UE calls upon CLC to

Implement nine-point program |

TORONTO -— C. S. Jackson,
president of the United Electri-
cal, Radio and Machine Workers
of America (UE) in a press state-
ment released Oct. 8 and sent
as a wire called on Canadian
Labor Congress President Joe
Morris, to convene an “emer-
gency session” on Oct. 11-12
weekend of all ranking officers
of CLC affiliates to plan mobil--
ization of union membership for

a counter-offensive based on the
CLC nine-point program”.

The statement goes on to ex-
plain that such a meeting is ne-
cessary “to protect working peo-
ple and put the economy on the
path of pulling out of the reces-
sion through increased purchas-
ing power and equitable distribu-
tion of the fruits of Canada’s
productive abilities.”

Jackson lashed out at the re-

CIA active in Portugal
through Socialist Party

Though the story about CIA
funding millions of dollars and
arms into Portugal and Angola
broke over two weeks ago in
New York Times, the U.S. in-
telligence agency has still failed
to deny it.

The Times story charged that
“U.S. money for the Portuguese
Socialist Party and other parties
is being funnelled by the CIA
through West European Social-
ist parties and labor unions.”
The amount is several million
dollars a month over the past
few months. The story charged
that the counter-revolutionary
drive is also being boosted by
the West German Social Demo-
cratic Party and Belgian Social-
ist Party which have been serv-
ing as a conduit to funnel large
sums of U.S. cash into Portugal.

.These charges coincide with
those made by former CIA agent
Phillip Agee in a letter he wrote

BY BRUCE MAGNUSON

It is now 50 years since R.
Page Arnot wrote his article
“The Capitalist Offensive and
the Mining Crisis,” published in
the British Labor Monthly, Sep-'
tember 1925, on the eve of the
miners’ general strike in 1926.

_ Here is what he wrote:
“The crux of the situation for
the British bourgeoisie, and for
the world bourgeoisie in greater
or lesser degree, is a successful
- employers’ offensive. There can
be no post-war stability of capi-
tal without this offensive .. .
Stability of capitalism presup-
poses the complete subjugation
of the working class under the
hammer blows of an employers’
offensive. This is the cardinal
feature of the new economic
_ world situation. Unless this is

understood, nothing is under-
stood, and the way is paved to
shameful submissions, and de-
feat after defeat.”

Mr. Arnot went on to say,
that this is precisely where the
Social Democrat and “more pro-
duction” boosters mislead the
workers. “Let us set Humpty-
Dumpty up again and then we
can develop towards socialism.”
The history of the British Labor
Party over the past 50 years tells
its own story, clearly and em-
phaticaly punctuating all above
observations.

New Relationships
The program of the ruling
class in both the U.S. and Can-

to the Portuguese people earlier.
Agee is author of the book “In-
side the Company: a CIA Diary”.
The Times also revealed that
both the Senate Subcommittee
on Central Intelligence and Se-
nate Foreign Relations Commit-
tee had been informed of these
operations.

It also illustrated the role of
the CIA in backing Holden
Roberto and the FALN in Angola
(see story on page 6) to prevent
the liberation of that former Por-
tuguese colony with its rich U.S.
investments.

President Ford is accused of
lying when he claimed. earlier
that investigations underway
into CIA activities are prevent-
ing the United States from “‘par-
ticipating” in Portuguese affairs.
The story points out that at the
very moment he was saying this,
the CIA had already been fund-
ing counter-revolution there for
months.

cently announced move by the
federal-provincial conference to
discuss new’ economic projec-
tions as “a most vicious attack
cn working people’s rights and
standards at a time when labor
is fighting back against being
the scapegoat for the recession
brought on by government and
corporate policies of squeezing
the economy for corporate bene-
fit.”

The move by B.C. New Demo-
cratic government to order the
province’s 60,000 striking work-
ers back to their jobs was de-
stribed by the leader of the larg-
est union in the electrical in-
dustry in Canada, as “another
frontal attack -on labor’s rights
flowing from the overall offen-
sive against labor, the victims of
the recession.” :

The wire to the CLC president
warned of the vitality of labor
“closing ranks against this new
offensive planned by Trudeau.”

Cc. S. JACKSON

LABOR SCENE Political opportunism no
substitute for class struggle

ada, to extricate themselves from
their economic, social and poli-
tical problems at the expense of
the working class is not a new
phenomena. What is new, is the
changed relationship of class

-forces both domestically and

worldwide. Faced with accelerat-
ing economic and political de-
bacles, monopoly capital and its
bourgeois state are determined
to take unprecedented and dras-
tic measures to try and solve its
own difficulties at the expense of
workers’ incomes and hard-won
privileges and rights. For in-
stance, there is a determination
to keep labor costs from increas-
ing beyond present rates, in

‘monetary terms, while the value

of the dollar is depreciated. Both
private corporations and govern-
ments are actually provoking
strikes and making careful pre-
parations to hold out against
them for months and years if
need be. Lockouts are beginning
to re-appear more often. Violence
against striking workers is on
the increase. The capitalist me-
dia’s anti-labor propaganda and
government tactics used in the
U.S. some five years back, are
now being copied in Canada.
These include such aims as: a
wage freeze in some form or
other; a government-sponsored
“productivity” drive to force
more work out of fewer employ-
ees; new anti-labor laws that
go in the direction of compul-
sory, binding arbitration; nulli-
fication of the right to strike and

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 17, 1975—Page 4

denying the right of union mem-
bers to vote on contracts.
B.C Strikebreaking

. The strike-breaking legislation
cf the Barrett Government in
B.C. goes in this direction. So
does the federal Trudeau Admin-
istration in the case of the postal
workers; the Quebec Bourassa
Administration, and so on and
on; including the increasing in-
cidences of legislative strike-
breaking by both federal and
provincial governments.

Needless to say, none of these
measures will solve anything.
Heavy cuts in living standards
will only increase unemploy-
ment and cut the size of the
“pie” Mr. Trudeau is so fond of
talking about. Government sub-
sidies to monopoly at public ex-

pense will not result in economic —

expansion, but only help to in-
crease corpcrate wealth and pro-
fits. Growing military spending,
manipulated credit, and a bigger
Money supply; these are the root
cause of inflation, about which
nothing is being done, except to
clobber the main victims — the
wage and salary earners.

But the victims are rapidly
learning that monopoly capital
and its political servants are the
real enemy. Knowing who the
enemy is, and knowing his de-
vious manceuvres and battle
tactics, is half a battle won. The
other and decisive half, will
ccme through experience gain-
ed in action, on all fronts of the
class struggle.

THE WORLD CONGRESS IWY

WOMEN
AND THE
MEDIA

CHANGING WOMEN’S POSITION in society from that of
a second class citizen cannot be accomplished without
changing the basic attitudes of public opinion. Today in
North America the aims of women in the struggle for

equality are distorted or unknown or uncared about by . .

mest. These opinions are highly shaped by mass media,
which distorts, or ignores our aims.

Along with the fight for equal rights being waged against
governments and employers the face of women given
through the media, through literature and through art must
change. This includes an end to the stereotyped images of

women’s role in society and the beginning of reasoned: por- ©

trayals of the realities of life for women today.

ae ae *

WHAT THE MEDIA IN NCRTH AMERICA has done to
change stereotyped attitudes and promote women’s equal-
ity during International Women’s Year is comparable to
the federal government’s “Why Not?” campaign — little
of any use to women as a whole with the basis of their
material centering on and promoting the achievements of
individuals. —

The majority of coverage had consisted of special features
on “achievers,” set before the audience as a shining exam
ple that there are women who make it. The problem is that
most women don’t “make it’ in that sense of the word,
and it is the very real problems facing the majority of
women every day that need to be discussed. These problems
include low pay, poor working conditions, lack of good
child-care facilities, lack of retraining facilities and poverty.

THE SIMPLE SCARCITY of coverage of women’s partici-
pation in society is a major problem to overcome.

Recently a women’s organization in Washington, D.C.
monitored four television stations and found that in 660
hours of air time only roughly 10% of broadcasts featured
women in leading roles. The major roles of women in tele-
vision movies were often derogatory, with parts such as
gangster’s molls; and psychopaths. Complementary por-
trayals occurred when the women were associated with
starring male heroes whose main role was to serve their
needs,

co co %

THIS DIVISION OF MALE AND FEMALE into stereotyped
social roles extends into literature, and especially children’s
literature. A sampling of children’s books shows the same
policy of portraying women as passive supporters of their
male counterparts, and they reinforce the attitude that
women who do not carry out this role are social misfits
and end up in trouble. In school textbooks for young
readers the distinction between roles of boys and girls

i teaches children very early what society expects of them.
Boys are shown in active roles. Girls are shown watching |

passively. Careers for women are shown as a few tradi-
tionally “female” such as nurses, teachers and secretaries.
A survey of seven-year-olds in Ontario shows just how
strongly this propaganda affects young children. Of the
girls questioned, 97% chose one of four careers—nurse,
teacher, secretary or airline stewardess. No girls: chose a
fantasy career such as a space explorer. The boys mainly
chose fantasy careers, and those who didn’t ran the gamut
from fireman to detective. : : :
> % % %

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS for International

THE

Women’s Year, with delegates coming from all types of
social and political systems will be discussing the effects of
the mass media, literature and art on public opinion. Hope-.
fully it will be a beginning step toward action in an area
that has barely been tackled by women in Canada.

The media in International Women’s Year has not dis-

cussed the day to day problems facing women.

Se ee