LABOR TORONTO — The crucial role being played by organized labor in North America in the growing peace movement must be heightened now that the peace struggle is entering a more difficult and decisive stage. This was one of the unanimous con- clusions drawn Jan. 26, in Toronto, at the first North American regional meeting of the International Trade Union Com- mittee for Peace and Disarmament, otherwise known as the Dublin Com- mittee. That name comes from the site in 1982 where the international committee was formed, and since then regional meetings have been held in Glasgow, where the theme was “‘Nuclear Weapons Out of Europe,’’ and Larnaca, Cyprus where the focus of discussion was on making the ‘Mediterranean a Nuclear Free Zone’’. “Peace, Jobs and Conversion” was the theme of the Toronto meeting which was primarily attended by trade union rep- resentatives and individual trade unionists from Canada and the U.S. The participants unanimously issued a two-page statement which welcomed the renewal of arms reduction talks between the U.S. and the Soviet Union as a posi- tive development, but noted at the same time that the discussions ‘‘are being held in an atmosphere of heightened cold war ideology and a major American commitment to military spending on an . unprecedented scale.”’ The trade unionists noted that U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s so-called “Star Wars’? weapons systems will not only be the costliest weapons the world has yet seen, but are designed to tilt the current international balance in nuclear weapons in favor of the U.S. “‘by giving the Americans first strike capability with a defense system that can block retalia- tion.”” Growing Awareness The statement also recorded the Canadian government’s repudiation of the peace initiative launched by former Prime Minister Trudeau and the Tories’ total support for the U.S. arms build up including backing for the Star Wars Military spending will be a high prior- ity under the Mulroney government which has appointed one of its most right wing members to be Minister of Defense. “This government has given the green light to the continued testing of American Cruise Missiles over Canadian territory and has openly endorsed the position that Canada’s economic development should be pursued by encouraging Cana- dian industry to turn to military pro- Conference links peace and jobs duction for the American government’, the statement reported. At the same time the conference noted the growing awareness by Canadian and U.S. workers and the trade union movement of the massive and destruc- tive costs of militarism. The Canadian Labor Congress and its provincial federations of labor were sing- led out for their policies which place peace and disarmament as a top priority for the trade union movement and for rejecting military spending as a viable way of building up the economy. Resolu- tions adopted in convention by these bodies show a growing understanding among Canadian workers that military spending creates fewer jobs compared to the results of investment in civilian pro- duction, and in addition to diverting skills and resources from necessary so- cial and human priorities, pushes the world closer to nuclear annihilation. Jobs With Peace Canadian labor has also been a firm advocate of the nuclear freeze and vigor- ously opposed to Cruise testing on Canadian soil. The conference is calling on North American labor to step up its participa- tion with financial and human resources in strengthening the peace movement, Labor key in converting arms production and urged unions to stimulate the de- velopment of more local and regional trade union peace committees. The statement also noted the growing support among U.S. trade unions for the Jobs with Peace campaign backing the freeze and increasingly placing the de- mand for conversion to civilian pro- duction as a key part of the union peace program. Emphasis was also placed on labor’s role in identifying the transnational corporations as the chief promoters of the arms race. The statement pointed out that ‘‘the role of the transnational corporations in fostering militarism, the economic con- sequences of military spending on both domestic and international economies and the ultimate outcome of nuclear war must all be made clear to our fellow workers.” : In his opening address to the con- ference, Scottish labor leader James Milne underlined the role of the TNCs in fueling the arms race. ‘‘There is no doubt in my mind that these (transnational) companies have more than a vested in- terest in supporting a cold war atmo- sphere under which they can continue to make ever increasing profits from their weapons of death and destruction’’, Milne told the gathering. ‘‘These merchants of death are about as interested in peaceful co-existence as was Attila the Hun.”’ Unity, Unity, Unity Milne also tackled the myths spread by big business that conversion from mili- tary to civilian production will cost jobs and fuel unemployment. Saying they to- tally ignore the numerous trade union research studies and alternative pro- grams that show just the opposite is the case, the Scottish trade union leader re- called the massive economic conversion that took place in post war Britain be- tween August 1945 and.March of 1946. ‘During this period the whole of British industry, which for six years had been totally geared to war production, was converted back to civil production’, he said. ‘“‘If we take into consideration that at the time there was no such thing as ‘new technology’, then you do not have to be an expert to realize how much more quickly it could be achieved today.”’ He concluded by recalling that 1985 is the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the defeat of fascism. He called for the — same kind of all-in unity in-action that was mobilized to defeat fascism, to be turned toward solving the greatest threat — facing humanity today. THUNDER BAY — Can Car Rail workers here said no to the company’s latest contract offer Jan. 21 when management refused to shift from its demands for concessions and the right to contract out work. In rejecting the offer, by a huge 93 per cent margin, Local 1075 was determined to send the management of the provin- message that the strike will continue until the company wakes up. The workers have been on strike since Nov. 19, 1984. Local 1075 recently uncovered proof of management’s deliberate plan to “clean house”’ and restructure labor re- lations with the UAW in the wake of the purchase of what formerly was a Hawker-Siddely plant by the Ontario- owned Urban Transit Development Company. The local released an internal com- pany memo from Can Car’s vice- cially-owned crown corporation the Can car strikers reject offer president of administration G.M. Cul- len detailing the company’s 1984 bargaining strategy and including the suggestion that the plan ‘‘may require the acceptance of UTDC Corporate ofa prolonged strike, without panic.”’ Can Car’s objectives in the 1984 talks according to the memo included the achievement of ‘‘contractural flex- ibility, allowing management control’’, cutting the cost of fringe benefits, and introduction of incentive programs ‘‘to increase productivity gains and reduce the impact of the union.”’ The memo then detailed the com- pany’s demands, most of which are now sticking points in the two-month long strike. These include increasing the probationary period to 120 days from 60; cutting out one statutory holi- day; eliminating. the education leave and other concessions. The “‘incentive program’’ the com- pany is trying to implement was ex- pected by Cullen to become ‘‘the toughest part of the bargaining pro- cess.”’ Cullen noted that the UAW “‘has resisted. incentive plans in North America’’ and predicted that what he called the ‘“‘UAW hierarchy incuding Buzz Hargrove and Bob White (would) fight this move with all their political pursuasive strength.’’ Cullen admitted that the program, which he predicted could achieve “‘productivity gains of up to 42 ‘per cent’’, would probably shatter con- structive labor relations in the plant. “It must be recognized that the amount of labor unrest will increase, including the possibility of ‘wildcats’”’, he said. Cullen recalled that there hasn’t been a ‘wildcat’ strike at the company for 15 years but he went on tosay: ‘‘Griev- ances will shift and increase. Ex- perience of the experts shows that the plan, if allowed to be loose or badly managed, or not supported 100 per cent, will cause production to become controlled by the shop floor.”’ UU HUOUOEREEEEEEOCOUUGAOQEOQCUEEEEOOUUOGOSOEELAEEEOOOGUOOAOOEREEEOOUUOOOUOOGEOELEEOOOUOOAANOENEOUUEUUOOOGAOOUGEEEEEUUUOUAGOOOOOOEO}OOOUOOOEOOOORUOEEEUUOOUOOOOOOOEOUEOLUEOUOUOUOOOOOOONEUREEROOOGOUOOOONOOONEDOEEUUOUOOGONOOOOOOOUOAEEEUUUOOUOOOOOOOEEOOEOOUUUUUOGOOOOREOELAE fights union’s efforts: on Hill UUETETUTAECETGUTEEA TOUTE EEE TEE T AEA EA : Ottawa OTTAWA — The employer is using every ‘‘trick in the book”’ to delay the unionization of Parlia- ment Hill employees, Jean Berge- ron, vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said after the Jan. 24 Canada Labor Relations Board hearing on juris- diction was adjourned. “It’s going to take more than a mountain of paper and a lot of legal wrangling to stop the more than 1,000 PSAC members on the Hill from achieving the justice they deserve,’’ Bergeron added. Although the employer’s tac- tics at the CLRB hearing were “‘obstructionist’’, there is no doubt that the House of Com- mons management has finally realized it can no longer ignore its employees’ legitimate wishes for union representation, Bergeron said. ‘‘The question now is how the CLRB will decide what con- stitutes appropriate units for col- lective bargaining.” “House of Commons lawyers arrived at the long-awaited CLRB hearing armed with a veritable mountain of paper. During the employer’s presentation of its case no fewer than 10 boxes of documents pertaining to the House of Commons organization structure, salary scale and em- ployees’ job descriptions were distributed. “Requests by the CLRB that these vital documents be pro- vided before the hearing had been denied repeatedly by the House of Commons representatives dur- ing the last several months. As a result, the hearing was adjourned to provide the union and the board with an opportunity to examine the evidence,’ the PSAC officer noted. The employer has proposed to divide House of Commons em- ployees into the following seven units: general services, indexers and editors, technical em- ployees, tradespeople, office em- ployees, security guards and supervisory/professional _ per- sonnel. “‘Conspicuous by their absence ‘at the hearing were the official representatives of the Senate and Library of Parliament, both of whom were meant to respond to applications for certification on behalf of their employees,”’ Bergeron said. “In fact, the request of the board chairman that all Library and Senate representatives in the room identify themselves for the purpose of the record was met by silence as a couple of individuals scurried out the door. ‘Despite the delays, Parlia- ment Hill employees are con- tinuing to sign up as members and we are optimistic that it is only a matter of time until they are officially unionized.”’ UUUUAUUAEENEEEGUUAEEEEEAEEE LEELA AEUEOEUOUGEUEOUUOUGUAEOOUOOEUOEULOUOOEUOEUOOEUgEUouooenueoceennagusznnaneiat 6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 6, 1985 } i] |