The Smirnov-Lastochkin factory while you work.. By JOHN WEIR Tribune Moscow Correspondent Visit to Soviet Ukraine that was {0 bring us west to the Carpathian Ountains naturally started in 1év, the capital of the Republic. € beauties of Kiev, with its Chestnut trees in bloom, and its People have been praised in song and story far and wide. I want to vote my first account to Kievan Women and children. At the gate of the Smirnov- ~astochkin needle trades factory (it was named after a revolu- “onary who worked in Ukraine fore the victory of Soviet pow- er) We see colorful posters and a Tepresentation of the Order of the ed Banner of Labor with which the factory and its personnel have en decorated. We enter, intro- duce ourselves to the manager, V. Akatenkov, and begin our tour. The Kiev factory has 2,300 €mployees (there are two more -lactories of this enterprise in Other parts of Ukraine). The _. What would it be like for women to work in | a factory where all the leading positions are held by women, where maternity leave is 17 weeks with full pay and where your job is kept open for a year. Our Tribune Moscow — correspondent John Weir takes us through - such a factory in the Soviet Ukraine. The Smirnov-Lastochkin needle trades factory in Kiev employees 2,300 people with no layoffs in sight. The plant contains its own health centre, summer resort and daycare and you can even have your grocery shopping done — _workers are 90% women, mostly young. All the leading positions are held by women, the manager until recently was also a woman who “‘retired’’ to teach in a school training skilled production workers. The Smirnoy-Lastochkin fac- tory produces women’s (and some men’s) clothing, which is snapped up when it reaches the retail outlets. In this year their output with a high quality stamp will be worth 14,500,000 roubles. They get patterns from the House of Fashion and sometimes they make up their own, especially utilizing motifs from Ukrainian national costumes. There are not many old work- ers, but the attitude toward them is an expression of high under- standing. Many do not want to leave when they reach pension age. so they are allowed to work and a special Council of Labor Veterans sees to it that the work NFU demands inquiry into ‘security’ lists By W.C. BEECHING REGINA — President of the ‘ational Farmers Union Roy At- Qson publicly released. the con- tents of a hard-hitting letter ad- Tessed to Prime Minister Tudeau. He sent copies to the leaders of all political parties rep- Tesented in the House of Com- Mons as well as to Attorney Gen- Francis Fox. Attacking the compilation by the RCMP of secret lists and dos- Slers on Canadian citizens, Atkin- 80n said, ‘‘from our point of view, Sur organization is a democratic “ltizen’s group acting within the 8W to organize for our rights in IS society. Your government, Y directing the RCMP to compile S€cret lists and dossiers on al- gedly subversive activities SMears and blackens our reputa- 10n and credibility with Canadian ’tmers and Canadian people, Without giving us any recourse to fair and open examination of our &tions. Your refusal to publicize the list or the alleged wrongful ac- WWities subvert the efforts of our Members and of the members of i © other named organizations to -© Socially responsible, and polit- Cally active in a free country.” Atkinson strongly makes the Point that if the RCMP security _ S€ction is permitted to continue SUch activities it will ‘break down and subvert’? the ‘‘genuine democratic activity’ of such ffoups as the National Farmers Nion. Such actions could have expected in nazi Germany NFU President ROY ATKINSON under Hitler, Atkinson writes. Atkinson concludes his letter by requesting a public enquiry into all matters related to the keeping of blacklists. He asks Trudeau whether the name of the NFU appears on the blacklist, whether his name, personally, appears, and what other names of the staff of the NFU appear on such lists. “+ After all,’ Mr. Atkinson said, ‘you are the one credited with saying, ‘the future is not for the weak or the timorous.’ It’s an obscene trick to hide behind the excuse that for reasons of Cana- da’s national security, it is not in the public interest to reveal the facts of the case.”” bute to socialist labor they are given is not too strenu- ous, etc. We met Granny Olga, who is more than 80, who comes regularly to. give advice to the youth. Those who do leave on pension retain all the privileges that workers have. All working women are entitled to a pre- and post-maternity leave lasting 112 calendar days during which period they receive full pay irrespective of work record. The work record is considered unin- terrupted even if they decide to stay. off work for one year and their jobs-must be kept open for a full 12 months. A full meal— entré, soup, meat or dairy dish, tea or coffee, des- sert — costs 60 kopecks (under $1). Women can also order groceries for delivery instead of having to shop and lug after the day’s work is done. Great care is taken of the work- ers’ health. The accent is on prophylactics, ‘‘an ounce of pre- vention is worth a pound of cure”’ so to say. There is a medical centre with qualified personnel right in the factory, equipment for tests and immediate treatment, a prophylactic sanitorium where workers can stay overnight or even long periods, with diet as prescribed, medication and rest. This is apart from the summer resorts, rest homes sanatoriums to which they-are en- titled, as are all Soviet workers. One-fifth of the Smirnov- Lastochkin workers get their accommodations. at. sanatoriums free of charge, the trade union paying the expenses, the others are also at a very reasonable charge. The workers’ health is checked regularly, special attention being paid to detect any signs of cancer. This is a complete check annually. From there we go to see how the children are getting along, with manager Betya Dralova lead- ing us around and supplying in- formation. There are two ‘‘chil- dren’s combines,’’ creche and kindergarten, serving the youngsters. The cost per child is 11 roubles monthly, and that in- cludes four good meals.a day. Se- eing visitors the children provide a demonstrative welcome com- plete with little flags, recitations, songs and dances. — They have all sorts of toys, books, albums, even two TV sets provided by the factory manage- ment. Occasionally they go on parade to watch their mothers work, are taken to see the city sights, visit museums, take part in celebrations such as May Day, Victory Day and the anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, not to speak of Young Pioneers. and children’s holidays. Those who are past six are taken to schools so they will know what it’s like when they answer their first school bell (chil- dren start school education here at seven years of age). ‘‘Give all the best to the chil- dren!”’ is the slogan adopted by Kiev. It is not simply a slogan but the reality of Soviet policy, one of the great achievements of the 60 years of Soviet power, of socialism. The United Nations has desig- nated 1979 as ‘‘Children’s Year.” Kiev Elementary School No. 86 and ha ‘ ‘ ‘ee a asa The Smirnov-Lastochkin needle trades facto employees, 90% of the workers are women. NEWS) UNITED FRONT PROPOSED IN GUYANA GEORGETOWN — The opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has called for the formation of a united national front, to include the ruling People’s National Congress. PPP leader Cheddi Jagan said the front should include all parties, groups and individuals seeking a socialist road of development for the country. The PPP call sees the united front participating in the government process and in electoral coalitions. iev has 2,300 ra) cae PANAMA-U.S. TREATY ON CANAL RECEIVES PRAISE PANAMA CITY — Panama’s Communists have described the tre- aty for the Panama Canal as ‘‘a step of anew quality”’ in the struggle for Panama’s full national liberation. In a statement issued here Aug. 12, the People’s Party of Panama said the agreement was won because of the struggle of the Panamanian people, the unity of anti-imperialist forces and broad international solidarity. The party also warned that U.S. imperialism and internal reaction will seek to prevent further positive changes from taking place. KENT STATE GYMNASIUM DELAYED AGAIN CLEVELAND — A District Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order Aug. 18 delaying construction of a gymnasium near the site of the 1970 Kent State University shooting where four anti-war ~ demonstrators were killed by National Guard troops. The May Coali- tion, the group leading the opponents of the gym, want the site turned into a national historic landmark. The battle against the gymn’s con- struction in past months has led to several arrests among whom wefe- the parents of one of the murdered students. A new constitution anu language rights “The mass media in English speaking Canada have had a field day since the Premiers’ meeting in St. Andrews, N.B. around the question: who won and who lost. | This is a rather shortsighted way of dealing with a complex and highly emotional issue — that of language,’’ the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party in a press statement Aug. 24. “The issue of language is ex- tremely important. A policy of discrimination on this question, flowing from chauvinist or narrow nationalist attitudes, can only lead to a further sharpening of na- tional antagonisms, divide the democratic forces and the coun- try itself, and make a just, dem- ocratic solution of the crisis of Confederation impossible. ‘The Communist Party be- lieves that a certain progress was achieved by the commitment of the Premiers of the English- was one of the sponsors of this . speaking Provinces to the assur- proposal. ance of schooling in French wherever numbers warrant. This constitutes a step towards recog- nition of minority language rights in education, and thus, towards the achievement of national equality. However the statement, due to its vagueness could be- come a worthless exercise in semantics unless given flesh and blood. ‘‘The way to its implementa- ~ tion lies through the inclusion of minority language rights in educa- tion in a new-made-in-Canada Constitution, a right which should be given the force of law. “‘To attempt to deal with lan- guage rights in education separate and apart from the adoption of such a- Constitution can have harmful effects — for this would sidestep the national question — " recognition of the sovereign equal rights of the two nations of Canada — of which language is but a part. “This task still stands before the country and cannot be further delayed.”’ POGIICTRISUNS SEPTEMBER ZIRT Re: