<< More than 1,000 workers packed into the Steelworkers Hall in Sudbury to hear speakers and press their demand for no layoffs and the nationalization of INCO. INCO take-over demand gets wide labor support Cont'd from pg. 1 Can not claim to represent the Working class,” Gignac said. Local 6500 president Dave atterson outlined the union’s five Point program to stop the layoffs that was presented to INCO later in the week. Two main points of the Program are an overtime ban and an early pensioning plan. ut it was the demand for Nationalization that caught the imagination of the meeting and was picked up by speaker after speaker. Support for that demand has already come from the Hamilton Labor Council, national executive board of CUPE. Ontario Communist Party leader William Stewart welcomed the call for nationalization and pledged his party’s support to the demand. The significant feature of the demand, Call for nationalization wins CUPE convention Delegates at the national con- Vention of the Canadian Union of Public Employees who had earlier Sent their resolutions committee back to redraft and strengthen a €yY economic document, voted Overwhelmingly to endorse a new Policy statement cirticizing foreign and domestic cor- Porations for causing inflation, Unemployment and insecurity’’ and calling for a new economic Program including “the developmentof secondary industry and nationalization of key in- dustrial sectors.” The strongly-worded policy Statement appended to the union’s document entitled ‘“‘Planning For €ople”, won wide approval from the 1,200 delegates at CUPE’s nal convention in Vancouver. Clegates had voted on the opening 4Y of the convention to refer the Program back to committee, demanding that concrete policies Outlined to meet what the Convention called “‘the greatest ®conomic crisis of our generation.” € prognosis remains bleak,”’ the document warned, citing chronic unemployment, inflation Which continues at a fever pitch, the Slashing of social services and Wage rollbacks. Owever, it noted, “while most . Us scramble to survive, cor- Porations both foreign and oMestic, along with their povernment insitutions, continue de make private investment 4g iSions which increase profits or the few and cause inflation, Unemployment and insecurity for the Many.” : The economic program outlined a convention called for both rt term policies to combat wnemployment and relieve Nomic insecurity and for long tm planning based on “a new Ndustrial strategy.” Among the short term policies advanced by delegates were ex- Panded housing construction, ™proved social security, more “quitable taxation policies and an ®nd to wage controls, restoration of ) government curtailed social services. ; In calling for a long term strategy aimed at developing ‘‘a strong and independent industrial base”’ the convention outlined a six point program: 1. Canadian ownership of in- dustries now controlled and owned by foreign cpaital. 2. Development of secondary industry for export. 3. Rational plan for the processing of raw materials in Canada. 4. Extension of public services to meet the needs of the Canadian” people complemented by the removal of inefficiency created by management. ! 5. Creation of publicly funded and controlled research and development projects. 6. Nationalization of key in- dustrial sectors and particularly the primary resource industries. The sixth point with its call for nationalization was seen as par- ticularly significant because of the impact of the 231,000 member union on the New Democratic Party which has backed away from policies of nationalization considering them to be “‘un- ar.” so policy will also be of some importance in the biennial con- vention of the Canadian Labor Congress, slated for April, 1978. Elsewhere in the CUPE - convention which wound up last Friday, delegates voted to reaf- firm its support for Quebec’s “right to self determination” and to “join together with Quebecois against any attempt on the part of the Canadian government to deny them this right.”’ The resolution submitted by the Quebec Division was given con- siderable impetus by Quebec Federation of Labor president Louis Laberge. It also noted that CUPE ‘has a duty to defend the democratic and national rights of Quebecois, in- cluding the right to political in- dependence.”’ the” Sudbury labor Council, and the Stewart said, is that ‘‘it came from _ the workers themselves. They just see no other solution to the long term needs of their city.” » Sudbury Labor Council president Elmer McVey said in concluding the meeting, the people of Sudbury had made it clear to INCO they wouldn’t tolerate seeing their community strangled. He also promised there would be more demonstrations, and if necessary Trudeau and Davis would be brought before the people of Sudbury to account for not taking action to stop INCO’s plans. Peter Deselets council vice- president was applauded when he told the rally, “‘the true owners of our nickel and copper resources are right here in this hall. These resources belong to the people of Canada. . . governments provin- cial, and federal, have passed other measures in less time than it takes to wink. Legislated back to work of striking workers is one example, let the government now legislate the safeguarding of jobs for INCO workers.” Both federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Ontario leader Stephen Lewis addressed the meeting and pledged to demand government action in ordering INCO to stop the layoffs. Communist Party leader Stewart told the Tribune after the meeting that the layoffs can be stopped if local unions and labor council rally behind the INCO workers’ demands. B.C. Fed charts jobless program Cont'd from pg. 1 however, it was soon evident that the report was good “‘as far as it went”’ but delegates expected the Federation and the trade ‘union movement to go much further in pressing the demand for jobs. ‘Canadian’ Brotherhood of Railway and Transport Workers delegate Tom McGrath set the tone in the hard-hitting discussion as he pointed to the example set by unemployed demonstrators in “Nova Scotia and demanded, ‘“‘What are we waiting for? We need ac- tion.”’ Lorne Robson, delegate from the Carpenters Union whose members face particularly crippling unemployment, blasted the multinational corporations for creating the unemployment facing Canadians. He cited the case of Inco which is set to lay off some 3,500 workers in its operations in Ontario and Manitoba and pointed to recent news reports regarding the company’s fear of government intervention if the cutbacks had been made in its operations in Guatamala and Indonesia. Inco officials admitted last week that it was cutting back its Canadian operations because it had little to fear in the way of government interference whereas massive layoffs in Guatamala or Indonesia would pose the danger of nationalization of its extensive holdings. : “Inco is afraid of the workers of Guatamala and _ Indonesia,’ Robson said, “‘and its time we took action to force our government to stand up to Inco.” International Woodworkers delegate George McKnight also blasted the government for its failure to take any action to curb unemployment and reminded delegates, “Trudeau has only got $150 million for jobless programs but he’s spending billions on ar- maments.”’ United Fishermen and Allied - Workers’ Union delegates Ray Tickson and Fred Pearson took up the committee’s call for unionists to seek reduced working hours and cited the post-World War II campaign for the 40-hour week as an example of the kind of cam- paign that could be waged to win the 30-hour week. é Carpenters delegate Colin Snell who had urged unionists to throw everything they had behind the campaign against unemployment in debate the previous day, again urged delegates to press the issue and demand that the Social Credit government take action to provide jobs. ‘That government has done nothing to curb unemployment,” he said. “In fact, with all the cutbacks, they’ve made it worse.” By the time the question was put on the adoption of the report, the committee had itself responded to the clear demand for action and chairman Roy Gautier told the convention that unionists could do far more than was called for in the report. “If delegates take the message of this convention back to their locals and into their communities we could have many more demonstrations,” he said, urging unionists to mount a campaign throughout the province. Although acute unemployment in many union locals gave a urgency to the convention’s debate on unemployment, the spark had been touched off the first day when Gerald Yetman, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labor addressed the delegates. In a speech that twice brought delegates to their feet in standing ovations, Yetman outlined the terrible unemployment in his native province and related the case of a friend who had com- mitted suicide because he was unable to find work to provide for his wife and five children. “It’s a desperate situation that we face in Nova Scotia,” he said, and desperate people do desperate things. The Maritime leader warned that the desperation of the unemployed could lead to widespread civil disobedience but noted that governments were themselves responsible because of their indifference. : He also reaffirmed the Nova Scotia Federation’s pledge to mount a powerful campaign for jobs. “We've started out on a cam- paign in Nova Scotia and I’m not going to stop until we have full employment or until they drop the lid on the box over top of me,” he declared. No ‘need’ for Kitimat port Cont'd from pg. 1 Inquiry to justify a west coast oil port. During phase two of the Inquiry the oil port proponents were to have proven an overriding need for an oil port, but in each case could prove only that an oil ' port could be ‘‘profitable.”’ UFAWU lawyer Harry Rankin had Ashland Oil, Imperial Oil, Continental Oil and Sohio Oil on the stand this week and found the companies lacking in substantive arguments. Each of the companies favored the Kitimat scheme although it was found under cross examination that their oil needs could be met by other means. Cross examining Continental, Rankin dug out that Exxon, the world’s largest oil company, has a plan to ship oil up the Columbia River in the U.S. to link up with the Burlington Northern rail route across the U.S. to midwest refineries. The route could also supply Continental refineries, except for the fact that they are “ “not interested.” ANDREW THOMPSON .. . under orders to shut down, observers suspect. The most revealing testimony came from Sohio who admitted that their sole interest in a Kitirfat port was the “high return” in supply oil to bhe Chicago market. But, Sohio said, they would gladly forsake eastern needs if refineries ‘were available on the west coast. The only “compelling need” for the oil companies, it was found, is low expenses and high profits. Oil company spokesmen have been generally unprepared for the cross-examination of Rankin and other opposition lawyers and have” responded by accusing Rankin of “playing to the press.” Perhaps responding to pressure from the oil companies, Thompson has indicated that the venue for the Inquiry will shift to Victoria — away from the centre of public attention — from November 14. The UFAWU and other groups have vigorously opposed the move, claiming that it is a deliberate attempt to undercut opposition to the oil companies. ‘The uncertainty of the Inquiry’s future has made it difficult for the opposition groups to schedule their witnesses on energy needs and supplies, but it is expected that the opposition will go on the offensive in about four weeks. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 4, 1977—Page 3