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By OBSERVER

“a Week’s article we drew
activity to the trade union
Y program adopted

ae by the Communist

.Program adopted by the
epiitish Columbia thirty-
a a pe. It should have
Sinig7o. Ive years later, that
fe rection is important
aid 1979 € decade between 1960
Saw many significant
Vemenn the trade union
‘bolt nt. There was an
htely aw relative growth of
ean unions across
Beg tainly in the public
%XClusiy _: Sector, but not
as of fly. Some of this growth
hitnot i. Permanent character,
Inthar very case.
H a decade we saw the rise
Workers’ © of the Canadian Iron-
Misinat Union in BC,
tom 4 ne as a secession
Uhig ranch of the American
Patp anf ee same period, the
Wag bor aper Workers’ Union
the th n, as a break-away from
Pay rational Brotherhood
Vonkers wPhite and Paper Mill
lave x Today, the two unions
hemhep oximately the same
Ben Ip in B.C. However,
Dott all Canadian member-
leg in © American union, with
lites 4, we Provinces, is eight
Maly. c. Membership of the
anadian union which so
leRockien Confined to west of

ie

Iter 0-197 decade saw the
Mit s ational Union of Mine,
With the Melter Workers merge
meric Nited Steel Workers of
Vaneous and the independent
Uhion Yer Civic Employees
aa A = Canadian Union
an mployees. This
Nbsts that of those unions with a
Wer ec base in B.C. that
Cone, celled from the Labor
Only 4 during the*cold war,
Allieg United Fishermen and
Meousiag Union remains
Nong Ace vote were taken
rel © trade unions in B.C.,
She Merican unions, the
Nery o Would receive an
Soin th Ming invitation to
4 a abor Congress.

tee a Who attended the last
Ration cutions of the B.C.
the 410m of Labor could deny
a this statement. It
altany ¢ SO be noted, and
tai, © the claims of some in
Long theadian unions, that
atest °se who fought the
“Drege or the Fishermen were
rio Pantives of American
iets qe paid officials.
i 08e aie be said that among
we ‘ 10 have been con-
ho vote on this issue, and
a Bi : against the Fisher-
clonal he 1979 Edmonton
ie + “Onvention of the CLC,
ran y ion sehtatives of Cana-
! Buys Tn short, not all the
wit, = are in American
oq a More than all the
S are in Canadian

SECESSION

b

» Wo
a 19 "Kers of Canada in the
in ttal. sp) ‘SSue of their official
" T e 1B .
; 4€aflet. In explain-

| 4
Ke of 4. ~Sion to raid Local

iti t
tet at me Steelworkers at

Mobjectine Vetted their long-

.

“This would perhaps be a good
time to outline our concept of the
PPWC as new groups of workers
approach our union for charter.

‘“‘We anticipate a structure
along the lines instituted by the
Confederation of National Trade
Unions, whereby the overall
body is broken down into several
sub-bodies. In our case, pulp,
converting, plastics, chemical,
aluminum workers, etc., would
make up one group.”

In Quebec, because of certain
historical developments, there
are two provincial trade union
centers, the CNTU and the
Quebec Federation of Labor,
chartered by the Canadian
Labor Congress. The CLC body is
the larger one, but the CNTU has
almost 10 percent of the total
trade union membership in
Canada. This situation came into
being in a period extending over
half a century. The progressive
elements in both centers are con-
stantly striving for united action
and organic unity.

Here in British Columbia, the
PPWC leaders are attempting
to create a new center by promot-
ing secession and raiding, in
opposition to the overall
pressures for a united labor
movement across the country.

In the same issue of The
Leaflet there is an interview
with Stan Shewaga, Canada
President of the PPWC, repro-
duced from the Skeena Weekly of
Prince Rupert. A few quotes are
in order:

“There is not much that can be
done -within the framework of
the CLC because basically the
structure of the CLC is
composed by and large of inter-
national unions. . .

us because you didn’t order a
general strike.”

‘The truth of the matter is that
the call for a general strike at
that time by certain ultra-left
elements made it easier for right-
wing leaders to advance the idea
of electing a New Democratic
Party government as the only
solution. What was needed was
an aggressive policy of mobiliz-
ing the rank and file of every
union around a whole number of
actions designed to accelerate
the tempo of resistance.

Out of such a campaign, the
basis could have been laid for a
general strike if necessary. A
general strike against a govern-
ment bill is one of the most
highly political and significant
actions the labor movement
could undertake. You can’t
create a general strike out of
thin air. While leadership is an
essential ingredient, there must
also be certain objective factors
and a favorable mood among
those who have to put their jobs
on the line.

UNITY NOT DIVISION

It should be noted that in the
past two years, contrary to the
estimation of Shewaga, the
leadership of the B.C. Federa-
tion of Labor, in response to
pressures from below, has made
a positive contribution in the
fight against Bill 33. Much more
remains to be done, but credit
must be given where it is due.

The Federation has made a
major contribution is discredit-
ing the Mediation Commission,
the instrument created to
impose Bill 33 on the labcr
movement. The trade unions
have suffered some defeats, but

Secession and raiding which splits
trade unions is not the way ahead for

labor. . .

Unity looking towards one all-
embracing trade union centre. . .

This is the best way to advance the
workers’ interests in face of growing

monopoly power. .- .

“When the infamous Bill 33
was passed, there was a
responsibility of the trade
union movement at that time to
take the government head on

‘And if there was to be a role
of organized labor in this prov-
ince at that particular time, it
was to defy government,
because I don’t believe it was a
just law, not insofar as labor is
concerned. And the only way to
defy it was to call a general
strike.”

This is a neat but transparent
screen that fails to hide the true
facts. First, the PPWC were not
in attendance at the special con-
vention called after Bill 33 was
first brought down. After all, and
according to Shewaga . - -
“there is nothing that can be
done within the framework of
the CLC”. . . so they pulled out
long before Bill 33 was intro-
duced. Now, from the outside,
with all the wisdom of hindsight
and with all the conviction of a
small opposition group
convinced of its:own moral

superiority, they say “You failed |

\

the Socred government hasn't
had it all its own way. The
boycott of the Mediation Com-
mission originated by the Federa-
tion is one of the chapters in its
history/

When unions” like the
Teamsters and Policemen
announce, after bitter exper-
ience, that they will never again
appear before the Commission,
the government can’t be very
happy.

What we see here in the PPWC
is yet another example of the
secessionist bug which has
bitten the B.C. trade union move-
ment on so many occasions, and
in most cases, with disastrous
results. :

Instead of fighting within the
established trade union
movement and ruthlessly
opposing right-wing policies, it is
much easier to draw up an ideal
constitution, promise to right
every wrong, offer cheaper dues,
and set up a brand new union
guaranteed in advance not to
produce any fakers, porkchop-
pers, sellout artists or top-level
interference. If it was that easy,
Great Britain, with a purely

Unity not division need of labor

ase
CALLE EH

national trade union movement,
would have a perfect model for
us to follow, which is not the
case.

‘Nothing that has been said in
this article is meant as a defence
of the policies of the Inter-
national which led to the break-
away in B.C., and the formation
of the PPWC. However, when
the leaders of the PPWC
proclaim their objective of
setting up another trade union
centre based on secession and
raiding (which they call liberat-
ing) it raises important policy
questions for the entire labor
movement.

The lumber and pulp industry
in this province has reached a
very high degree of integration
at the point of production and is
dominated by a handful.of
monopoly concerns. There are
four key unions in the industry:
International Woodworkers of
America, International Brother-
hood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper
Mill Workers, Pulp and Paper
Workers .of Canada, and United
Papermakers and Paper-
workers of Canada. As the futile
strike of the PPWC proved, when
they failed to change the settle-
ment pattern laid down by their
rival, the International Union,
what is needed is a mutual co-
operation and assistance pact
involving all unions in the
industry, with the ultimate
objective of one union.

AUTONOMY

Such a degree of unity is not
easy to achieve and will not be
won overnight. The fight to
reach these goals is not separate
from the continuing fight within
the main trade union bodies fora
wider degree of Canadian
autonomy.

In a recent speech to a. con-
ference of the Canadian Society
for Industrial Security, John
Fryer, General-Secretary of the
B.C. Government Employees
called upon the international
unions to give the following
rights to their Canadian member-
ship: .

e A Canadian office to speak
for the union in Canada.

e Union leaders in Canada to
be elected by the Canadian
membership.

e A Canadian policy confer-
ence to serve the needs of Cana-
dian members.

e Canadian union dues to
remain largely in Canada and be
controlled by Canadian union
leaders.

e No collective agreement
negotiated in Canada to acquire
approval from the union’s head
office in the U.S.

On the issue of the right to
merger in Canada without prior
consent from the USA, Fryer fell
short of taking a forthright
position that Canadian branches
of American unions should be
allowed to merge with other
unions with or without consent
from the USA.

The kind of a situation that we
see developing in B.C. acquires
a momentum and centrifugal
force of its own quite inde-
pendent of the wishes of many of
its initiators. Acts which would
“A :
normally be considered
unprincipled on the grounds of
expediency and truth is diffi-
cult to extract from a web of
conflicting claims and distor-
tions.

_For example, one of the justi-
fications for ‘‘liberating’’ the
Kitimat workers from Steel is
the alleged failure of the leader-
ship in the 1970 negotiations and
strike. If that criticism is valid,
it must also be noted that the
same yardstick should be used
with equal enthusiasm. in
measuring the performance of
purely Canadian unions. If this
was done, a good number of
them would leave much to be
desired.

This writer knows of a number
‘of situations where members of
Canadian unions are dissatis-
fied and would like to secede and
join American unions, with the
hope of winning higher wages. If
raiding on this basis became the
order of the day and on a wide
scale, the labor movement would
be the loser.

How does the fight for
autonomy and independence
relate to the need for a united
labor movement, on the basis of
opposition to the monopolies
who dominate the economy?
How does it relate to the key
question of the defence of the
basic, class interests of the
workers? To what extent do
branches of American unions
enjoy autonomy? Is autonomy an
outdated slogan and should it be
replaced by independence?

These and other questions will
be dealt with in our next and con-
cluding article-in this series.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1971 PAGE 3