LABOR FRONT

By WILLIAM KASHTAN

The problem of the run-away shop or plant is causing
increasing concern in the trade union movement. And well it
might; because in this way a growing body of employers has
set itself the task of breaking the back of trade unions, under-
mining union conditions and throwing thousands of workers
on to the streets. :

_ The latest example of such an anti-social and anti-labor
attitude is to be seen in the decision of Amalgamated Electric,
under United Electrical Workers contract, to
move to Markham, just outside Toronto, leav-
ing approximately 200 workers unemployed.

UE like UAW in connection with the
Ford move to Oakville is to be commended
for the campaign it has undertaken to focus
public attention on this growing evil and
on the irresponsible attitude displayed by the
company.

The position of the Ontario government
is rather revealing in this regard. It has
adopted the attitude that companies are fully justified in mov-
ing wherever they want to, irrespective of the effect of an
attitude which in effect says: “the workers be damned, mono”
poly, and profits come first.’ :

This is a completely unsupportable position and the labor
_ movement needs to take up the challenge and fight it through,
_ all the more so because today the runaway plant has become
a fairly widespread phenomenon throughout the country.

* * *

In line with this there are three broad areas around
which the labor movement ought to press for legislation that
could to some degree put a curb on monopoly and its anti-
social and anti-labor attitude.

The time is past when monopoly and its agents in govern- ,

ment can with impunity be allowed to act against the public
interest. ; :

There ought to be legislation enacted which would make
it necessary for a company to show cause before it can move
its operations to another area. As has been stated before, such
legislation exists in a number of countries and if it is not enact-
ed here as yet it is because the old-line parties reflect the
interests of monopoly and fully accept the philosophy of a
one-time president of General Motors in the USA that “what
is good for General Motors is good enough for the country.”

_ Can the working class and the trade union movement accept
that philosophy as its own? Or can it accept the fatalistic posi-
tion that nothing can be done about it?

The actions of a growing body of the trade union move-
ment in Ontario indicate that the struggle against runaway
plants has become an integral part of the fight for job security.

Secondly, legislation is needed to prevent runaway plants
from running away from the trade union movement. As a
result of widespread pressure, legislation was adopted in On-
tario that would make it difficult for a company to change
its name and thereby end its contractual relations with a given
union.

Legislation is also needed which would prevent a con-
pany, by virtue of it moving to another locality, from being
able to push the.existing union aside and starting over again
“from scratch”. The company of course takes into account

that union organization may eventually catch up with it,
but it estimates that it may have a period of a few years before
wage rates go up to previous levels. In the meantime it is able
to carry through modernization in a way which ensures it addi-.
tional super profits.

_As an unnamed spokesman for the Canadian Manufac-
turers Association is quoted as saying:

“No company would completely disrupt its operations and
go to the expense of moving unless it had pressing reasons.”
And the pressing reasons? “It would not be ‘fair to make a
company moving from a high wage area pay the same rate
in a low wage area.” Moreover if the company “took on all

or mostly new employees, the employees should have a chance

to choose if they wanted the union to represent them.”
Clear enough. :

* * *

Thirdly, legislation is required which would make it
mandatory on a company to provide adequate compensation to
any worker affected by a moving of operations to another
area.

What is involved here is the right to the job and the right
to work. The Ontario government has tried to get off the
hot seat and evade the issues by stating through one of its
cabinet ministers that everything possible will be done to
try and get other jobs for those laid off in Amalgamated Elec-
tric. This is simply not good enough. Its responsibility lies
in the direction of legislation which would curb the power of
“life or death” which monopoly now enjoys under the spurious
title of management rights.

United action by the trade union movement along these
lines, Which corresponds with its own program, can do much
to change the situation and defeat the aims of monopoly and
the C.M.A.

COMMENTS ON IDEOLOGICAL DEBATE

China's proposals would harm
the fight for peace in Canada

By NELSON CLARKE

The Communist Party of
Canada has stated very clear-
ly its views on the differences
which have arisen in the
world Communist movement.
It must be emphasized that
our criticism of the positions
of the Communist Party of
China is based not only on a
completely different view of
the world from that held by
the Chinese Communists but
also on our experiences in
Canada.

To put it bluntly, the Chin-
ese “proposal concerning the
Zeneral line of the interna-
: tional Com-
munist move-
ment”? would,
if applied in

Canada, do
great harm
to our party,
and the
cause of
Commun-
ism in’ our

country. Furthermore, it
would gravely heighten dis-
unity and confusion in the
labor and progressive move-
ment as a whole and thus
weaken every aspect of the
people’s struggles.

Let ‘us recall some recent
history to support this state-
ment:

For a number of years very
wide sections of Canadians
have been deeply concerned
about the radioactive poison-
ing of the atmosphere as a
result of nuclear testing. This

concern was heightened by
mounting evidence that nuc-
lear fallout was especially
heavy in our country because
of prevailing ‘winds in our
part of the northern hemis-
phere.

The demand for. an end to
nuclear tests was consequent-
Iy taken up by people and
organizations who had not, at
least up to that time, partici-
pated in any other actions
directed against preparations
for World War III.

Many of those who took
this stand were in no way
clear on the sources of the
war danger in the world. In
fact, many of them were de-
luded into’ the belief that
danger of war came from the
socialist countries.

And yet the broad move-
ment generated around this
issue, irrespective of the un-
derstanding of those who
took part in it, was actually
directed toward curbing those
forces in the world who want-

ed to continue to test and.

manufacture new and more
terrible nuclear weapons —
that is, the forces of imperial-
ism, and above all U.S. im-
perialism.

Furthermore, many people
who first became active in
this issue of banning nuclear
tests came to see the need for
taking a stand against the
nuclear armament of Canada,
and for the abolition of all
nuclear weapons in the world.
To a considerable degree, the

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new movements for disarma-
ment which sprang up in Can-
ada in the last three or four
years had their origins in the
struggle against nuclear test-
ing.

If the Communist Party
had been pursuing the ‘‘gen-
eral line’’ advocated by the
Chinese, presumably we
would have condemned this
whole movement as_ one
which was fostering danger-
ous delusions among the peo-
ple because it was failing {0
expose U.S. imperialism.

We would have worked
might and, main to convince
everyone we could influence
to have nothing to do with
the movement for a test ban,
and to actively fight against
it within the labor movement.

Fortunately we did no such
thing. Not only were we
among the first to warn of
the danger of radioactivity,
we consistently worked to en-
courage the movement to de-
velop the broadest unity of
the people against nuclear
tests, we strove to show how
the U.S. militarists were
blocking the ban on them, to
explain why at one stage in
this situation, the Soviet Un-
ion found it necessary itself
to resume testing. This was a
broad and principled posi-
tion.

TEST BAN PACT

Now that a partial test ban
has been negotiated, the
Chinese Communists would
have us condemn it as a “big
fraud to foo] the people of
the world.”

One cannot but ask what is
so fraudulent about an agree-
ment which, by ending radio-
active poisoning, could pre-
vent children from dying an
agonizing death from bone
cancer?

But the decisive question

_to ask is whether this agree-

ment will lead toward peace
or toward war.

The Chinese assume with-
out a shred of supporting evi-
dence that people will be fool-
ed into thinking that the fight
for peace has now been won.
On the contrary, people in-
Canada and everywhere will
take new courage from even
the limited victory of the par-
tial test ban. Workers for
peace need such victories to
give them faith that their
years of work~- are being
crowned with success.

Many supporters of the
peace movement in Canada
were discouraged after the
pro-nuclear Liberals took of-
fice. They thought the fight
against nuclear arms for Can-
ada had been finally lost.

Now the achievement of a
partial ban on tests has shown
the possibility of reaching
agreements step by step on
other questions including that
of stopping the spreading of
nuclear weapons. This has put
the issue of nuclear arms in
Canada in a new light, open-
ed up new possibilities for
widening and_ strengthening
the fight. - :

The Chinese Communists _
would have us deny all this,
and use our influence to
spread defeatism in the peace
movements of our country.
The Communist Party of Can- -
ada will reject this thorough- |

See CLARKE, pg. 6