IRISH COMMUNISTS FORM ONE PARTY

BELFAST—St. Patrick’s day this year brought good news to
Ireland, boding well for the modern version of the driving out of
the snakes—of division, oppression and exploitation—from the
Emerald Isle.

The Communist Party of Northern Ireland and the Irish Work-
ers’ Party of the Irish Republic in the south have decided to merge
their ranks and form a single, united Irish. Communist Party.

The draft manifesto of the new party stresses that it will work
for the unity of the working class of both: Northern Ireland and
the Irish Republic, for the victory of socialism. The six counties of
Northern Ireland are under British rule at present; the 26 counties
of southern Ireland became independent in 1921 during the Irish
revolt against British imperialism.

LEBANESE UNIONS LEAVE ICFTU

CAIRO — The Federation of Free Trade Unions of Lebanon has
decided to secede from the International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions (ICFTU) because of its pro-Israel and anti-Arab po-
sition. The Lebanese Federation explained its position in a letter
to Fawzi Al’Sayed, general secretary of the International Confede-
ration of Arab Trade Unions and proposed co-operation with the
Arab unions.

SOVIET SPECIALISTS PLAN 1,000 NEW TOWNS

MOSCOW — By the end of the century, it is expected the Soviet
Union will have about 1,000 new towns. The prospects for town
planning were discussed here at a national conference of archi-
tects, engineers and sociologists. Planning will include avoidance
of crowding and excessive growth, such as exists in the United
States and Japan, among other countries. In building new towns,
development will be along the lines of constellations of intercon-
nected towns.

Projections of floating industrial towns on the high seas, exten-
sive populated centres with their own climate in the North or
deserts were also discussed. Much attention was given to urban
transportation. '

Elimination of the differences between town and countryside is
regarded as:one of the most important social problems in the Soviet
Union. A program for experimental construction of Soviet villages
has been worked out. By 1975 or so, each region and republic will
have one or two villages which will be the model for changes to
be made in villages in the coming decades.

EXECUTIONS MULTIPLY IN CHINA

According to reports from visitors to China, mass meetings have
been held in Peking’s Gunjen stadium to join in trials of members
of illegal groups. Death sentences were immediately carred out at
the end of the public show trials. Hong Kong papers reported that
19 youths were sentenced to death at the stadium on Jan. 27. Simi-
lar public trials are being held in other towns.

The radio in Taiyuan, principal city of Shansi province, reported
that on Feb. 10 and 11 the “Revolutionary Committee” in the south-
east of Shansi‘ province afid the “Revolutionary Committee” of
Yanchensian held meetings attended by 50,000 at which active
opponents of the current regime wére sentenced to death and the
sentences were carried out.

Condemn racist sentence,
intrusion in Caribbean

The following letter was sent
to Prime Minister Trudeau by
the Central Executive Commit-
tee of the Communist Party:

“The recent mass protests in
Trinidad and Guyana are aimed
at Canadian monopoly domina-
tion and exploitation of the
West Indies.

“The protests in_ solidarity
with the 10 West Indian McGill
students unjustly condemned
and sentenced by a Canadian
court for fighting racism, are
symptomatic of the rising up-
surge of the people of the West
Indies and throughout the Ame-
ricas for independence from
U.S., Canadian and other for-
eign monopoly exploitation and
all forms of imperialist policy.

“External Affairs Minister
Sharp’s statement that the pro-
tests only represent a minority
of the people of Trinidad and
Guyana is a brazen attempt to
confuse Canadian public cpinion
and cover up the fact that Can-
ada has big investments and im-
perialist interests in the Car-
ribean.

“The suggestion contained in

remarks: of External Affairs
Minister Sharp of Canadian Gov-

ernment intervention in the
internal affairs of Trinidad
deserves. sharp condemnation.

The Communist Party of Can-
ada demands: Hands off Trini-
dad! No Canadian government
meddling in Trinidadian ‘affairs!

“The Communist Party fights
U.S. monopoly control of the
Canadian economy and supports
the struggles of the people of
Trinidad and Guyana in their
struggle against Canadian con-
trol and domination of the West
Indies and Guyana.

“The Communist Party of
Canada calls for the wealth of
Trinidad, expropriated by the
Canadian big business interests,
to be returned to the people of
Trinidad.

“The Communist Party calls
for solidarity of the working
people of Canada with the peo-
ple of the West Indies and
Guyana in joint action to de-
fend the rights of the 10 McGill
students and to give every sup-
port to the struggle to break
Canadian monopoly domination
and control in these countries.”

_PACIBIC TRIBUNE-+MARGH.20;,1979—Page 4

Trudeau, Benson attack — |
on jobs, pensions, pay |
rouses labor action

~

The Trudeau-Benson Government has
introduced a budget designed to-make
the rich richer and the poor poorer.
This disgraceful budget does not touch
the swollen profits of the monopolies,
but cuts deep into the living standards
of the working people. It does nothing
for the more than 500,000 unemployed
except plan to double their number. It

contributes 40 cents of every
tax dollar — that’s so much
taken off the family dinner
table—while the ctrporations
contribute only 29 cents—out of
the millions they have gouged
out of the’ people’s labor. Fin-
ance Minister Benson has rene-
ged on his promise to lift in-
come taxes from the 750,000
lowest-income Canadians. Hous-
ing starts are the lowest in
many years, plants are closing,
farmers are in desperate straits,
the young people are denied a
useful and gainful future—and
this government declares that
this is not a crime, but normal
and necessary. :

“The Benson Budget is a re-
cipe for recession, for continued
stagnation, slow down in eco-
nomic growth, less housing for
the people, hardship for pen-
sioners, rising unemployment
and inflation,” declares a state-
ment issued by the Central
Committee of the Communist
Party.

Workers fight—and win

By JOHN WILLIAMSON

LONDON — The school teach-
ers of England and Wales, after
three months of bitter struggle,
have just scored a big victory.
They are in the headlines today
just as the Ford workers were a
month ago. In both cases the
common denominator was bold-
ness and determined struggle. ,

The teachers were given a
yearly interim salary increase of
£120 ($288) and have called off
their strikes and returned to the
classrooms. This means. their
minimum annual starting salary
is raised to between $2,064 and
$2,352. They will receive an ad-
ditional increase in January
1971.

The £120 represents 89 per-
cent of their demand for £135.
They were first offered £50, then
£60 and finally. £80 and. each
time, especially after the latter,
they were told it was the most
they could get and to give them

another penny would cripple the ,

country.

The final break-through came,
with the intervention of. the
Minister of Education, as 10,000
teachers were lobbying Parlia-
ment, after the largest-ever
teachers’ march through London.
At the same time 8,000 teachers
were on permanent strike in the
big industrial city of Birming-
ham and in two London bor-
oughs. Others were to be called
out and examinations were
threatened.

Both union executives voted
to accept the £120 and the over-
whelming majority of the mem-
bers consider it a victory.

TORIES DISMAYED
The Evening Standard called

_low incomes and increasing needed. eat
payments to pensioners, the “The Canadian people mus
Benson Budget proposes tO have a budget directed to sti”

does nothing to ease life for the nearly
one million pensioners whose pittant
is continually. decreasing as living ¢0®

rise. It does nothing for the more tha!
five million poor people in Canada Wi
live in slums, hunger and cold. It d0®)
nothing to relieve the people of Wi”

onerous tax burden and perpetuates tit)
inequality where the “working joe” aA

“Instead of reducing taxes on flecting these policies af
a

curb consumer spending and add
to the difficulties of working
people. ;

“The whole purpose of the
Budget is to bring about a
showdown with labor and com-
pel it to lower its living stan-
dards. Indeed it is a signal to
monopoly to get tough with
labor and to provoke lockouts
and strikes in this year’s nego-
tiations.

“The pretense is maintained
that it is a Budget to curb in-
flation. This is furthest from
the truth. What it does do is
open the door to a recession.
The economic slowdown in the
U.S.A. will aggravate recession-
ary trends in Canada.

“This is Trudeau’s just society
in practice.

“Different economic and so-
cial policies and a budget re-

ulating independent econom 3
expansion, the achievement”
full employment and.
standards, including redu@,)
taxes for low income groups a
an. immediate adjustment
pension payments to corresp?
with the rise in the cost
living.
“The Communist Party cal
upon the trade union moe
ment, the NDP, farm and oth
peoples’ organizations t0 at
with it in a united struggle
reverse the Government's a
sterity program which mak
the rich richer, the poor P0
and throws working people °
on the streets. A mighty
ples’ movement can achieve
objective and win new eco?
and social policies. FA
“The Benson Budget must
and so should its author.’

this
om?

—

seem to be popping every whet
Outstanding was an unoffie
strike of 22,000 clothing work, |
— 85 percent women — 9)
Yorkshire and Durham. Mies
these are skilled workers
are among the low paid.
union had negotiated a five
an hour increase for the oth
and four cents for the woe
but never consulted the worke

WORKERS REVOLT is
In revolt, 2,000 at one facta)

the settlement “an absolute dis-
grace” while the Daily Telegraph
says it is “a bad settlement”
with “worse ... yet to come.”
This refers to the Executive of
the 320,000 member National
Union of Teachers (NUT) unani-
mously passing a_ resolution,
moved by Max Morris (who is
also a member of the Commun-
ist Party executive), giving no-
tice that in the coming talks of
a new pay structure, it would

ents
One

make “claims for substantial in- walked out and it soon SW itl
creases over and above the new to 22,000. They set up 4 ded
rate.” Strike Committee and dema® of

The victory of the teachers is
a reflection of .a great change
that is sweeping through the
ranks of white collar and intel-
lectual workers who previously
held aloof from the labor move-
ment. While the restructuring of
the working class in Britain is
much slower than in the U.S.A.
(in Britain the labor force is
roughly divided today 40 per-
cent white collar and intellectual
to 60 percent manual), neverthe-
less it is raising many problems
that must be faced by the trade
unions.

VICTORY AT FORD’S

The Ford: strike was finally
settled when the company not
only granted £4 ($9,60) a week
increase in wages — the biggest-:
ever in its history — but gave a
specific pledge to the Swansea
strikers that it agreed to discuss
parity with the Midlands work-
ers during March instead of De-
cember 1970. This came’in a 2
a.m. personal phone call from
Ford’s industrial relations officer
to the Swansea shops stewards’
convenor.

Strikes and threats of strikes

~ strike is solid after three W

eight cents an hour for Wa»
and seven cents for mem. ja)
eel
The union has. finally und? ‘
taken to reopen negotiation 4”
the workers will return to W |
This is still to be acted up?
Seamen, demanding 4
cent increase, rejected 15 Pat
cent. Nurses got their 20 pert
wage increase spread over el
year, instead of two, aftel ay
voted for strike. London SUy iq)
workers demand £5.a We@™ of)
crease or will strike next 4g)
while London busmen dem»
20 percent increase. Airport af
men at London are on strik ig
the airport is closed each we
while fire officers scab du :
the daytime. aaa
The TUC is now begitMl
big drive to help low pal % ini
ers and are demanding 3 9.60)
mum wage of £16.10.0 ($39 is)"
The recent CP Congress “1 4
same issue, demanded Ey il
week. Today 25 percent “oA at
women earn less thal ™ ppgfh
week and 75 percent Je55_
$36. Nearly a million men
earn less than $36 a week:

.

“Se
Ss