What is meant by independent
labor political action? That ques-
tion is a most pertinent one for
labor today, even though the
idea has yet to take sufficient hold
to move the giant into action.
But the seed sown over decades
has began to germinate. Provin-
cial federations of labor all the
way from British Columbia to
the Maritimes have all indicated
this in one form or another
acros the country. .

Take the report to the B.C.
Federation of Labor from its
Executive .Council and dealing
with that province’s NDP gov-
ernment’s labor code. “We be-
lieve,” said the Federation’s
officers, “that delegates to this
convention must discuss the
problem of the government and
MLA’s not upholding the labor
policies on which they cam-
paigned. Obviously, such a dis-
cussion is necessary before for-
mulating our political action
program for the next few
years.”

Propose Conference

Or take the Montreal Labor
Council representing over 100,-
000 union members proposing
to the Quebec Federation of
Labor “that its convention au-
thorizes the incoming executive
of the QFL to organize a con-
ference of representatives of all
organizations interested in stu-
dying the possibility of forming
a federated political party of
the working people of Quebec
controlled by and for Qué-
bécois” and, moreover, “that
the convention of the QFL per-

BY BRUCE MAGNUSON

| ABOR SCENE Working class political

action against capital

mit the participation of repre-
sentatives of political parties
other than the old traditional
(capitalist) parties and of re-
presentatives of all organiza-
tions working to improve the
living standards of Quebec and
for the adoption of laws in the
interests of the majority of
Québécois...” Without a doubt,
this is one of the most impor-
tant approaches to the question
of independent labor political

action adopted by an official -

labor body. Originally proposed
by the Parti Communiste du Qué-
bec some three years ago, its
endorsement by the Quebec
Federation of Labor has made
it an important milestone in the
advance towards a united front
of Canada’s working people
against the corporate and state
structure, working for the Can-
adian and foreign monopolies in
this country.
Challenges Domination

Another example of this trend
is the position of the New Brun-
swick Federation of Labor,
which called for nationalization
of the province’s telephone net-
work and took a strong stand
on other issues affecting mono-
poly control of that province’s
economy.

What then is independent
labor political action? First of
all, it is obviously the kind of
political action that challenges
the policies and political domi-
nation of the ruling class. It is
political action independent of
the bourgeoisie, or, to put it an-
other way, independent working

Dissatisfaction over
new contract at Ford

Ford Motor Co. of Canada
employees at five Ontario loca-
tions voted Dec. 7 to ratify a
three-year agreement. More
than 15,000 workers were in-
volved. :

On the two main issues which
the union had projected, the
question of ending compulsory
overtime, and the 30-and-out
pension plan, gains were made,
although falling far short of
what workers had asked for.

The Ford settlement on over-
time calls for a limit of eight
compulsory overtime hours per
week. The company can sched-
ule two compulsory hours per
day from Monday to Thursday
for a 10-hour day, but cannot
demand compulsory overtime on
Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Overtime on these days, or
beyond the two hours on the
other four days will be volun-
tary. The union’s original de-
mands were for no compulsory
overtime at all.

30-and-Out at 55

The 30-and-out settlement also
falls short of expectation. Ori-
ginally the demand was for full
pension after 30 years service,
without limitations. The new
agreement calls for 30-and-out
only at 55 years of age — in
other words, if a worker com-
pletes his 30 years service at
Ford when he reaches 54 years,
he still has to work another
year before qualifying for his
full pension. Previously, retire-
ment age was Set at 58.

The wage agreement won will

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1973—PAGE 4 .

x hens) to s5reba

ree h

a

be retroactive to last Sept. 14
when the old contract expired,
and will be paid beginning Jan.
18. Workers will receive 35c an
hour more in this first install-
ment on their new contract.
Although the percentage in
favor of the new agreement was
approximately 72% of those vot-
ing, there is much dissatisfac-
tion among Ford workers with
the new contract.
Pressure Exerted

Pressure was exerted by the
International Office to force
workers to accept the same set-
tlement won at Chrysler in a
UAW contract demand program
launched under the slogan “‘la-
bor peace in auto for 1973”. This
was hardly the tactic necessary
to begin wage and other de-
mands in a year when living
costs have skyrocketted in both
Canada and the United States.

Many workers felt their union
waffled on the question of wage
demands, making this issue a
minor one. According to one
worker, “the union let us down
just at the time when better
wages are needed most”.
_It was also felt by many
workers, looking at the settle-

ment, that it was time for Can-_

adians to decide for themselves
on their demands for wages and
other benefits, that more auto-
nomy for the UAW in Canada
was essential. Workers pointed
out that demands in Canada are
quite different from those in the
United States, and should not

‘be tied down to the U.S. pat-

tern.

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class political action against
capital and its assumed “right”
to exploit labor and appropriate
its products except for the small
amount it pays in the form of
wages and salaries to those who
do all the work.

Independent political action
by labor means political mass
campaigning to advance a pro-
gram in the interests of all
working people and for which
the unity of all working peo-
ple is required. It means a
non-sectarian approach which
does not allow for _parti-
sanship to get in the way of
joint action to advance common
aims.

* Violates Principles .

The idea of any single politi-
cal party dominating the trade
union movement ‘violates the
basic principles of independent
labor political action. Such
social reformist hegemony is
presently imposed on the trade
unions by the concept of the
NDP as the “political arm of
labor.” But the only provincial
federation of labor which with-
out question reaffirmed such a
position this year, was the On-
tario Federation of Labor. And

here too, one resolution submit-’

ted by the Typographical Union
of Toronto, took a different ap-
proach to labor political action,
but this resolution unfortunate-
ly never did reach the floor for
debate.

The imposition of a_ social-
reformist strait-jacket on labor
political action is the antithesis
of independent working class poli-
tical action inasmuch as it com-
mits the trade union movement
to tail behind capitalist politics.
It limits political action to elec-
toral activity and denies the
need for extra-parliamentary
activities.

Narrow Orbit

Those who practice Right op-
portunist approaches to try and
solve problems of working peo-
ple within the narrow orbit of
capitalist politics mever have
succeeded anywhere to date,
nor will they in the future. That
does not stop them from. seek-

ing to impose their mythical.

concepts, such as Premier Ed.
Schreyer’s professed ability to
go through life without reading

. Karl Marx. The question at

stake is not the political power
of an Ed. Schreyer or of the
NDP as such, but the question
of a scientific approach to so-
cialism in place of a fake and
utopian one.

Similarly with the “left” op-
portunist approach about the
“new class” which denies the
role of working-class _ state
power as the alternative to capi-
talist state power. But as Gus
Tyler writes in the AFL-CIO
monthly magazine, “In putting
together an effective political

movement to restrain and re-

form corporate behavior . .
the liberal intelligentsia has no
majority of its own kind and
therefore must seek an honest
coalition with (both) the new
and old working class .. .”

The state cannot be relied
upon to act as a countervailing
power, able to control monopoly
in the interests of the people,
simply because the state is the
instrument of, by, and for the
monopolies.

The only way to working
class political power lies through
united action by healing the
split in the working class.

‘ug blgow is 14

Miners in Asturia

OVIEDO — The miners of
Asturia have just ended their
fourth week on strike in the
regions of Sama, Siero and Na-
lon. Fifteen pits out of 16 have
been paralyzed. The strikers
have refused to recognize as
their repfesentatives those
chosen by the vertical trade
unions as their negotiators. The
miners will continue their strike
as long as management and the
fascist trade union leaders re-
fuse to deal with delegates
chosen by workers’ assemblies.

In Barcelona

Near Barcelona, 4,000 work-

ers in three textile factories

owned by “La Seda” are now in
their second week on strike. This

strike, for wage demands and

against suspensions, was begun

at ‘the end of November after

_ workers had been locked out by
the company for four days.

Seven hundred “La Seda”

workers occupied the Church of

Saint Cosme and Damien in

Barcelona for several hours to

bring attention to the conflict.
Police vs. Students

Confrontations between police
and students took place last
’ week at several locations in the
University of Madrid, on the

occasion of “A Day of Struggle”

in protest of the government’s

university policy. Large cordons
of police on horseback and on
foot: charged groups of students
in order to break up demonstra-

tions. Students put up barricades

to protect themselves from the

police. Many students were ar-

rested. )

Labor

Groups of police
rooms in the Law and Science
Facutlies to disperse unauthor-
ized student assemblies.

Elsewhere in Madrid, 150 to
200 people, among them about 30
priests, occupied the police sem-
inary situated in the centre of
the city. Police surrounded the
building. The demonstrators
asked that clergymen participat-
ing in an episcopal conference
join them “‘to discuss important
and urgent matters concerning
the church.”

National Day of Action

The Workers Commissions
have called a national day of

entered ©

action for Dec. 12 to protest the ~

high cost of living, for imme-
diate wage increases, for the
liberation of the Carabanchel
Ten, and a halt to the trials
against other militants of the
Workers Commissions and ban-
ned trade unions.

The Workers (ommissions have
asked all progressive organiza-
tions and individuals to actively
support the day. A call: for a
24-hour. general strike has al-
ready come from the construc-
tion workers in Madrid.

IN) BRIEK

LABOR FORCE 1973

According to an article in the
Financial Times there are three
main changes in the labor force
of today as compared with a few
years ago:

e More women: 10 years ago
women made up about 25% of
the labor force. Now they are
33% -of a much larger labor
force.

e More young people: the
post-war “baby boom” bulge is
now passing rapidly into the
labor force. Then years ago one
worker in five was under 25;
now more than one worker in
four is in that age group.

e Fewer immigrants: last year
59,000 workers (not counting
dependants and students) im-
migrated to Canada. Five years
ago, in 1967, immigrants added
just twice as many workers —
119,000 — to the labor force.

CBC STRIKE?
News over the CBC may be

sparse if the strike described by.

union members as “almost ine-
vitable” takes place. CBC rep-
orters and editors are in the
final stages of preparation for
this strike against the Crown
Corporation,

ARTISTIC WOODWORK
Settlement was reached last
week in the strike at Artistic
Woodwork in Toronto with the
union bowing to a company re-
quirement that nine workers be
suspended pending the outcome

of charges laid against them as

a result of activity on the
picket-line. The union however
is going to take their case to the
Labor Relations Board arguing
that the suspensions are cont-
rary to the Labor Relations Act.
Earlier the company had agreed

Meat Ry Pay

to give in on the management

rights clause which had been -

the reason for the over three
months strike.

CLC BACKS
-FARMWORKERS

The president of the Canadian
Labor Congress has pledged the
full ‘support and co-operation of
the Congress to the United Farm
Workers’ Union in their conti-
nuing fight for social and econo-
mic justice,

Mr. MacDonald told Cesar
Chavez, president of the UFW,
in a meeting held at CLC head-
quarters, “We stand with you
and are behind you ‘in your
fight.” Mr. Chavez, who is in
Canada to present the case of
the UFW concerning the boy-
cott of non-union picked Cali-
fornia grapes and lettuce, met

with the Congress president,

officers and directors in Ottawa.

MONTREAL WAGE HIKE

A contract for the 3,200 Mont-
-real Urban Community Transit
Commission bus and Metro driv-
ers was signed last week provid-
ing for immediate increases in
the hourly rates for drivers from
$4.15 to $4.56. By the end of the

contract, in July, 1975, the driv-

ers will make $5.75 an hour.

HALIFAX
LONGSHOREMEN
Longshoremen returned to

work in Halifax last week after
a 22-day lockout by the Mari-
time Employers Association,
which followed refusal of long-
shoremen to work overtime,
weekends, or holidays. The dis-
pute is still not resolved but the
union has agreed to abide by
existing practices for 30 days.

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