’ this

OSHAWA — The bright new
headquarters of the Communist
Party’s election campaign open-
ed in downtown Oshawa this
week, andthe Party’s candidate
Russ Rak described it, “as having
a tremendous effect on our
whole campaign. It’s the first
time in more than 20 years our
Party’s presence has been so
publicly felt.”

When asked by the Tribune
what issues especially concern
the voters in Oshawa, Rak spoke
about the fact that the large
General Motors plant employing

- 16,000 workers is situated in his

riding. “For us,” he said, “the
‘question of foreign trade, espe-
cially for the automotive indus-
-try, is very important. More

trade with the world, including

the socialist world, would help
our city immensely. To open up
new trade will require an inde-
pendent foreign policy by Can-
‘ada, and 'm campaigning for

“Another urgent question for
us,” said Rak, “is ample sup-
plies of energy, oil and gas in
particular. I’m advocating, as
does our Party’s program, an
all-Canadian pipeline from Win-
nipeg to Montreal and putting
Canadian energy resources un-

Just noticed in this morning’s
Globe and Mail that one of my
old acquaintances in the trade
union movement, Harry Simon,
has retired from active work
after some 40 or more active

years.

Harry has most certainly
been “through the mill,” as the
old saying has it, on the organ-
izing circuit. This writer wishes
him well in his retirement and
a long life. If I know Harry, he
will not confuse retirement
from active organizing respon-
sibilities with retirement from
society in an economic,’ social
and political sense.

What bothered me a bit about
Wilf List’s account of Harry’s
life was that he featured. red-
baiting, or anti-communism as
one of the highlights. There have
been times when the differences
in principle between social de-
mocrats and communists have
been advanced as obstacles to
labor unity to achieve common
aims. But despite all the red-
baiting, and the ebb and flow of
militancy and radicalism only
the diehards among’ labor lead-
ers have gone so far as to deny
the role of a communist as a
political person, and not a pa-
riah, and communism as a poli-
tical trend and not some sort of
diabolical conspiracy. Certainly,
Harry never was a communist.
But neither would it be correct
to view him as a person who
was ignorant of the role that
communists- have played in the
trade union movement.

Lewis Nettled

For some reason, there are
efforts being made today to re-
vive some kind of McCarthyite
witch-hunt spirit by looking
upon communism as something
worse than the bubonic plague.
Apparently David Lewis is still
strongly infiuenced by the
“kiss-of-death” philosophy when
he hears the word communism.
Asked by a student in Kinder-

BY BRUCE MAGNUSON

Russ Rak, Communist candi-
date in Oshawa:

der public ownership.”

Rak reported a real interest in
the issues raised in his campaign
by people he has spoken to. “I
have spoken about these and
other urgent questions over the
radio and on television and plan
to do more of this. The fact is,
none of the other parties’ are
raising these issues.” He has
been keeping up a barrage of
letters to local newspapers and
radio stations replying to state-
ments by other candidates.

Last week Rak went on tele-
vision to attack the Liberal and
Tory stand on inflation. “Tru-
deau promised to wrestle infla-
tion to the ground after the elec-

tion. Stanfield continues to talk
about wage and incomes control
and cutting back on social
spending,” Rak said. “But Can-
ada, as one of world’s -richest
countries, can do more, not less,
for its: people.” Quoting soaring
profit figures, Rak outlined the
Communist platform to curb the
power and profits of monopoly
and repatriate Canada’s econ-
omy.

That same week, Rak attacked
the federal-provincial agree-
ment that has led to the recent
9-cents ‘ per gallon increase in
gasoline costs. “All the talk by
the Liberals and Tories about
their concern over inflation is
sheer hypocricy,” charged Rak.
“Our Party calls for immediate
action..by these governments to
roll back the price of gasoline:
and heating oil to the Jan. 1973
levels.”

In another public statement
on radio, Rak criticized the Con-
servative policy of isolationism
and called for a far greater ex-
tention of trade, cultural and
scientific exchanges with the so-
cialist world. He -argued that
Canada’s real interests will be
“best served by a foreign policy
based on peaceful co-existence,
detente and disarmament.”

| ABOR SCENE Anti-communism no cure

for monopoly domination

sley, Saskatchewan, about links
between the NDP and commu-
nists, Mr. Lewis is reported as
being a bit nettled. “You tell
anybody who makes that
kind ‘of accusation .. . that
either they are ignorant or
viciously dishonest or both.”

Mr. Lewis is reported to have
said this was the first time he
had heard that sort of talk in
the present campaign. He is re-
ported as having said that no
one, but no one, in Canada had
fought against the communists
in the past four decades as he
had. He had chased them in the
union movement and in the
old Co-operative Commonwealth
Federation, a forerunner of the
NDP. “I don’t want their sys-
tem, and those of us in the New
Democratic Party don’t want
their system.”

What this proves is that Mr.
Lewis carries all. the prejudices
of an old social democrat who
has no quarrels with the capital-
ist system as such, but thinks
that he can run it better than
the capitalists themselves by
means of social reforms.

The difference between Mr.
Lewis and the communists is
precisely the difference between
Social Reformism as a_ trend
within the working class move-
ment and Revolutionary Marx-
ism-Leninism or Communism,
as another trend.

What Mr. Lewis fails to see
is the need today to unite these
two trends in’ the struggle
against the big corporations, in-
cluding the multi-national ones,
that Lewis speaks so much
about. Unless the two political
trends within the working class
and broad democratic movement

begin to work together against

the capitalist monovolies and
their captive politicians of the
old capitalist parties, there can

be no challense to the statis.

auo of capitalist monopoly do-
mination.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JUNE 14 1947—PAGE 8

As Francois Mitterand, Gene-
ral Secretary of the French So-
cialist Party pointed out in the
last month’s presidential elec-
tion in France when asked if the
Socialist- Communist alliance
would weaken his party, or con-
stitute an embarrassment for
other socialist parties:

End Exploitation

“The Socialist Party fights

for the ending of capitalism, for

_ 4 fundamental transformation of

society, for the ending of exploi-
tation of man by man. Whoever

forgets this objective is no so-

cialist.
“France is dominated by re-

actionary forces today, by a>

government which is only inter-
ested in serving the interests of
profit and of monopoly capital.
“Experience in France, Italy
and a number of other countries
has shown that a successful
Struggle against this reaction
and for the realization of the
aims of socialists is impossible
as long as the forces of the
working class are divided be-
tween the two tendencies — so-
cialist and communist. Were so-
cialists to reject unity in the
name of anti-communism then
they would abandon their aims
and cease to be socialists,
Difficult for Reactionaries
“Far from having been weak-

ened by its policy of unity with ©
the communists, the Socialist

Party has regained the confi-
dence of the masses in the last

few years after it had almost |

disappeared as a party. It isnow
almost. as strong as the com-
munists, with 21.9% of the
votes as against 22.2% for the
Communist Party. Reaction was
able to utilize the fear of com-
munism for long enough in or-
der to get people who, in them-
selves, were proggessive, to vote
for the reactionary parties,
Thanks to the unity of the Left

this has now become infinitely
more difficult.”

POSTIES PLAN
CODE BOYCOTT

QUEBEC — The Canadian
Union of Postal Workers
(CUPW) resolved last week to
boycott “in every possible way”

automation of mail handling:

The resolution further empow-
the union’s national executive to
refuse to have membership ratify
any collective agreements with-
out talks about mechanization
which threatens the classifica-
tion levels of post office

The CUPW plans a vast infor-
mation campaign to encourage
the public and other unions to
stop using the postal code. Other
forms the boycott will take have
not been spelled out.

NABET SEEKS
REFERENDUM
ON SEPARATION

TORONTO — Union leaders
representing 4,500 radio and
television technicians have
voted to seek. the opinions of
members on the question of
separation from their American
parent union.

In the next six weeks, a secret
ballot referendum will be held
among members of, the National
Association of Broadcast Em-
ployees and Technicians. They
include camera and sound men,
maintenance and other technic-
ians and some newsroom and
Office staffs.

' The decision came at a meet-
ing of about 40 local union
presidents in Toronto.

PUBLIC WORKERS
CHOOSE ARBITRATION

OTTAWA — Despite urgings
by the executive of the Public
Service Alliance of Canada to
Switch to the conciliation and
strike route for settling collec-
‘tive bargaining disputes, six of
seven Alliance bargaining units
elected to stay with the arbi-
tration method.

The alliance recently polled
some 13,500 public servants in
the technical category.

Of those who voted, the ma-
jority opted to go through con-
ciliation and strike.

But the decision failed as it
takes a majority of the ae
bargaining unit to change
dispute route.

OFL PROTESTS
PROSECUTION OF |

ning a “25 ‘and 0
plan with Mohawk
The plan becomes

1, and permits ne
or more years S¢f)

ori a pension of re
times years of S@r oot
$200 a month supplem se
the retiree reaches 80°”

the plan in any one ¥
of the total eligible me
for each retiremen ;
are no restrictions © ate
ber who may retite "ice,
and have 30 years §

N
BUILDING TRADESME
STAGE 24-HO
WALKOUT work

HULL, Que. ~ ation
several Hull. consti ;
who staged a 240004
last week were Hig
by other workers 7 woth)
attempted to return on NOD!

Canadian Federati jdent |
Trades Unions Pre ok

not return un

minister of Tab0r for:
re-open negotiation =—
contracts.

NEW YORK — Picketlines of th nt in

of America were lively and brisk as the union We jast
industry-wide strike in 53 years. Talks broke mate wage?!
with the union and the bosses “still far. apart’ 7 on esues
living protection and health, welfare and pension

e Amalgamated

- , Wo
Clothing is

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