e.g Sen rene ee to ae Pee Men Ra

Splits harm interests of workers

By JACK PHILLIPS

The December 1972 issue of
the Union News Bulletin pub-
lished by Local 1004 of the Cana-
dian Union of Public Employees
features an interesting editor-
ial. The caption reads as follows:
Canadian Autonomy— or Break-
away Unions. A few quotes from
the editorial should be helpful:

We know that every worker,
no matter what union he belongs
to, wants good service, good
leadership and the greatest
Possible degree of self rule
within his own trade union.
From what we have seen, itdoes
Not necessarily follow that
Switching to a purely Canadian
union brings a better deal for the
workers who switch. Bureauc-
racy, Over-centralization, poor
Service and weak leadership in
negotiations are not exclusively
found in international unions.
pom Canadian unions suffer
pom the same diseases.

On our part, as a local of the
Second largest union in Canada,
we should continue to support
those policies which contribute
to more autonomy for members
of international unions.’ The
following four points were listed
as general guidelines:
© The right to bargain collec-

Wvely, to strike and to sign collec-
tive agreements to be vested
exclusively in the Canadian
membership. ;
pate right to elect Canadian
; ers to administer purely
eonadian affairs according to
ae democratically-expressed
an of the Canadian member-
= eens collected in Canada to
ar mn Canada except for the
fea eee per capita to the
wien aaa in respect to
satis ees and activity
a aa point number three (per
a a payment), it is sug-
or that the Canadian
Aa one of an international
ee . ould pay no more to the
ae office in the U.S.A. than
i y voluntarily agree to pay for

Tvice received. :
oa were to add a fifth and
= Point to those above, I

ould add the following:

eore final stage in all discip-
the y and appeal procedure for
Canadian membership

sh :
ae in Canada and not in

oe The chartering of new locals
ee the merger of existing

squorsement by the Canadian
administration.

maw who spearheaded the
Worke way against the Steel-
mil rs at Kitimat made a lotof

€age out of the fact that two
€ members who appealed
wily pone had to go all the
wae 0 Pittsburgh for the final

Ing. Irrespective of the

their

Staite
_ Jerits or demerits of the Pitts-

ee decision — which upheld
ae An ae the fact that it
sia ade in the U.S. merely
agen more fuel to an already
™bustible situation.

Itshould be obvious by now to

lore fay igh 4
iS Sig 2
entati ant ted repres

th ‘ International unions
y cates a heightened sense
which lan identity and pride

Unless Soe be recognized.

Esinaets Te Is action taken in

ftieisa ‘onof more autonomy.

2 te will lend itself to more
ul splits and disruption.

S to be subject to prior.

In respect to the chartering of
new locals, many prominent
trade unionists can tell you of
instances when they were told
pretty bluntly that “‘if they didn’t
behave’’, new locals would be set
up to reduce the jurisdiction of
their locals — What the Lord
giveth, the Lord taketh away.
Such a lordly attitude carries the
broad inference that the powers
south of the border regard the
Canadian members as second
class, as colonials. This can be
most inflammatory when cool
heads and sober counsel are
trying to avoid a major break

away.
@

Progressive trade union
members, no matter what union
they belong to, should be guided
by acommon set of principles. I
would suggest that those prin-
ciples should include the follow
ing:

e Every union should follow
policies in the interests of the
workers and actively take up
their grievances.

e Where the principle men-
tioned previously and trade
union democracy prevail, there
will be much less occasion for
unauthorized strikes.

e Where progressives, irre-
spective of their political affilia-
tion, should reject any concept of
a union being captured by an
individual, clique or faction.
They should press for maximum
participation by the member-
ship to determine policy and for
broad representative leader-
ship responsive to the wishes
and aspirations of the members.
Clique control and arbitrary
tendencies must be opposed, no
matter where they originate.

We seem to be entering a
period when left-wingers will
receive more tolerance when
they advance their view. This, of
course, places the onus on left-
wingers to measure up to the
new opportunities. They should
ask for no morerights than those
properly accorded other mem-
bers but they should accept no
less.

They must also be prepared to
assume the same _responsi-
bilities and duties that other
members do— which should be
no problem because left-
wingers in the unions have
always been recognized as hard
workers with a deep sense of
dedication, even by _ their
enemies.

Those on the left can expect to
influence the policies of the
trade union movement and play
a role in its leadership only to
the degree of respect and confi-
dence they are able to win from
the membership.

They must also, in their policy
projections and activities,
make a distinction between
themselves and the irrespon-
sible ultra-leftists such as the die-
hard Trotskyites, Maoists and
anarchist elements. To fail to
make this distinction means to
be identified with the harmful
results of sectarian, divisive
and distriptive policies. It also
means conceding failure in
winning over those misguided
members who are fooled by the
rhetoric of such pseudo revolu-
tionaries.

In this critical period, with an
NDP. government in Victoria
and the NDP holding the balance
of power federally. it is possible
for the labor movement to play
a decisive role in deciding the
future of the nation. There will

HANDSHAKE FOR FRIENDSHIP. Members of a group from the Soviet Union, visiting Vancouver under.the

auspices of the Canada-USSR Frie
Photo shows Mayor Phillips accep

Soviet delegate to the United Nations. Thede
city, an architect, several doctors, a journalist and ci

Union.

ndship Society, were received at city hall last week by Mayor Art Phillips.
ting a presentation of a miniature samovar from Anatol Masko, former
legation from the Soviet Union included a Mayor of a Siberian
vil servants who came from various parts of the Soviet

be no fundamental shift in the
real power relationships in the
country unless the trade union
movement becomes a more
effective voice in advancing
constructive policies in the
interest of the people.

To adequately discharge this
role in British Columbia, the

-trade unions must speak out,

must not be afraid of rocking the
boat by offering constructive
criticism and must stand by its
own program. If they fail to do
so, they will confine themselves
to behind the door pleadings
while the powerful representa-
tives of the monopolies mount

tremendous pressure on the ©

government to move politics

CANADA ELECTIONS ACT
Electoral District of Vancouver-Kingsway

SUMMARY OF RETURN OF ELECTION
EXPENSES

There is below set out, as required by
Section 63 (6) of the Canada Elections Act,
a summary, signed by the official agent,
of the return of election expenses made to
me by him onbehalfof KevinSean Griffin,
one of the candidates at the recent
electionofamember toserve inthe House
of Commons of Canada held in the above-
mentioned electoral district, which said
return is on file at my office and may, on
payment of a fee of twenty cents, be there
inspected and extracts taken therefrom at
any reasonable time during the six
months next after the eighteenth day of
January, 1973, being the day upon which
the said return was furnished to me.

Dated at Vancouver this 18th day of
January, 1973.
W. H. Harriman Returning Officer
Expenses of Kevin Sean Griffin

Receipts
contributions, etc. $200.00
Promised unpaid Nil
contributions, etc.
Total , 921.92
Payments
Candidate’s personal
expenses $200.00
Portage Nil
Telegrams Nil
Petty claims Nil
Hire of premises Nil
Services 81.47
Travelling expenses
and hire of vehicles Nil
Goods supplied 239.87
Advertising 400.00
Total $921.94
Delayed Undisputed Claims: NIL
Disputed Claims: NIL

Dated atKristino, Sask., this 10thday of
January, 1973.

* Mabel Muriel Richards. Official Agent

class

and the overall management of
the economy to the right.

To play such a role the trade
union movement needs unity of
purpose. Such unity will be
difficult to achieve if we are
divided all over the country by
jurisdictional raids, break-
aways and opposing approaches
to governments in the area of
policy.

For example, the Canadian
Labor Congress has spoken out
against wage and price controls;
Senator Ed Lawson of the Team-
sters has publicly favored such
controls. The B.C. Federation of
Labor is on record in opposition
to wage and price controls. But
now, Premier Barrett whose
election. the B.C. Federation
supported, has stated in a
Province interview that he sup-
ported wage and price controls.

The trade union movement is
therefore called uponto publicly
reaffirm its position. Silence
will be construed as endorse-
ment of wage and price controls.

The trade union movement,
by its very composition, is a
working class movement, a
organization. By its
relationship to production and
the creation of profits and
dividends, the working class
comes into the sharpest conflict
with monopoly capital. There-

fore progressive trade union’

members can best advance the
interests of the working people
by helping the trade union move-

ment eleaborate its policies on
the basis of a class approach.

This class orientation would
also help in working out a
correct position in respect to
Canadian autonomy and inde-
pendence for the trade unions. If
we are guided by the maxim that
what is good for the working
class in the long run should be
supported and what is bad should
be opposed, we will not have too
much difficulty in working out
our response to a specific situa-
tion or a specific problem.

: In the long pull there must
inevitably be one union for
every designated industry and
one labor congress, which is
fully autonomous and repre-
sents every legitimate trade
union in the country.

The achievement of these
goals will not proceed in a
straight line. There is no short
cut and no magic formula to
meet every situation. Aboveall,
we must never lose sight of the
fact that the immediate, inter-
mediate, and long range inter-
ests of the working class demand
unity, on a class basis, against
the monopolies. All splits and
breakaways that stand in the
way of such unity must be
opposed.’ Along with this, all
harmful tendencies and prac-
tices which lead workers to
accept the idea of breakaways
as the only solution to their
problems must be vigorously
opposed and eliminated.

Classified

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‘ PACIRIG TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, J ANUARY: 26,:1973+—-PAGE 11.

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