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18 | By GEORGE MORRIS

ter SAN FRANCISCO
; days of wrangling in
n- | TSolutions committee, the
fen Convention adopted a

bn Tesolution representing
n- {nPtomise between the posi-
es of George Meany, presi-
yy and Walter Reuther, presi-
' § Of the United Auto Work-

y
y 4° Tesolution, approved b
Ss Beaton after some ‘ocr
E ey pledged “unstinting
; ai to the Johnson admi-
3 ‘on policy and urged that
- € continued to nego-
* -f€ resolution, declaring
Victory in Vietnam could
€ Won “by military means

fe” Called for greater eco-
MC aid, e

4, 248 aversion to U.S. policy
Be orld trade union move-
4.88 implied by a section
Othe solution which appeal-
s r International Confede-
ty 0 Free Trade Unions and
nternational Confederation
~itistian Trade Unions to
4 a 4 Common effort for the
hese ce the CVT,” the Viet-
€ trade union movement.

discussion on the reso-
. opened with a criticism
1 Maministration policy by
ie ee UAW secretary-

Re ne ET ee Ee et a ee LE

bin Said that the “vulgar
4 ace Intolerance” against
‘Mea of Students who demon-
he mM the convention for
_~ Made him “sick.”

q HE Past year has witnessed
a rising militancy and a
eu level of solidarity in
Dl Cught strikes by working
5 x to win more job secur-
re ended. vacations, shorter
; ’ More retirement benefits
P 8€nerally, a much greater
© of the immense and grow-
{ Wealth how being produced.
§ Sections of the labor forcé
Be nered the struggle, such
£ostal workers, teachers, civil
nts, engineers, white collar
“ae and service personnel
li Private industry and the
| © services. In spite of bitter
_-Ployer resistance — the wide-
Onct; Use of anti-labor laws,
im Ons and employer-gov-
€nt-sponsored strike-break-
_. Workers have won im-
Concessions.

class Collaborationist policies
Bs Suffered serious defeats.
t ,, WhO advocated theories
& le Working class was dis-
aang into a new kind of

€ class, and that strikes
bins oe Obsolete as a
Rien Of struggle, have been
] Wrong by all recent de-

_ EMIL MAZEY

(Meany defended his order to

the sergeant-at-arms to expel

the students.)

Mazey ‘condemned the Ky re-
gime in Saigon and said that
people in the U.S. are demon-
strating their,concern over gOv-
ernment policy.

“We must intensify our ef-
forts to negotiate a settlement,”
he said.

Walter Reuther said the reso-
lution was a compromise be-
tween the demand for with-
drawal and the Goldwater de-
mand for escalation.

George Baldanzi, president of
the United ‘Textile Workers,
criticized the resolution because
it condemned only Peking and
Hanoi and not Moscow.

velopments. Moreover, economic
struggles are being linked more
closely with political struggle as
the working people begin to oc-

cupy a much stronger social and -

political position. This situation
is something which must be
viewed on the background of
growing socialist ideas, socialist
advance and changing class re-
lationships on a world-wide
scale.

As we ismaugurate the new
year the prospects are for more
and sharper struggles, both on
the economic and __ political

AFL-CIO backs LBJ

ind urges negotiations

The, much promised “rejuve-
nation” of the executive council
turned into a cruel joke on the
AFL-CIO membership, as elec-
tions for the two officers and 27
vice-presidents brought little
real change. The average age of
the eight elected to replace the
retired comes to above 58 and
hardly pulls down the average
age of 65 on the old council.
Two of George Meany’s closest
cronies, Harry Bates, 83, of the
bricklayers and George Har-
rison, 70, of the Railway Clerks,
who retired as presidents of
their unions some years ago,
were retained on the council.

The convention operated like
a steamroller as spokesmen of
both the former AFL and CIO
factions agreed on matters be-
hind the scenes and discussion
on the floor seemed almost use-
less to many.

So’ brazen was this behind-
the-scenes dictation that as the
nominations were being made
on the floor, there were already
in the press room mimeographed
biographies of each of the eight
new vice-presidents on whom
the Meany and Reuther group

‘ had reached agreement, but not

one for Patrick Gorman (Meat
Cutters) whose nomination was
not welcomed.

Gorman polled 2,369,845 —
more than nine million votes
short of election.

The convention approved
without discussion the $25,000
raise for Meany to $70,000 a
year.

arena. While high economic ac-
tivity continues, developments
are uneven and lack in both co-
ordination and balance. Mono-
poly profits are astronomical.
The cost-of-living index advanc-
ed nearly four points during
1965. While labor costs per unit
of output continue to decline
drastically ‘in large industries,
the monopolies continue to in-
crease and fix prices. Credit
buying has extended in scope as
debts accumulate in every di-
rection. Capitalist fears about
over-heating the economy have
brought about a sharp increase

IN THE NEWS...

MILK PRODUCERS of Quebec are demanding a rise in the
price they are paid for natural milk. Lionel Sorel, president of the
Catholic Farmers Union, said the price paid to producers had in-

creased a mere 10 percent since 1957, while the cost of goods and

services had gone up 21 percent, and taxes and prices on machin-
ery from 25 to 37 percent. Milk producers want $5.50 per 100
pounds. The price went up from $4.89 in 1957 to $5.10 after last
year’s epoch-making march on Quebec City. Latest demands were
made after a meeting attempting to group all Quebec producers
into one union.

* * * z

STRIKE by 4,500 workers at two Canadian-owned bauxite and
alumina plants in British Guiana over suspension of four workers
who refused to. work emergency overtime ended when the company
agreed to process grievances through a collective labor agreement
between the company and the union ... .Spain’s Parliament has
approved a law that (at least in theory) legalizes “economically
inspired” labor strikes.

; 3 * * *

STEEL production in Canada last year was in the neighbor-
hood of 10 millions tons, about equal to China’s annual production
and twice the amount Canada turned out only a decade ALO.
HULL bus strike has forced many residents of that city to walk to
their jobs in Ottawa. The Hull drivers (members of Amalgamated
Transit Union) earn 7110 to $1.74 an hour, and are demanding

* *.

FEDERAL labor department’s manpower mobility program,
giving loans and grants to help workers move to distant jobs, went
into effect Dec. 28 . .. AUTO WORKERS finally won their mara-

thon strike against Kohler Co. in Milwaukee. After being picketed~

for years the firm caved in, agreed to pay 1,400 former: strikers

$3,000,000 back pay and another.$1,500,000 for restoration of pen-
sion rights. The strike lasted from 1954 to 1960; since then the
battles have been fought in the courts.

*

*

‘CO-AUTHORS

in interest rates. Efforts to cur-
tail consumer spending may
lead to the adoption of a so-cal-

led incomes policy, which in es-

sence means imposition of wage
restraints, while taxes and gov-
ernment spending, along with
corporate and private capitalist
profits, continue to rise. At the
same time, the Gill Report on
unemployment insurance in ef-
fect proposes to put the jobless,
including victims of automation
on the dole.

While most ‘important labor
gains during 1965, were increas-

ed wages and other economic

fringe benefits, the struggle has
now entered a new level. The
outcome of the oil workers
strike, that almost resulted in a
general strike of all labor in
B.C., and the Freedman Report
on the CNR run-throughs, has
produced a general challenge to
the traditionally assumed “resi-
dual rights” theory of manage-
ment, :

In thus asserting their demo-
cratic rights to bargain on all
questions affecting their. inter-

A new and deeper content
in collective bargaining

ests, working people have arriv-
ed at an important turning point
in their collective bargaining
relations with employers in this
country. Unjust laws and un-
workable practices in this era
of revolutionary technological
change are being challenged —
even :defied when thought ne-
cessary — to correct the imbal-
ance of power between the em-
ployers and the trade unions.
The importance of this NEW
feature in collective bargaining
cannot be overemphasized. It
is a growing element that will
continue to deepen the content
and determine the character of
collective bargaining from now
on,

A central and more clearly
defined “purpose” is emerging
on the trade union bargaining
front. New patterns and new at-
titudes are in the making. Out
of this will emerge a new form
of solidarity on a much higher

level to challenge the monopo- -

lies along a broad front and
win new concessions to make
the new technology serve the
needs of the people.

January 7, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5