la ‘de : =

ere PROFITS
Blank cheque to NDP

would sell labor short

By JACK PHILLIPS
As November 3 draws closer,

Preparations for the 1975 con-'

vention of the B.C. Federation of
Labor are reaching the final stage.
A resolution recently placed
before the New Westminster Labor
uncil demanded that Federation
Secretary-treasurer Len Guy
Should not issue any public
Statements critical of the New
©mocratic Party government in
Ictoria without first consulting
full executive. That was part of

_ the build-up for the convention by
‘Ught-wing NDP forces. After a
Spirited debate, the resolution was
amended to delete the name of Len
Guy. As finally adopted with a
Small majority, the resolution
- teferred to Federation officers in

| 8eneral.

Although the debate took place
atound the narrow question of the
"ght of a top officer to'issue public
Slatements in the name of the

€deration, the real issue was the

{act that Federation statements
had publicly criticized the Barrett
80vernment, particularly — in
"éspect to labor legislation.
that those statements were in
he with Federation policy made
n0 difference to those who sup-
Ported the New Westminster
devlution. With a provincial
Sction indicated for 1976, big
st Siness is going all out to
: Tengthen the reactionary Socreds
= the alternative to the NDP. In
-“Sponse, leading NDP spokesmen
the trade union movement are
on manding -an end to public
Titicism of the NDP government.
l€ir slogan is “‘Cool it, or you’ll
mng back the Socreds.”’

f €re will be no election of of-
fers at this year’s convention, but
fre will be heavy pressure on the
eave to agree to end all public
Icism of the NDP government.
to Ose who oppose the campaign
Silence the officers of the
Wine ration are also concerned
_ With the danger of a return of the
Creds.. However, they start from
NDE emise that three years of
Str Sovernment have demon-
ated that the re-election of the
ne government will not by itself
of ng the working people the kind
is Policies they need. At the first
vention of the Federation after
a 1972 election of the NDP
| Rament, delegates took the
eo that the Federation would
ee the government for the
- ai legislation it enacted, but
th d reserve the right to criticize
t st, Same government where it fell

_ “ort of labor’s expectations.
; Gantt Policy still prevails, par-
leg arly in respect to labor
‘Slation and the drift towards an

Aber labor relations board

: Peden ne like a labor court. The
ange and many affiliates
tae to insist that the NDP
aes implement such _ pre-
five .0" Promises as removing the
burde cent sales tax, lifting the
horn 2 Of school taxes from the
hati and family farm,
bulge izing B.C. Telephone,
the Ing a copper smelter, placing
nate cduction and distribution of
Tal gas completely under

lic ownership and embarking

Massive housing campaign to
Provide low rental homes and
ds of jobs.
Very fact that the govern-
ae Showing a tendency to
in under the pressure of big
ss makes it imperative that
trade union movement

0
The
Ment
r

q br tain its independence and
Dolicie harder for anti-monopoly
~~ *S. Any other course will

bring disunity and disillusionment,
thus facilitating the return of the
Socreds.

If the Socreds are to be
decisively defeated, there must be
unity of the labor and democratic
forces, based on an anti-monopoly
program. Such unity must include
the trade union movement,
members of the NDP inside and
outside the legislature, the Com-
munist Party, progressive civic
forces, ratepayers, tenants, small
farmers and all who seek to curb
the power of the monopolies.

Those in the trade union
movement who seek to prevent
mass action with the superficial
argument that it would embarrass
the NDP government are doing a
disservice to organized labor. Only
a broad movement in which the

-trade unions play a key role can

stop the retreat of the Barrett
government. In order to assure the
defeat of the Socreds, it is essential
to press the NDP government to
move further to the left. The
danger from the right, as exem-
plified by the Socreds, cannot be
eliminated by appeasement.
According to all the reports, the
Trudeau government will attempt
to establish wage controls by
stages. They hope to win the
support of organized labor through
the Canadian Labor Relations
Council, which includes
representatives from the federal
government, the Canadian Labor
Congress and the employers. Jack
Munro of the International
Woodworkers of America is the
only labor representative on that
body from western Canada. The
very presence of CLC represen-
tatives on this council is in con-
tradiction with the position of the
labor movement.on wage controls.
There is a strong current of
opinion to the effect that the three
NDP premiers (from Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and B.C.) are

prepared to go along with wage
controls by the federal govern-
ment, provided it is dressed up as
an overall incomes policy. Public
statements indicate this is so. That
means the Federation convention
will have to speak out loud and
clear against wage controls in any
form. Experience in all capitalist
countries where the economy _is
dominated..by monopolies, and
whers the parties in power serve
the monopolies, proves that an
incomes policy in any such country
inevitably serves the interest of big
business, the profiteers and the
speculators.

For nearly forty years, B.C.
trade unionists were falsely told
that only the CCF and then its

successor, the NDP, fully endorsed

the program of organized labor;
and that this party was the only one
deserving support from the trade
union movement. Now that the
NDP has been in office for three
years, and with due recognition to
the good legislation it has enacted,
it is obvious that it would be a fatal
error to give the NDP blanket
endorsement.

More and more workers are
listening to what the Communist
Party has to say, because it is a
consistent anti-monopoly party.
While it joins with the trade unions,
the NDP and other democratic
forces to win reforms to better the
lives of the people, it does not see
reforms as the ultimate victory.
The Communist Party advocates
curbing the power of the
monopolies and placing them
under public ownership and
democratic control in order to lay
the basis for socialism.

Not so long ago there was a dark
and shameful period in our trade
union movement. Many reformist
leaders who advocated policies of
collaborating with monopolies
rather than policies of class
struggle went all the way to drive

‘Tt was delivered to me but I thought it must be for

”

you.

TGWU Record

every Communist and militant left
winger out of the trade unions.
They resorted to expulsion of in-
dividuals, expulsion of unions,
wholesale __ raiding, smear
propaganda and collusion with the
employers, police agencies, the
news media and other dark forces.
One of their battle cries was that
Communists placed the goals of
their party over and above the

Communist parley set,
issues appeal for unity —

The B.C. provincial committee of
the Communist Party announced
last weekend that its twenty-first
biennial convention will be held in
Vancouver, November 28-30. “A
hundred delegates, elected by
Communist Party clubs
throughout B.C., are expected to
attend the three-day gathering,
Nigel Morgan, provincial leader,
who will deliver the keynote ad-
dress, announced. William
Kashtan, general secretary of the
Communist Party of Canada, has
accepted the committee’s in-
vitation to be a guest speaker at the
convention. =

In addition to issuing the official
call, the 25-member provincial
committee completed preparation
of a Draft Resolution now being
mailed to all members for debate

and discussion by the membership.

Warning that “right-wing
political forces are driving to
coalese behind a revived. Social

Credit party to turn politics to the’

right and return big business to
wer in Victoria’, the resolution
calls building of ‘“‘an alliance of all
anti-monopoly forces to defend the
needs of working people and defeat
the big business offensive.
“Sych an alliance,

the —

resolution outlined, should em-
brade ‘‘the trade union movement,

‘progressive NDP forces (in and

outside the legislature), the

NIGEL MORGAN

‘Communist Party, progressive
civic forces, ratepayers, tenants,
small farmers and all those who
want to curb the power of the big
corporations and adopt policies in
the interests of the people. . . The
B.C. working class, through their
mass organizations, constitutes the

largest and best-organized anti-
monopoly force in this province.”’

“Success in building broad, anti-
monopoly unity depends”, the
resolution states, ‘on overcoming
reformist policies which prevent

mass action of the people in ©

defence of their interests on the
pretext that this could embarass
the NDP government. On the
contrary’’, it-declares, ‘‘mass
united action is essential to press
the NDP government to adopt
progressive policies, and to build a
broadly based peoples’ movement
outside the Legislature, capable of
defeating the drive of big business
against the working class and the
people.” F
“The Communist Party shares
with trade unionists, NDPers, and
progressive people, concern over
the right-wing drive in B.C. and the
danger of return of a Socred
government in the next election.
The election of such a government
would be a serious setback for the
working class, for democracy and
social progress. It would open the
way to a stepped-up monopoly
offensive against the working class
and the people. It would endanger
See CP PARLEY, pg.12 _

interests of the labor movement:
The irony of that false ery, in
retrospect, is that the basic trade
union policies advanced by the
Communists in those bitter years
have, in many cases, become the
official policies of the trade union
movement.

It is even more ironical that the
same right-wing trend which
falsely argued that Communists
placed the aims of the party over
and above the welfare of the labor

movement, today advocates that-

the trade union movement should
give uncritical allegiance: to the
NDP government.

The November convention of the
Federation can be a turning point
in uniting the labor and democratic
forces in this province. Such unity,
based on an _ anti-monopoly
program, and given the wide in-
volvement of the people, is the best
guarantee that the Socreds will not
return to power.

Romesh Chandra; general secre-
tary of the World Peace Council,
is currently touring the U.S. with
an internationally renowned dele-
gation. of peace workers in sup-
port of the Second Stockholm

‘Peace Appeal. He will tour Canada

as a member of an international
delegation prior to the World Con-
ference on Multinationals in
Toronto, Nov. 14-16 and will visit
B.C. at a date to be announced
soon. :

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 10, 1975—Page 3

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