EDITORIAL

For labor’s own program

The economic struggle has gone beyond
the phase when it was “those workers” out
there in Sudbury, Calgary, Port Alberni,
Hamilton, Windsor, Shefferville, or Syd-

; ney. It’s workers in scores of Canadian

centres big and small who are on the street,

laid off, shut down, or just never hired.

But the workers’ struggles of recent
weeks have shown beyond question that
battles can be carried on and won. They
could be won decisively if the Canadian
Labor Congress leadership were taking an
active part in advancing labor’s alternative
program on the economy, if it were helping
to exert the power of the working class.
McDermott’s reliance on the New Demo-
cratic Party which has no program to get
Canada out of its present crisis, ends up
offering the workers a more equitably-run
monopoly capitalist system.

The Communist Party speaks of some
specifics in considering what would en-
hance the efforts of the left in the trade
union movement.

_@ Public ownership and public control
of resource industries, U.S. branch plants,
industries crucial to the economy, banking
and credit.

_ © Policies in union bodies to ensure an
international policy of unity among trade
unions internationally.

_ @ A trade union fight for increased real
Income; control over the introduction of
new technology; shorter hours of work (no
loss in take-home pay); longer paid vaca-
tions; a crusade against speed-up; no tri-
partism.

e Organization of the unemployed as a
militant, fighting contingent of the labor
movement backed by the full muscle of the

’ trade unions but with freedom to under-

take major actions in defence of their rights
and for new policies for jobs.

e Unyielding efforts for equal rights for
women on the job and to the job; equal pay

To stop the

The non-aggression pact and
accompanying proposals offered to the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization by the
Warsaw Treaty countries is probably the
most significant peace proposal yet to come
from the socialist community.

While few details were available at this
writing, the fact that such an approach is
taken with the aim of stopping the slide
toward confrontation should be no sur-
prise. The Warsaw Treaty countries, and
M particular the Soviet Union in its re-
lations with the USA, has consistently put
forth proposals which might, if taken up by
Washington and NATO, lessen the danger
of nuclear war, and start disarmament.

Just before the year-end holidays, Yuri
Andropov, general secretary of the Com-

- Munist Party of the Soviet Union, made a.
dramatic offer to cut Soviet medium-range -

missiles defending its European borders,
to the number currently deployed by
France and Britain. The offer made sense

Since Britain and France are part of
NATO.

_The, USA’s cry of “unacceptable” ob-
viously stems from Washington’s and
NATO's intent to destroy parity by deploy-
Ing Pershing Il and Cruise missiles in west-
ern Europe. It should be clear from
whence comes the genuine disarmament

for work of equal value, and upgrading of
the status of women in the entire trade
union movement.

These are the kinds of battles that must
be waged today, to defend immigrant
workers, establish a trade union program
for youth — apprenticeship, on-job train-
ing, access to employment with
unemployment insurance at 90% of wages
for the full périod of unemployment.

The pretence that these levels cannot be
met is nothing but an evasion by the
capitalist system, which means to retain its
dollar domination over the working people
at any expense to working-class families.

It’s really not surprising that anti-labor
capitalism is true to form. It would be sur-
prising if workers did not unite solidly
against this class attempt to smash trade
unions and all struggles of the working
class. The bosses and bosses’ governments
seize upon every division among workers
to weaken their fight. In view of that, a
program for trade union unity might in-
clude: (1) a scrupulous no-raiding pact by
all unions; (2) united action and coopera-
tion by all trade union centres against
monopoly and. government policies; (3)
one union for one industry; (4) an injury to
one is an injury to all; (5) full Canadian
autonomy for all unions, toward complete-
ly sovereign united Canadian trade unions;
strengthening democratic participation of
the membership in all affairs of the union
to create a mass grass roots trade union
consciousness to serve the fightback; (7)
establishment of federations of unions on
an industrial or sectoral basis such as:
maritime, wood and construction, chemi-
cal, food and servicing, public workers,
white collar workers.

The grass roots movement in the unions
depends upon greater class consciousness
among union members. .

slide to war

proposal and from whence the threat of
nuclear war.

At the same time Andropov said the
Soviet Union is prepared to cut its strategic
(long-range) delivery systems by 25% and
renounce first use of conventional warfare
if the West would commit itself to the same.
The U.S. president, who likes to complain
that these are Soviet propaganda tricks,
would be more convincing if he took up the
offers.

The Canadian mass media who also call
the moves propaganda are, in fact, cover-
ing up their own connivance at mis-
information. It is most important that such
proposals for disarmament, non-ag-
gression agreements, or lessening of ten-
sion be made in a broad, public way, rather
than in the confines of negotiating rooms
in Geneva. It is important because given
the Western media’s practice of managing
the news, or disinforming the public, that
public would never know of such offers
were they not made in a public way.

The: media is one matter; what the
Canadian Government does is another,
and instead of its “me too” responses to
Reagan’s war build-up, it should publicly
welcome the sound proposals for dis-
armament and peaceful relations coming
from the Soviet Union and the other War-
saw Treaty countries.

&

“I've never had a job !n my life either, but I never griped about it

on every street corner!"

Flashbacks

Drawing by Vsevolod Arsenyev

25 years 50 years

LET’S MAKE A
CLEAN BREAK

The plain truth is that
Canada, with our 3,500-mile
border with the U.S., is in the
front line of danger with
loose talk south of the border
of a “preventative war”
against the USSR.

There must be a clean
break. We should say this
country’s people favor a
Summit meeting, favor a nu-
clear free zone in Central
Europe, favor an end to the
arms race and the testing of
nuclear weapons.

We should make it clear we
favor peaceful coexistence to
replace tensions.

Tribune,
January 13, 1958

Profiteer of the week |

ALICE BUCK’S
SPLENDID VOTE

TORONTO — In the
municipal elections held
yesterday, Mrs. Tim Buck
polled the largest revolution-
ary vote ever polled in any
Canadian city receiving
10,236 votes as candidate for
controller.

This splendid total com-
pares to 3,000 polled by Tim
Buck in 1930 as Communist
Party candidate and 5,992
polled by him a few weeks be-
fore® entering Kingston
Penitentiary. The United
Front campaign including for
the first time a_ broadcast
speech on the issues delivered
by Mrs. Buck.

The Worker,
January 7, 1933

Trizec Corp., Calgary, is engaged in all aspects of real estate
activities, and those activities brought in $35,701,000 in after-tax
profit for the year ended Oct. 31/82. Profit for the previous year

was $31,183,000.

Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN

: Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON
Business and Circulation Manager — PAT O’CONNOR

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PACIFIC “RIBUNE—JANUARY 14, 1983—Page 3