘with the new problems that are created.”

: cS Bd *

A careful study of these remarks would show that Mr.
Woodcock is proposing the continuation of U.S. control and
domination over the trade union movement of our country
“and its extension to other countries as well; all in the name
of so-called internationalism.

That growing demand for Canadian trade union auton-
‘omy and for a fully sovereign trade union movement cannot
be wished away or be ignored much longer. Mr. Woodcock
could be making a useful contribution to the solution of
this problem by addressing himself t6 UAW locals and the
entire trade union movement in the USA on the subject and
this would apply with equal force to the officers of the CLC

It would be a great contribution to internationalism were
the coming CLC convention in Vancouver to take the issue
of Canadian trade union autonomy and a fully sovereign
trade union movement another step forward as an raat at
part of the struggle for Canadian is al

‘CUBA REVOLUTION. BROUGHT

THE LIGHT OF SOCIALISM
TO THE LANDS OF AMERICA’

By JOHN BOYD
Editor, Canadian Tribune
HAVANA — Confidence is

the word for Cuba today.
More than any other word,
perhaps, it symbolises this
enchanting island and_ its
joyous, vibrant and militant
people as they celebrate the
third anniversary of what
they describe as, “the revolu-
tion which has brought the
light of socialism to the lands
of America.”

As this is being written,
on Jan. 1, more than a quar-
ter million Cubans have come
to this beautiful capital city
to join its permanent one mil-
lion: inhabitants in the fes-
tivities. ;

Last night they filled the
cabarets, restaurants, work-
ers clubs and the city squares
to greet the New Year. To-
morrow on the actual anni-
versary of the revolution —
they will jam the spacious
Plaza Revolution to watch or
join in the four-hour march-
past and listen to the tradi-
tional speech of their beloved
national hero and premier
Fidel Castro. ey

Similar celebrations are
also being held in Cuba’s

other large centres.

How strong are the nonde
of solidarity that link Cuba
today with the rest of the
world is to be seen in the fact
that more than five hundred
foreign guests are present at
this year’s celebration.

The largest group among
them has come from 13 Latin
American countries: Brazil
with 86 delegates, Costa Rica
' 63, Ecuador 62, Mexico, Ar-
gentina and Uruguay with 25
each and Colombia 23.

Socialist countries’ that
have sent delegates are: Sov-
iet Union five, China nine,
Vietnam three, Korea three,
Czechoslovakia five and Ger-

Most impressive is Britain’s
delegation oi 30, including
Labor MPs Sydney Silver-
man, John Mendelson and
Ian Mikardo, trade union
leaders and prominent thea-
tre personalities.-

Africa is represented by
three delegates from Algeria
and one from Zanzibar.

From Canada there are two
of us: William Sydney, secre-
tary of the Medical Aid For
Cuba Committee, and myself
representing the

man Democratic Republic six. |

Canadian }.

Children such as these no longer go hungry in the new
Cuba. The Cuban revolution has brought them security
and education. This photo shows a youngster of the
68th Street Primary School in Marianao City reciting
a patriotic poem.

Comparison between |
E.and W. Germany |

The millionaire press in the West has carried on a
vicious campaign: of slander against the German Demo-
cratic Republic. One of the big lies has been to paint
Adenauer’s Germany as flourishing; with high living
standards; whereas Socialist East Germany is supposed
to be depressed, with low living standards.

Here are comparative figures from The German
Democratic Report on consumption of a number of foods
and other consumer goods in West Germany and the
GDR. Unless otherwise indicated, all figures, which have
been rounded off to the nearest unit, are for 1960.

Product Unit GDR W. Ger.
Grain products Ibs. per head wey 183
Potatoes Ibs. per head 390 293°.
Sugar Ibs. per head 67 60
Vegetables Ibs. per head 142 159
Fruit Ibs. per head 158 108
Meat Ibs. per head 126 120
Textile fibre Ibs. per head 28 25(58)
Shoes Prs. per 1000 prsns. 3100 2600
Watches Units per 1006 pers. 151 97
Bicycles Units per 1000 pers. 28 13
Motorcycle, motor :

scooters, etc. Units per 1000 pers. 16 7
Cars Units per 1000 pers. 3 16
Radio sets Units per 1000 hsld. 899 868
“TV sets Units per 1000 hsld. 167 253 |

January 12, 1962—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 2 . —

ee ee

Tribune.

United States deleeates are
noticeably absent. While
many have indicated ‘they
would like to come, they are
prevented from Aoing so by
State Department ruling
which makes any | United
States citizen who goes. to
Cuba without department’s
permit liable to five years
imprisonment and/or a $5,-
000 fine.

The Cuban people nave
good reason for their confi-
dence as they celebrate, for
they can look back on many
achievements in the past year.
Most oustanding among them:

e Their heroic repulsion
within 72 hours of the U.5.-
backed invasion at Playa
Gron last April.

e During this year of edu-
cation they have virtually
wiped out illiteracy, reducing
it to some 3.5 percent — the
very aged, the sick and in-
capacitated.

They proudly proclaim
now that Cuba is the first
country in the western hem-
isphere to achieve such a
low illiteracy rate and with-
in such a short period at that.

® Unemployment, once the
scourge of Cuba, which soon
after the revolution affected
600,000 persons, has now
been reduced to 200,000.

But they have even more

-| reason to be confident as they

look to the year ahead.

An indication of what this
means is given by Fidel
Castro in an article written
on the eve of the anniversary

for the new magazine, Cuba '

Socialist. In it he puts for-
ward these three main tasks
facing the Cuban revolution
in 1962:

(1) Strict planning of the
economy and of labor on all
levels.

(2) The most complete jre-
paration of the nation’s de-
fense to meet the danger -of
imperialist aggression. ;

(3) The heightening of the
revolutionary conscience, the
ideological education and the
strengthening of the revolu-
tionary nucleus which will be

integrated in the united party

of the socialist revolution.

The coming year will also
be the first of a four-year
plan to industrialize the plan
calls for the building of 106
new large factories and
plants. é

Unemployment will liixe-
wise be completely. abolished
by the end of this year.

Will the Cubans achieve
these great tasks? .

Yes, given peace, they most
certainly will. One has only
to be here for a few days and
see what these brave, enthus-
iastic and .determined peo-
ple have done and are doing
to be assured of that.

Among the thousands of
posters: and slogans that dot
Cuba’s landscape there is-ane
that reads: ““‘We are an ex-

ample to the world.” The year —

1962, I. am confident, will
show, even more than have
the past two years, how trye
that slogan is.

AWA gaan Wis