Queen's Park angles
‘to bar labor rights

| un a letter to provincial Minister of Labor Fern Guindon, the
‘aed Committee of the Communist Party hits hard at the
ve , 2 ‘
labor ae S move to deny public employees their full
aitario f0vernment legislation purporting to allow provin-
penny ernment employees to choose their own bargaining
empic, 1S a squalid hoax being played on 53,000 provincial
- Ontay yees and a further extension of corporate unionism in
: M0, the letter says.

| the ani Stroke the government deprives its employees of
d Bt to strike, the very heart of collective bargaining and
| ateas fied and at the same time so seriously restricts the
| civil § which collective bargaining applies that it renders
is foots to the level of peons.

thods ot to negotiations are wages, fringe benefits and “me-
| Ments effecting promotions, demotions, layoffs, reappoint-
dN and leaves of absence.

: ization eect to negotiations are type of employment, organ-
| kinds one employed, work methods and procedure,
eMploym ®cation of equipment, discipline and termination of
| tem, me hg assignment, classification, job evaluation sys-
annuation System training and development, appraisal super-
P es and standards governing promotion, demotion,
» layoffs and reappointment,

In

ine vay ord, from start to finish the government will deter-
4 uni €rything and the employees will be allowed to form
4) tO blow off steam.

. atbitratas hours of work, fringe benefits will be decided by
| 20Vernmen if the employees are not satisfied with what the
| Onfineg nt offers. Bargaining on all other matters will be
| Mitrariny erences as to how rules and regulations, set

y the government, are being administered.

Be sit this ;
“Mandy tts 1s not enough, the government legislation de-
Nto at all 53,000 of its civil servants must be organized

3 : a 2 :
| ba ain wee union. It will not allow it to be organized or
} .,. °N the basis of either areas on special categories.

Bopic Davis government has really done, under the
Alickly Cover of free collective bargaining, is to move
: €dge the democratic rights of its own employees
a crisis such as developed in Quebec because of
Of the Bourassa government to agree to the legi-
risis Gand of its employees — or the present garbage
ronty c;, tonto arising from the arbitrary actions of
th. bY Council,

BS Provinc:
P| "Poses ay Yincial Executive of the Communist Party pro-
AL sth a sim pe Present legislation be withdrawn and replaced
Ne te MPle Act to bring the Ontario Civil Servants under
basis Of the Ontario Labor Relations Act on the same
reQuirem any other employees. And that the organizational
PLS allow for the organization of employees on the
Tovincial Departments.

“oO
&
is
a
o
2
=

Ottawa falls far short

f
bt
Ove, AW.
eran ~~, The federal lates to foreign control over our
its dragt Policy statement, basic resources. These matters

are far more important than
foreign take-overs insofar as
turning the tide against increas-

; “ake-ove etl relating to fore-
Om Panieg Of Canadian-bas-
ngthensiv’ falls far short of a

n
sean ins Policy statement ing foreign domination of our
: Which @acment and own- economy is concerned. Nor is

Ent 2 except Nadians had the there anything in this policy
bop “Sued by Says a state- which relates to the expansion
“ats : Congres se Canadian of existing foreign corporations,
i Publi : _ After many let alone setting out regulations
Hiteng tly ae discussion, and regarding the behavior of such
mene Stud *r two years of foreign enterprises now operat-
reign task ¢) 8 Major gov- ing in Canada. nae
Hie coer ships regarding “While the government's po
she sfonom ‘P of the Cana- icy may have some deterrent
i c8Radian 5 its implica- effect on future take-overs, it
mig’ staten dependence, could, at the same time, easily
a s sqent is, to put motivate foreign companies to

\ ’ Mo. ]
There ; * disappointing, new enterprises and

create

inet acthing j i in an increasing con-
hei eo liey Which te nae ener Canadian economy.

3 BH inves eUlating ne See “We strongly object to the
pee St, or which re- fact that the Foreign Takeovers

a: Review Act is placed in the De-
Shes, partment of Industry, Trade and
for tourne Commerce. This could lead to
Yky r Iceland . political influence, irrespective of
SB aVikc — what party is in power. We be-
tactic tation h The Soviet lieve that there should be an
Andie the . ©xpressed independent public agency for

he the | “apital Slice of the screening direct foreign invest-

ment coming into Canada , and
which would make recommenda-
tions’ on the basis of whether

B-d S the venue

such investments were In the

national interests of Canada.”

Face establishment fury

Quebec workers unbeaten

By ALAIN PATRIE

MONTREAL—“Five thousand
dollars and six months in jail.”
Thus Mr. Justice George Pel-
letier judicially bludgeoned 41
unionists with fines and prison
terms for having dared to en-
gage in a confrontation with an
employer.

The unionists represented the
militant 210,000 public service
employees who had successfully
led their members on an 11-day
strike against an intransigent
and perjuring Quebec govern-
ment.

Historically, it was a glorious
testament to the power and
capability of working people’s
unity. The strike was a crown-
ing achievement because of the
willingness of the three trade
union centres, the Confederation
of National Trade Unions
(CNTU), the Quebec Federation
of Labor (QFL), and Quebec
Teachers Corporation (CEQ), to
set aside all distrust, all differ-
ences and all debate so as to
forge a common front and a
strategy of unity in action.

It may seem pollyannish to
describe a crushed strike as a
victory, but if one examines the
government’s action in the con-
text of the province’s social
ferment, much is revealed.

For more than 10 months the
Liberal government in Quebec
has used a variety of reasons
to stall negotiations on a con-
tract with its thousands of em-
ployees. Ostensibly the initial
claim by the government was
the need to revamp the entire
apparatus of negotiation and
equalize the terms of employ-
ment throughout the province.
The then approach to sectorial
bargaining was accomplished by
a savage onslaught on the acq-
uired rights of various worker
groups.

The minister in charge of
public service employees, Mr.
L’Allier, revealed a plan of such
bold retrenchment of conditions
as to constitute a loss of a gen-
eration’s gain through workers
struggle.

Declassification was the ini-
tial attack. This assault was
swiftly followed by virtual loss
in salary, removal of acquired
fringe benefits, and finally a real
extension of the working day.

The Workers’ Unite

The whole strategy was cap-
ped by Quebec’s bald threat of
job loss by denouncing the feasi-
bility of job security.

Three thou
their indigna at tt
last month. The miners d
ings in the GDR pro

miners from the Espenhein coal combine express
eee the intensified American bombing of Vietnam
emonstration was part of country-wide meet-
testing Nixon’s dangerous escalation.

Faced with this array of gov-
ernment tactics, the civil service
employees had but one recourse
and that was to unite.

The government’s reply was a
classical shrug of contempt and
an announced belief that the ex-
hibition of unity was an ephe-
meral illusion. The powers that
be in Quebec did not believe the
common front was viable.

As both parties accelerated
their course of action it became
evident that the common front
was not only viable but extra-
ordinarily successful.

Quebec’s Liberal government
then began to retreat in an ef-
fort to split the working class
ranks. Mr. L’Allier agreed to a
common bargaining table while
the mills of the establishment’s
media began to grind out nar-
cotic pap for the public. Huge
newspaper ads, radio and televi-
sion instituted a propaganda
barrage intended to convince
that the Liberal government’s
coffers were empty, that the
treasury vaults were hollow and
no amount of struggle by the
workers could effect a raise —
there simply was no money.

~ Money for Rich

It is ironic to note that even
as the press ballyhooed these
somber facts, Premier Bouras-
sa’s ministers were publicly con-
firming the government’s will-
ingness to grant 20-year tax
credits to new Quebec Raglan,
a subsidiary of Falconbridge. He
also announced a cash grant of
$40 million to ITT’s Rayonnier
plant on the north shore. The
premier indulged in announcing
the probability of his govern-
ment helping some of the invest-
ors in GIC to recoup their losses.
Investors such as Caisses Popu-
laires and other financial institu-
tions holding shares which fell
from $10 to $4 will have their
losses subsidized by Quebec.

Premier Bourassa shows no
penurious fears when he dec-
lares Quebec is ready to pro-
ceed with a $7 billion project on
James Bay.

Still the press chiefs insisted
that the budget could not sur-
vive if salaries were raised.

The common front, on the
other hand, correctly pointed
out that if Quebec truly wishes
to increase employment in the
province it must increase the
workers’ purchasing power. The
economy’s real expansion could
only be predicated on that fact.
Finally, faced with an unbending

and carping employer, the public
service workers struck.

It was a legal strike, a right
duly granted by the government
to its civil employees in 1964.

It was a precedent shattering
strike; 210,000 workers compos-

_ ed of sections never before test-
ed in joint action, acted as one
-—— teachers, maintenance work-
ers, Hydro workers, hospital
workers, clerk and liquor board
workers, autoroute workers and
messengers. The strike was
wholly successful and served to
frighten the government out of
its collective wits.

Dump Democracy

Faced with an indomitable
wall of working class unity, the
premier of Quebec hysterically
tore away the tissue of demo-
cratic niceties of political power
and revealed the savage face of
a despotic and authoritarian sys-
tem which is only too eager to

_ pander to capital at the expense

of honest working people. Shout-
ing “Enough is enough!” Mr.
Bourassa had the provincial
parliament pass Bill 19, one of
the most scandalous pieces of
legislation to issue from Quebec.

The bill, in effect, removes
the democratic right to strike,
punishes the militants, has an
arm-twisting clause for nego-
tiations, and ultimately gives
the government complete free-
dom to settle everything by
decree. E

The principle of collective bar-
gaining has become as polluted
as the waters of Quebec.

But no amount of decree can
ever change facts. It is said that
once ignorance is removed it
cannot be returned. The workers
in Quebec, in the tens of thous-
ands, have been enlightened by
the ‘sequence of events. They
have been exposed to an abrupt
education which grants them a
certificate of competency in
judging the true basis of our
social system.

Gathering Storm

Perhaps public service minis-
ter L’Allier was indulging in the
charitable guise of a victor
when he told a province-wide
TV audience that if the popula-
tion did not agree with the gov-
ernment they had only to change
it. But he would do well to
observe Marcel Pepin’s reinforc-
ed position in the executive of
the CNTU. Premier Bourassa
made a similar miscalculation
in his speech following Bill 19,
in which he predicted the crum-
bling of labor unity, a unity
which the premier claimed was
going through a “crisis.”

The crisis is palpable in the
corridors of power. It is visible
in the courts where judges are
now ringed by riot equipped
police squads. It is visible in the
legislature where members of
parliament admit to not compre-
hending the strike. It is visible
in power that rules by decree.
And it is most visible among
the workers who more and
more look towards their own
political party.

Morals squad

was immoral

NEW YORK — Following the
recent suicide of a New York
police lieutenant, three serge-
ants, 20 patrolmen and a patrol-
woman have been arrested and
suspended from the force. They
were members of Brooklyn’s
Morals Squad and are charged
with taking payoffs from the
underworld,

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MAY 12, 1972—PAGE 9