Grape article ‘strikebreaking’ Support not disruption needed in rail dispute LABOR COMMENT Last week, the Pacific Tribune carried a story on the rotating rail strikes headlined Unity key in rotating strikes.”’ The same issue carrieda state- Ment by the Communist Party of Canada under the heading, Demand railways settle now On union terms.”’ The week before, readers of the Grape—a fuzzy left publica- “ion from Vancouver — were Met with a different article, also on the rotating strikes. It Was headed ‘This is a phoney Strike,” : The railway strike, both in its achievements to date and its Potential, must be regarded as an important class battle be- Ween the working class and ae monopoly capital. And if ; Sis the case, any public asser- Jon that it is a ‘‘phoney strike”’ fe amount to strike-break- ae leading off the Grape ar- ©, writer Bill Harper states a Workers of the operating diss unions have voiced their a Pproval of the current rotat- § Strikes being carried out by € Associated Non-Operating allway Unions (ANRE). eae Jefferson, local or- s for the Canadian Rail- Bin paployees’ Association Bec. at ‘this rotating strike Bahan will lead to demorali- Phon, and splitting of unity ee railway workers. The Teh ees collaborat- Nationsy the companies to stopa ee of. all. rail- ate Same page there is a Ne ent from the B.C. branch Which, Pension Association stupid Pe In part, ‘*When this Re arade is over, railway- ete. it to themselves and 5 Canuities to determine the th take creo. their troubles and a Pecetive action to over- tWeeno, The partnership be- ers and ur so-called union lead- ee ey management in Ment of to compulsory pay- 0 dues has forced railway- & CELEBRATION SOCIAL With MISSION Club Winners of PT Shield Aug. 26, from noon, 826-7209 Refreshments, sports Lunch Available ~ S DEWRNVEY TRUNK men into a form of economic bondage and slavery.” In short, the approach of the Grape to. this _ historical struggle is determined by the narrow viewpoint of those mem- bers of two B.C. locals of the Brotherhood of Locomotive En- gineers who, after a dues strike had been ineffectforsome time, returned their charters to the International in Cleveland. Their dispute had arisen out of legitimate grievances over pen- sions for CN rail workers. What the Grape is doing is using the rising sentiment for a sovereign, independent and united trade union movement in an attempt to promote their own version of a free, Canadian trade union movement, through breakaways and fragmen- tation. They should be reminded that there can be no sovereign trade union movement in Canada unless thereisa united trade union movement just as there can be no unity without sovereignty. The following words, which close the Harper article should illustrate the point: ‘‘once the contract struggle is over, work- ers should organize themselves into unions which would no longer collaborate with com- panies or government.”’ All this sounds very radical but there is no way to win work- ersagainstclasscollaboration policies short of winning them for class struggle policies. Merely the change from one union to another will not bring a new direction. The Grape has given all-out support for every breakaway move and is the semi-official spokesman on the West Coast for the Council of Canadian Unions. How then, does the Grape explain the fact that the largest union directly involved in the rotating strikes is a purely Canadian union — the Canadian Brotherhood of Rail- way, Transport and General Workers? The Pacific Tribune story, on 253-1221 & . > CHES AICI” Je g a| 7 sv GRAND v os Ave , Lovewerpn | A1s500N. FOR ALL YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS Contact: GLOBE TOURS 2679 E. Hastings St., Vancouver 6, B.C- 254-2313 the other hand, begins witha quote from a regional vice-presi- dent of the CBRT: “‘It’sbeena long time since we have had this kind of unity ina railway strike. The picket lines of the 56,000 asso- ciated non-operating workers in their rotating strikes against the CP and CN railways have been respected by the workers in the running trades and shop- craftunions. The morale of the strikers ishighand many of the various union officers were sur- prised at the discipline the work- ers, had shown in returning to work after their phase of the rotating strike was over.” The Communist Party state- ment opens with these words: ‘“‘There is not the slightest excuse for railways to continue their provocative layoffs to force a total shutdown of trans- portation. There are no reason- able excuses for refusing to meet the uniondemands for in- creased wages and job secur- ity; 2 The statement closes with “‘the time has come to recognize that, far from being neutral, the government stance is to sup- port the railway companies’ stand against their employees. This is what has to be reversed now by public pressure and a uni- versal demand that serious negotiations be-undertaken in good faith at once to meet the more than reasonable demands of the unions involved.” Thus we see the two political lines. The Grape brands the rotat- ing strikes and the leaders responsible for them, ‘‘phoney”’ and calls for the same phoney leaders to initiate an all out strike, directly involving every railway union, in place of the rotating strike. (This only proves that the Grape’s main area of consistency is its incon sistency! ). The Pacific Tribune and the Communist Party, onthe other Beaver Transfer * Moving * Packing * Storage 790 Powell St. Phone 254-3711 50th ANNIVERSARY BANQUET Sept. 15 Fishermen’s Hall 6:30 p.m. Tickets $4.00 Pens., High Sch., $3.00 at Co-Op Bookstore PT Office, from YCL’ers Hear Liz Hill General Secretary YCL Dance to Vision YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE hand, call for the fullest mobilization of public opinion behind the railway workers and point to monopoly and the fed- eral government as the main enemies, not the top leaders of the railway unions. That policy will stand upinthe event thatthe struggle escalates and becomes a full scale shutdown, because it is based on reality and the prac- tical application of class strug- gle policies. What must be stressed at this time is for the Canadian Labor Congress and the federal caucus of the New Democratic Party to speak out in a forth- right manner in support of the railway workers. They must also use their influence to mobil- ize solidarity actions. , Classified Advertising COMING EVENTS August 19-A GARDEN PAR- TY 891 E. 15th, North Vancou- ver Sunday, August 19th — 2:30 PM in aid of CAVC Chil- dren’s Committee. Refresh- ments. Collection. August 25th — SLIDE SHOW- ING from Roddy & Velda’s recent SOVIET TOUR, at 915 Chestnut St., New Westmin- ster Saturday, August 25th, 8:00 P.M. —?. Admission $1.50. Music, Eats and -Re- freshments. New Westmin- ster CPC. August 19— ANNUAL FRASER VALLEY REGION PICNIC, Sunday, August 19th, 1:00 p.m. — On. A fun day with sports and activities for all. Concession stand open all day for snacks. Speaker 4:00 p.m. Entertainment — - Re- freshments. Barbecue Salmon Supper at 5:00 p.m. Adm. $t.00. Supper $1.50 adults — 75¢ children. Place: Fred Bianco’s, 10246 132 St. North Surrey (Take King Geo. Hwy. — turn west on 104 Ave. (Hi-Lo) go 4 blocks turn south on 132 St. Ausp: Fraser Valley Region CRE FOR RENT 3 Bedroom upper Duplex. Cen- tral location, North Vancouv- AS co Ph aN er. Adults or teenage family 985-0278 or 987-1576. BUSINESS PERSONALS Enjoy a Progressive Vacation at LAKEVIEW TRAILER COURT on Beautiful Kootenay Lake, Kaslo, B.C. Camping, Trail- er Space, Boating Swimming & Fishing. Reasonable Rates. VINCE’S MOVING & STOR- AGE. Call anytime, rea- sonable rates. 688-7639 or 254-1472. WANTED Small 2 or 3 bdrm. house with some garden, to rent by young couple with 3 yr. old boy. Con- venient to Main & 49th. Ph. 228-9166. HALLS FOR RENT UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CULTURAL CENTRE - 805 Fast Pender St., Vancouver 4. Available for banquets, wed- dings, meetings. Phone 254- 3436. WEBSTER’S CORNER HALL — Available for banquets, meetings, weddings, etc. For rates, Ozzie 325-4171 or 685- 5836. RUSSIAN PEOPLE'S HOME- Now available for rentals. For reservations phone 254-3430. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 1973—PAGE 7 eo MW TSS US NO os: = eR Rey