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cap Mr. Kostiukov,
ae morning after
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.. Canada our delega-
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fe,
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Mikey OV: Our Union has
7‘ Sin extensive acti-
1 un dere noting friendship
PS ang sending — between
tig m OrKers in various
fo seq at is why we were
“EVs to accept Mr. Ma-
pectin ay Kind invitation.
A Striyie is that we are
hip . "8 to develop
Wionist ~ understanding
Meayse i other coun-
Mme, ., tternationalism
thing with Soviet
People generally.
Similarities, if any,
Sg. 9 (ween Canada and

HRS

.

a Canada is “a
di eeetty, made up
ate, go nt peoples, just
nd Bie climate con-
Urea, . CCation of natu-
are very similar.
here are mutual
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Soviet trade unionists
ests of Canadian labor |

TIM

‘Visit of a Soviet steelworkers’ delegation to
ou the invitation of the United Steelworkers
erica, Canadian section, and its tour of our
from August 23 to Sept. 3, was one of the
" of the year for the Canadian labor move-
‘a great service to the cause of international
oN Prior to his departure, the leader of the
5 var Ivan Kostiukov, President of the Central
a the Metallurgical Workers of the USSR,
a ollowing exclusive interview to Steel Labor,
a teprint from the September edition of the
edition of the paper.)

conditions are of the same na-
ture.

Q. What have you found in
the work of the Steelworkers in
Canada that is similar to the
work of your own union in the
USSR?

KOSTIUKOV: Both unions, in
various ways are engaged in the
improvement of the lives of their
members and families. Each
within the conditions and laws
of their own country carry on
activities for that purpose.

Q. What do you find to be the
essential differences in the work
of the two. unions?

KOSTIUKOV: The differences

derive from what I mentioned
in the previous answer. We in
the USSR operate under a dif-
ferent economic and. political
system. Here, you have to deal
with private capital and manage-
ment; we deal with industries
that belong to the whole na-
tion.
Q. Could you describe how
wage levels are established for
werkers in industry in the
USSR?

KOSTIUKKOV: In our coun-
try we have a planned economy
that is called upon to meet the
growing requirements of our
people by improving the stand-
ards of living. We do not have
a private profit motive such as
you have here. The plans that
we adopt, contain not only tar-
gets for the development of the
industries but envisage rising
targets for the well being and
the improvement of the work-
ers and other people’s lives.
Through our unions, participa-—
tion in the development and
working out of these plans we
exert our influence on the plan-
ning bodies to include all mat-
ters that concern the lives of
our people. For instance, the
current Five-Year Plan « en-

wy

oy

¥ 5
fePresented the Metallurgical Workers of the USSR.

visages a wage increase for all
our metallurgical workers of
28%. Of course our prices are
fixed and we do not have either
inflation, rising prices or unem-
ployment. In fact, we have a
labor shortage in some sectors
of our industries.

Q. What are the other areas
of your members’ lives in which

your union interests itself and.

seeks to find solutions to prob-
lems?

KOSTIUKOV: Our unions see
to it that all labor legislation
is properly observed. This of
course includes particularly the
observation by management of
all safety and health regulations.
Another example would be that
no authority is entitled to dis-
tribute housing facilities with-
out our consent and the unions
participate directly in that mat-
ter. The social insurance scheme
which is provided at the ex-
pense of the state budget is
placed at the disposal of the
unions who manage and: run
these funds. This includes pen-
sions, sickness pay, the loss of
a breadwinner in families, health
care, rest homes and vacation
places, summer camps for child-
ren and so on. We also provide
sports and cultural activities in
all forms of the arts. In addi-
tion, we provide opportunities
for workers and their families
to raise their educational and
cultural standards. .

Q. Describe how you handle
northern development and isola-
tion in Russia and what part
your union plays.

KOSTIUKOV: As a matter of
fact the government of the
USSR creates additional incen-
tive and opportunities for those
who work in remote areas.
There are also provided by stat-
ute, additional leaves and vaca-
tions and travel facilities paid
for by the industry, and so on.
In addition to this, there are
huge expenditures for housing,

cultural and social improve-

ments. The unions are concern-
ed and take part in effecting all
these special measures affecting
the people of the remote areas.
I should add that the people
who may be indigenous to the
areas share equally in all these
specialized measures for the re-
mote areas.

Q. How are workers promo-
ted and or disciplined in your
industry and what role does
your union play?

KOSTIUKOV: With us, promo-
tion is primarily based on a
worker’s skill, efficiency and
education. These factors are of
great concern to the unions who
are responsible for guaranteeing
opportunities for workers to im-

rove their skills and abilities.
While the main method of dis-
cipline is a matter of social pres-
sure by the workers themselves
in the plants, at the same time
no worker can be fired without
the consent of the local union.
In the event that a worker is
penalized he has the right to
appeal his case through the
union to the top body of the
union and as a final resort take
his case to court.

Q. Are the metallurgical work-
ers of the USSR totally organiz-
ed and is union membership
compulsory?

KOSTIUKOV: Our member-
ship is on a voluntary basis and
un to 98% of the metallurgical
workers are members. One of
the characteristics of this mem-

From steelworkers in the Soviet Union to steelworkers in Canada—

Ivan Kostiukov, left, President of the Central Council

lurgical Workers’ Union of the USSR, presents an cae ses
of his Union to William Mahoney, National Director for the Steel.
workers in Canada. Mahoney, on behalf of the Canadian members
responded with a hand-crafted Eskimo parka for Mr. Kostiukov. _ ‘

bership is that a new worker
must make an application for
membership and must pay his
dues voluntarily every month.
There is no closed shop or check
off system. We have other ways
of attracting people to belong
to the union because our ser-
vices are thoroughly understood
and appreciated by our members.
I should add that the same ser-
vices are provided and granted
to non-members.

Q. You have said that strikes
are not prohibited by law but
that you do not have strikes,

apart from an occasional sym-

pathy strike such as when your
dock workers would not load
ships for Britain during the re-
cent dock workers strike there.
How then do you advance. and
protect the interests of your
members?

KOSTIUKOV: The unions pro-
vide for our members’ interests
by our participation in develop-
ing economic planning by direct
submission of bills and legisla-
tion to our parliament. The
rights of of the union and of the
local unions in particular are en-’
visaged and protected by the
legislation and laws. For ex-

ample if a union inspector sees
safety infractions in a plant, he
has the legal power to close that
plant until the infractions are
corrected. This inspector may
fine a manager, and in the event
the workers in a plant have lost
confidence in a manager, the
union may demand that he be
fired. In such an event, the high-
er economic body has no option
under law but to carry out the
union’s wishes and fire the man-
ager.

Q. Do you feel your visit to
Canada has served a useful pur-
pose and what do you project,
or hope to see happen in this
regard in the future?

KOSTIUKOV: We feel our
visit has been a useful one _ be-
cause as we had hoped, it has
paved the way to further co-
operation, understanding and
friendly relations between our
two organizations. It is our hope
that other unions will soon fol-
low the lead of our two unions,
because such mutual understand-
ing will provide for and promote
peace between our two nations.
It is our hope that a reciprocal
visit will come from your United
Steelworkers of America.

Visit has proved a great success’

William Mahoney, National Director for Canada of the
United Steelworkers of America, accompanied the Soviet metal-
lurgical workers on their Canadian tour. After they left Mr
Mahoney said of the visit, “We were pleased to welcome the
Soviet delegation from the Metallurgical Workers Union be-
cause there is a great need for us as Steelworkers to under-
stand them, what their problems are, what we may have in
common and what our differences are.”

“We are proud that it was our union, the United Steelworkers
that broke the ice on this score and the visit by Soviet labor

‘heads has already proved to be a great success.”

Joe Molony, Vice-president of USWA, after meeting the
delegation in Montreal, said: “I firmly believe that nothing but
good can come from the nurturing of our friendships. | salute
the people of our own union for receiving them, and | salute
the Soviets for accepting our invitation to visit with us awhile
May there be more of this kind of interchange between all
peoples of the world so there may be an end to hostility and
the flowering of peace among al! nations.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY;AOCTOBER 6/1972:-—PAGE 9

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