Should picket consulate’

Yank firms seek
to break unions.

By RAE MURPHY

Toronto is faced with a “re-
turn to the good old days” of
union busting and scab herding,
was the warning given delegates
to the Toronto Labor Council by
Harry Simon, Ontario director
of the Canadian Labor Congress.

‘Describing the five -.month
strike of workers at Canadian
Coleman Co., Simon told of the
abortive negotiations between
the union and the company’s
Canadian management which
shortly after the strike began
broke down under orders of
Sheldon Coleman, sole owner of
the firm.

Coleman, a well known Birch-
ite, visited Toronto and ordered
the local management to have
no more dealings with the union
and to get the factory working
with scab labor.

With the active assistance of
the Toronto police, scabs are
being rushed through the picket
lines. The strike, as well as
the continued existence of the

-union in Coleman’s is in jeo-
pardy.

Less than a mile away from ~

Coleman’s is another strike of
less than 100 men and women
which is entering its 13 week.

Tory

The Legislative Committee of
the Toronto Labor Council has
called the latest Ontario provin-
cial budget a hoax. John Eleen,
research director of the Ontario
Federation of Labor and secret-
ary of the TLC Legislative Com-
mittee, told the labor council last
-week that “if a small business-
man resorted to such doctoring
of figures in filling out his in-
come tax he would be in jail.”

Pointing out discrepencies and
figure juggling in the provincial
budget Eleen listed five items:

Item 1: ‘Provinces expendit-
ure on university operating costs
to be doubled.”

Fact: The federal government
has-pulled out of this field and
‘gave the province certain tax
concessions in exchange. The
universities will not be getting
very much more than in the past.

Item 2: “$60 million increase
in grants for elementary and
secondary education.”

Fact: This $60 million is listed
once under “Human Develop-
ment” again under “Aid to Local
‘Authorities” and also under “In-
dividual and Family Well-Being.”
The same allotment was listed
three times to make it appear
that triple the amount was being
spent. In addition, municipal
‘grants for all purposes including
‘education will decline from 44.6
‘percent of provincial revenue to
‘43.3 percent in 1967-68.

Kimball Systems is a subsidiary
of the notorious union-busting
monopoly, Litton Industries of
California. (See Tribune of Jan.
30). :

Here again, the Canadian man-
agement has been instructed to
smash the union, and_ scabs,
with the assistance of the To-
ronto police force, are pushing
through the lines.

The question of mass picket-
lines and general solidarity ac-
tions with the strikers has been
brought before council and meet-
ings have been called, money
raised and picket line demon-
strations held. However, there
has been a reluctance on the
part of significant elements in
the leadership. of the council to
get fully into the fight.

The issue now is being forced.
The writing is on the wall for all
of the Toronto labor movement,
in particular smaller bargaining
units, if these strikes are lost
and the companies can success-
fully maintain their union-bust-
ing practices.

Delegates were especially in-
dignant over the conduct of
Toronto police. One delegate
told how more than 100 police-
men, some on horses, were sent

budget

exposed

Item 3: ‘Ontario Housing Cor-
poration budget increased by 63
percent to $26 million.”

Fact: Last year the OHC bud-
get was $13.3 million. This year
it is $16 million of a 17 percent
increase. The rest was for the
Ontario Student Housing Cor-

poration. In the meantime there

are 7,000 families listed with the
Metro Housing Registry in des-
perate need of housing.

Item 4: ‘Budget is $3,537 mil-
lion.”

Fact: If you add up the estim-
ates without duplication they
come to $2,193 million. The ad-
ditional $1,344: million is just
hot air.

Item 5: “There will be no in-
crease in taxes.”

Fact: That may be true for the
provincial tax, but since the
municipalities are carrying an
increased load of services they
will be forced to increase their
mill rate. The municipalities’ on-
ly source of revenue is property
tax, therefore, the homeowner
will pay more tax.

The report stated that the pre-
sent tax structure bears too
heavily on low’ income groups
and people on fixed incomes,

“while the exploiters of the pro-
vince’s natural resources face a
relatively smal] tax burden. As
a case in point, International
Nickel made a profit of over

to smash a picket line of about
150 workers.

Jack White of the Ironwork-
ers drew attention to the cops,
“wearing centennial badges on
their hats, supporting American
companies which are out to
smash Canadian workers.”

In the discussion, Don Mont-
gomery, president of the council,
suggested that the American
consulate be picketed by labor
to put pressure on “anti-union”
American companies operating
in Canada. He said these com-
panies “bring theif money, their
technicians and their reactionary
John Birch philosophy” to Can-
ada. The U.S. consul, Mont-
gomery told the delegates,
should “straighten out their
people on how to live here or
damn well get out of the coun-
try.

No formal motion was put to
the council about picketing the
American consulate but it was
the will of the meeting to step
up labor’s fight to defeat the
union-busting companies and
force them to accept an honor-
able settlement.
lines .are being organized at
Kimball’s this week and at
Coleman’s on March 16.

hoax

$250 million in 1965 the pro-
vince received only $10 million
in resources taxes from all min-
ing companies operating in On-
tario. -

The Legislative Committee
later recommended that the To-
ronto Labor Council cooperate
with the Ontario Federation of
Labor and the New Democratic
Party to achieve objectives
which would revise the tax struc-
ture to a progressive taxation
system with special emphasis on
corporation income tax along
with a reallocation of financial
responsibilities between various
government levels. The commit-
tee also recommended increased
taxation on mineral and forest
products, as well as provincial
crash program on housing.

Dealing in particular with the
_problem of financing education
the report proposed that the pro-
vince immediately assume the
education portion of the pro-
. perty tax on pensioners and that
the “province progressively take
over responsibilities for educa-
tion from the municipalities.

The report was accepted by
the council unanimously and
without any discussion. Thus
there was no opportunity to ela-
borate on any of the problems
presented in the report which,
especially in the area of financ-
ing education, have reached
crisis proportions.

Mass picket |

- QUEBEC Protestant teachers will suspend for one ye ,
planned use of mass resignations as a protest against Bill
pill deprives teachers of the right to strike until the e? fe!
1968, and has been the subject of stormy protests. The”
have been urged instead to stay on and fight the legislation"

Ann MacLeish, president of the Provincial Association
testan Teachers, said that if no changes occur in the Je
within the next year, the association executive will re°
its decision on mass resignations.

* * *

MONTREAL'S 4,500 civic clerical workers have # ty
new contract and returned to work. ee ll
The new contract will give the workers, employee
city, a $400 bonus immediately in addition to a salaty
ranging from $425 to $600 for this year. Another increas’
will become effective Jan. 1, 1968.
The workers received an average salary of $5,600 bell
went. on strike Jan. 30. ie
’ The strike closed down the city hall and other
buildings. a

* * *.

ACCORDING to figures released by the federal d@
of labor, there were more work stoppages in January anny
ing a greater time loss than in December or in the previ
uary. He
Work stoppages in January totalled 63, involving 27,388
ers and a time-loss of 235,040 man-days. In December #4
59 stoppages involving 12,602 workers and a time 105s of
man-days. Based on the number of non-agricultural wage
ary workers in Canada, the number of man-days lost ™®
represented 0.19 percent of the estimated working time, ¢
with 0.12 percent in December. The corresponding figure !
ary, 1966, was also 0.12 percent. ;

* * *

TRADE-UNIONISTS in Israel and Finland have P®
their reputations for ingenious strike tactics. In Israel U
drivers drove bumper-to-bumper along the Tel Aviv)
road, causing huge traffic jams, in support of their dem
cheaper gasoline. In Helsinki, union truckers and othet
defied police warnings of wholesale arrests as they stopped
roads throughout the country, turned off their ignitions
behind the wheel for a motionless two minutes. Their PY?
against higher auto insurance rates.

iS
Vancouver mechanic Vic House shows off some. of he to
ture made from old mufflers and tail pipes. It’s only 4 hob de
but passers-by keep trying to buy the wierd figures whict 5
the front of the muffler shop where he works. F

March 17, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE