Major Sudbury unions absent AIB road show is boycotted Special to the Tribune SUDBURY — The Anti-Infla- tion Board ‘‘road show” came to Sudbury Jan. 30. But while 15 trade unionists were present, major union officials were not. However, Jack Biddell, Onta- rio representative on the AIB ex- pressed “a great sense of relief” that about one-sixth of the 90 people present were from labor. Representatives of six build- ing trades unions and the Sud- bury and District Labor Council were represented. The AIB seminar, which has been boycotted in other centers, received the same _ treatment from the United Steelworkers, Local 6500; Sudbury Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers; and Cana- dian Union of Public Employees locals. On Jan. 28, a Labor Council executive recommendation to send two delegates to the semi- nar was carried by ‘a vote of 12 to 6 after considerable debate. For fourteen long years the war against Portuguese imperial- ism has raged in Angola. The Portuguese have now left Ango- la, but the hard struggle con- tinues against a new attempt to impose enslavement on the work- ing people of this—rich in natu- ral resources, but under-develop- ed African country. Two years ago a Black man came to Canada from his native Angola to inform the labor move- ment of this country about the conditions of work in Angola. Here, in part, is what he told the 34th Convention of the United Electrical Workers as quoted by Secretary-Treasurer George Har- ris in the January 19, 1976, issue of the UE News: ‘Basically in Angola, the native ~ workers are working under the conditions of a contract. I would like to explain what a contract is so that you will understand what our workers are doing. “The police and the militia in Angola come to a village with a truck and put all the males elder than 11 years in that truck and take them to jail. From the jail they are sold to the farm- Ors... 3 ; ‘Wages’ Won’t Buy Needs “When the man comes to the farmer he is paid $7 a month, starting work at five o'clock in the morning and working until the sun disappears at night. For $7 he must buy all the things he needs in the ‘shop controlled by the farmer, but no man can buy what he needs with $7, when shces cost $5, clothes $8, when a blanket costs $10 to $20, and all food is very expensive. “The contract is for five years. When the man stops the contract after five years, he comes to the farmer and asks to be freed to return to his village. The farmer then presents him with an ac- count of what he spent in the five years, and what his $7 a month amounts to. There is al- ways a balance owing the shop. Now the man must start work- ing free for another five years. The minority bloc votes con- sisted of delegates from CUPE, Newspaper Guild, and Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Trans- port and General Workers locals. Speaking against the resolu- ticn, Justin Legault, of CUPE, said that “by attending this semi- nar, labor was walking into the arms of Beryl Plumptre and >» telling her we ‘love you’. “By condoning the AIB, work- ers are putting their heads on the chopping block’,, Legault con- tinued. “Only corporations will benefit from the wage cutting program. “It is CUPE’s policy to defy the guidelines and boycott the’ “seminar .. . our locals will do that.” Though he characterized the controls as “unfair and inequit- able to wage earners at the low end of the scale”, Sudbury and District Building Trades Council president Mike Quinn who was among the 15 who violated the During that time the man must have a new credit, because: he has no money to spend. So the man starts over and over again.” This, then was the vicious cir- cle for fhe Black bond-slaves in their own homeland, when ex- ploited- by the Portuguese im- perialists and others. And, now the South African imperialists are afraid that the MPLA of Angola will put an end to those conditions of slave labor and racism once and for all in their country. This could be an example that has to be prevent- ed. Hence the efforts to defeat the new MPLA regime in Angola from being recognized and able to assume its full functions of state power. Child Labor In this connection it is well to know about farm labor condi- tions in South Africa. “Masters and Serfs” by Rosalynde Ainslie is the name of a pamphlet ob- tainable from International De- fence and Aid Fund, 104/5 New- gate St. London ECIA 7AP, Unit- ed Kingdom, Here are some ex- cerpts: “Many workers toil from sun- rise to sunset. On the Cape vin- yards, a 15-hour day is not un- usual for six days a week. There are not holidays, absences tor sick leave, etc. “Disobedience” (such as refusing to obey a farmer’s command) is punishable by the farmer himself at his own discretion. Many cases of cruelty have been documented as a re- sult. “The farmer can hire and fire at will; but the employee may not stop work until his contract expires. He may not seek em- ployment elsewhere without his employer’s consent, and his em- ployer must sign the passbook accordingly,( otherwise he is li- able to being “endorsed out” of the area back to the homelands, or to prison and/or fines. “Child labor is commonly em- ployed on the farms, especially the Cape vineyards, from the age cf 10. Education for such chil- PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEBRUARY 20, 1976—Page 8 ‘ What the dirty war in Angola is all about Canadian Labor Congress boy- cott of the AIB road show at- tempted to justify his actions by ‘saying that he went to be in- formed about the legislation. In other business the labor council passed a resolution on Jan. 26, “supporting Sudbury and area high school teachers in their efforts in achieving a just and equitable agreement with the Sudbury Board of Educa-~ tion.” LONDON, Eng. — The Labor Party government’s campaign for majority state participation in North Sea oil development suf- fered a set-back this week when the head of the Exxon Corp.; the world’s biggest oil company, made his opposition public. “When the government said state participation was volun- tary, we took them at their word,” Clifton Garvin, Exxon’s chairman, told reporters. “We are not volunteering.” dren is Officially discouraged, farmers having to pay for all or part of any school building. Workers are partly paid by the notorious “tot”? system, compris- ing a cupful or two of wine each day “to keep up their strength,” and many become alcoholics at an early age. While it is illegal to include alcohol as part of the daily wage, it is not illegal for - the wine to be “sold” to the workers. By getting into debt over such purchases, workers have been blackmailed into stay- ing on the farm by threat of po- lice action over their debts. “In real terms, the Black farm laborer has made no advance from what he received over a» century, whereas in real terms the white farmer’s income more than doubled between 1947 and 1970.” The imperialism which directly threatens Angola’s independence and consequently has to be de- feated in its aggressive designs, is the fascist, racist South Afri- can regime, supported by the U.S. administration, in direct viola- tion of the United States Senate vote on Dec. 19, 1975, to refuse. any funds for interference in An- gola. ; A few days before that U.S. Senate vote, the United Nations Assembly voted 101 to 15, with 16 abstentions, to condemn South Africa in a _ resolution which said: “the racist regime of South Africa is illegitimate and has no right to represent the peo- ple of that country.” On this very important politi- cal-and moral issue, Canada vot- ed with United States, Britain and France against the resolu- tion, thus aligning our country -en the side of the racist South African aggressor in Angola. Demand that Canada recognize the legitimate MPLA regime in Angola NOW. Demand that South African fascist troops aid- ed by American imperialism get out of Angola and stay out. De- mand an end to apartheid in South Africa, and the rights of the native people to govern their own country. B.C. FED. REFUSES TALKS WITH GOV'T ON CONTROLS VICTORIA — The B.C. Federa-. tion of Labor declined an invita- -tion to meet with the cabinet Feb. 10 on the grounds that the Canadian Labor Congress has al- ready spoken for the labor move- ment on a national scale. “Our federation wholehearted- ly endorses the position of the CLC with respect to wage con- trols and rejects any attempts by your government to circum- vent the proper spokesmen for the trade union movement in Canada,” federation secretary- treasurer Len Guy said in a re- . ply to the invitation, released Feb. 9. The government should place the primary burden for fighting inflation on large corporations, Guy said. He urged the cabinet to take another look at the CLC’s position and proposals. COURT PROTECTS SCABS FROM UNION DISCIPLINE TORONTO — The Supreme Court of Ontario Feb. 13, over- ruled the decision of Local 1 of the Canadian Union of Postal workers to disciplined about 500 members who scabbed on their fellow workers during the 43- day strike last fall. Two weeks ago the scabs had received letters from the union executive telling them that they were suspended from the union until the next convention planned fer 1977. Justice John O’Driscoll grant- ed an injunction against the union preventing it from sus- pending the scabs or from allow- ing them to nominate ‘candidates for office or attend union meet- ings. LABOR ™ BRIEF .to speak to them. petitions will be turned over to. the opposition MLAs “and they) 2,000 HOLD SECOND DEMONSTRATION AGAINST B.C. INSURANCE HIKE VICTORIA —:For the second | time in two weeks, demonstrat ors gathered Feb. 10 in front of the British Columbia Legislative Buildings to protest against In-) surance Corp. of B.C. premium increases which have more thal doubled since 1971. Respresentatives of the B.C Federation of Labor Association | of B.C. attempted to turn over) boxes of petitions containing about 170,000 signatures to the | premier or his staff but no gov’ ernment member was on hati Len Guy, secretary of the labor federation, told the crowd that it was irresponsible of the government not to have a repre sentative available and said the can make an issue of it” on thé) floor of the Legislature. DOUGLAS WORKERS GET REPRIEVE TORONTO — A United Aut? Workers (UAW) official said Feb. 13, that the federal government will provide financial assistancé to Douglas Aircraft of Canada Ltd., with the result that plann layoffs of 435 employees who were to have been let go that day from the Malton plant, have been postponed indefinitély. Larry Sheffe, UAW internatiO” nal representative serving the aerospace industry, said “this announcement by the company about because of our brief : Don Jaimeson, minister of trad@_ and commerce on Monday, Feb. 9.”’ ’ JAPAN — Some unions in Japan are taking over factories des ed by private companies as a result of a growing depression: the Saito Iron Works in Ibaragi Prefecture, 51 workers remain hind to operate the plant for themselves after the management 9° it up and three-fourths of the workers had left, .