Secret plan revealed

LABOR FRONT

By WILLIAM KASHTAN

This year it is the craft unions, particularly those in the
building industry, that are at the centre of the stage in negotiat-
ing: new «contracts. Hitherto, the industrial unions were the
traditional pacesetters and the breakthroughs they achieved
helped all other unions. Today, however. the roles seem to be
reversed, with some of the industrial unions sidestepping mili-
tant leadership of the wage movement and settling for fringe
benefits and some minor wage increases.

The only pattern set so far, if it can be called that, was
the so-called “profit-sharing” agreement between the United
Auto Workers and American Motors in the USA, a plan Walter
Reuther quickly dropped in negotiations with General Motors.

The failure of the industrial unions to set the pace, co-
ordinate their efforts around clear cut objectives, above all the
fight for reduced hours with no reduction in take-home Pay,
inevitably took the heart out of the wage movement. The results
are fo be seen in the kind of settlements being signed in various
parts of the country. It has been estimated that they average
about 4.4 cents an hour — one of the lowest averages for quite
60me time.

In contrast to the avoidance of struggle by some of the in-
dustrial unions, many of the craft unions have entered the
Struggle head on. In fact the main strikes so far are those
involving the craft unions, as was to be seen in the great build-
ing trades strike, the strike of longshoremen, the current strike
in structural steel, the sheet metal strike and perhaps, before
Jong, the strike of carpenters. :

While these are examples of strikes in Ontario, an examina-
tion of the situation in other parts of the country would likely
show that the trend is country-wide.

This phenomenon bears close study but it is a fact that while
some of the industrial unions under right-wing leadership have
adopted a stand-pat, defensive position, directed to maintaining
the “status quo,” the craft unions in many cases have set them-
Selves greater objectives and, in some cases have achieved
them,

x a

Another feature of settlements this year are the long term
contracts being signed. The one-year: contract seems to have
become a thing of the past while two- and three-year contracts
are: quite common.

Although this does not involve a question of principle, there
is the question whether, in face of rising living costs, continued
inflation and in Ontario now the three percent sales tax, the
workers are in all cases adequately protected by such long-
term contracts. How do some of the long-term contracts stand
up in face of these developments?

Apart from anything else, however, the long-term cOntracts
have pushed back the fight for reduced hours for the next two
or three years, unless, of course, steel and auto, currently in
negotiations here, make it a central issue in negotiations. How-

NATO committee meeting in
Washington
year under the chairmanship
of the former nazi

CARL RUSH, who has held
various posts ir the Commun-
ist Party in B.C., left recently
for Montreal where he assum-
ed his new duties as provincial
organizer for Quebec. Before
leaving the B.C. executive pre-
sented him with a brief case
on behalf of the membership.

NATO plans to lift arms :
limits from former Nazis —

A new NATO plan for West Germany — code name MC96 — which will li
arms restrictions on the former nazi generals now running West Germany’s Bul

wehr almost immediately, was revealed last week by the newspaper Neues Deuts@
in the German Democratic Republic.

4

The plan was to have been.

kept. secret until after the| Adolf Heusinger.
West
Sept. 17 by agreement between
War
United States Defense Minister
MacNamara.

WASHINGTON APPROVED

Neues Deutschland, which
first exposed NATO plan
MC70 — for expanding West
Germany’s armaments — gave
the following details of the
new plan as fully confirmed:

(1) In order to give West
Germany a role in NATO con-
Sistent with its economic
strength and territorial claims,
all restrictions on troop
strength, armaments and the
production of war materials as
laid down in the Paris agree-
ment (which brought West
Germany into NATO) shall be
cancelled;

(2) The 12 West German
army divisions allocated to
NATO shall reach full estab-
lishment by October,1961, and
six further divisions for which
the staff is already set up shall
be formed.

For this purpose the West
German federal defense coun-
cil has ruled that from Oct. 1,
1361, the period of conscrip-
tion shall be extended from
12 to 18 months.

(West Germany has already
decided to retain some 36,000
troops in service after their
terms of service are completed
this month).

(3) All army divisions under
NATO command stationed in
the operational zone shall have
direct conirol of nuclear war-
heads.

Neues Deutschland com-

German elections on'

Minister Strauss and

It was approved by the
in May of this

general

ever, the proposed three-year contract between UAW and Gen-
eral. Motors in the USA, which will likely be the pattern for
Ford and Chrysler negotiations, makes this very unlikely indeed.
As for the steel negotiations, Mahoney and Company are doing
everything in their power to prevent the issue of hours from
becoming a part of the negotiations and have made the main
pitch on fringe benefits.
% *

Clearly the issue of reduced hours with no reduction in take
home pay has become a victim of the cold war. AFL-CIO
Secretary-Treasurer Schmitzler put the question bluntly when
he stated-recently that unions must forego making demands in
this time of crisis.

What crisis? True enough, no right-wing trade union leader
in Canada has dared come up with such a gem, but objectively
this is what they have been doing. That is why there is no
serious wage movement. That is why, instead of coordination
around agreed aims and objectives, each union is fending for
itself..

A prime responsibility for this state of affairs rests on the
shoulders of the leadership of the Canadian Labor Congress,
which has shown a marked inability and lack of desire to spark
an effective counter-offensive:

It is worthy of note that CLC President Jodoin could not
find the time to appear before the Royal York strikers and
throw the weight of the CLC behind their strike. His back-
handed reference to the strike on Labor Day is no substitute
for what ‘was and is needed. It is equally worthy of note that
he could not find the time to speak to the building trades
sirikers,

But he did find the time to conspire with the Steelworkers
and Gillis and Company against Mine-Mill on the eve of critical
negotiations. : <—s :

x

* *%

tt is this kind of “leadership” which explains why the wage
movement has not got off the ground. This situation can still
be corrected, in fact must be corrected. Basic steel is currently
in negotiations.. Auto is in negotiations. Teamsters are entering
negotiations in Ontario, Mine-Mill will be ‘in negotiations with
Inco. And before long the railway workers will be in negotia-
. tions again With the issue of parity, jobs and job security and
other vital questions still to be resolved. :

Effective coordination, unity, solidarity and militant leader-
ship will be required to change the present unsatisfactory situa-
ion, thereby enabling the workers to make appreciable gains
this year. There is still time—but not too much time.

a

Women ask
support for
| Peace Year

women converged on ‘Victoria,
B.C. this week to urge the B.C.
government to support the set-
ting aside of 1962 as World
Peace Year.

Women,
women dedicated to peace, the
B.C. delegation was one of
many which visited all provin-
cial capitals in Canada and
Prime Minister Diefenbaker,
urging adoption of their pro-| =
posal for a peace year,

told the national delegation
that
| given to submitting this pro-
posal to the United Nations.

with children, waited on the
Legislature’s steps, a delega-
tion of five interviewed mem-
bers of the provincial cabinet.
Among them were Mrs. Brock
Chisholm of Victoria and Mrs.
Walter MacDonald of Vancou-
ver. ;

“their cause,” Education Mini-
ster Leslie Peterson said after.
|. wards one suggestion which
the education department wil]

ments that all Bundeswehr
divisions which already
possess launching rockets
would now have control of
warheads.

NEW PROVOCATION

The militarist and expan-
sionist aims of the West Ger-
man government were under-
lined on Sept. 14 when two
F-84 jets fighters of the West
German Luftwaffe violated the
borders of the German Demo-
cratic Republic and flew into
West Berlin, on the pretext
that the pilots had lost their
direction.

The Pacific Tribune’s corres-
pondent in East Berlin, Max
Reich, cabled that this excuse
“cannot be accepted” and that

A Peace Mission of about 75

Sponsored by the Voice of
an organization of

the ‘“‘seriousness of the
cannot be overstated.”
Reich said the prov
“follows close on West”
man Chancellor Adenat'
announcement that it is be
possible that today or
row something may hapP
the air corridors to Wes ad
Lin i
He said that West Gel
apologized to the thre
tern powers and the
Union, but not to the
thus supposedly demol
ing the “non-existence” ®
GDR and the impunilj
West Germany for vi
the territory of the G
AIM TO FORCE WAR —
“It is well known,”
continued, “that the Lui®
is a hotbed of fanatical }
The intention of the m
provocation by the Lui
on the eve of East-West
on Germany and Berlin
create conditions forcin’
on the Western allies.” ty
Reich recalled the simil oft
of the U-2 incident on th? asf
of the summit conferenc®
warned that: the “dane
West German ultras arab
the Western powers ini a
is not at all precluded. — “g0
He said this statement ® jy
exaggeration” and that Get
Sept. 13 issue of the West
man magazine, Der SP)%
had revealed secret pla™ 4
high West German army rd
cers to break open the fe
of the GDR by force of ®
SOVIET WARNING sai
In notes to the U.S., BY) ;
France and West Germ
the Soviet Union terme
flight of the two jets 0 4
Berlin a “pre-arranged ratte
cation” intended to “nip %
bud” any prospect of East
agreement in negotiation ii
said the excuse that the Fost
had lost their way was @ Ae
zen diversion,” and addet jg”
“In similar cases ™ aq
future, any violating ™ fuses
fighting aircraft which ™ jo
to obey the demand to ee det
the indicated place will P” gi
stroyed by the use

Saek

3!

means, including rocke:

Prime Minister Diefenbaker

consideration will be

While the women, many

Expressing support for

consider is an essay contest in
B.C. schools on the subject of
ways to achieve peace,

The national membership of
VOW is more than 5,000.

ING.

September 29, 1961—PACIFIC TRIBUNE— ~

CHILEAN WORKING PEOOLE FIGHT FOR DECENT

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