Wage control victims demand: Scrap Bill 178 By MIKE PHILLIPS TORONTO — The organized labor movement, teachers, wo- men’s organizations and a host of - other public groups flooded On- tario legislature committee hear- ings on the Tories’ public sector wage control law with the re- peated demand that Queen’s Park scrap its ‘“‘Inflation Restraint Act’’, or Bill 179. The legislation introduced Sept. 21 has gone through two readings in the house with the backing of the provincial Liber- als. As its legion of critics pointed out during the justice committee’s hearings, the law wipes out col- lective bargaining in the public sector, limits wage increases to 5% over the year the law will be in effect, and discriminates against women, who are the majority of the lowest paid workers in the public sector. Some 116 organizations and in- dividuals approached the justice committee to make oral presenta- tions, but only 71 briefs were scheduled for the hearings which ran from Oct. 19 to Nov. 1. John Maclennan, speaking for the Ontario committee of the Communist Party, told the all- party justice committee, Oct. 27, that Bill 179 was aimed at opening _ the door to general wage controls on both private and public sector ~workers and that as “‘a double- edged sword’’ would not only slice wages and living standards but further starve municipalities of the funds to deal with the grow- ing burden placed on them through soaring unemployment. He called for ‘‘a new direction”’ in government policy ‘‘geared to full employment and rising living standards’’ and included among the party’s proposals for such a new policy orientation: either pressure on Ottawa, or for Queen’s Park itself, to extend un- employment insurance. benefits for the full duration of un- employment, at 90% of former wages; inclusion of first time job seekers to receive UI benefits; stop social service, health and education cutbacks; restore full funding levels to the municipal- ities; and impose real controls on prices and profits. The communists also proposed the nationalization of energy and natural resources as the starting point for extending and restoring Ontario’s manufacturing base and creating more jobs. Cliff Pilkey, on behalf of the 800,000-member Ontario Federa- tion of Labor promised the com- mittee that labor would present an economic program to Premier William Davis and his cabinet that would lay out ‘‘a clear alternative to wage controls.” Declaring the OFL and the labor movement ‘‘unalterably opposed’ to Bill 179 and the thinking behind it, Pilkey told the LABG committee ‘‘the main aim of both federal (the 6 and 5 program) and provincial controls legislation is to divert public attention from the bankrupt policies of the very governments which helped bring about this sorry state of affairs.”’ Both the 35,000-member On- © tario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, (OSSTF), and the Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation, urged the scrapping of the law that strips them of bargaining nights and de- stroys their systems of compensa- tion. OSSTF president Malcolm Buchanan, flanked by three other federation officers compared Bill 179 to the War Measures Act, and pointed out the “‘absolutely un- limited powers’’ of the Inflation Restraint Board, Bill 179 will establish after it is rammed through the legislature. The IRB; he pointed out; will be account- able to no one, there are no ap- peals from its decisions and it has no obligation to report its de- cisions to any higher authon or to the public. Auto workers’ Canadian leader Bob White said that the labor movement was right about the wage-cutting, nature of the 1976 federal wage controls and that the Davis government in bringing down Bill 179 ‘thas made no con- vincing argument as to why the The anger which torched this burning effigy of William Davis Sept. at, was present in most of the more than 70 briefs presented last week to all | Ontario legislature committee studying Bill 179. Scrap the bill, was labor’s unanimous message to Queen’s Park. a : outcome will be any different this time.”’ It can’t work because corpora- tions do whatever they want with their profits and aren’t subject to any government control in this regard. ‘‘The problem for Canada is not so much that of becoming somewhat more competitive, as that of developing a strong manu- facturing base in the first place’’, the UAW brief pointed out. “‘It’s the logic of the multi-nationals and the free market that has left Canada with a relatively weak and dependent industrial struc- ‘that looms. ture and this won’t be changed by increased reliance on free entet-_ prise and the market.” ‘ Prophetically, Metro Labor Council president Wally Majes- ky, speaking for the council’s Ac” tion Committee Against Wage Controls — a committee of public” sector and private sector council affiliates and non-affiliates such aS teachers — warned the commit- tee that what may have seemed in September to be a popular move could backfire “on the Tory government after the hard winte! — ——_ Action plan focus of SFL fightback By RIMBAL CARIOU REGINA — While delegates to the Saskatchewan Federation of Labor annual convention adopted an ac- tion program for economic recovery, the shift to a more vigorous fightback stance wasn’t matched by a change to a more militant leadership. Under the shadow of a new round of layoffs in the steel and potash industries, some 435 delegates met here Oct. 20-23 and endorsed a resolution entitled “*Labor’s.eco- nomic recovery program’’ as the centre piece of its fightback strategy. The recovery program was welcomed by delegates as a good analysis of the crisis in Saskatchewan, but most of the two dozen delegates who spoke on the resolution -_eriticized the lack of concrete proposals for conducting the fight to implement the program. Labor’s program calls for the initiation by govern- ments of a number of important job-creating, capital works projects including a water pipeline for Regina, a new rehabilitation centre for injured workers, invest- ment in new technology, and expansion of cultural, _ education and health facilities. It also calls for the expansion of the activities of provincial crown corporations in the fields of energy and — forestry and for a 32-hour work week with no cut in pay. _ Wage controls and the fight against the drive by big business and the Tories for so-called ‘‘right-to-work’”’ laws are tagged in the program for labor’s militant Opposition. _ The program compares the current economic crisis to the depression of the 1930s noting a 61% increase in the jobless rate in Saskatchewan over the past year, to _ 29,000 unemployed. Bankruptcies and welfare rolls are way up, while a wide range of industries is in crisis. The SFL pinned the blame for the economic mess on big business and federal and provincial governments and called for immediate action to meet the unemployment Dissatisfied with the lack of firm action proposals to implement the recovery program, the convention suc- ceeded in having the program referred to the resolutions committee and returned to the delegates who enthu- siastically approved it after it was strengthened con- siderably. PACIFIC TRIBUNE— NOVEMBER 5, 1982—Page 6 It calls for education programs, seminars, advertising campaigns, special publications and other actions to win support for labor’s views on the economic situation. As well, it calls for joint effort with other supportive groups and for organizations of the unemployed, for a strong push for finances to fund the campaign and for a con- ference within two months of the convention ‘‘to finalize an action program and time table.”’ SFL President Nadine Hunt outlined the seriousness of the attack on labor in her opening address. The 6 & 5 program and its Saskatchewan counterpart, premier De- vine’s *‘1% discount plan’’ are a major challenge, she said. Since the Tories came to power here on April 26, labor’s representation on government boards has been slashed from 17 to 7. Dismissals in the department of labor have ‘‘cut to the very heart of worker’s interests’’, she said, pointing to the firing of Bob Sass, a widely-known expert on co- occupational health and safety. “‘high interest rates, cuts in public services, tax cuts for the wealthy, massive layoffs and shutdowns, and demands for wage rollbacks are all part of a conscious strategy,’’ Hunt said. Caucus Statement A caucus initiated by leading members of five unions formed some time before the convention to fight for progressive policies and leadership in the SFL. The five are: CUPE, PSAC, CUPW, Saskatchewan Government Employees Union and Grain Services Union. In a statement released at the convention, the group called for trade unionists ‘‘to unite behind a common fightback strategy and a militant program of action to roll back the anti-labor offensive of business and govern- ment.’ Key issues, said the caucus, included the fight against concessions, unemployment, wage controls, the right to strike ‘‘which has been regulated, restricted, or re- moved”’ over the past few years, and the attack on social benefits. Addressing the concern of many delegates that past executives have failed to live up to convention policies, the caucus called for ‘‘serious commitment from the officers we elect ... that we will put the SFL fightback program into effect’’. The five unions represent nearly two-thirds of the SFL’s membership, but were entitled to less than half the delegates in attendance. Through the convention, strong pressure from the floor and from militant executive members led to stronger positions on questions such as the minimum wage and unemployment. An attempt to move to bien-— nial elections for officers fell far short of the necessary two-thirds approval, and the outgoing exdcutive’s at- tempt to reintroduce a picketing policy unchanged from that rejected last year was referred back for strengthening and consultation. = Gains in Policy But balloting for a new executive did not produce J similar results. Long-time labor militant Bill Gilbey, from the Grain Services Union, won a respectable 143 | votes, or 35%, running for SFL president against Nadine : Hunt, who received 271. However, leaders of the group of five unions, and the supporters, pointed out that gains had been won policy, and that the labor movement came out uni around a strong fightback program. Over the next yeaf, they say, the SFL executive will be under strong pre sure from many affiliates and from the union member” ships to carry through on the program. A number of other resolutions reflected the growing awareness of labor in Saskatchewan. Delegates called for nationalization of the petroleum and banking indus- tries. A series of resolutions on unemployment may leaé to a strong labor campaign on the issue. The conventio® heard Dr. Bill Stahl, a guest speaker from the Regi _ Coalition for Peace and Disarmament, and then passed resolutions calling for no Cruise missile testing, fe Canada to become a nuclear weapons-free zone, fora c' in military spending, and for disarmament. Emergenc resolutions in support of the struggles of working peop in Guatemala and El Salvador were passed. A highlight of the convention was a spirited demo: stration at McDonald’s hamburger restaurant in dow? town Regina, by two bus-loads of delegates. A bevcotal ‘ McDonald’s has been launched, following the U. Ss based chain’s decision to buy its buns in the United States, amove which has cost the jobs of about 70 bakery workers in western Canada.