LLL UII Unions can win big gains through unity and action Tens of thousands of workers in B.C.’s industries are faced with contract negotiations in the next few months. Faced with rising prices, huge profits and increased economic activity, labor can win substantial gains — provided correct fighting policies are adopted and pressed for by the rank and file. ““Unions should have at the core of their demands for 1964 Proposals for substantial wage increases, shorter hours, short- term agreements and... protection against lay-offs due to mech- anization...’’ says this important article. By LABOR COMMITTEE, B.C. COMMUNIST PARTY Jose to one million Cana- ‘dian workers will renew their collective agreements in 1964, Great gains can be made Provided there is a correct es- timation of the period we live in and provided the rank and file are mobilized for a positive pro- Sram of action and unity. More than 210 major agree- ments—exclusive of the building trades and those in plants under 500 employees—come up for re- newal, Approximately 375,000 Workers are involved. An addi- tional 100,000 non-operating Yailway workers have already Started their negotiations, By June, the running trades will be into battle, Workers in pace-setting indus~ tries like steel, auto and lumber will be after new contracts. There will be national negotiations in Meat packing, regional bargain- ing in textiles and the first ne- Sotiations for the maritime Unions under trusteeship, Thou- Sands of municipal and hospital employees, utility workers, Service workers and miscellan- €ous groups across the country will be hammering out new con- tracts, In British Columbia, important Sections ofthe building trades are either in negotiations or will be Soon. One section (mainly Team Sters, Operating Engineers and Laborers) have another year to 80 on a three-year contract that Will give them 10 cents inthe last year. The Plumbers have just accepted a five-year deal that will Sive them 75 cents in extra pay and 31 cents in fringes. Carpen- ters, Electrical Workers, Iron orkers, Painters andothers are due to bargain soon and are Pposing a five-year pact, Also due for new agreements in B,C, are woodworkers, tele- Phone workers, mining and smel- ter workers in Trail, shipyard Workers in Vancouver and Vic- toria, municipal and hospital employees, pulp and paper wor- kers and street railwaymen. Favorable conditions These negotiations must be seen against a backdrop of rising profits for big business. Accord- ing to the FINANCIAL POST of December 14, 1963, corporation profits in 1963 were 8 per cent above 1962 and 19 per cent above 1961. The corporations seem to have confidence in their pros- pects for the next few years. The same journal, in its issue of Dec- ember 21, 1963, informs us that ‘the biggest capital spending splurge in Canada’s history— bigger than the big boom of the mid-1950s—is poised for takeoff in 1964.’’ (See accompanying pro- fit table), Several factors are con- tributing to the expected boom. @ Firstly, the tremendous in- crease in our trade with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. According to all in- dications, we have just begun to scratch the surface of this mar- ket. Given peace and a continua- tion of the thaw in the cold war, Canada’s prospects for trade with the socialist world staggers the imagination. It appears there will be a big demand for fertilizer plants, mining equipment, saw- mill equipment and paper making machinery, @ Secondly, and in the long run this will prove to be a negative feature, there is an acceleration in the take-over of our resources by. foreign interests, mainly from the USA. While this will provide jobs immediately in construction, and in the production of raw and semi-processed materials, it will frustrate the future growth of industry in Canada and increase unemployment. The plot to divert the Columbia power, and the power from other rivers across the country, south- ward to build up U.S. industry at our expense should be vigorously opposed by the labor movement. We should build and exploit our power resources to the maxi- Payments for 196 Ubon dollars, | USinegs. Company Macmillan-Bloedel- Owell River -C. Forest Products olumbia Cellulose Town-Zellerbach Ons. Mining and Smelt. can Aluminum BG: Packers Marwell Construction ae oe Ltd. tans-Mountain Pipeline B.C. Telephone B.C. companies make huge profits C ANADIAN and B.C. companies have made the biggest Profits in their history in 1963. Although figures are not yet at hand for individual firms the Financial Post re- Rerved that profits were 8 percent above 1962. Recently € Montreal Stock Exchange announced that dividend broke an all-time record, exceeding one B In the following chart the PT gives the profits for 11 ae companies for 1962 as compared to 1961.These give 8raphic illustration of the profits being raked in by big 1962 Profit 1961 Profit $69,825,000 $56,591,000 8,412,000 7,333,000. 4,705,000 1,908,000 27,426,000 20,206,000 37,627,000 35,435,000 46,625,000 — 38,509,000 2,394,000 2,053,000 340,000 242,000 7,510,000 6,121,000 15,919,000 12,370,000 18,166,000 17,061,000 mum, with a view to developing our own industry to the greatest possible degree. Surplus power could then be exported, consistent with the interests of the nation, @ Thirdly, important segments of the economy will be re-investing a good part of their profits in expansion and modernization, mechanization and automation, in order to be more competitive at home and abroad, This is another means by which the foreign domi- nation of our economy is to be extended, According to all reports, the lumber bosses of B,C. never had it so good as in 1963——and they expect even bigger dividends in 1964, That explains their willing- ness to invest huge sums inplant expansion, Construction activity in B.C, is expected to hit an all-time high in 1964, in line with the overall national pattern, An upward surge is anticipated with an even steeper growth, from 1964 to at least 1970. There is expected to be, in addition to plant expansion, and hydro projects, anincrease in the construction of high-rise apartments, shopping centers, hotels and homes, This is why employers are anxious to tie unions to long term agreements such as the Plumbers 5-year pact. Long-term agreements harmful The best thing that can be said about the Plumbers’ settlement is that it will stimulaté many unions to set their sights higher in respect to wage increases, to get above the ceiling of five to ten-cent wage increases the em- ployers have generally esta- blished in the past year. More than cancelling this ad- vantage is however, the effect it has of putting the problem of the- shorter work week in deep freeze, In view of the tremendous dis- placement of labor that mechani- zation and automation must in- evitably bring, the trend to longer collective agreements must be discouraged. The shorter the agreement, the easier it will be to mobilize the workers to meet the many prob- lems they will be confronted with in the period ahead. All expert opinion points to an upswing in the economy during the immedi- ate future, in terms of overall production and profit. If that is the case, then only the employers stand to gain by long-term agree- ments. Standing as we are onthe brink of the sweeping introduction of automative processes inindustry and to some extent the service trades, the working class must adopt new policies to meet new problems. From this standpoint the re- cent pact signed by the Long- shoremen’s Union in B.C, offers a contrast to the Plumbers settlement and is a step in the right direction. This precedent- making agreement takes account of the impact of automation and mechanization on the waterfront and provides for company contri- butions into a mechanization fund guaranteeing the present work f force protection against loss of earning power, Unions must look ahead It is a pity that up to now the leadership of the Canadian Labor Congress nationally, andtheB.C, Federation of Labor (CLC) pro- vincially, have failed to give the type of leadership and co-oper- ation required at this time, The April convention of the Congress should bring a strong demand for a reversal of this policy, a policy of doing nothing to lead, under the pretext of non-interference with the bar- gaining autonomy of each affili- ate, to the point where the concentrated unity of the em- ployers is met with disunity, confusion and unpreparedness on the part of labor. Because of the lack of social planning in our capitalist econo- my, greatly aggravated by U.S. domination, the upswing must, sooner or later be followed by a downswing and unless the labor movement and its allies are able to unite and win the adoption of new economic policies for Canada, the consequences will be disastrous for labor, Such policies must include the repatriation of our industries and resources controlled in the USA, a Canadian power policy, the de- velopment of manufacturing, sec- ondary and processing industries ‘to the fullest extent possible, in- centives to Canadian - owned industry and a major drive for maximum trade with the soci- alist world and with the newly emerging nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America, It is against this background that we should set our sights for the coming round of negotiations in B.C. Unions in B,C. should have at the core of their demands for 1964 proposals for substantial wage increases, shorter hours of work, short term agreements and clauses protecting them against lay-offs due to automation and mechanization and against speed-up, Particularly heavy responsi- bility rests on the unions in the building trades and wood indus- tries, Ifthe building trades unions and the IWA take up the fight around these demands they can win the support of all organized labor and at the same time at- tract to their banner the un- organized workers and un- employed who will see in such demands evidence that organized labor is fighting for their inter- ests while at the same time for its own immediate interests. In this connection it is grati- fying to see that the proposals for a new agreement submitted by IWA Local 1-71 (loggers local) to the annual meeting, contain 25 resolutions calling for shorter hours, 15 resolutions calling for a wage increase ranging from 20¢ to 40¢, 12 resolutions calling for travel time and a host of reso- lutions dealing with important demands such as speed-up and lay-offs. The word is out also that workers in the plywood industry in Vancouver, in answer to a questionnaire circulated by the local union asking the member- ship’s opinion on bargaining de- mands, voted one-two-three for shorter hours, a big boost in wages and protection against speed-up and lay-offs, ' These are welcome signs but much more is required of the leadership of the labor movement if substantial progress is to be made against the big corporations in this year’s negotiations, Labor needs unity The capitalist class, despite its divisions from time to time on inner-class and national issues, is fairly well united when it comes to facing the demands of organized labor for more pay, shorter hours and better condi- tions, No major strike can be won without the mobilization of the labor movement as a whole, because of the concentrated power of monopoly capital, the use of the courts against labor and the role of a government Obedient to the wishes of big business, The answer to unity of the bosses is more rank and file participation and more labor unity, based on a well-rounded program of economic and social advance, Big business in Canada is thinking politically when they set their sights on long-term agree-~ ments, They are showing a com- mendable degree of astuteness and class consciousness, in the interest of higher dividends, The labor movement must counter with the unity of its members, in the interest of all who create the wealth of our great country, and in the interests of the nation as a whole, January 24, 1964—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 7