COMMUNIST PARLEY URGES UNITY

‘Block big business drive in B.C.’

A strong appeal to labor and
democratic forces in B.C. to unite
to stop monopoly’s offensive and
keep B.C. moving left came from
the special conference of the
Communist Party which met in the
Grandview Community Centre in
Vancouver, Saturday, March 1.

Almost 100 delegates, who came

from all corners of B.C. and from
Many people’s movements, were
Unanimous in adopting a resolution

Setting out the party’s policy after

Caring a keynote report by
Provincial leader Nigel Morgan.

Warning that reactionary
Monopoly interests have mounted
an offensive aimed at taking away

© gains won by the working
People in B.C. over the last two
years, and to prevent further social
advance, the report said that. this
reactionary drive has succeeded in
Setting the ear of significant
Sections of the population.

Morgan’s report said, ‘‘A
Marked right trend has begun to
Make itself felt in B.C. Powerful
Monopoly interests are uniting
their forces around a refurbished
Nd well-financed Socred Party.

© extent of this ultra-
onservative, anti-labor, anti-
People’s gang-up by the big mining
Ycoons, the insurance industry,
the landlords and big land

€velopers, the lumber, natural
88S and petroleum interests, the

™mployers’ Council and their

Political representatives, should

Not be underestimated.”

The report points out that the
alm of the campaign of distortions,

alf truths and outright lies is to

Ock democratic reforms and
"capture control of the provincial
’dministration by the monopolies.

‘The Barrett. government —

spite justifiable criticism of its
‘ailure to implement a number of
"S preelection promises, and for
hot doing enough to tackle the real
Centres of wealth in the province to

achieve a redistribution of income
and lift the tax burden off labor —
has done a considerable amount to
improve welfare, health and
pensioners’ standards, and to
rescue education from Socred
pennypinching.” Morgan who also
pointed to Autoplan, Pharmacare,
the Land Act, Mincome, some of
the labor legislation, and other

‘legislation as important advances.

“On the other hand,” said the
keynote report, “‘the attitude of the
NDP cabinet toward some of their
election promises — removal of
school costs from homes and the
family farm, bringing B.C. Tel,

B.C. Communist leader Nigel Morgan

Westcoast Transmission and
natural gas industry under public
ownership, as well as some aspects
of the new Labor Code — remains a
source of dissatisfaction.’’ Morgan
said the trade unions have every
reason to be critical of some
provisions of the Labor Code.
The report pointed out that the
NDP government is showing the
classical form of social democratic
governments in carrying through
certain reforms, backing down on
others, and generally attempting
to evade coming to grips with the
big monopolies that control the
wealth. “The NDP government

expresses the common strivings of
large numbers of working people
for social security and measures to
improve their conditions and
general welfare, but have not yet
set themselves the task of
struggling against capitalism.”
The reports and speeches at the
Communist Party conference
emphasized that the monopolies
and their political representatives
are the main enemies of the people.
Resenting the loss of the special
privileges they have enjoyed under
successive Tory, Liberal and
Socred governments, fearing
expansion of the public sector and
success of the social security
program brought down by the
government, and that public
demand will push the NDP
government to go further, the
monopolies have set out to block

‘social progress, alienate public

support, and win back a large
enough section of voters to
recapture power in Victoria.
“The Communist Party shares
the concern with others over the
right wing drive in B.C. We believe
the prerequisite for halting

‘meonopoly’s offensive and blocking

return of a big business govern-
ment lies in energetically working
to advance an anti-monopoly
program and forging unity in
action around the immediate
pressing needs ef the people,’’ says
the keynote report. It stresses the
need for Communists to ‘expose
and eradicate all tendencies to
class collaboration or retreat
before monopoly pressures.”’
While warning against leftist
tendencies to be ‘“‘overcritical’”’ and
opportunist tendencies which
mutes criticism when necessary,
the keynote report calls for the
forging of the broadest unity of all

‘anti-monopoly forces — unions,

ratepayers, pensioners, teachers,
tenants, farmers and _ under-
privileged, together with the NDP
and Communist Party. — to fight ©

together to expose and defeat
monopoly’s campaign against
progressive change, and to curb
the monopolies and open the way
for further advances.

The conference called on the
NDP government, as part of the
counteroffensive against big

‘business, to carry through its pre-

election promises for which it was
given a clear mandate. It urged
action to lift the cost of education
from homes and family farm;
expanded low-cost, low-rental

housing and protection of tenant —

rights; overhaul of the assessment
and tax system; public ownership
of energy and B.C. Tel; and more
aid to municipalities.

The report stressed that one of
the prime needs to keep B.C.
moving left today is a stronger and
more influential Communist
Party. And plans were discussed
for building the party’s mem-
bership during 1975 and extending

the press. Alf Dewhurst, Canadian .

Communist Party national
organizer addressed the parley on
behalf of the Central Executive
Committee of the Communist

_Party.

The parley adopted a number of
resolutions dealing with current
publie issues. These called for:

e The provincial government to
increase the share of the budget set
aside for housing to meet the
critical housing shortage;

e The nationalization of all
natural gas. and oil resources,
production facilities and
distribution system. Also urged
was a reopening of the Columbia
Treaty;

e Revision of the basis on which
grants to municipalities are paid;

e Removal of the cost of
education from the home and
family farm;

e Protests against the U.S. sub
base at Bangor, Wash., and called
for united action by peace-loving
people to protest the base.

Ottawa | threatens PSAC strikers

TORONTO - The federal
-80vernment last week stepped up
st campaign to break the legal

tike by the 18,000 members of the
®eheral labor and trades group of
Oe Public Service Alliance of
anada.

With the rotating strikes ef-
in tively tying up the mail service
th Sronto and grain handling on

© West coast, the government

Nounced that “it plans to take

lon against any ‘essential’

workers who take part in the
strike.” Some of the departments
have already begun- collecting
information for charges.

The move by the government to
lay charges against striking
workers, especially the airport
maintenance workers who clear
runways of snow, drew an im-
mediate response from Michael
Lyons, a local union representa-
tive, who told the Tribune in an
interview, ‘‘the government has to

be warned in advance that we will
fight and defend any worker who
has been unjustly accused of any
charges.”

Officials of the Public Service
Alliance explained that ‘‘the
government is hell-bent on
breaking this strike, because the
settlement in this round of
negotiations is going to be a pace-
setter for future negotiations in the
public sector. The government

obviously feels that a cheap set-—

tlement with the trades and labor
group will lead to cheap set-
tlements for other public
workers.”

Before the negotiations broke off
the Treasury Board had still not
budged from its ‘“‘offer’ of 26%
over two years, when the union was
demanding .a 35% increase. The
union insists that the 35%. is
necessary for the general trades
and labor workers to achieve
“near parity” with workers doing

Willows sit-in brings new owner

Willows poultry plant sitdowners
arked the 36th day of their sit-in
St Week with a victory sign as a
'Ctoria-based company, Maple-
io Processors, began finalizing
agreement to take over the

m

Plant

bate Sit-in in the plant cafeteria
a January 24 in protest
‘forn st Canada Packers — which
arbitn owned the operation —
rath rary decision to shut, down
hie, (Han sign a duly-negotiated
On agreement.
ame agreement had called for,
and ~ other things, a dental plan
ate »-minute coffee breaks which,
‘vy 'ding to Canada Packers,
a Contrary to national labor
Ons policy.’’ 112 people were
Atfected by the shutdown.
ast Friday, workers decided to
‘ the sitdown as the deal with
~*Plewood seemed on the verge of

completion and began packing up
the cards and games with which
they had kept themselves busy
during the five-week, 24-hour-a-
y occupation.
tS, the Canadian Food
and Allied Workers Union had put
about $3,000 into the sitdown,
ing food and heaters.

at the agreement to take over
the plant’s operations will 80 the
new union contract, including the
contentious clauses which Canada
Packers had refused to put them
i effect.
ean business agent said the
takeover was ‘“‘definitely a win”,
and added that the dramatic action
by the Willows workers speeded up
the purchase by Maplewood and
probably facilitated the loan
guarantee which the new company
anticipates receiving from the
provincial government.

Willows poultry plant... the name will be changing but the employees

will be back to work.

the same job for private firms.

Presently the wage difference
between the public and. private
sectors are monumental as the
following chart shows:

PSAC rates Private

Occupation —_ ner hour _rates
Carpenter . $5.72 $8.30
Electrician $6.39 $8.90
Millwright $5.25 $8.30
Painter $4.87 $7.50
Plumber $6.25 $8.39
~ Laborer $3.84 $6.46
Motor mechanic $4.90 _— $7.10
Driver $4.10 $7.00

The now broken-off negotiations
were the first this year for public’
workers. Later in the year, the
heating and power group of the
PSAC will be up for negotiation, as
well as the Letter Carriers Union of
Canada, the Canadian Union of
Postal Workers and 80,000 white
collar workers in the PSAC.

Part of the government’s strike-

breaking tactic was an effort to .

turn public opinion against the
strikers. Undoubtedly at govern-
ment —_i urging, newspapers
throughout the country
editorialized that the strike was
harmful to old age pensioners
because they were not receiving
their cheques while the strike was
on. The union however, neatly
turned that tactic on the govern-
ment when it asked its members in
the post office to return to work to
sort and deliver only the cheques.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1975—Page 9