By WILLIAM STEWART

The AFL-CIO last week an-
nounced its withdrawal from
the International Confederation
of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).
The American labor body gave
as its reasons the admittance by
the world body of the Alliance
for Labor Action (ALA), the
newly formed amalgam of the
United Automobile Workers and
the International Teamsters

4 Sf

AFL-0 splits with ICF TU

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Why Canada
should
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By William Kashtan

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Union. Also that the ICFTU was
not pursuing the struggle against
communism with sufficient dedi-
cation.

The ICFTU was promoted by
the AFL and the CIO following
the second world war to carry
through the U.S. cold war in
Europe and the underdeveloped
countries. Its first task was to
split the unity of the world
trade union movement which
was at that time expressed by
the World Federation of Trade
Unions bringing together the
workers in both the socialist and
non-socialist countries.

In recent years the collusion
between the AFL-CIO top lead-
ership with the U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) has
become clear to workers in Eu-
rope and these fighting against
colonialism, neo-colonialism and
tyrany in Asia, Africa and Latin
America.

The struggles of the workers
in these countries for economic
and social justice has compelled
the ICFTU to give support to
objectives and movements which
are in direct opposition to the
aims of American Imperialism
and the policies pursued by the
AFL-CIO which acts as its hon-
est broker in these areas.

Recent developments have
found the development of unity
in action, if not in form, be-
tween the member organiza-
tions of the ICFTU and the
WFTU. This has led to growing
resentment by the AFL-CIO to
the ICFTU and at the same time
an improved relation between
the ICFTU and the WFTU.

One of the reasons given in
the U.S. by the UAW for with-
drawal from the AFL-CIO and
the subsequent formation of the
ALA, was the paranoic preoccu-
pation by the AFL-CIO with
anti-communism.

It is quite obvious that the
official American labor move-
ment has tied itself so firmly to
the foreign policy orientation of
the U.S. government that it is

prepared to sink or swim on the
issue.

The AFL-CIA have not been in-
active as this crisis develops in
Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin
America and have been build-
ing alternative structures through
which to carry through U.S.
foreign policy in most of these
countries. While the U.S. will
continue to try to influence the
policies of the ICFTU, it will
concentrate much more of its
attention to direct intervention
in each country through front
organizations and aid programs
and direct representations by
the AFL-CIO in educational and
organizational programs.

In Canada the Canadian Labor
Congress will find itself once
again face to face with one of
those problems arising from the
fact that 93 unions representing
more than a million of the 1.6
million members affiliated to it
are International U.S. based
unions,

The CLC is affiliated directly
to the ICFTU and in a policy
statement adopted at its last
convention on International Af-
fairs had this to say: “As a
major objective, the program
seeks the fullest possible finan-
cial support for the organizing
and educational activities of the
ICFTU. In this respect the Can-
adian trade unions enjoy a re-
putation second to none. It is
the purpose of the Congress pro-
gram to enhance this reputa-
tion.”

Thus, if the Congress main-
tains this position it will be
speaking on behalf of two
thirds of its membership who
belong to organizations whose
parent unions are outside the
ICFTU.

When one adds to this that
the UAW is now outside the
AFL-CIO in the U.S. and is or-
ganizing the ALA which can
only be regarded as competitive
to the AFL-CIO it is clear that
the question of autonomy is be-
coming a more and more real

PE SD TS Sal Sete Foe See tr el POT ee Te ae ee a ee pe Ps ee

question for Canadian unions
and one that may well see some
serious confrontations between
the Congress and its unions
with its U.S. counterparts.
Leaving aside what success
the U.S. may have in this or that
country through its new ap-
proach it is quite evident that
its overall policy of subversion
and domination of the world
labor movement has been great-
ly weakened under the impact
of the joint struggles of work-

st en) p*. ae, :

ers organizations for their eco.
nomic and social needs.

What is opening up, in the
U.S. as well as the world is
new period of growing unity in
struggle of the trade unions
against imperialism. Whether
the AFL-CIO will survive in its
present form or give away to
another formation in the US,
reflective of the needs and grow.
ing temper of the American
workers is very much in the

hopper.
gig SAN_JOSE STATE

PT ise”

San Francisco State University, has been shut since early last
November by a two pronged offensive. Students are striking against
racism and administrative authoritarianism, while the faculty, mem-
bers of the American Federation of Teachers are trying to force
the administration to bargain with them for wages, hours and work-
ing conditions. The two groups are supporting each other and the
community has rallied behind them.

Governor Ronald Reagan of California has declared open war on
both the students and teachers and police have arrested and
charged more than 600 picketers since the strike begun.

The University, which has lost part of last semester faces a boy-
cott of its Spring semester unless the dispute is solved.

alf dewhurst

Support Ontario hydro workers

All signs point to a gang-up
by the Ontario government and
its big business backers to force
a low wage settlement on strik-
ing Ontario Hydro workers. If
this should happen it will ad-
versely affect every set of wage
negotiations in the province—
and in the whole country.

This being the case it figures
that the trade union movement
should rally in support of Local
1,000 of the Canadian Union of
Public Employees by insisting
that the Ontario Hydro Com-
mission meet the justified wage
needs of its employees.

Not only has Hydro refused
so far to make a satisfactory
wage offer but its negotiators
have added public deceit into
the negotiations. When issuing
public statments on their wage
offer they claim it is 15.5 per-
cent for a two year contract,
or 20.5 percent for three years.
When in reality their offer is
12.5 prceent for two years and
17.5 percent for three yars.

They perform this hocus-
pocus by incorporating into
their wage offer a three percent
cost-of-living payment which
came into effect last August and
was bargained for in the last
agreement which expired in

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEBRUARY 28, 1969—Page 4.apingmoo ziti to f19q ep ytire
_ Bannt=-Ka2i SS YGAUPAI- - RAUaRT DAMASK

April ’68. This juggling with
figures is done to fool the public.

CUPE Local 1000 did the
only thing they could do with
such an offer—a bare six per-
cent annual increase—they re-
jected it.

The union is confronted with
a most difficult bargaining situ-
ation, which the Hydro Com-
mission is taking full advan-
tage of in typical big business
fashion. That is, by strike break-
ing—in the name of the public
and with funds from the public
purse. A good part of these
funds are spent in buying elec-
tric power from the U.S. and
Quebec. To date Hydro has ad-
mitted to spending $90,000 in
purchasing power from these
sources, despite a standing offer
by the union to supply emerg-
ency crews to prevent black-
outs.

But Hydro refuses to accept
the Union’s emergency propos-
als. It couples this refusal with
a policy of lock-out of plant
workers and suspensions of
linesmen. In one day Hydro
locked-out 250 employees in the
Niagara region and 400 in the
Eastern region.

Hydro’s. perfidy extends far

beyond the ranks of its own em-
ployees. By its purchase of elec-
tric power from the U.S. and
Quebec it compels Ontario work-
ers to work in factories powered
by “hot” electricity, and house-
holders to use the same “hot”
product in their homes. The
Commission, charged by the
government to manage a pub-
licly-owned utility, is dragging
the whole community into its
strike-breaking act.

Not content with direct efforts
to break the strike, Hydro
caused a meeting of the Ontario
Municipal Electric Association
to be convened on February
19 to demand of the Ontario
government to outlaw strikes in
public utilities. This association
represents Hydro commissions
in Ontario municipalities.

Local 1000 went into bar-
gaining with an admirable sense
of public responsibility. To
meet, what they considered
their responsibility to the com-
munity as a whole, the union
members decided on the tactic
of the rotating strike, i.e., a suc-
cession of one day strike, region
by region, until an acceptable
offer could be secured.

The aim of this tactic is to

o> Fie oko J

ensure sufficient generation and
transmission of power within
the framework of Hydro’s re-
sources to keep the wheels of
industry turning, pay cheques
of Ontario workers continuing,
and enough electricity to serve
community and household needs.
To guarantee a workable mini-
mum supply of power the union
agreed to allow Hydro supervis-
ory personnel to man _ struck
plants and to provide union
emergency crews if and when
necessary to prevent power
failures.

The rotating strike tactic, and
the measures worked out for its
operation, emphasize that Hydro
workers consider their contract
dispute to be with Hydro man-
agement and the provincial gov-
ernment and not the public.

Hydro and the Ontario gov-
ernment can normalize the situ-
ation tomorrow if they want to
do so. The union’s demands are
quite modest: (1) a reasonable
wage increase commensurate
with need; (2) retention of the
cost-of-living clause which Hy-
dro wants to scrap; (3) elimina-
tion of zone wage differentials;
(4) retroactivity on all money
matters agreed on.

WAL

But, instead of bargaining in
good faith Hydro connives with
the Ontario government to cre-
ate an atmosphere of a public
emergency to serve as a pretex
for the imposition of a compul-
sory settlement of six percent
yearly upon Hydro workers.
This is the pattern big business
wants government agencies, like
Hydro, to set.

Hydro employees are fighting
the opening battle in Ontario
of the 1969 round of wage nego-
tiations. As a public enterprise,
co-owned by the community 45
a whole made up mainly of wage
and salary workers and theif
families), Hydro must not be
allowed to be used to speat-
head the big business attack
against the living standards of
all Ontario workers.

It is the responsibility of the
Ontario labor movement t0
throw the great weight of Ont
ario’s organized workers onto
the scales on the side of the
Hydro workers.

The Ontario government must
be told by the unions and the
public to instruct Hydro to set
tle this wage dispute at once
by making an acceptable offer
to Local 1000 and the workers
it represents.

Anode