CLC SPURNS AIB OTTAWA — Joe Morris, pres- ident of the two-million member Canadian Labor Congress, re- jected federal Labor Minister John Mun‘o’s suggestion April 5, that labor join the Anti-Inflation Board. “J don’t understand how Mr. Munro can expect labor to cooper- ate in a scheme which is obviously directed against wage and salary earners,”’ Morris said. ; “In the six months since its in- .” Morris said, ‘‘the AIB has made it abundantly clear that its main concern is keeping wages down while it allowed prices to con- tinue their upward spiral, with lit- tle or no control.” NOVA SCOTIA LABOR PROTESTS CONTROLS SYDNEY — The Nova Scotia Federation of Labor announced April 2. that it is sponsoring a one-day meeting next month to protest the federal government’s wage cutting policy and to present an alternative position paper. . NSFL president Gerald Yet- man made the announcement at a meeting of the unemployed in Sydney and said that buses will be leaving Sydney for Halifax for the conference and that plans are be- ing made to stage a demonstration at the Federal Building and the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The federation’s proposals to the federal government will in- clude a call for rent control, curb- ing land speculation and regula- tion of oil and gas prices. NATIONAL NURSES BODY URGED REGINA — Joyce Gleason of the Manitoba Organization of Nurses’ Association told a conven- tion of 200 members of the Sas- katchewan Union of Nurses re- cently that Canadian nurses need to form a national organization bringing together all- provincial nurses’ organizations © and affiliated to the CLC. Falling salary levels in some provinces was given as one of the reasons such a step should be ta- ken. She also pointed out that affiliation to the CLC would give nurses a national voice to speak out against the wage control program of the federal government. LABOR ™ BRIEF 120,000 IN 24-HOUR STRIKE MONTREAL — More than 120,000 public service workers walked off the job across Quebec Apnil 5 for 24 hours to protest the Quebec government’s hard nosed stand in current negotiations with the 175,000-member Common Front grouping, the Quebec Fed- eration of Labor, the Confedera- tion of National Trade Unions and the Quebec Teachers Federa- tion. Talks with the government have broken down, and. -the Common Front announced April 6 their plans for another-24-hour shutdown of schools and hospi- tals for April 8. COMPANY TOWN BRINGS IN MOUNTIES CHURCHILL FALLS, NFLD. — An eight-week strike at the Churchill Falls hydroelectric power development has seen the bosses of the one industry town, Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corp., call in 53 RCMP officers to aug- ment the community’s regular two-man police force, also paid by the company. Isolated in the middle of Lab- rador the union of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is asking 65 cents an hour for a northern allowance plus a $1.62 an hour wage increase and refusing to negotiate as the company is propos- ing, within the federal government wage-cutting ‘‘guidelines’’. Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corp. is jointly owned by the New- foundland Government (60%) and by the Government of Quebec. THREE-DAY TEAMSTERS’ STRIKE ENDS DETROIT, MICH. — With the exception of the Detroit local of the Teamsters Union, a three-day strike by the 450,000-member union ended April 5. The 36-month contract pro- vides an additional $1.65 an hour in wages and $17 more a week in fringe benefits. The revolt against the settle- ment in Detroit revolved around the dissatisfaction over provi- sions covering pension grievance procedure and the use of part- time drivers. CAUSE OF YOUR. PERFORMANCE AND INDISPENSABILITY:.. | HAVE See Pk ee PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 16, 1976—Page 8 | OSSTF resolves to | fight controls, cutback HAMILTON — The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation at its annual assembly ending March 25, passed two re- solutions which may have an im- portant bearing on the fight-back against the federal government’s wage control legislation and the Ontario government’s cut-back policies. Under the report of the Federa- tion’s External Policy Implemen- tation Committee the assembly passed a motion, originating from District 8 (Hamilton) committing the OSSTF to ‘‘strongly express its opposition to Bill C-73 and be actively working to repeal this repressive and’ inadequate legislation.” Another motion originating from Toronto resolved that the OSSTF ‘‘go on record as being vigorously opposed to the On- tario government’s projected cut- backs on social services and those affecting the quality of educa- tion.” One teacher told the Tribune that the passage of these resolu- tions should have the effect of **stimulating teacher participa- tion in the anti-wage cont anti-cutbacks movements the provincial and local le The assembly also decid? budget $50,000 for teachel ticipation in municipal and) | bly provincial elections. This! { increase over the $34 y budgeted last year for this! | non-partisanship in pro elections, so the money willl be spent on mobilizing F t opinion on issues of conc” ¢ the OSSTF. 4 Health and safety— | capitalist, socials) In 1974, compensation paid for work-related injuries and disease amounted to $523-million dollars, here in Canada. If we add to this the loss ef production, material damage and retraining, sub- sequent and upon rehabilitation, the material loss will be over $2,000-million more. To all this must be added the pain and suffer- ing of workers involved, as well as their families. The problem is increasing with ever newer pro- duction techniques, rationaliza- tion and physical speed-up on jobs. In the capitalist world, where the motive force that drives the productive machine forward is private profit and maximum material gain for the rich and powerful at the expense of the working people, not much thought is wasted on the human factor. Capitalism has no time for consideration of human values. At most, it only pays lip-service to it. : This is the reason why Canada has no national program on occu- pational health and safety, and does next to nothing about human environment. To be sure, there is a Canadian Public Health Association, and a federal environmental health di- rectorate. Once in a while the | CPHA has a conference where people can come and air their complaints, in general terms. Such a conference was held last February. That conference was told by a United Steelworkers Union spokesman that manage- ment and government have often opposed innovative and effective safety and health proposals. He cited the long delay between union concern about radon gas and silica dust at uranium mines in Elliot Lake, in 1958, and more effective general recognition of these dangers in recent times. One could cite many examples, all the way from deadly asbestos fiber eating away workers’ lungs, to sloppy disposal of-radio-active materials, endangering the lives of whole communities. _ * * * Under socialism labor safety is under trade union supervision. The Soviet trade unions for example, are vested with state supervision over the observance .of the Labor Code, work prac- tices and safety standards. ° This means that the instruc- tions of trade unions and of their technical inspectorates in this field are binding on management. The inspector can look over an enterprise at any time and, with the agreement of the town or reg- ional Trade Union Council, stop production, if workers’ health and safety are being endangered. The inspectorate of the Central Com- . mittee of the Electric Stations and Electric Engineering Industry Workers’ Union did precisely this when some time ago it ordered the Shatura Electric Station shut down, after grave faults in safety standards were found. Work was allowed to begin again only after the faults had been corrected. If managers disregard the in- spectorate’s instructions and con- tinue to violate labor safety rules, they can be dismissed on the trade union’s demand. This, by the way, is written into the Labor . Code of the USSR. The trade unions have been gi- » ven these powers in labor safety to exercise their functions of pro- tection. . Lowest Injury Ra Though the administration and the trade ‘union organizations have the same tasks, certain man- agers may violate the rules: The trade unions use their powers to prevent this. On. the whole, work has be- come much. easier thanks to mechanization and automation. . Workers in industry have a 40- hour work week. Those in. hazardous jobs work a 36-hour week. ; The Soviet Union is among the countries with the lowest occupa- tional injury rates. These have been reduced 50%, and in some industries 66.7% and more during the past decade. Occupational diseases, like tuberculosis, sil- licosis — the scourge of miners — and gas poisoning, have been as good as eliminated. However,- not. all problems in the field of labor conditions have been solved. The scientific and technological revolution, higher after their shift for rest, " ity of the people — occ¥ speed machinery have giv@) to new worries: how to PX vibration diseases, electric®) or chemical poisoning, 2 others. Unions State Terms | More and more money 5) allocated toward improving! ° conditions in the Soviet 4) where care for the people’ 4 prime preoccupation of thé and of public organizatio? 1975, under .managemen's, union agreements mores 1,500-million roubles were | on. labor safety and safely gineering. This was mor twice the amount spent a & earlier. In addition, the sta vides the worker with ° work clothes and footwe cluding special aprons, 9 helmets and protective ™ free of charge. | The All Union Central “@ of Soviet Trade Unions fi right is issue codes of P and rules of labor safety 4 mit appropriate bills to reme Soviet (the parliameé The number, of di) prevention sanatorium} workers’ rest homes built ® enterprises themselves is 8°) rapidly — now numbering} than 2,000. Workers may 8°) treatment or for a health ch®! every day or whenevet © sary. In this way grave © tional diseases are diagn0O” treated early. | Research into safety eng, ing is done at more than search establishments, 5 them attached to trade unl@ professional recommen miners or workers at othe, risk enterprises are treat ultraviolet light, or q preventive treatment. It is more than high by seriously weigh the real! labor’s position whe? capitalist monopolies ©, political power, and wh@ working class — the great position of political Democracy, peace and 1 resides in socialism, through the state powe! working class.