By George Hewison | CLC documents | framework for _ workers’ agenda pape recently concluded Canadian Labor Congress Convention eecly linked free trade, deregulation, and privatization in : ie ing an all-out attack on Mulroney and other neo-conser- Ves in Canada. Jing € reports on these matters and the economic crisis were rich en On the likely effects of a successful corporate onslaught fea Ving free trade. They counterposed the ‘‘workers”’ to the 5 o'Porate agenda’’, which was accepted with enthusiasm by the “"W delegates. : lose examination reveals that underlying the thrust to free ,,4€ is intense economic and political rivalries between the est trans-national enterprises, and their desire to expand at Pits. ense of one another, weaker rivals, and at the expense of : People of the world and their national sovereignty. and. e€CLC convention helped deepen the unity between private + not Public sector workers by correctly pointing out that free trade ly meant a loss of jobs in basic industries, but also cut- a in services as Canada is tailored to the U.S. Reaganite te In addition, though, cut-backs in services need to be viewed in ts of the overall neo-conservative strategy. Ince the last Great Depression, the state has increasingly used ©Vverage in the economy in the interests of big business. he basic functions have been to provide a social safety net on One hand, to re-distribute the national income on the other. Bie this Keynesian approach has wrought great problems in | ¢.tY major developed capitalist country. Since the onset of the | reeuties, and the beginning of the crisis of *‘state monopoly i Fe ttion’” (as Marxists call it), Canada’s debt has grown from “and illion in 1976 and 19 per cent of our GNP to $224-billion [ deh; per cent of our GNP in 1985. Debt servicing for the federal %, peas grown from 12 per cent of federal revenue to 32 per cent © same time frame. As the economic crisis deepens, the /®8ph shoots upwards dramatically. |r he crisis of state monopoly regulation has three potential |, olutions: one the way of the neo-conservative — i.e. increase i aes, and cut services to people; lower wages and smash unions |. Privatize as much of the public sector as possible; the liberal Calls for reverting to neo-Keynesian methods, continuing 5 “Outs to corporations while maintaining a policy of con- Slons to the people; and the working class approach which . S with the crisis by way of an overhaul of the tax system to an ae tax loopholes and: hand-outs for the large corporations, to ensure they pay their proper share; increased services to one and increased public ownership in all areas. The CLC | Yention basically opted for the latter approach. | 1g : So doing it drew a bead on the crucial matter of privatization, Bune a major campaign to publicize the dangers, and to Teg At ‘campaigns in opposition’. Similarly, the matter of de- Ulation was placed in the context of increased profits for the Str : s ; : ? fed est corporations, while services to people will be sacri- trad {its | the y d hand The entire trade union movement needs to study the CLC 4 Yention documents fully; familiarize themselves with not only | th ments, but also the underlying economic realities behind Uefa.” as part and parcel of launching the campaign needed to ‘yy. t Mulroney, and the neo-conservatives and to replace their les with those of the working class. j arg Sector unions will play a large role in implementing Work- genda. Accountability demanded on international relations TORON TO — The debate on the convention’s international affairs policy paper showed a strong grass roots desire to free the CLC from the remain- ing influences of cold-war, U.S. foreign policy. While the delegates endorsed the paper, it was clear from the debates that the convention pre- ferred the good resolutions flowing from the report as a more accurate reflection of the solidarity work being conducted by affiliates. The paper, drafted by the CLC international affairs department came under fire from delegates both for its cold-war overtones and its glaring omissions in representing the solidarity work that is going on. It grudgingly nodded toward the need to fight for peace and disarmament. But in near-Reaganesque style it felt moved to add: ** The CLC certainly has no, wish to engage in activity which could be mis- construed as evidence of a lack of seriousness on our part concerning human and trade union rights, by foreign organizations as well as by those seeking to wring narrow political advantage out of the peace initiatives we are compelled to take.”’ (Em- phasis added.) Jane Armstrong, a United Auto Workers dele- gate, wanted to know why the paper didn’t recog- nize the unity in the struggle against South African apartheid between the African National Congress , the underground, South African Congress of Trade Unions, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. ‘‘This paper does little more than wel- come the formation of COSATU”’, Armstrong said, echoing COSATU general secretary Jay Naidoo’s plea of the previous day for all-out mate- rial, financial and moral.aid to the anti-apartheid forces. : B.C. Carpenters’ delegate Len Embree criticzed “the glaring omission” in the report on the solidar- ity work in support of the Nicaraguan revolution being undertaken by his union and others. He spoke of the “Tools for Peace’’ campaign — and the trade schools being set up in Nicaragua by the Carpenters in B.C., and the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union. Embree pointed to the flood of good solidarity resolutions to the convention from across the country and he noted how labor’s success with the alliances it forges in solidarity work can be trans- ferred to the alliances the convention wants to create in fighting the corporate-government attack on labor. ‘Those resolutions from across Ontario point to the direction the CLC should be taking on Central America. The report fails to do that and on that basis it’s unacceptable’, he said. Alberta Federation of Labor president Dave Werlin, said the congress and its international af- fairs staff still have some distance to travel before fully expressing the interests of Canadian workers in the field of international trade union solidarity. Citing South Africa and Nicaragua, Werlin ob- served that “‘the congress’s positions are based on a reluctance to support those organizations trying _to fundamentally change their societies.” Werlin, a leading spokesperson for the Action Caucus, and as AFL president, a member of the CLC executive council, saved most of his criticism for the paper’s weakness on peace. He linked the massive arms budgets to swelling unemployment, and’ focussed on the need for the report to agitate for industrial conversion from military to civilian production. The delegates message apparently got through to the leadership. Carr announced during the de- bate on the paper that Jay Naidoo had been given $25,000 from the CLC, with more to come, as a gesture of support in the fight for South African liberation. : And, on the last day of the convention it was announced by general vice-president Bob White, of the UAW, that the CLC executive had decided the Congress would join the Canadian Peace Al- liance, and assign a vice-president to represent the CLEC there: In addition to solidarity resolutions on South Africa and Central America which called for con- demnation, among other things, of ANC leader Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment, and for Cana- dian sanctions against the apartheid regime, the convention adopted an emergency resolution on the Chernobyl disaster. In measured tones it called on Ottawa to urge all countries.to provide international inspections and safety standards,.*‘to. secure solid evidence that such an accident will not recur,’’ and to offer the Soviets whatever technical or other assistance possible. UFAWU delegate Jim Rushton endorsed the resolution citing it as a ‘‘positive constructive way to deal with the issue.” The secretiveness and competitiveness of the nuclear industry in the capitalist world, Rushtan said, highlights the need for the re-opening of trade union exchanges with the Soviet and other socialist trade unions, ‘‘so that working people can decide how to use nuclear power and how to handle the problems it creates.”” CUPW will still be there! TORON TO — Jean Claude Parrot’s substantial vote in his unsuccessful bid for a congress general vice-presidency indicated the growing support for, and influence of the national Action Caucus. Parrot’s 1,107 votes, compared to the 1,849 for International Woodworkers of America B.C. director Jack Munro, meant that a shift of a couple of hundred votes could have put the leader of the 23,000 member Canadian Union of Postal Workers back on the Congress executive. Parrot broke the administration slate in 1982, only to be dropped at the next convention because he refused to unconditionally endorse the outgoing officers. His position was that there were members of the executive he could not support and would not recommend to the convention by fully en- dorsing the slate. This time, he had to overcome a number of potential landmines over various regional, national and internal union contradictions and still managed to rack up about 44 per cent of the total vote. ‘Rest assured, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers will still be there’’, Parrot told the con- vention as he pledged to carry through the fightback program adopted by the convention, and restated his commitment, “‘to continue working for the full participation of all affiliates in the CLC, provincial federations and labor councils.” JEAN CLAUDE PARROT PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MAY 14, 1986 e 7