| Strike.

LABOR

a

_ By MIKE PHILLIPS
Pin AMIL TON — The real issue behind the
burg piracy of Steelworkers Local 1005 union
teles is the tough, no-concessions stand taken by
~~©O workers and their president Cec Taylor
- conntt the victorious 1981 strike and in the 1984
ae talks coming up.

i i ferring to both Stelco management and the
ee eadership of the United Steelworkers, who has
= aaa massive concessions in the U.S. steel
“pee Taylor admitted last week in an interview,
P m the one they see as an obstacle to conces-
Ons, and if the international can drum up a cam-
to get me out of the way, they’d have a clear

to implement their concessions policy.””
Stel nga thorn in both the Steel bureaucracy’s and
Co's side, because he champions Canadian
Sony for steelworkers and firm opposition to
Recessions, Taylor is the man in the middle ofa

F 1005's unity and

‘Wirling controversy over the management of
On monies during the 1981 strike.
of € international, supported by a loose alliance
traditional right-wing forces in the local, and a
up who broke from the Taylor caucus after the
< ke, has moved to grab $50,000 a month for the
a eight months from union dues to satisfy a debt
ike the local owes Pittsburg flowing from the
yeavlor and the majority of the Local 1005 execu-
m £ deny the local owes Pittsburg anything. ‘The
Oney in question, $391,567.21 was negotiated as
aa the 1981 settlement to clear outstanding
a dical, dental and drug bills incurred by strikers
Ung the four-month conflict.
This, and $2-million in OHIP back premiums the
ON got Stelco to divert from a $5.3-million com-
Y-controlled, but worker-financed Group In-
ie Fund, was seen as an important break-
ugh by the local. It was the first time a union

Was able to get an employer to agree to clearing the

wuon’s health care and medical debts during a
trike.

aS 1005 Pays Its Bills
Pittsburg insists that the monies should have
N directed into the strike and defence fund and

n
s local’s general revenue account, from

Ls phich it was immediately used to pay outstanding

es the local’s time-honored tradition. —
€Ve ttsburg’s attack on the 1005 leadership goes
7 her, suggesting there is more owing the
<a than the $391,000 it lays ae ie
“Mational president Lloyd McBride has
Dated Canadian SecivORERT director Gerrard
Quier and District 3. director Len Stevens to
ne the local’s financial administration.
fee] aylor welcomes the international’s probe and
8 Confident it will show no irregularities 1n the
book Stration of union funds. ‘‘If they look at the
ent j S with open minds, they’ll find nothing differ-
Mm the way we’ve handled our finances, from
ian in which they’ve been handled since
In » he said. :
Sip the Meantime, at his own expense he commis-
Seay an independent audit of the union s strike
goods and it shows Local 1005 received
and 19,600 in strike funds from the international,
trike soursed $9,243,191.72 to the members in
A es
on ylor blames a great deal of the financial crisis
local ‘treasurer Norma Berti for not keeping
Si lal records up to date during the strike. :
Chequa then, Berti has refused to sign certain
lUes and Taylor says this is part of the oppost"

Local’s no concessions stand
Teal issue behind 1008 ‘crisis

tion’s attack against his leadership, to try and
demonstrate his lack of control over affairs.

In Taylor’s view and those of the progressives
rallying to the local union, the financial contro-
versies are only a smokescreen for an internal
power grab by right wing and local opposition
forces; an attack on local democracy and Canadian
autonomy by the international; and a move by all of
these forces combined to weaken the member-
ship’s unity in the face of Stelco’s renewed drive

for concessions.

Stelco’s Opening Shot
~ The opening shot in Stelco’s call for concessions
came in April when the company set out on a
country-wide road show bringing an audio-visual
presentation to 25 local union executives outlining
Stelco’s economic position and prospects for the

future.

lead ship determined to get a good contract secured a stunning ctory in 1981 Stelco

Meanwhile, the international leadership has
made massive concessions in the recent U.S. steel
industry talks, including a “temporary” $1.25 an
hour wage cut, dropping the COLA until Aug: 1,
and a wide range of cuts in benefits.

International opposition to Canadian labor's no
concession policy was noted in a leaflet issued
recently by Local 1005 members in the Communist
Party’s SteelClub. Notingthe international s‘‘pain-
fully clear’ pro-concessions policy in the U.S. the
leaflet emphasized that “on the eve of negotiations,
these attacks can only weaken our militant stance
against Stelco, whose demands coincide with the
International union’s concessions policy.”

The leafiet also called on Local 1005 members to
‘reject the splitters and dividers and set the stage
for united negotiations and a united local union’ ;
Pledging to fight for local unity and firm opposition
to concessions, the communists stressed that
Stelco workers must “‘set our sights on new
policies for jobs, peace and economic advance.

“More unity and more autonomy 1S needed
now’’, the leaflet proclaimed.

‘“We must not allow splits, breakaways, or open
collaboration with the company or the Inter-
national for personal advantage, to divide us on the
very brink of negotiations.”’

Growing Support

Taylor said the damage done by the attacks on

the local has been “‘tremendous’’. Not only has the

local been tainted by false allegations of financial

impropriety, but Taylor said there is some indica-
tions already that the controversy 1s harming the
union’s drive to organize non-union steelworkers
including the workers at Dofasco. :

He is determined the financial crisis won't pre-
vent the union from doing its job serving the work-

: ds.

S eegnnne immediately and for the next “‘six or
seven months’’ the local will be staffed by volun-
teers, except for the presidency. We're going
back to the old times when union services were
voluntary’, Taylor said.”” eet

“We'll see who’s willing to support the union in
this crisis, and who’s in it for themselves. Right
now it’s the people who support me who are willing
to work for the local without payment.

“Pm getting tremendous encouragement from
the membership’, he said. This support extends to
workers outside the plant too. ‘‘At the market on
weekends, or on the streets I'm getting stopped by
pensioners and widows who are telling me: “Look,
keep up the fight’. They know what’s at stake

here.”

In a number of cities across Canada, the unemployed will be @

| voicing their demand for work or wages May 28. ;

In Quebec the movement toward a massive unemployed de-
| monstration in Montreal on the 28th has already been launched.
| Marchers left Quebec City, May 12, enroute to Montreal, gather-
| ing marchers along the way. > -
| “La Grande Marche’’, as the action is being called, is the
| handiwork of a Quebec-wide co-ordinating committee rep-
| resented by the three labor centrals, the Quebec Federation of
| Labor, the Confederation of National Trade Unions, and the
| Teachers Central, the Quebec unemployed workers’ organi-
| zation, the common front of welfare recipients, and the Young
| Christian Labor organization.

Throughout Quebec regional committees have been formed
| doing educational and preparation work to mobilize for the
| Montreal demo. Local demonstrations, marches and mass ac-
| tions at local manpower and unemployment insurance offices

have taken place.
| Themes of the monster rally in Montreal will be the right to a
| job; for full employment; the right to organize; peace and dis-
| armament; social equality; a decent and guaranteed wage, and for
| a better life.

SARTRE Oe ea

* * *

| In Toronto, a co-ordinating committee of unemployed organi-
| zations in the south-western Ontario region has set plans for a
| jobless march to coincide with the Quebec protest. Buses are
| being organized from Hamilton, St. Catharines, the Niagara Pen-
insula, Guelph and other areas. ad
London-area unemployed are planning a car cavalcade, with §
banners flying, to join the Toronto protest.
| - The demonstration has won quite a lot of financial and moral §
| support from unions and organizations including the Ontario
| Federation of Students, the Toronto area councils of the Public
| Service Alliance, Canadian Union of Public Employees, United
| Steelworkers, locals of the Communications Workers of Canada,
| the United Electrical workers, Ironworkers Local 721, Local 28
| United Auto Workers and the Toronto Letter Carriers local.
| Metro Toronto Labor Council, which along with the Guelph
| Labor Council and the Ontario Federation of Labor has endorsed
| the rally, has agreed to provide the organizers with their printing
i needs to publicize the event.
| The meeting will focus on seven demands including the de-

| mand for jobs as the number one economic priority; extention of
UI benefits for the full term of unemployment and to first time job
| seekers; stopping evictions, foreclosures and utility cutoffs:
| reversal of all social service cutbacks; a legislated 32-hour work §&
| week ata full week’s pay; slashing the arms budgetforjobcreation §
| pursposes; and support the labor’s fight against wage controlsand §
concessions.

Speakers will include unemployed organizations from western §
Ontario; OFL treasurer Terry Meagher; Steelworkers district6 §
director Dave Patterson; Alan Wilford of the Canadian Farm §
| Survival Association; and spokespersons from the churches, §
students’, and peace organizations. The Toronto Union of Un- §
employed Workers will chair the meeting.

} The March forjobs will begin at 11 a.m. at Clarence Square Park
| (Spadina and Wellington) and the rally will take place at Queen’s
| Park at one p.m.
j * * 3

; Unemployment lines: The Unemployed Committee of Regina is §
| organizing its own march “‘for jobs, dignity and social justice’’ on .
| the 28th. Participants will assemble at noon at Victoria Park and
} march through the city’s streets demanding work, real job crea-
| tion and extended unemployment insurance benefits. A public
| soup and bread service will be offered following the march ...
| Hamilton’s Union of Unemployed came into being April 26, and in
| the words of unemployed electrician Terry Frazer, it sees itself as
| ‘‘anon-partisan political action group’’. Says Frazer, ““we're not
| here to service UI claims, we're here to organize political pres- §
i sure on local politicians and those at senior government levels to } j
| do something to relieve the unemployment crisis. One of our
| immediate goals’’, he said, ‘will be to fight for an increase in
| welfare benefits for the people of this city, we’re the lowest
| anywhere in Ontario’’. Close co-operation with the labor move-
| ment is stressed as one of the organization’s goals. Fraser also
| noted the HUU is setting up a Shelter and Survival Committee to
| ‘help people resist evictions, get bill collectors off their backs §
| and stop the gas and utility companies from cutting these services §&
| off to the unemployed and the poor.” :
i — Mike Phillips

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 27, 1983—Page 7 g

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