ee ae, ree LABOUR MPLOYER:” DONT CALL US, WELL CALL YOU... PROFITED FROM OU'® RELATIC/ISHIP ay BELOVED — Labour in action GEORGE HEWISON POO AVA LIBERATION NEWS SERVICE _ Firestone closing example of what’s ahead, says critics By KERRY McCUAIG HAMILTON — The second major tire manufacturer in a year has closed its doors decimating the province’s tire industry. Fire- stone of Hamilton shuts down at the end of this month leaving 1,300 workers jobless. This fol- lows the closing of the giant Good Year facility in Etobicoke where 900 people lost their jobs. Last ditch efforts by the federal and provincial governments to buy a new owner for the plant fell through January 4. Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. of Ohio turned down a total of $56-million in pub- lic enticements to help with the purchase and revamping of the 65 year old operation. However Firestone com- promised little on its $31-million asking price. Observers speculate its huge Tupelo, Mississippi fac- tory, smack in the centre of the no union, “‘right-to-work”’ sun belt. Although the facility was aging, the Hamilton plant was known for its productive and efficient work- force. Firestone pocketed $74.3-million in profits from the operation in 1986 but would have been compelled to switch shortly from producing outdated bias-ply tires to radials. The company skips out of Canada owing $13-million to the provincial government for a grant it received to modernize equip- ment. In doing so it breaks the commitment it made to keep the plant operating until 1992. It also leaves its workforce dangling over severance pay. Charlie Scime, president of Local 113 of the United Rubber Work- Firestone quits Canada this month leaving a chain of broken promises, debts and IOUs, including $46.3-million in unpaid taxes; a $13-million deal with the provincial government that it reneged on; $14-million owing to its employees pension fund, in addition to balking ata severance settlement with its 1,300 Hamilton workers . .. Ontario minister of labour Monte Kwinter says it’s all legal, in fact any company in Canada could do the same thing. the giant transnational was out to scuttle any deal. “Why would they want to put another competitor in the mar- ket?,’’ asked Ontario Federation of Labour president Gord Wilson. Wilson said the Firestone scam is a forerunner of what’s ahead for Canadian industry under the free trade agreement with the United States. ‘‘With free trade they know they can expand their Mississippi operation and supply Canada from south of the bor- der, Debts Left Behind The company was well pre- pared for the move. It has been streamlining its operations over the past five years, divesting itself of its retail franchises and has boarded up 10 of its 14 plants in - Canada and more in the United States. The bulk of its manufacturing capacity has been transferred to ers told reporters the union would probably have to take Firestone to court for a settlement — a pro- cess which could drag on for six months to a year. The company also owes $8- million to the union’s pension fund, and a further $6-million to the fund for non-union workers. ‘“All this is completely legal under the provincial act,’’ Wilson notes. ‘‘ And what leverage do we have to force them to meet their obligations once they close their doors and leave the country.” Also outstanding is $46-3-million in deferred taxes. Anemic Government Response While Firestone’s behavior is typical of a foreign multi-national, labour and political spokes- persons reserved their harshest statements for the anemic re- sponse of government. ‘‘Why did the provincial and federal governments work exclu- sively to find a private sector solu- tion to the sale, when it was clear that no private sector solution existed?’ asked Liz Rowley, spokesperson for the Communist Party in Hamilton. “If governments were pre- pared to put up $56-million to conclude the Firestone-Cooper deal, let them now put that money into turning Firestone into a pub- licly owned and controlled crown corporation, producing radial tires for the domestic and export market, with appropriate mea- sures taken to protect it,” she said. ‘All things considered, with $58.9-million in outstanding loans and taxes it could be said that the Canadian public already owns a good chunk of the Firestone plant,’’ Rowley added. The OFL’s Wilson was also disturbed by ‘‘the psychology” surrounding the announcement to close the plant. Time to amend act ‘*The government used the old, tired manner of offering more money,’ the head of the 800,000 federation noted. ‘The first solu- tion was to prevent Firestone from closing. That is why we have proposed amending the employ- ment standards act to compel companies who want to shutdown to open their books and justify the action.” Wilson said the OFL and the union had not discussed the pos- sibility of calling for the national- ization of the Hamilton plant, al- though he speculates it may be a possibility if the government had been willing to give the workers the money to retool and upgrade. Referring to industry minister Monte Kwinter’s statements in the Ontario legislature Jan. 6, that any corporation in Canada could legally do what Firestone has done, Rowley commented that the minister ‘‘has graphically illustrated Canada’s vulnerability as a U.S. branch plant economy. ~ Further integration with the U.S. through free trade guarantees the complete deindustrialization of Ontario within 10 years,” she predicted. *“‘What Firestone has done, others will do in short order.” . Taking the debate to the grassroots Whether 1988 will be a happy new year for Canada’s labour movement remains to be seen. Certainly the new year promises to place a lot more on the collective agenda of Canada’s working people. The signing of the merger agreement by the Irish Connection on January 2 provides enough work in itself to keep the trade unions of Canada busy for the next umpteen years. Unfortunately, labour doesn’t have years. The timetable for free trade is made unscrupulously short by a desperate government, representing a desperate corporate clique, which wants to short circuit a well considered, thorough country-wide debate which could only conclude that free trade will cost Canadian sovereignty. Taking It to the Grassroots For Canada’s working people, the choice is more than a chance to join up with the most war-like, debt-ridden and schizophrenic country in the world. Its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shut down Canadian industry and jobs once and for all. It’s a chance to prove that Canadians, collectively, really can work for less than the workers of the southern-U.S., right-to- work states, with considerably less health and safety,and social benefits. While a few inevitable cracks are beginning to force their way to the surface among the ranks of corporate Canada, labour remains firmly united in opposition to free trade. That unity will have to reach down to the grass roots more quickly in order to off-set the slick PR of the corporate boardrooms headed by Peter Lougheed and Donald MacDonald. In some areas of the country, opposition to free trade by the trade union movement is barely past the convention resolution book. This will require urgent attention in the early part of this’ year. A national day of protest is being contemplated for the spring. Such a day could stimulate the growth of the anti-free trade un forces, contribute to the growing debate, while slowing down > Mulroney's momentum. Up until now, the trade union movement and many of its allies have highlighted the demand for an election over free trade. Itisa simple, easy-to-understand call for democracy, secured by the low standing of the Tories, and the belief that the current gang at Sussex Drive will not risk going to the polls on the issue. The dramatic rebound of the Tories in the polls, is in large measure a reaction to the confusion over free trade. This indi- cates that the anti-free trade forces have a big job to explain not only the real impact of free trade, but also to place realistic _ alternatives before the Canadian people. The Canadian Labour Congress at its December executive council meeting took a giant step towards filling this vacuum, when it endorsed the document, ‘‘A Time To Stand Together, A Time For Social Solidarity,”’ drafted by the representatives of 40 major popular organizations in Canada. A Time To Stand Together While not totally fleshed out, the program, based on labour’s own alternative, adopted at the last CLC convention, represents a radical departure from the current economic regime being pursued, both at home and abroad, by capitalist governments. It is a strong base from which to build a genuine people's alter- native. It calls for reducing and then eliminating unemployment by the early 1990's. It calls for increased spending for social needs, and for a new industrial strategy for Canada. In short, it calls for a policy to end subservience to market-driven needs and profit sheets, replaced by a policy to serve the Canadian people. The drafters of this alternative which include representatives of the national labour, women’s, farmers, poverty, aboriginal peoples, seniors, churches, and so on, all start from the need to defend labour and the trade unions in particular. In 1988, these new-found friends and allies for labour will be more welcome than ever given the union busting mood of the neo-con- — servatives which will surely spill over from the preceding year. If all this results in the defeat of free trade and the Mulroney | government at the polls, 1988 may be a pretty good year after all. PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JANUARY 13, 1988 e 7