Carr praises CLC militancy By MIKE PHILLIPS TORONTO — Newly-ac- claimed CLC president Shirley Carr closed the 30th anniversary congress convention on the same - note of unity as she had opened it May 28. ‘**T want to close this conven- tion by observing that this gather- ing will go down in the history of the Canadian Labor Congress and of the trade union movement as one of the most militant and united’’, she told the 2,878 dele- gates. It was a theme she returned to in the post-convention press con- ference May 2, where she told re- porters that her first task as CLC president will be to convene the congress’s executive committee o “place on its agenda a program on how we're going to implement these decisions.”’ Carr said the convention had directed the leadership through resolution to carry out a program of action and she committed the CLC executive to ‘‘do everything we can to make sure those deci- sions are lived up to.” Carr assumed the presidency unopposed, in a history-making event for the two million member CLC that for the first time not only places a woman at the head of Canada’s premier labor cen- tral, but sees the top labor post in the country occupied by a leader of the largest public sector union and a Canadian one. She succeeded former presi- dent Dennis McDermott who ended his 38-year involvement with labor by accepting the Cana- dian ambassadorship to Ireland,.. from the federal Tory govern- ment. In fact the executive commit- tee, frequently described by Carr during the convention as “‘labor’s cabinet’’ includes representation from the public sector, the private sector, women, Quebec and both Canadian and_ international unions. It is a complete reflection of the major elements that make up the CLC, as is the 32-member Executive Council. ° Such unity will be needed to put. into motion the militant and com- prehensive fightback program. adopted by the convention. Not only did the delegates adopt a program of mobilization to defeat. . free trade, (based on_ building. coalitions at every level around or- ganized labor’s program), and an. economic alternative program. that rests on a strategy of all-in panty, and mobilization of the labor movement behind a “Workers Economic Agenda”’ for jobs and industrial develop- - ment based on public ownership of natural resources, financial ._ institutions and key economic sectors; the delegates saw the key leaders of the major CLC af- filiates dedicate their unions to carrying the program into action. Clearly the delegates were looking for precisely this kind of . united response from the trade - union leadership. It was ex- pressed in the positive conclusion to the debate over asbestos which ‘threatened to split the convention along national lines between the Quebec delegates and those of English-speaking Canada. It was shown in the unanimity between rank and file delegates, Union officers, the CLC estab- lishment and the Action Caucus around the campaign against free trade, deregulation, and pri- vatization and for the Workers’ Economic Agenda. It was reflected in the enthu- - .Siastic support for international solidarity, particularly toward South Africa and Nicaragua, de- spite an international affairs pol- icy that many delegates opposed as being sorely inadequate. TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS described as “historic.” No Star War gam TORONTO — Peace was the second theme of the 16th CLC Convention. While the international affairs policy paper, and to a lesser de- gree Shirley Carr’s opening ad- dress dwelled on the false, **dual responsibility’’ theory to explain Unity was the hallmark of a CLC convention apres Shirle ‘clear weapons are for | wan. *, Local 922 president Gib Todd **Money isn’t the key issue’ told the Tribune recently. ‘‘ Management callousness over health and safety was the straw that broke the camel's back,”* he said. Negotiations began in December 1984 to renew a contract which expired Jan. 31, 1985, but went nowhere as PCS stalled. : Resentment over management's contempt for existing con- tract provisions has been building for several years, fuelled by repeated layoffs, averaging up to 20 per cent of each year since 1982. A permanent layoff of 68 union members last June effec- tively, wrecked conciliation talks which had just begun. The miners were angered by other management moves. Job ‘‘reclassifications~ cost.a quarter of the miners up to $5000 a year, and four unionized women miners in the underground control room had their jobs unilaterally turned over to male management personnel. Apartheid Labor Relations Frustrated by management's nine-month refusal to bargain, the miners were further antagonized on Feb. 26 this year, when 100 of them refused to be sent underground by an unqualified hoist cage operator. After a three hour wait, the miners reluc- tantly went down, only to be docked for the lost time. Todd accused the company of twisting provincial mine safety regulations to justify its action. ‘‘Labor relations here are not much different from South Africa’’, he charged. That incident led the local to call a strike vote. After the strike notice was delivered, a bargaining session finally took place, with no results. A major company demand, to eliminate statutory holiday pay for those not scheduled to work that day, remained on the table, and PCS refused to offer a wage increase until this and other rollbacks were accepted, say union negotiators. The potash industry is in a difficult period. Rock bottom farm incomesyin North America, and reduced buying by China have hurt the market for fertilizer made of potash, leaving a world oversupply. PCS is the world’s largest supplier of the mineral, but its profits have fluctuated wildly in recent years. Profits peaked at $167-million in 1980, and were $25-million in 1984, but the crown corporation lost $68-million last year. Crying Poverty Still, PCS claims of poverty ring hollow to the miners. The union points to far lower layoff rates among management, and to new travel allowances as evidence that the miners are being forced to bear the brunt of the industry's problems. The new travel provisions allow 48 head office officials to take their spouses on business trips at public expense. ov Potash miners dig i in against Devine By KIMBALL CARIOU LANIGAN — Two months on the picket lines haven't dis- heartened 290 members of the Energy & Chemical Workers - Local 922, in this town, east.of Saskatoon. The potash miners struck March 10, fed up with rollback demands by their employer, the provincially-owned Potash Corp. of Saskatche- More fundamentally, it appears that the Conservative provin- cial government has bent over backwards to support private |. potash companies at the expense ofits own crown corporation. =|). On coming to power, the Tories reversed an NDP decision to pull out of Canpotex, a marketing board composed of representatives from each company in the industry, a formula which reduces the power of PCS. Under the Tories and Canpotex, PCS has seen its share of the potash markets decline sharply. Last year, hundreds of PCS workers, members of the ECWU and the Steelworkers Union, signed a petition demanding a public inquiry into PCS. The unions raised a series of vital questions, most of which remain unanswered. Concessionary demands and a callous disregard of health and safety, leave miners at the provincially-owned Potash Corp. to charge ... ‘Labor relations here are not much different from South Africa’. Why, for example, did private companies such as International Mineral & Chemical (a U.S. transnational) and Kalium Chemi- cals fill orders for PCS last summer while PCS employees were laid off? Why has the PCS share of foreign sales fallen to 40 per cent from 63 per cent four years ago? Why does PCS operate at only half its production capacity while most private mines oper- ate at full capacity? Victory Possible Saskatchewan's Tory government, observers feel, aces a di- lemma. The Tories are committed to privatizing crown property, as they have in other cases, but need the revenue potash earns in good years. During hard times, buyers are hard to come by. Asan interim policy, the Tories want to cut losses at the expense of the miners, in this case pushing them into an unwanted strike. For their part, the Lanigan miners are certain the reason for management intransigence is more political than economic. Settlements have been reached at the other PCS mines, they point out; continuing a long management policy of trying to play ’ the workers at different mines against one another. And, they ask, why didn’t PCS bargain in good faith when the contract ran out 15 months ago, coming off a fairly good year for the company? Why does it still refuse to settle now, when there are signs of improving overseas markets? (China is buying again; the province has a new deal with India; and flooding, a common problem in potash mines, has affected the largest Soviet mine.) In fact, the strikers say, potash was being shipped out as fast as it was stockpiled last winter, before the walkout. Todd said only 35 per cent of the mine’s storage capacity was ever used last winter, and usually much less. He and others in Lanigan are certain that the company will need them back, and that the strike can be won. their families and childre® 5, 6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MAY 14, 1986 the arms race, the C0 nevertheless targeted | peace fight as a top pro! working people. ‘*Peace is in great Carr told the convention Bi opening remarks, and she phasized that, ‘the mytht ‘i af must be exposed at this tion . a “The Canadian La gress wants to free its M fear of nuclear devastation war itself. We love this nn | we do not want to with: struction. ~ ‘This planet must not asa home base for those who! to play Star Wars”’, Cart Sil The convention follow® with resolutions that called congress to press the Government to pull out oft fence Production Sharing ments with the U.S., an affiliated unions in studi applications of converting’ try from military to ° beneficial civilian product! The resolution on ott conversion also called 0? j to, ‘‘relate defence spe, the needs of Canadia eignty and international and not be used either a8 cise in the false econom™ military job creation, % ,, means of avoiding the enon tion it must make 1t0 — NORAD from involve™ mem Star Wars and to ensule NATO is dissolved wil achievement of negotialé balanced disarmament. — Raising the unity them® ternational dimension 4 the pohical labor’ bodies Soviet Union and other 69” The resolution situated thi centres, ‘‘in the intel developing understandif trust in the furtherance peace’. F Equally as import? an resolution commits the ‘utilize exchanges to ine efforts on behalf of a cO union response to nationals ... (and to) ene international trade union to assist this process to # extent possible.”’