LOCAL 31 (otal. 3 LOCKED | TEAMSTERS manned picket lines this week as the Socred government threatened to intervene to force a settlement on the union. The entire labor movement has rallied to the support of the teamsters. & Fe ).ACKED DUT U.S. oil schemes threat to Canada’s sovereignty Cont'd from pg. 1 two miles south of Vancouver, or whether it should be shipped by pipeline or rail line up the McKenzie River to Edmonton and then to the U.S.A. There is widespread concern amongst Canadians, particu- larly in British Columbia, that a Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). could create havoc with B.C. coastal waters. It is es- timated that between oil slicks and collisions whether in Puget Sound or the Queen Charlotte Islands, that Canadian inland waters would be_ irrevocable despoiled. Using the question of ecology and pollution as a pretext, Energy Minister Greene and External Affairs Minister Sharp have undertaken a pressure ploy on the U.S. Government urging that the oil pipe line go through Canadian territory, that is through the McKenzie River, to Edmonton and on to the U.S.A. Undoubtedly these gentlemen hope a few millions could be made that way. But a 3,000 mile heated pipe line over perma- SESEESEES SESS “Yes, I see, J.B. Your arduous struggle for success has put you way out in front!”’ From United Furniture Workers SSSSESSSSSE SS PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1971 —PAGE 12 frost is more than likely to buckle under and despoil the North. The Canadian people are thus being given a ‘‘Choice’’ — pollution of B.C. inland waters or pollution of the North, all in the interests of US. imperialism and for those who hope to make some ‘‘pennies”’ out of the deal in Canada. NO TO PIPELINE Moreover, once such a pipeline is established on Canadian terri- tory to supply oil to the U.S.A., it will to all intents and purposes, transform these 3,000 miles into US. territory. At the least Canadian sovereignty will be under- mined; at the most the whole Northern area will become part of a contintental energy policy, with U.S. imperialism the main gainer, and the Canadian people, the main loser. The Canadian people should oppose such a proposition which closes the door to all Canadian development. It should equally speak out and oppose the entry of huge oil tankers through Canadian waters to the U.S.A. If the U.S. oil interests want the oil from Alaska they can find other routes which at least would assure that Canada’s waters would not be polluted. Rather than dickering with the U.S. Government about a pipe line through 3,000 miles of Canadian territory, the Canadian Government should be pressed to undertake: 1. Public ownership of oil and gas as first steps in a publicly owned and operated energy policy whose aim is the indepen- dent economic development of the country. 2. The construction of an oil and gas line from Alberta to the eastern markets. 3. The establishment of a Crown Corporation to undertake these measures. The Communist Party believes measures such as these are what is necessary to protect the sovereignty, independence and well being of Canada and the Canadian people. LABOR MUST LEAD By OBSERVER It’s no secret that there are differences in the Vancouver and District Labor Council over the next step in the fight for full employment. This came out at its February 16 meeting. Is it a difference over tactics? Is it a clash of personalities? Fundamentally, it is neither of these. The differences flow from three questions. One, will the unemployment problem for Vancouver unions disappear in the next few months? Two, what forms are required to mobilize organized labor into action for full employment policies? Three, what should be the relationship between trade unions and certain * groups outside the unions? The February 16 meeting adopted an executive recommen- dation for a one-day conference on full employment, with the rider that the conference would take place only if sufficient interest was shown by affiliates. This recommendation was a compromise, reflecting differ- ences in the executive. Some speakers made no bones about their contrary position. They said the conference would flop, because there was insuffi- cient interest among affiliates. What they wanted was a confer- ence which would have seen the trade union movement repre- sented as only one of many groups. The others would have been those in receipt of welfare, non- union youth without jobs, stu- dents seeking summer work, graduate students seeking careers, native Indians, tran- sient youth in hostels, and other such groupings. While dele- gates to the Labor Council are sympathetic to non-union, disad- vantaged people, they are not unmindful of the fact that some organizations purporting to speak for them have many and _ divergent viewpoints not in harmony with the policies of the trade union movement. Also, they are aware of the fact that in the Vancouver Unemployment Council, originally set up by the Labor Council for its affiliates with serious unemployment problems, there were three groups from outside the labor movement. These groups, with less than 100 members between them, had almost as many votes as the trade union movement. The Labor Council delegates did not want to sponsor a confer- ence where such groups might use the trade union movement in pursuit of objectives alien to the interests of organized labor. For example, some small. unrepresentative groups place the main emphasis on narrow confrontation tactics rather than broad, united front actions designed to mobilize the broadest number of people around their immediate needs and for new economic and social policies by government. Some Labor Council delegates bemoaned the fact that only a handful of unions have sent delegates to the Unemployed Council. They cite this to prove | Next steps in fight — 1 for full employment | that organized workers are not interested in fighting unem- ployment. Some carried this idea forward to the projection that by summertime, unemploy- ment in Vancouver will be confined to people outside the trade union movement. Therefore, they argued, the main objective in the fight against unemployment should be to set up a trade union of all unemployed, based mainly on youth who have no place in the employed work force, and on the disadvantaged. In my opinion, this projection is a dubious one in respect to long-term economic prospects, assuming as it does that unemployment will soon level off to a negligible percentage. Further, it is a reflection of the erroneous idea that the trade union movement is part of the establishment and that the fight for new political, economic and social policies-can only be led by low income groups and students who are outside the labor move- ment. The vast majority of unem- ployed workers who belong to trade unions rightfully believe they have a stake in their unions. There is no doubt they will support their unions in the fight for policies that will look after their immediate needs and create conditions for full Ten ae puso ANDREWS: scheduled for February 27th. Federal Fisheries minister Jack Davis will speak to delegates on March 1, but union president Homer Stevens * fishermen are disturbed by the lack of time allowed for discU Davis will speak at 10 a.m., but he has already advised the union he has to take a 12:45 p.m. flight out of the city. 4 One major issue to come before the convention in the FS men’s Hall will be the recently announced reduction of co™ boats in the salmon fishery, curtailment of credit, and cann closures, all of which severely affect Native Indians. Another issue will be the proposed Alaska-Washington oil t4 route down the B.C. coast. expected to be discussed when »” executive director Derek Mallard speaks to delegates March 3. Other speakers include CUPE national representative i Phillips. and Rev, Ron Parsons. the Canso, N.V. Anglican ml who took up the fishermen’s cause during the seven-month stl! trawl fishermen in the Canso Strait area last vear. ; Pacific regional fisheries director Rod Hourston will give L employment. Contrary to $ The United Fishermen and Allied Workers union will hold a annual convention in Vancouver this week, with opening sess opinions, trade union unemp ment runs into many thousan@s Hundreds of construcu@ workers and woodworkers @ be mobilized to support brie municipal councils deman a stepped-up program of l10Wy rental housing. Further, community support can be for such initiatives. Otne unions in key sections of economy can similarly Tf key, programatic questions public way. Hand in hand this there must be a unl campaign to make the econol™ as a whole work for the p to develop secondary indu and to open up new markets. A rational use of our nal resources and the develop of secondary industries we for example, give thousal our highly educated y9 people the jobs and careers are unable to achieve um present conditions. d Full employment will do me than create jobs for all who them. It will create favore | conditions for big gains in We” rates, working conditions union rights. ae This kind of a turn can onl: made if the working clas®_ united and mobilized. It cal be done by the unemploy alone, or by fringe group outside the labor movem with little or no mass com tions. The trade union move in Canada, with 2 ml members and signifl¢ resources, can become the ™ base that will guarantee achievement of new, cons tive policies. I am not suggesting thal trade unions should follow * exclusive, closed-door P However, the unions ha¥ leadership responsibility, responsibility that cannol sluffed off. 2 Now that there is a decis!® hold a conference, every™™ possible should be don@ mobilize trade union reh, sentation. Representall groups outside the unions W! constructive contributio? offer should be invited to Pe 4 cipate. Labor’s program policies are broad enous”, serve as a basis for frit dialogue and meaningful actid’ pal nisl®