4 > pe Os et Ee SANS CO ee See eaten a edn Sh Sd Rwotuat Se BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Canadian High Ommissioner to the eastern Caribbean, Alan Roger, been accused by the Barbadian trade union move- Ment of meddling in the island’s internal affairs. One union has gone as far as to ask the government of this tourist resort and sugar producing island to expel the diplomat who is reported to have said that the Barbadian € unions at Canadian-owned firms in the island were demanding too much money. The criticism against Barbados-based Roger, who is accredited to most of the English-speaking territories from Antigua in the north down to Grenada in the south, Came from both the head of the powerful 35,000-strong Barbados Workers Union (BWU) and atop official of the Caribbean Labor Congress (CLC), the umbrella body Under which most of the trade unions in the Anglophone Caribbean are grouped. The Canadian diplomat was placed in a hot seat be- ©ause of remarks he reportedly made about the island’s € unions following the closing down of a Canadian branch plant here. d € unions are demanding too much money,”’ Roger 1S quoted as saying. He is also reported to have said that © Canadian firm in question, a garment manufacturing “ompany by the name of Russel Knit (B’dos) Ltd., could 80 elsewhere to neighboring St. Vincent island and get Cheaper labor. . average weekly wage for an industrial worker at a "nlonized plant in Barbados is about Bds$130-$150 (Bds$1=Can.$0.65). The wages are considerably lower at non-union plants and in the lesser industrialized nation States like St. Vincent. In June last year, another Canadian branch plant, Cooper (Barbados) L td., closed up shop at the end of its year tax holiday in the island, throwing over 400 arbadian workers into the ranks of the unemployed. About 50 Barbadians will be out of work because of the Ussell shutdown. €acting to the High Commissioner’s alleged re- Marks, CLC secretary treasurer Burns Bonadie said that they were ‘‘undiplomatic’’. Bonadie said that he could Hot agree with or support Roger’s contention that the Union at the particular branch plant was’ responsible for € closure. Speaking to local journalists, the CLC of- Cial argued that the branch plants of foreign cor- Peace Council condemns U.S. plans Canadian High Commissioner meddling in Barbadian affairs From the Caribbean Norman Faria porations are exploiting the economies of the region and not putting anything back into them. “It is my opinion that companies operating under tax holidays in the Caribbean have no intention of making any tangible contribution to the economies of the islands but simply come, and at the end of their holiday try to find scapegoats as reasons for leaving,”’ he said. Speaking on behalf of the BWU, which is a general trade union representing the majority of Barbadian workers, the union’s. general secretary Frank Walcott termed Roger’s reported statements ‘‘out of place and offensive’ and called for the Canadian diplomat’s expul- sion from the island by the government of this eastern . Caribbean island of 250,000 people. Our Canadian colleagues are real brothers in the struggle for workers’ emancipation — Barbadian trade union. “‘We must let Mr. Roger understand that the days of colonialism are over and whether or not the Government of Canada is providing assistance to the Government of Barbados, our country is independent and the trade unions will function here as independent organizations,”’ he said. ‘“‘The High Commissioner was not only out of place, but highly undiplomatic and, to say the least, offensive to the workers of Barbados in the statement that he chose to make in the interview he gave on the radio and which was reported in the press,’’ he added. “‘We do not hesitate in saying that Mr. Roger should be withdrawn immediately from Barbados because his term of office has come to an end by this most undip- lomatic and reprehensible statement,’ the BWU head said, Jan. 9. TRIBUNE PHOTO — NORM FAR! Canadian High Commissioner to the eastern Caribbean, Alan Roger. However, BWU head Walcott reaffirmed the need for unity and solidarity among Barbadian ‘and Canadian workers, noting that the union’s criticism of the Ganaian diplomat did not refer to them. “We have a close association with the Canadian labor movement which coyers more than three decades. The relationship has always been cordial and fraternal and the assistance that we have received from our Canadian colleagues has given us the right to state that they are real brothers in the struggle for workers’ emancipation’, Walcott said. “There is therefore no national bitterness between Canada and Barbados on the grounds of a lack of under- standing of common objectives but the conduct of the High Commissioner in the interview he gave to the press is objectionable for any diplomat in any country (to make),”’ he added. Meanwhile, in related news, the local Barbadian manufacturers have questioned Roger’s reported state- ment that Canadian firms are finding it tough going in the island because of high labor costs. Said Frank DaSilva, the chairman of the garment divi- sion of the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association: ‘‘I find Mr. Roger’s statement interesting since another company operating here and carrying a similar range of products seems buoyant and appears to have no inten- tion of closing.”’ Racism Reagan style Racism is alive and well in the United States, that so-called SE Ce ee Te ae arin Reem ames TO eel ED, Tag ad | HELSINKI — The World face Council, Jan. 20 has con- demned the setting up by the U.S. military of a new plan to establish domination over a vast area of newly-liberated and independent States, a Ina press cable, the WPC says, . It has been officially announced in the U.S. that as of Jan. 1, 1983, New Central Command has been Set up by the Pentagon. The €ntcom is assigned to militarily ©ontrol territories of independent S — namely Afghanistan, 8 Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, In, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, nomen Arab Republic, Peoples E Mocratic Republic of Yemen, 8ypt, Jordan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibuti, Somalia, Kenya, and ofa Considerable part of the Indian: , including the Persian Gulf I Red Sea. The territories of Stael, Lebanon and Syria come Under the control of the American -Ommand Forces located in the FRG ‘. “Centcom is authorized to use Its rapid deployment force, milit- ary and naval bases in Diego Gar- Cla, Somalia, Oman and other Countries in the area, as well as Special aircraft carriers and other Ships carrying nuclear weapons at 4 moment’s notice. ‘American forces intend to to- tally Occupy the vast area which is ‘ich in oil and other mineral re- _ Sources and U.S. defense secre- Weinberger has confirmed Tecently that Centcom and all forces at its disposal are designed to control the oil fields. “The creation of Centcom is a very dangerous step intended to suppress liberation movements, to destabilize democratic governments and to subject to blackmail those people who do not wish to be a victim of exploita- tion and oppression,’ the WPC charges. ‘It should also be remembered that Centcom was set up after the U.S. terminated Soviet- American talks on the Indian Ocean, sabotaged the UN pro- posals to establish a ‘zone of peace’ in the Indian Ocean, stationed the Rapid Deployment Force in the Sinai, encouraged the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and established a new strategic alliance with Israel. ““Centcom is supposed to be the ‘Third central strategic zone’ in the plan for global imperial domination, after Western Europe and the Far East, where huge U.S. military build-ups have taken place.” The WPC calls on national lib- eration forces, political parties and peace and solidarity com- mittees to unite their efforts to oppose this decision which in- creases tension in the region and to work towards dismantling all foreign military bases and make the Indian Ocean a nuclear weap- on free zone. bastion of democracy. Here is one example that has occurred under the Reagan administration: Eddie Carthan was the first Afro-American elected mayor of Tchula, Mississippi in over 100 years. Tchula is located in one of the poorest areas in the country. He was acquitted of frame-up murder charges on November 4 as a result of protests across the U.S. But he remains in Holmes County jail — denied bail — serving a three-year sentence on a charge of simple assault. He was convicted of this charge after he and a group of au- xiliary police were forced to disarm a white man who was illegally appointed police chief by plantation owners in the area. Carthan faces an additional four years on federal bank fraud charges. When the Justice Department was asked to investigate the attacks on Carthan, the FBI came in and framed Carthan for these charges. Another man admitted in court that he had forged Carthan’s signature on the papers in question, but Carthan was still convicted. Both convictions are now on appeal. _ New support for Carthan emerged in December when the New York State Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus passed a strongly worded resolution. Writing to Mississippi and federal officials, the Caucus stated: - “We are gratified by the recent Mississippi jury verdict declar- we are just as greatly concerned about several other matters, including: the health and safety of Mayor Carthan while incar- cerated; additional politically and racially motivated charges still pending; and Mayor Carthan’s conviction and incarceration for removing an unauthorized ‘police’ officer, who was in fact obstructing the duly legitimate mayoral administration of Tchula, Mississippi. : “Thus, we are calling upon you in your official capacity, as well as in the interests ofjustice, to exercise all the powers of your office to assist in achieving the following: e immediate and reasonable setting and granting of bail e immediate stay and release from incarceration e immediate granting of a full pardon of innocence e immediate and complete exoneration from all pending charges and convictions e full and immediate investigation of civil rights and voting rights violations in connection with the politically and racially motivated frame-up.”’ PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEBRUARY 4, 1983—Page 9 ey ing Mayor Carthan innocent of a trumped up murder charge. But -