Quebec Federation of Labor Convention

- Opening of new
stage for labor

By SAM WALSH

HE 10th Convention of the

: Quebec Federation of
Labor, held in Montreal,
October 4-8, | unquestionably
marked the opening of new stage
not only for the trade union
movement in Quebec, but for all
of Canada. This is to be seen by
a number of pioneering measures

adopted. .
The Convention supported its
General Council’s resolution

calling upon the Canadian Labor
Congress to modify its constitu-
tion in such manner “as to re-
quire that the Congress require,
as a condition of affiliation that
international unions within a
reasonable period:

e Shall create at least one
Canadian district;

e The director of this district
shall be a Canadian elected ex-
clusively by the members of his
district;

e Trusteeships in . Canada
shall. be exercised by the Can-
adian district and administered
byt.”

Despite some mumurings by a
couple of officers of interna-
tional craft unions who had
been elected in international
conventions, this resolution was
adopted by an overwhelming
majority. At a press conference
held later on, William Dodge,
Executive Vice-President of the
Canadian Labor Congress ex-
pressed the opinion that on this
point the CLC might very well
go along with the QFL recom-
mendation — which would mark
a very big advance in the strug-
gle of Canadian workers for
trade union autonomy.

The Convention also decided
to ask the next CLC convention
to modify its constitution to pro-
vide that provincial Federa-
tions be empowered to charter
the labor. council, the trades or
industrial councils, regional

groups or unionized workers. :

This was adopted over the strong
objections of William Dodge
who made it clear in his ad-
dress to the convention that as
far as. he was concerned the
CLC should not grant such rights
to the QFL.

“I believe,” he said, “that
some of the views expressed
about relations between the
QFL and the Congress are based
upon the theory that a federa-
tion has the same relation to the
Congress as a provincial govern-
ment has to the federal govern-
ment. This is an_ incorrect
theory.

“The federal government of
Canada was created by the prov-
inces .. <

“The Canadian Labor Con-
gress is not the creation of the
provincial federations . . . The
fact is the former central bodies
and the present Canadian Labor
Congress were created by the
affiliated national unions and
Canadian sections of interna-
tional unions . . .

“The provincial federations,
on the contrary, were created by
the various congresses as the in-

struments of Congress policy at
the provincial level.

“Therefore any approach to
the internal structural problems
of the Canadian Labor Congress
based upon provincial rights, the

two nations theory, special sta-.

tus or pure and simple separa-
tism must take this peculiar but
important difference into ac-
count.”

This declaration was received
very coldly by the Convention
and in the press conference that
followed Dodge’s speech, Louis
Laberge, president of the QFL in
Dodge’s presence, made it quite
clear that the QFL intended to

SAM WALSH

go ahead in practice establish-
ing for itself a “special status,”
if necessary in the Canadian
Labor Congress to meet the spe-
cial circumstances of Quebec,
being the territory of the French-
Canadian nation.

The Convention further in-
structed the incoming General
Council to appoint a full-time
political organizer who is in-
structed to convene a confer-
ence of all progressive forces in
Quebec in order to establish a
mass provincial party of the left
arpund a commonly agreed pro-
gram. On the federal plan the
QFL reiterated its support for

_the New Democratic Party.

While the Convention repeat-
ed its opposition to separatism,
it added the words, “for the pre-
sent,” then went. ahead and
adopted the following resolution,
proposed by Local 2-279, Mon-
treal of the International Wood-
workers of America:

“Whereas the Quebec Federa-
tion of Labor in a declaration
dated June 12, 1961, defined a
nation as: ‘A stable community,
historically constituted, having
its own, language, occupying a
defined territory, having an eco-
nomic life and, a psychological
conformation all-its own’;

“Whereas the QFL added, in
this same declaration, that: ‘Ca-
nada is formed of two natigns;
the French-Canadian nation and
the English-Canadian nation’;

“Whereas the QFL on’ that oc-
casion recognized the right of
nations tod self-determination;

“Be it resolved that the QFL
declare the undefeasible right of
the French-Canadian nation to
the supreme control of its des-
tiny, that is to say, its right to
self-determination up to and in-
cluding the right to secede.”

Some delegates said that this
resolution contradicted the one

just adopted where separatism.

was opposed for the present.
But delegates rose to point out
that proclaiming the right to
“divorce” did not mean neces-
sarily advocating divorce at the
present. The resolution was
adopted by a very large majority
and finally puts the trade union

movement in Quebec in position’

to ‘challenge the French-Cana-
dian bourgeois and petty bour-
geois nationalist. spokesmen for
leadership of the movement of
national emancipation which has
reached new heights. The fact
that another resolution was also
adopted favoring ‘‘a special sta-
tus for the Province of Quebec
with the aim of preserving
French culture in our province,”
proposed by four locals of the
United Steelworkers of America
does not alter the fact that the
QFL has adopted a position of
principle on the national ques-
tion in Canada which opens up
new perspectives for the success
a a mass party of labor in Que-
ec,

The Convention adopted an
emergency resolution to invite

- the Student Union delegates of

the National Liberation Front of
South Vietnam to address the
Convention and gave them a
very warm reception. This is the
first time that any section of
the labor movement in Canada
or the United States has taken
such a positive step in support
of peace and self-determination
of the people of Vietnam, and
in condemnation of U.S. im-
perialist aggression.

With all this, it was not sur-
prising that the Convention
voted again overwhelmingly to
eliminate the two anti-commun-
ist clauses in their QFL consti-
tution (on the recommendation
of their General Council), one

of them from the section entitled

“aims, and objectives of the
Federation” which was designed
to “protect the labor movement
against Communist, Fascist or
other totalitarian organizations”;
the second not permitting affilia-
tion of any. organization ‘‘con-
trolled. or dominated by com-
munists, fascists, or other totali-
tarians, or whose policies and
activities are consistently direct-
ed towards the achievement of
the program or purpose of the
Communist Party, etc.”

As it was pointed out this
was never used against fascists,
but only against the left and
those individuals or unions who
were declared to be “communist-

dominated.” Fernand Daoust,

THE LABOR SCEN

THE SOVIET UNION has in the planning a
pletely automatic fishing vessels which cou
catch. fish without a man on board, controlled bY
control from a mother ship many miles away: Df

BS

fleet of “i
Id cruise ®

: ct {0

dreev, a Soviet fisheries expert, said the projé
part of the general Soviet fisheries program W
sizes larger fishing vessels capable of

hich em,
operating ©

and longer at sea and of processing directly all fish id f
“The technical level of the fleet,” Andreev sale

us to extend the scope of fishing activities into i
ocean permanently and to utilize abundant

sources effectively.”

IN AN ATTACK ON BRITISH Prime Minister Harold Wi
British actor Robert Morley said he could not exe
for being ‘“‘such a cowardly man.” Morley sa!
and pop singers, bookmakers and property de

delighted with your efforts.
‘happy.

“But the children of the.slums are still si
ful schools being badly taught in overcrowded ¢
by an inadequate and ill-paid staff.” Hundre
sands of those children are so under-privileged
ley, that “they will carry to their graves” the s¢
on them now by an acquisitive society—led

crashed on re-entry into the
eral was in charge of the
accident.

THE CHIEF OF RUSSIA’S MANNED space Fal
General Nickolai Kamanin, said in Moscow cof
causes of last April’s crash of the Soyuz-1 space My F
were now fully established. He did not disclos¢ “1.
were. Viadimir Komarov, the spaceman died W end

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vice-president of the QFL ex-
plained the removal of these
clauses in television appearan-
ces in French and English by the
fact that the McCarthy period
in the labor movement in Que-
bec was now definitely over, that
there are many parties of the
left in Quebec who are regarded
as Communist or Socialist who
all play a positive role in the
labor movement, and that such
clauses were harmful to the
trade union movement.

One delegate pointed out that
such changes in the Constitu-
tion of the QFL must have the
approval of the Executive of the
CLC before they become final.
He asked if the CLC still retain-
ed these clauses. The answer
was “yes,” and, added Louis La-
berge, president of the QFL, we
hope they won’t last -long. in
their constitution. So that the

CLC Convention 1” i
May will no doubt
with resolutins
locals and the Q

It was on May
trade union unity ©
vention did not ™
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ing address by 14 é
rather pessimist
on this score as ©
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transport strike
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lot. The Convention
emergency resoluts rg i
other hand, deman”
provincial governt |
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