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QUEBEC SCENE

. By C. VANCE
| Mest significant feature of

the general ferment in
Quebec today is the surg-
mass. movement of labor
at the -.farmers, Conducting
ir Struggles independently,
Urban workers and farmers of
Tebec, however, give each
her Open and official support.
Ae delegations and actions of
ne receive the acclaim and en-
ouragement of the other. The
Next Step is a farmer-labor
Ont of struggle.

Issues are automation wag-
B. Prices, right to organize and
lke, markets, taxation, edu-
‘On and peace. Both groups
} Bee taken stands against nu-
I ie ar arms for Canada, and for
, aye and complete disarm-
os ae On this question organ-
bans labor has been more often
tha More actively involved
; n the farmers, who have yet

\dentify themselves in a de-

| Onstrative Way with the peace
ovement,

Ing
and

leag S® On the peace question,
stil] ei and initiative appears
‘tlle to come mainly from in-

oe Ctual and middle - class

able > among whom innumer-

for Mmittees and movements

ing Bese have been burgeon-
hese past years.

rest ® Significance of the un-
me, of organized labor and far-
ticy), 1.78 Made itself felt par-
ey Y Since the Lesage Goy-
torig, wt brought down its no-
Bill 4s proposed Labor Code,
Sein 4, last February. This
“ing a also, their patience giv-
Sen din’ the farmers have been
| ati Ng delegation after dele-
With n, Protest after protest,
| eve, nO visible effect on the
: Maing rents their grievances
| Mong. t the pulp and _ paper
| feay Polies, against the price of

agai, erains from the west,
j faci A adequate marketing
Cesc; °S) and against the ex.

Sssj :
tessive Tate of taxation and ex-
e

ton Prices of farm supply
wg 1€s continued to re-
Polite indifference.

The dilatoriness of the gov-
t is illustrated by the
for * @Pplication of the funds
AD arm reorganization under
Ron » the much touted fede-
Jing” °Vincial scheme for solv-

| thoy ,raior farm problems. Al-
1 Igge8h ARDA is due to end in
ting, & mere fraction of the
"hile ave as yet been applied,
nde 80vernment agents talk
they SY of the beautiful future

8re building.

think farmers say what they
. 8009 At the end of Juné,
Ques, Of them stood before the
the, ¢. Parliament proclaiming
'Ssatisfaction.

the" the industrial labor front
| ige ™°bilization is province-
on 8nd active. Every local
ie Called into session in
mM hacte2inst Bill 54, and the
‘a {8 likewise been the sig-
Mi Speed-up organizing on
Moyet of public service em-
r ‘teachers and profes-

Stoups generally. The

ee

public service employees and
teachers are mobilizing to fight
the sections of Bill 54 which

“would deprive them of the

right to strike.

Strikes have been seething in
the province since last winter.
Teachers, nurses, hospital em-
ployees, steel workers, ship-
builders, newspaper reporters,
typographers, retail store em-
ployees, have been recently or
are now on strike..

Two major strikes — at Du-
puis Fréres, French-Canada’s
largest department store, and
at La Presse, French Canada’s

largest and most _ influential
newspaper — have become
lockouts.

The store employees have
been provoked into action by
ruthless overtime exacted by
the management, and the threat
of job loss through automation
led the typographers at La
Presse to hit the pavement. La
Presse management promptly
turned the lock in the door, and
has since raised the issue of
liberty of conscience and secur-
ity of employment for the edi-
torial staff; so that today set-
tlement is blocked by issues of
deep political significance.

The rumor is that the Dupuis
Fréres and the La Presse strikes
are linked. The owner of Du-
puis Fréres, J. L. Levesque —
perhaps French-Canada’s. lead-
ing or most up-and-coming Big
Shot, with close ties with Am-
erican and other foreign capital

—has recently purchased Le

Petit Journal, a popular ; and
widely circulated newspaper.

The Barthiaume family, own-
ers of La Presse, were split
over policy a few years ago,
and for six months Montreal
had a new French language
daily, Le Nouveau Journal, a

lively and extremely progres-

sive paper, that lit up journal-
istic life. tremendously for a
time.

It ended abruptly when its
financial sponsor, a former
member of the La Presse ad-
ministration withdrew her sup-
port. The question people are
asking is “What lies behind it
all?”

Latest news is. that after 7
weeks of strike, negotiations will
re-open between La Presse: ad-
ministration and the journalists.
Discussion, if and when re-
newed, would be on the basis
of a revised company proposal,
modifying the original one
which would have had journal-
ists sign a commitment recog-
nizing the company right to
cancel contract agreements if,
in the company view the jour-
nalist wrote or spoke or other-
wise behaved on or off the job,
in his reports or reviews for
the paper, or otherwise, in a
way the company considered
dishonorable or otherwise dam-
aging to its policy and known
views.

The revised proposat affords
appeal to an arbitration com-

mittee, whose findings would be
binding. ©

Meanwhile, the typographers
are negotiating over automa-
tion. Part of the intransigeance
of the La Presse administration

has been due to its opposition’

to joint action on the part of
all the unions .involved in. its
operations.

Typographers, pressmen, jour-
nalists, etc. had united in re-
quiring joint negotiation of
some seven specific issues such
as sick pay, pensions, vaca-
tions, leaving the peculiar trade
issues to be settled between the
Company and the individual
trade union.

Part of the La Presse admi-
nistration’s problem also, it is
believed, is the editorship of
Gérard’ Pelletier, who was ap-
pointed by La Presse at the
time of the break-away of the
Le Nouveau Journal, as a
means of livening up what had
been a rather stuffy editorial
policy, and offering the rival
paper some competition.

Now that Le Nouveau Jour-
nal is dead, it is believed the

“Management may want to clamp

down on Pelletier and his edi-
torial board.

The 800 employees of Dupuis
Fréres, locked out since June 15
charge proprietor J. L. Levesque
would find himself more’ at

home in the ‘18th century than
in 1964. He doesn’t. use the.

lash, they charge; he just starves
people.

Pressure to do overtime with-
Out extra, $53 a week after
16 years service as a clerk, and
Opposition to any union control
of management action, is the
stand taken by Dupuis Fréres
towards its employees. One of
the chief points in dispute now
is the effort of the union to es-
tablish the right to raise griev-
ances regarding modification in
conditions of work that may
arise during the term of a con-
tract, but are not covered by
the contract. The company says
only grievances covered by the
contract can be raised,

Tough employer attitude also
marks the management of the
14 hospitals where employees
have been in on-again-off-again
negotiations since March 10,
Here the fight is for work con-
ditions and for $4 to $6 increase
on weekly wages of $42 to $47.
Often membership meetings
have been broken up by cries
of “strike,” “strike,” although
Strike is still illegal for hospi-
tal workers-in Quebec. At one
hospital earlier this year «ot
Justines, the nurses got around
this by going on “a day of
study,” and continuing to “stir
dy,” for several days.

The: surging undercurrent of
discontent and unrest broke out
on July 4 in Vickers shipyard
in Montreal East,
workers downed tools in a spon-
taneous unauthorized strike.
Members of the CNTU, these
workers have been calling for

when 900 ©

strike action since the middle
of June. The strike broke while
the leadership was away at a
CNTU steel union congress at
Plessisville. Management had
been dragging out negotiations.

On July 10, victory crowned
the militant action of the work-
ers. They went back with a 24
cents an hour increase over
three years, bringing their ba-
sic wage to $2.03, and up to
the level of maritime workers
in Sorel and de Lauzan.

Trade union leaders claim the
contract is the best ever at
Vickers. Contract labor as well
as regular work is covered. Im-
proved pension conditions were
also won.

At Standard Box workers are
striking for better conditions;
at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, work-
ers are picketing in protest
against. the firing of some of
their brothers for trade union
activity.

Ferment in French Canada

In this setting of struggle

‘Premier Lesage introduces am-

endments to Bill 54, the pro-
posed Labor Code. Already 18
amendments have been made.

-The latest concession is. the

right to organize and strike for
public service employees, ex-
cept the higher levels or “func-
tionaries,” police, firemen and
teachers,

&

The police and firemen are
specifically denied the right to
strike; the teachers and func-
tionaries must await further
consideration. Delegations of
functionaries and teachers plan
to go to Quebec to press their

full right to organization and

strike action.

Features of the Taft-Hartley
law it appears are incorporated
in the proposed code; and it is
clear the mobilized workers and
their leaders need to give the
new amendments. careful scru-
tiny before final judgment, much
less approval is pronounced.

Berrute

le reste”

.“J'apporte ce qui m’inté

et jab. d

“I take what I want dnd leave the rest.”
(Chémeurs - unempleyed)

Federal taxes -

July 31, 1964—PACIC TRIBUNE—Page §