: Calgary Labor Council endorses general strike By DAVID WHITEFIELD CALGARY — Calgary Labor Council is determined to support a general strike. A Steelworkers Motion calling for full support for any CLC strike call was over- Whelmingly endorsed at the June 7 meeting in what was described as the most serious Council de- bate in many years. — Delegates recognized that the Alberta Federation of Labour is Moving in the correct direction in €stablishing 13 strike committees across the Province. More needs to be done, however, in building Tank-and-file understanding and ‘Support for the fight against Bill C-73, it was agreed. Executive Secretary Bill Paterson was in- Structed to make urgent contact With every affiliate in the City, and to organize a mass campaign among the general membership. The anti-democratic nature of According to George Morris of the U.S. Daily World, the AFL- CIO constitutional -convention last fall heard some rather Startling questions raised by President George Meany in the Course of his report to convention delegates. Meany, after describing the ef-- ‘fect of the crisis and the U.S. ad- Ministrations own perspective of Mass unemployment for at least five years, asked, ‘‘Why does it have to be this way?” “‘Are the Communists right about our sys- tem?*? <“‘Are we doomed to relive ' 8gain and again boom-and-bust Cycles forever?’’? Of course Mr. eany provided no answers Other than his own reaffirmation of faith in capitalism. . Nevertheless, I think it is mos Mteresting that these questions Should pop out of Meany’s Mouth, so-to-speak. No doubt the fact that some 700,000 out of 4 Million U.S. construction work- €fs. were jobless and another 00,000 on part time work had Something to do with it. Also, While the average jobless rate in Construction ran as high 27.2%, Some crafts in some cities ran as as 90% out of work and many Crafts in a number of communities cross the nation averaged 50, 65 and 75%, > Last February, the AFL-CIO uilding Trades Department re- Ported housing starts in the USA ~ In 1975 were at their lowest level M 29 years. As for multi-family Structures, their number had opopped from an _ estimated 17,000 units in 1972 to 269,000 in 1975. Thirty percent of the U.S, Ndustrial capacity and equipment Were not being used. The report Stated that each 1% rise in the pemployment rate cost the U.S. €deral Government about $16- illion in lost tax revenue plus the additional social costs of unem- Ployment. Only about 15% of erica’s families have sufficient the freeze received wide atten- tion. ‘“At stake is one of the most important of our freedoms,” suggested an executive member. “The capitalists are always say- ing they believe in freedom, but the freedom of trade unions and collective bargaining is being de- stroyed.’’ The theme was echoed by CUPE delegate Mark Marin. ‘*Some union leaders are worried about a general strike being in breach of contracts,” he sug- gested scathingly. ‘“Yet Trudeau won the 1974 election on the promise of no wage controls. ‘‘Let Trudeau keep his demo- cratic contract with the electorate of Canada!”’ The establishment of a widely-based democratic trade union struggle was at the heart of most of the Council discussion. A CUPE motion demanding the resignation of Alberta Federa- tion leaders Reg Bascombe and income to support the average cost associated with owning their own home. This year being election year in the USA, and given the cyclical nature of the U.S. economy within the context of the cyclical crisis of the capitalist system, the U.S. economy is now reported in the recovery stage. Industrial production as of March, 1976 was 121 (1967 = 100) compared with the pre-recession high point of 121.7. A new all time high could be reached sometime during this year. Because it is an election year, unemployment insurance benefits which normally expire after 26 weeks have been extended to 65 weeks. Social Security pensions have been raised by 8%. Tax cuts, too, have done their part to add to. consumer buying power, along with extended consumer credits, corporate subsidies, increased money supply and Government spending of $100,000-million more in the two years of 1975-76. This has of course increased government deficits. Retail prices rose .4 of one percent in April, 1976. Liquidation of inventories was far from complete. in the re- cession stage of the cycle. Both inflation and inventories are edging upward again. Auto pro- duction is increasing but not ex- pected to reach the 1973 high peak. The National Urban League claims 15% unemployment as compared to the government’s 7.5%. The duration of unem- ployment is of concern to workers involved. The trend is significant. Those over 27 weeks or more out of jobs in percentages: 1974, 7.4%; 1975, 15.2%; Mar. 1976, 20.4%. Even if job openings in- -erease by 50%, which is consid- ered unlikely, some 2 million will . be added to the unemployed each year, half of whom will become part of the hidden and unreported “unemployed. The answers are blowing in the wind Eugene Mitchell was unanim- ously endorsed. Local 37 Presi- dent Ron Brown condemned the action of the two at the Quebec CLC Convention as “‘outrage- ous’’. They had gone as represen- tatives. of the AFL, which had overwhelmingly repudiated the proposed new delegate rules. “Yet they completely failed to represent the views of their mem- bers on this vital matter.” A move to reduce Labor Coun- cil meetings from twice to once monthly was defeated. “‘At this time in particular,”’ said Execu- tive Secretary Paterson, “‘we need a Council which speaks for its members and is capable of act- ing quickly. ‘The task of fighting the freeze and preparing for the strike cannot be left to the Execu- tive. It demands the fullest par- ticipation of all affiliates, and the widest discussion. Let’s have more democracy, not less!”’ Continued monopoly control and exploitation means relative and absolute impoverishment of the working class and, more con- sumer spending via consumer credit. The more rapidly this con- sumer credit grows the sooner will the boom peak out. . The present pump-priming of the U.S. economy will only make the next cyclical downturn more severe. It will commence with | high unemployment, big inven- | tories, a tremendous consumer | debt and, both past and present | spending made against future earnings. The result could be a § much deeper and more protracted . crisis. Canada’s recent budget was predicated on the proposition of rapid upswing in the U.S. economy. Federal Finance Minis- ter MacDonald did-not face an immediate election and offered no concessions to the working class of even a temporary nature. The idea is to “tighten our belts’’ and be prepared to “‘share a smaller pie’ as our Prime Minister says. But who decided we must have a smaller pie? Why not put all our means of production to work in- cluding all employable people who are now jobless, like we did in wartime? Because corporate - profits dictate otherwise. They scream about time lost through strikes but don’t give a damn about the time lost through massive unemployment and through industrial sickness and accidents. Always monopoly profits before peoples needs. What we need is public owner- ship and democratic control of our economy by taking it away from the monopolies and planning full employment without inflation to produce a bigger pie more justly divided. But that will require an’ anti- monopoly government moving in the direction of putting an end to capitalist exploitation and moving in the direction.of socialism. This week: MONCTON — The New Brunswick Federation of Labor became the first provincial labor body in convention to endorse the CLC’s Manifesto for the Future, and Action Program to defeat the wage controls at its annual con- vention June 7-9. The unanimous endorsation came after a resolution was adopted calling for immediate removal of provincial and federal wage control legislation and con- tinued opposition to government budget cuts that “‘unfairly single “out public services for unwar- ranted and harsh cutbacks.” SIMCOE, Ont. — The dele- gates to the Simcoe and District Labor Council unanimously en- dorsed a resolution which con- demned Bill C-73 as an attack on collective bargaining. The resolu- tion stated ‘‘its support for the CLC stand against the wage con- trols’? and pledged ‘‘support for GENERAL STRIKE SUPPORT any actions undertaken by the CLC including general work stoppages.’’ The Labor Council also called on all its affiliates to write to the council informing them of any actions planned by the affiliates in support of the work stoppages. CALGARY — Calgary Labor Council unanimously endorsed a Steelworkers resolution support- ing the CLC call for a general strike at its June 7 meeting. The delegates also greeted the Alberta Federation of Labor’s decision to establish 13 strike committees ac- ross the province in preparation for the event. TORONTO — Local 91 of the International Typographical Union voted May 30 to endorse the CLC manifesto and action program. The motion was carried and the resolution forwarded to the CLC. ; TOF NTO victims of the layoff slaughter at the Canadian General Electric Co. have been throwing up pickets outside of the plant “MONCTON — The New Brunswick Federation of Labor became the first provincial labor federation to officially endorse the Manifesto of the Canadian Labor Congress, in convention. The decision was made unani- mously by the delegates to the New Brunswick Federation of Labor Convention held here June 7-9. The 350 delegates to the annual meet, endorsing the CLC Man- ifesto, also pledged complete and active support for the action prog- ram adopted at the May conven- tion of the CLC, which gives the CLC executive the mandate to. call a general work stoppage or stoppages if and when necessary to defeat the Trudeau govern- ment ‘‘anti-inflation program.” The endorsement followed adoption of aresolution calling for - the immediate removal of provin- cial and federal wage control legislation and continued opposi- tion to government budget cuts that ‘‘unfairly single out public services ‘for unwarranted and harsh cutbacks.” Pointing out that the so-called anti-inflation legislation ‘“‘has failed to control price increases’, \ the resolution charged that the legislation ‘‘unfairly controls _ Saturdays in protest of plentiful overtime while they remain jobless. wages while denying the workers the process of free collective bargaining.” Delegates called for the intro- - duction of government policies - that ‘‘reflect the interests of soci- ety in providing for job oppor-’ tunities, the incentive to work, and acceptable social condi- tions’’, and declared their support for a general strike to force re- moval of the anti-labor legislation. Other resolutions dealt with by the delegates included calls for the upgrading of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, including stif- fer penalties for employers ignor- ing safety laws; and a government operated compulsory no-fault in- surance plan. Labor unity in implementing the Manifesto and defeating the controls was stressed in two sepa- rate addresses by both Paul Le- Page, NBFL president who was re-elected to his post by the dele- gates, and CLC executive vice+ president Shirley Carr who told the delegates: ‘‘Only if labor can ‘muster the strength to remove wage and price controls can it be confident that it has the strength to be a fully equal partner with business and government in any joint economic planning DIOCESS «gs PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JUNE 25, 1976—Page 5