TORONTO — CCM workers here ended their 12-week ‘‘no concessions” strike Aug. 10: after voting 92% in favor of negotiated three-year con- tract settlement that in fact registered some improvements. _In a personal message to strikers, UAW Cana- dian Director Bob White termed the settlement ‘‘a Clear victory”’. At issue in‘the strike were wide-ranging con- Cessions demanded by the company, amounting to 8 $4-an hour wage-benefits cut. In addition, the Company had sought a union-eroding expansion of the ‘‘management rights” clause. With only one exception, the company’s drive -for concessions was defeated. The sole concession Was extension of the probationary period from 45 “to 90 days. . Otherwise, the settlement swept concessions off the table. In effect, wages will remain as they were during the first two years, but with a 3%. increase | the third year, which will also see pensions upped 2 a month times years of service. Skilled workers ‘Will get an additional 25 cents an hour in the second year. Two points cleared up. _,_ In the article, CSN (Confederation of National Trade Unions) meet urges jobless march, general Strike, which appeared in the June 14 Canadian Tribune, there were two omissions which tended to _ Obscure some of the thinking of the CSN. In one Case the CSN’s decision to support Montreal’s June 5 March for Peace was not mentioned in Conjunction with its decision to support the June 12 New York march. In the second casé it failed to Mention that among foreign delegates represented at the CSN congress was a delegate from Solidar- Nosc. We regret omitting these sections during | CCM workers win no concessions contract COLA Retained But the current cost-of-living allowance will re- main. This was a key sticking point with the com- pany, and it’s estimated the COLA will add $2.40 an hour over the three years. Other gains include improvements in dental and vision plans and a more equitably-based payment schedule for annual vacations. Office workers scored a breakthrough on video display terminals (VDTs). Employees will have the right to transfer from VDTs in the event of health problems or pregnancy and the company will undertake a study of their VDTs. With the contract ratified, exact recall dates were yet to be set. The settlement followed three days and nights of talks, initiated by the company and conducted with the help of a mediator from the Ontario Ministry of Labor. During the talks the company referred to loss of orders and threatened a shutdown of the plant — Canada’s largest manufacturer of bicycles — un- less agreement was reached by the upcoming weekend. Bargaining was intense, but the union, UAW Local 28, maintained its position of no con- cessions. First ‘No Concessions’ Strike The strike at-Canada Cycle and Motor had at- tracted widespread attention and support from the rest of the labor movement. It was the first such ‘*no concessions” strike in the Metro Toronto area and, while based on its own merit, was thus of some significance in labor’s overall battle against concessions. Noting this, as well as the difficulty in bargaining improvements in today’s ‘‘troubled economic times’’, Bob White declared that ‘‘it’s vital for the survival of this union and the labor movement that — we make the fight.’’ White added: ““CCM workers have made the fight, and they have come out vic- much to the membership of Local 28.” TRIBUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS ~ UAW Canadian director Bob White . . . “working people of Canada owe much to the membership of Local 28”. aif OTTAWA — The Canadian Labor Congress pledged in a telex to the 40,000 members of the B.C. Government Em- ployees Union, Aug. 9: *‘The two million trade unionists, members of the Canadian Labor Congress, are with you in your struggle to uphold your right to free collective bargain- ing and to a fair return for your labor.”’ / CLC hits wage curbs Richards, the union’s presi- dent CLC president Dennis McDermott called the Bennett government’s attack on the workers unfair because it sing- les out one section of the pro- vince’s workers. He said the CLC is holding a series of meetings with the leadership of those unions di- rectly affected, to plan strategy and to co-ordinate the labor translation, as they help to define CSN positions. toriously. The working people of eed ot In the. message to Norm movement’s response. Some unfinished business from the Canadian Labor ‘Congress Convention. One of the important achieve- ‘Ments of the convention was the election of Jean-Claude ‘Ot, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Work- £ts, to the executive of the Canadian Labor Congress. is was an important gain not so. much because it broke the slate of the CLC leadership, that had been done before, but because Parrot is a prominent symbol of > demand for a return to grassroots trade unionism. For a break with the top-down, bureaucratic, non-class trade union tendencies which grew up in the Canadian “®S0r movement in the post-war boom period. : ___ This does not significantly shift the balance of forces in the CLC executive, which still leans toward the right. It does however indicate a growing mood in the Canadian € union movement for strengthening the role of the Membership in the unions. eS _ We are not suggesting here any downplaying of the tole of leadership, the officers of unions, full-time cadre °F Most of all shop steward movements. What is being ~©Manded by the more conscious elements in the unions 'S that this leadership address itself to the task of drawing {e‘entire membership into the process of decision mak- ing and leadership. It is only this kind of trade union activism that can successfully gear up the unions for the S of battles facing them. gs Unfortunate Defeat While Parrot’s election was a clear victory, it was ‘Unfortunate that he unseated the president of the Cana- Brotherhood of Railway Transport and General 0 means be regarded as a right winger, and his union “Ys an important role in the struggle for the Cana- tianization of the CLC against domination by U.S.- unions. At the very time of the convention a press conference ty Id announcing an important alliance Pate be: Wau the CBRT, the United Fisherman and / i B ‘say the Shipyard General Workers Federation 0 ‘C. and the Maritime Workers Federation of Nova Scotia, : Parrot is a Workers (CBRT), Don Nicholson. Nicholson could by . Labor in action William Stewart . The alliance, called the Alliance of Canadian Trans- port and Maritime Workers, will co-ordinate the efforts of these kindred unions in the fields of research, legisla- tion, organization and consultation to advance common concern. Other unions in the Maritime area are looking with interest at the new alliance which, according to Nichol- son, aims to end tendencies to balkanization in the Mari- time field. Some spokesmen for the unions concerned indicated even closer co-operation, with at least one speaking of possible merger at some future date. This alliance was an important development and it was therefore all the more unfortunate that the president of the principal union involved, and major spokesperson for the alliance should be defeated for the Congress executive. The Service Unions A further negative factor in his defeat lies in the role played by elements in the public service unions, his own union, CUPE, and by some of the leaders of ‘‘staff unions’’ within these unions. Nicholson- had fired several officers of the CBRT, including Ed Finn, because they had refused to open mail while the office workers’ union within the CBRT office staff was on strike. Nicholson argued, with some logic we thought, that the staff ofthe union had a respon- sibility to the membership of the union as a whole, and that this responsibility could not be suspended for an indefinite period because of a dispute between small groups of office workers and the union leadership. Nicholson shoved his hand into a buzz saw.on this issue. There seems to have grown up inside the trade union movement unions within unions within unions. In some unions, CUPE for example, the staff union wields as much if not more infiuence than the elected officers of the union between conventions. They have seniority clauses which determine promotions, not abili- ty. And as was shown in the Ontario hospital workers union strike, the officers are sometimes almost helpless to effect a situation if the staff decides otherwise. It is a dual power structure inside the union. The concept of trade union leadership, or trade union cadre, is based on the solid class concept of workers who are prepared to sacrifice and lead by example and effort. This has been considerably turned around to represent a well paid position, a career, separate from the workers ° whose interests it is supposed to serve. Taking advan- tage-of the fact that unions are susceptible to public charges of not giving to their own what they demand from others, unions within unions use the threat of strike action as an ideological club to further entrench their positions. These staff union elements played no- small role in helping decide who Parrot should “‘go up against”’ in his bid for leadership. By the time it had gotten into the Action Caucus for consideration, we are informed, Par- rot was already locked into the decision. Collectivity Essential The Fisherman’s Union and some others within the Action Caucus made it clear that they could not agree with voting against Nicholson and chose another target instead. Parrot we understand, felt bad about the situation he had gotten himself into, but at that stage was faced either gain, Nicholson a loss ~ _ with going ahead or pulling out of the race altogether. No one thought he should do that. If any lesson is to be learned from the experience it is the need for the closest consultation and co-operation between the progressive elements in the trade union movement in their fight to help strengthen union democ- racy and militant class struggle policies. The task is both formidable and rewarding and will only be accomplished by collectivity, collectivity and more collectivity. So a PACIFIC TRIBUNE—AUGUST 20, 1982—Page 3