ten, Worker directors? Should workers sit on cor- porate boards? There is a lingering illusion that worker directors can protect jobs Coal deal a sellout A sellout bigger than the Columbia River Treaty. The $5 billion coal deal which was the subject of talks this week bet- ween prime minister Trudeau, Japanese prime minister Ohira (shown in picture at right) and B.C. premier Bill Bennett will involve a billion dollar subsidy to the Japanese steel industry. And it could be giving away the last great opportunity to build a strong industrial economy in this province, see. analysis page 3. Boise Cascade strike The embattled strikers at Boise Cascade at Fort Frances, On- tario are facing their second spring on the picket review the longest, most bitter strike in the country, SVEN chases, Olympic boycott. “Politics is the language of © priorities, and on this May Day, the number one priority of our government must be to speak out with an independent voice for. disarmament,”’ Burnaby NDP MP Svend Robinson told over 300 people at the May Day rally in Vancouver Sunday. «with the terrifying prospect of a nuclear holocaust before us, it is important for Canada to } play an independent role to help offset that danger,”’ he said. Robinson was joined on stage by speakers from the Com- munist Party, the trade union movement, a Canadian observer of the Zimbabwe elec- tions, singers and the Kobzar dance group in a special May Day program organized by the Vancouver Trade Union May Day Committee. Robinson blasted the insanity of a five billion dollar expen- diture on 137 fighter aircraft, and declared that the NDP would continue to oppose that expense on the grounds that ““people’s needs must be satisfied first.”’ Although he coupled his call for a new foreign policy with criticism of ‘‘both super pow- ers,’’ Robinson was unequivo- WAY Da D ROBINSON .. .slams government's fighter plane pur- | MP blasts boycott | at May Day rally | cal in condemning the ‘‘victimi- zation of Canadian athletes’’ and stated that the NDP caucus rejects the Olympic boycott. Maurice Rush, provincial leader of the Communist Party echoed Robinson when he ask- ed ‘“‘why Canada must always jump through the hoop when “the U.S. cracks thé whip? “The Communist Party joins with the NDP in saying that what Canada needs is an in- dependent foreign policy for peace and detente. “The U.S. that gave us Viet- nam, Watergate and McCar- thyism is now giving us another cold war,”’ he said. ‘‘Weneed to raise the cry that the world draw ' back from the razor’s edge the U.S. military complex is pro- pelling us towards.”’ Rush denounced the support of the Canadian government for the U.S. cold war drive, which includes trade and cultural boycotts of socialist countries. Both Robinson and Rush hailed the ‘victorious struggles of the people of Nicaragua and Zimbabwe, as well as the heroic struggles of the people of Latin America on this international day of labor.” See PEACE page 12 line. We page 10. fl and help improve conditions. But the experience of union- ists in many western count- ries should dispel that illu- sion, says a prominent U.S. union leader. See page 7. ‘Make jobs Canada’s Special to the Tribune WINNIPEG — An industrial strategy committed to a policy of full employment was the keystone of a far reaching economic policy statement adopted by the Cana- dian Labor Congress convention here Tuesday. “The battle of the trade union movement in the 1980’s will be for trade union rights versus corporate power,” said the statement which added that the growing economic and political power of big business is a ‘cancer that must be challeng- ed and defeated.’ In a major departure from the Congress’ previous orientation towards tripartite collaboration with government and industry, the policy paper warned that the union movement faces ‘‘a concerted at- tack by right wing, business spon- sored organizations, governments and corporations.” The aim of the attack is to “destroy the political and fun- damental individual and collective rights and freedoms of workers and trade unions,”’ the report said. “Tt is part of a strategy to allow cor- porations to extend their own brand of dictatorship over the economy and workers.”’ After detailed accounts of the economic crisis in Canada, the report concluded, “‘What is really needed is a move forward to an economic planning. system under public rather than corporate leadership.”’ ‘The main components of the economic strategy proposed by the report were: @ Creation of a ‘Canada Full Employment Act’? which would “establish full employment as the country’s number one socio- economic goal.’’ e@ Public control of the invest- ment process including much im- proved corporate disclosure re- quirements and the creation of an investment agency to review all foreign investment “‘to guarantee that it is consistent with an in- dustrial strategy that maximizes Canadian benefits and reverses foreign control.” @ Commitment to public priority’, urges CLC ownership as an economic tool. @ Development of a full employment manpower policy. @ Commitment to secondary industry and maximum processing in Canada of Canadian resources. @ Reform of the tax system to shift the burden of taxation from working people to the corpora- tions. The report said that this pro- gram could be achieved if the CLC continued the ‘‘network of the parallel campaign used in the recent federal election to mobilize our membership around such issues as plant closures, technological change, exorbitant interest rates, serious unemployment.” Retiring United Electrical Workers Union president C-.S. Jackson applauded the policy as a “substantial well written examina- tion of the situation facing working people.”’ But he repeated a plea often heard in convention debate to ensure that resolutions arising from the report pin down CLC pro- grams and ‘‘do not fall back into See ACT page 12 ‘Swedish model’ toppled STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May. 2 — A major class battle between nearly one million workers and their bosses swept across Sweden today, as the country was brought to a virtual halt by a lockout called by the Swedish Employers Con- federation. The Swedish industrial machinery ground to a standstill as the employers announced at mid- night they would stop production for five days at plants and facilities where 770,000 workers are employed. The Swedish Confederation of Labor responded to the lockout by calling strikes of about 100,000 workers. The scope of the struggle is enormous, as the population of Sweden is just eight million. A major confrontation had been building for weeks, as the nation’s employers refused to grant decent pay raises to Swedish workers, of- fering them less than a two percent wage increase. The unions have been calling for 11.3 percent. While labor negotiations have been taking place, and mediators attempted to close the bargaining gap, workers have been refusing to work overtime. The ‘employers, who represent the owners of the shipping, mining, forestry, metallurgy, textile, auto and other industries, threatened a nationwide lockout of workers. Responding to this threat, the unions staged a selective strike. Workers in Stockholm shut down air and subway transportation. On April 30, the labor unions re- jected a proposal by government mediators to accept a 2.3 percent wage increase and accused the gov- ernment of working on the side of the bosses. Then, at midnight May_1, the employers engaged in their lockout. Events of the past few months have toppled the theory which Swedish employers: have touted as “model labor relations’’ in the country. For years, the Swedish capitalists have said that they have eliminated the class struggle bet- ween workers and their employers. “The Swedish model is dead,” said Gunnar Nilsson, chairman of the industrial trade union con- federation in the country. Speaking at a rally of 40,000 people in Stockholm, Nilsson declared that ‘Jabor and capital can no longer cooperate in the fine old spirit.’’ A spokesman for the Employers Confederation was quoted as say- ing, ““This huge conflict serves as final proof that the Swedish model no longer functions.”’