6,000 rally and march for

peace and equality March 3

By KERRY McCUAIG
TORONTO — An estimated
000 demonstrators made their
Way through downtown streets,

arch 5, in celebration of Inter-
hational Women’s Day (IWD).
nee. crowd, ranging from babies
a snugglies”’ to’ well-known
aoe city planner Hans

umenfeld, carried placards call-

ing for equal pay, full employ-
ment, access to abortions, and a
ban on nuclear weapons testing in
Canada. Directly behind the IWD
banner leading the parade was a
contingent of workers on strike
for seven months at Mini-Skools,
an Alabama-based day care
chain.

The rally started at Convoca-

PHOTO — TOM MO

tion Hall at the University of To-
ronto where main speaker Wiesla
Kolasinka addressed a packed
audience of 2,500 while another
3,000 milled around outside.

Pledging support to striking
Quebec teachers, hit by harsh
back-to-work legislation,
Kolasinka ridiculed those who
call women’s demands
‘outrageous’. “‘Is it so out-
rageous,’’ she asked *‘to want a
job, a job without wage controls

or demands for concession?”’

While a small anti-abortion
group held a silent picket outside

for the setting up of abortion

Henry Morgentaler. Labelling the
abortion law ‘‘a disgrace’, she
said women also need the means
to support their children through
jobs, maternity leave and day-
care.

There was enthused response
from the audience throughout the
speech but by far the most excited
applause came for the call to
‘refuse the Cruise’’, referring to
plans to test the missile in Alber-
ta. ‘‘Nuclear war would end all
our rights,’ Kolasinka said.
“Instead of billions into the mili-
tary we need expanded health

4< care, daycare and job creation.”

This is the first year that
disarmament had been a major
theme of the march and several
peace groups took part in the ac-
tivities.

While supporting rights for
Canadian women a novel salute

the hall, inside Kolasinka called 3

clinics modelled after those :
operating in Quebec under Dr. F

was given to women in other parts
of the world. The crowd was di-
vided into different global zones
and they exchanged slogans with
the moderator in an expression of
solidarity.

Saturday was the sixth march
organized by the March 8 Coali-
tion, a broadly based coalition of
women’s groups, trade unions,
political organizations, peace
groups and lesbians.

ok ak

In special greetings sent to all
Saskatchewan women on Inter-
national Women’s Day, Sas-
katchewan Federation of Labour
President Nadine Hunt said the
SFL is ‘‘dedicated in our efforts
to achieve women’s full equality,
for the recognition of women as
equals in all spheres of endea-

vour, be it economic, social or
political.

“Women constitute a signi-
ficant portion of the labor force
and play a critical economic, cul-
tural and social role in our coun-
try. Despite these contributions,
the role of women in history has
been consistently overlooked or
undervalued.

‘“‘We must organize with our
brothers to achieve decent wages
and working conditions, equal
access to jobs, equal pay for work
of equal value, child care, mater-
nity leave, protection from tech-
nological change, an end to sexual
harassment in the workplace.

‘‘The trade union movement,
united and strong will be the main
source of strength in realizing
these goals’’, she concluded.

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" recovery just around come

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=|| Economic Z

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Last week we took a brief look at the ~ Bees over ways to solve the current crisis.

ee curr : a 3 ‘That is, to solve it ina way which serves

10 ent cyclical crisis (business cycle). epee Sle Sad

and refreshed our memory as to the
Major aspects of the general crisis of
Capitalism (which is terminal). We
warmed that as both the cyclical crisis
and the general crisis deepen, as a result
Of the interaction of one on the other, the
Most aggressive imperialist circles in
the USA, NATO and our own country
are seeking a way out by confrontation,
Cold war, and an anti-socialist campaign,
Mcluding the threat of world nuclear war.

* * *

Quite recently we received a report
Made by the general secretary of the
Communist Party of Canada to an en-
arged meeting of the Party’s Central

xecutive Committee. The report notes

at more and more voices are being
Taised in top business circles drawing
attention to the similarity of the 1929-32

situation is so serious that the prestigious
New York Times warned that, “There is
growing concern that one of the develop-
ing nations burdened with foreign debt
might default and trigger a world-wide
monetary crisis.” 2

' Canada has been more severely af-
fected by the crisis than most advanced

capitalist countries because of its depen-

dent and one-sided relationship with the
USA, which the Canadian capitalist class
is responsible for. Business investments
and consumer demand in Canada are vir-
tually non-existent. In fact, investments
have been cut back in many sectors of
the economy. The 6 & 5% program, and
cuts in the indexation of pensions and
family allowances severely aggravate the
situation. —

On the other hand, while investments
decline in Canada the export of Canadian
capital to the USA and other countries
continues to grow. This cannot help but
lead to a deepening of what has turned
out to be a ‘‘protracted’’ recession (read
depression) and a serious decline in jobs,
particularly in mantitACeurney:

Mass unemployment has become a

Marxism-Leninism Today

Alfred Dewhurst

permanent feature of Canadian life. Itisa
way of life worsened by rationalization,
the micro-chip revolution and general
technological change in the interest of
maximizing monopoly profits. How night
the bishops were when they said
‘* Automation and computers are rapidly
replacing human work by machines on
the assembly lines and in administrative
centres’.

At the present time there are approxi-
mately 30 million jobless in the major
capitalist countries. Of this number 12
million are to be found in the USA and
1.5 million in Canada. But these official
figures, as far as Canada is concerned, do
not tell the whole story. For, we have
485,000 people who have given up seek-
ing work, and 400,000 underemployed. If
these two categories are taken into ac-
count Canada has 2,379,000 jobless, or
an unemployed rate of 19.5%. In other
words we have a grand total of 2,379,000
idle employable workers.

Stats-Canada to the contrary, there is
no light at the end of the tunnel.

* * *

Top capitalist circles are struggling

name of the ‘‘national interest’. The
Trudeau government favors an industrial
strategy directed toward phasing out
such industries as steel, auto and rubber
because they are ‘‘dying industries’’.
They are working to direct primary atten-
tion and investments to ‘‘growth indus-
tries’ such as communications. They are
gung-ho fer the chip revolution which is
meant to do away with jobs.

The Tories would end all state inter-
vention in the economy and hand it over
lock, stock and barrel to the vagaries of
the market place. Donald MacDonald,
who heads the Royal Commission on
Economic Prospects and hopes to be
Canada’s next prime minister, also wants
to push high technology. The New
Democratic Party appears to shy away
from any solid proposals.

* * *

None of these approaches will be able
to deal with the crisis, nor open the road
to genuine recovery. It seems to us that
what top corporate circles are working
toward a new economic plateau from
which to balance the country’s employ-
ment books, job prospects and so on. It
was not so long ago that 6% unemploy-
ment was acceptable to the powers that
be. Then it became 8%, then nine. Before
the end of this year it could 12%. It’s
called ‘‘cooking the books’’.

Next week: a program for jobs and wages.

do’ ‘tisis and the present crisis. It em-
eight Phasizes that the spread of the crisis to
the financial and credit sphere of the
up df Capitalist world, the threat of bankrupt-
wal) cles by corporations and banks, increas-
Too), 8 political instability, growth of protec-
il d onism — all of this, says the report,
vic’ Points up the fact that we are in an inter-
Rational crisis of capitalist economy,
aves with a marked sharpening of the general
in bi Crisis of capitalism.
nisi ere is an increased danger, states
g, he fro, report, of financial collapse arising
om Om bankruptcies in Canada and in
Other advanced countries and from the
ie bY ‘solvency of a number of countries such
kine 88 Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. The
\d,

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— MARCH 18, 1983—Page 5

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