RRO eee earns a Learning while on the job By JIM TESTER During my 3'2- week fact-finding tour of-the vocational facilities in the German Democra- tic Republic, home-base was the industrial city of Magdeburg, -which is about 200 miles west of Berlin. From there I travelled east, west, north and south visit- ing industrial plants, mining establishments, farms, school classrooms and shops, school and plant dining rooms, sport facilities and apprentices’ hostels I must have travelled a good 3,000 miles _ on the highways and back roads of the GDR. Before starting out each morn- ing, I was greeted by genial Otto Beholz, deputy head of the department of vocational training for the County of Magdeburg. He is a unique personality, a big man in his mid-S0s, and speaks perfect English. Ina sense, he is typical of that generation of - German educators. A graduate economist ‘who spent some time in the consu- lar services, he is a finishing car- penter by trade. Like a great many other skilled tradesmen, he studied at nights to further his education and to achieve his pre- sent status as an educational leader. Magdeburg, with a population of just over 280,000, ranks fifth in size among the cities of the GDR. As Cities go, it is hardly a workd- beater, but there are 90 vocational training centres within the city limits and 400 in Magdeburge ~ County. All the training schedules and standards are supervized and inspected by Beholz’s depart- ment, which makes a sizeable _ Operation when one considers -~ that 260 trades are being taught in the country. As I mention previously, all school pupils must take the basic curriculum of the compulsory 10-year school, no matter their fu- The aim is de-industrialization Marxism-Leninism in Today’s World Fourth in a Series ture ambitions. This guarantees that all persons will receive an all-round education as a base for future careers. From Grade 7 to 10 all students work one day a week, usually in special shops at- tached to one or more enter- prises. They produce useful arti- cles, usually for the consumer market, with each pupil taking turns on the various operations and machines, week by week. The accent is on learning and quality work. Once again, while some of the buildings that house the machines and equipment are old, they are ‘adequate. As for the machine tools, benches and vices I saw, they would be the envy of tradesmen in many shops in which I have worked. On the whole, they are first-rate. The students are not paid wages, but the sale of the pro- ducts of their labor is estimated to _cover about half the cost of this polytechnical phase of their edu- cation. The boys and girls I talked to just loved it. Besides, it is a real - test of their knowledge and skills. It is a first taste of the world of work, with a -no-nonsense. ap- proach by. the teachers, who are soe invariably master tradesmen who — have taken special training. It’s a f great set-up. Contrary to what may be thought, the school system in the GDR is quite competitive... The competition isn’t as sharp as it ‘was when I went to school, with individual papers marked out of a possible 100, and class standings for each subject as well as for the term. However, close records are kept of each pupil’s performance, attitudes and general conduct. Papers and tests are marked on an A-B-C-D basis, which designates from ‘‘excellent’’ to “‘failure.’’ School performance is often the determining factor in career ae From ada 7to 10 all students work one day a Week in special 8 attached to a factory. This master machinist instructs a student how to turn this simple casting in a three-jaw chuck set-up. guidance, which starts in Grade 7 and usually ends in Grade 10 upon graduation. It is then that stream- ing really beings, with special- ization in more than 200 direc- tions. How can one have a free choice of a future occupation when there are only a limited number -of places for each trade? How does _lents and wishes, as well as thé the school system take into count individual inclinations, needs of the national economy? isn’t easy and without proble but the way it is tackled is at once simple and complex, with lightened. and effective caret guidance. that is as common se as it is scientific. Tourists stranded by Romanian move By FILS DELISLE Tribune Berlin Correspondent BERLIN — For some time now observers, experts and aver- age citizens have been asking themselves where Romanian foreign policy is heading under Nicolau Ceasescu. On August 1, thousands of tourists from the GDR, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Po- land, on holiday in Romania with their autos, or in transit through the country by auto to another country, were stunned by a Bucharest announcement that they would not be allowed to buy gasoline in Romania except for convertible Western currency. The decree meant that all the tourists from other socialist coun- tries who had entered Romania’ by auto were completely stranded. They had come to Romania in ac- cordance with travel arrange- ments made by their respective countries with the Romanian au- thorities. They did not have any dollars or West German marks with them. And had never been required to bring such foreign cur- rency with them when holidaying in or passing through Romania by auto. They could not buy such Western. currency _ inside Romania itself. Thus, when their tanks were empty, they were stranded on the highways or in the cities or holiday resorts.’ ever before had any socialist country belonging to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance taken such peremptory and onesided steps against the citizens of another socialist country. It is therefore understandable that shock waves of disbelief, bitter- ness and anger passed through the populations of the countries in- volved. At the same time, how- ever, it must be emphasized that all the other socialist governments carefully refrained from respond- ‘ing in the style that Bucharest had set. ‘Protests were Bucharest, but nothing was said or done here-and in other socialist capitals to engage in a slanging ‘try where their gasoline needs 3 sent to- By ALFRED DEWHURST match that could only bring more} glee to anti-socialist commen: | tators in Western Europe elsewhere. | It must be said, however, that : Bucharest relented only to the ex-) tent of allowing arrangements tO} be made so that all tourists in thé }| country from other socialist coun }) tries could get enough gasoliné |) until August 10 to get across thé || border to another socialist coun: |) were looked after. But that waS ‘the only slight concession made. The GDR and other sociali countries have now notified the citizens that they can travel to an through Romania oo by train |] and airplane. 7 A reader asks: “What i in your opinion, lies behind the present upswing in plant runaways, Closures, mass layoffs, etc.? It seems to me that apart from the current_ : recession, a pattern has emerged indicat-" ing a basic policy of industrial reorgani- zation taking place detrimental to Cana- - da’s economic development and securi- ” . Our correspondent i is 100% right. An industrial strategy is being operated by the giant multi-nationals which, if not checked in good time, will convert> Canada into an industrial backwater of the United States. * * * We are living in an age when produc- tion is being rationalized and ‘‘inter- _nationalized’’ on .an unprecedented scale. The multi-national directors of this process are not internationalists but are . _ cosmopolites devoid of any national loyalties, let alone a spirit of brotherhood — ona world scale. Their only loyalty is to the almighty dollar. Their aim, first and last, is profit maximization. Their rationalization of production on an inter- - national scale is carried through in ac- cordance with profitability and security _ of ownership and control. . For instance. Canada’s role in the multi-nationals scheme” of division of labor is based on exploitation of the natural resource area including energy ~ resources, transportation of the ex- tracted resources, agriculture, produc- tion of consumer products in the face of stiff foreign competition, assembly of consumer products, and warehousing PACIFIC TRIBUNE— SEPTEMBER 7, 1979— Page 10 Pee SS eee os Boe and distribution of imported consumer | products. + ee In terms of the economic, political and social impact of the financial corpora- tions on Canada as a whole it is neces- sary to note the decisive role of the multi-nationals which are, in the main, U.S. owned or controlled. It is well known that the multi-nationals, con- _ glomerates, branch plants and sub- sidiaries control the commanding heights of the Canadian economy. Consequently the corporations exert a decisive influ- ence in shaping the Canadian economy, decision-making and on the very lives of Canadians. The sauihi cabin! corporations are instruments through which U.S. finance capital exercises its domination over the Canadian economy. They are the trojan horse of U.S. imperialisin i in Canada. = The multi-nationals, with the conni- vance of and in partnership with Cana- dian monopoly, are able, to directly or indirectly, influence the policies of the various governments in Canada whether they be the federal or provincial. This is one of the major problems which Cana- _dians need to face up to. For the impact _ of the multi-national corporations in Canada dangerously threatens Canadian sovereignty. _ There can be no denial that the multi- nationals interfere with out national priorities, distort consumption patterns, income distribution, and redistribution of the national income. They have the capability of affecting, in their interests, ‘governmental monetary, fiscal and trade policies. They are able to profit greatly from technological knowledge and de- velopment projects generated through _- government funds, taken from the public treasury raised through taxation of the people. * * * seastiat of the multi-national corpo- rations creates many difficulties. For example. Differences in tax rates from country to country, definition of taxable income, transfer of funds and profits from one subsidiary or department to Se Plant relocation from one pro- to another and one city or town to. — another is likewise a profitable tax eva- sion scheme, not to mention additional _tax concessions, given. by local or pro- vincial governments as a relocation at- traction, profit from land speculation in the area of the new location, and from the abandoned site. But, above all; relocation provides the best possibility for plant modernization in line with the new production role as- signed by the parent or ‘home’ company, _ such as assembly or component plants. In addition, invariably a lower wage level prevails i in most areas of relocation, labor is unorganized and unions are weakened by loss of membership asa ‘result of relo- cation. : * * * The multi-nationals, personifying the intensification of capital accumulation in these times, gain extensive power which | ', until they are finally swallowed up by . Way. existence, such struggle alone, is 1 _ try. The economic struggle must @ the domination of the U.S. based they use to attack the living standard democratic rights and interests of thé working people. They raise prices at wi close plants and layoff workers at will And generally pursue policies at varian with the basic interests of the communit and the country. Small businesses and industrial coné are also victimized by the corporation Their economic viability is undermi big corporations or forced into bankrupt cy. Financial and industrial corporations control and exploit the agricult economy. Land and capital are conceit trated in ever fewer hands. This tet dency operates as well in the large urbail centers where large corporation and thei subsidiaries amass large land banks, d& velop and build huge complexes of shot ping centers, office buildings and wal ling units. Such ownership and control strongly influence land and house pricé and rents in a dangerously inflatio * *. * While workers are obliged to fight against the giant corporations on economic front or sink to a low level @! enough to break the deadly grip of the powerful banking and financial interest { over the working people and our coun i necessity be joined by united and resok ute political struggle to free our land i i Canadian multi-nationals.