ABOR DAY, 1947, which was celebrated throughout

The  excess-profit tax was
climinated and the big shots
received further ‘incentive’ to
raise prices and profits since
they would be able to keep the

cur

everywhere and who are out to
achieve world domination for
American imperialism. Our own
dollar crisis is only the first
result of this foreign policy.

Official Canada is thus on the
side of the aggressors in Indon~
esia, in Greece, _in Palestine
and elsewhere. The result of
present foreign -policy is
that our north country has be-
come the base for U.S. imper-
jalist forces.

We deny help to the USSR
and to all countries which are
at long last run by the people
instead of by the feudal land-
owners, militarists and agents
of foreign capitalists. We sacri-
fice the greatest opportunity for
arriving at trade treaties which
would help our war allies, to
reconstruct their devastated
lands and which would provide
cur industries and our agr@cul-
ture with unlimited export op-
portunities that would mean
full employment for years and
years to come.

Aside from robbing our people
of chances for employment the

present foreign policy is, of

course, also menacing us with ©
another world war. That is
reality mumber four, and one

that the working people could
not forget on Labor Day.

LL these are not narrow

labor problems. They concern
labor, of course. They are the
fundamental problems of the or-
ganized labor movement. But -
they are also the problems of
all the common people of the
country. They are Canada’s
problems. *

As this decisive Labor Day
passes Canadian labor must,
therefore, look with clear eye
and see the whole of the na-
tional scene. If it will do that
it will realize that it is duty-
bound to assume the role of
mature national statesmanship.
Labor must emerge as_ the
champion of all people, the de-
fender of the national interests.
Canadian labor can and should
assume such a role and such a
position. It will thus better
solve the secondary and _  so-
called “practical trade union
problems.” Otherwise it will fail
in its simplest “trade union
tasks.”

But to do this it must flush
cut every vestige of red-baiting
poison from its system. Red-
baiting is the destructive ‘rem-
edy’ of the fascists, of all labor
haters. Labor should also aim
at greater unity in action. It
must strive for more direct
participation in politics with the
trade. union movement as _ its
backbone and with all other
labor, farmer and __ socialist
bodies rallied around it.

Labor, from this Labor Day,
should go over to the offensive
—to the offensive against the
disaster of an economic crisis
and against the menace of
fascism and another war. There
could be no greater challenge
and no more compelling task.

‘the country this week, found the trade union move- jion’s share of it. Corporation
ment of Canada stronger numerically and more firm- taxes were reduced while the W ld [ 0 7
established than ever before. All the more reason, there- taxes of is wat nile NE ori : a or marc es on
re, why the organized workers of the country should given only . ° Ae gx fash om satis
the nation’s Sales taxes ave een ept a by GLADYS CARTER bor’s right to organize, strike co

®Ssume the historic responsibility as leader of

: Bie sos the same burdensome level.
Struggle against the menace of an economic crisis and the: —

and function politically.
All this adds up ‘to an accel- po. Y.

OM Chicago to Shanghai, Tiniyis. General. Contador eg

from Capetown to Buenos

. This is the overriding chat
2s which faces © Canadian
abor. This must, therefore, be

- €mphasized and understood by
© vast army of trade union

Men and women and by all

Workers in the country.

Behind the synthetic sweet-

oe which heads of goyern-
aed Politicians and capitalist
Wspapers poured out on
a Day there lies a more
2 Bent reality. What is this
fovity? It is, in the main, as
; Ollows,
MN
oe
‘in

‘ Canadian ruling class —
Monopolists, bankers, big

istic policy. It is wallowing
Sana: orgy of profiteering. Divi-
ing Payments are skyrocket-
stro, So are prices. Labor’s

Wele to keep up with run-

ae prices has | been only
fete successful. Labor’s |
for government action to

fe ‘Price increases has failed.
spite the wage increases

ly Lyi ( @ is
Hl

Me i * il A
Hea

=
uD

i B). i
i

| i hi
ih
L ill

OULU vevnenseatll

_by Robert F. Hall

austrialists and their govern-.
nts—is pursuing a reckless .

limit for the profiteers.

=i fat
A Nh
Py |

He barns veast ted averecen

Nanya
h ail Nacececccattltes

during the 1946 wage
struggles and the raises secured
this year, the real wages of
wage and salary earners have
declined. Only a fraction of em-
ployees—the best organized and
the best led — benefitted from
the wage increases. The largest
number gained little or nothing
at all because they are unorgan-
ized or poorly led.

The net result of this situa-
tion is that the living standards
of the masses are being stead-
ily undermined. The purchasing
power of the working class is
shrinking. If this trend contin-
ues an economic bust is inevit-

able. This is reality number one.
i e@ .

TS governments—federal and
provincial — pursue policies
which aid and expedite this
disastrous course of the ruling
class. Price controls have been
dumped on practically all items.
Most subsidies were also dis-
carded. The sky became the

won

ma
il
|

ul

}
! fl

nu
1

Vp
a

vualdtilthy

a

ve Friday, September 5, 1947
aig Britain’s alternative to crisis

© Our relations with Russia \

by Leslie Morris

A picture story

oAmercan labor in 1947

Se ee ee ae Chae EAS

“Ze 28 gRM AE 3 oT mu :

democratic forces

eration of the disastrous process
which reduces the _ people’s
share of the national income
while it increases the already
disproportionate share of the
privileged few. This leads to the
precipice of economic collapse.
This is reality number two.
Our economic royalists are
also receiving invaluable aid
from the majority of our gov-
ernments in their drive against
the people in other ways. Where
the frontal attacks on the labor
movement fail the big shots

resort to red-baiting and to
legislative means in order to
divide, weaken, restrict, curb

and destroy the effectiveness of

_ organized , labor.

Duplessis in Quebec and Drew
in Ontario are in the forefront
of this anti-labor and anti-
people’s crusade. In B.C., the
Coalition government of both
capitalist parties enacted a
union-busting law. In Nova
Scotia further legal restrictions
were enacted against labor. The
federal labor code which was
brought down during the last
session travels in the same

_ direction.
This is reality number threr

behind the hypocritical ‘tributes’
which were paid to labor on
Labor Day. ~—
e -

N the international front our

ruling class is fully satisfied
with the foreign policy of the
Dominion government. It is a
policy which is hinged to the
notorious Truman Doctrine —

the doctrine of the most reac-
imperialist |

tionary American
circles who battle against the
everywhere,
who give aid and support to
pro-fascist reactionary cliques

Aires, workers, seeking a full
stomach, a comfortable home,
time to have fun with the
family, have found the same
answer: union organization. As
a result, the acid test of a
government’s concern for the
common people is its attitude
toward the labor movement.
Since Labor Day, 1946, mil-
lions of people have been
allowed to join unions for the
first time. Other millions are
still fighting bloody battles for,

among other rights, the right
to organize.
British unions—rid of the

hated Trades Disputes Act
which for 20 years, until its
recent repeal, restricted strikes
and political action—have been

' given a voice in government %

economic planning.

In France, though labor and
government leaders disagree
ever wage-price policy, the gov-
ernment has acknowledged un-
ion strength by creating an
economic council, headed by
labor leader Leon Jouhaux,
which must screen all contem-
plated labor, economic or so-
cial legislation before its pas-
sage is considered. __

Soviet workers, who during
the war had to give up some
of their prewar conditions, are
now back on an &8hour day
with guaranteed annual vaca-
tions. Wages have gone up and
many consumer goods, cut out
curing the war, are reappear-/
ing on the market at govern-
ment-controlled prices. Unions
themselves frame all labor laws.
"In most eastern European
countries, workers have ‘been

- allowed to form unions for the

first time in their history under
new laws which guarantee la-

cof Labor, reborn after 20 years ee

of fascism, has become the
strongest organization in the
country, wielding tremendous

economic and political power,
particularly in the industrialized
north.

e

OUGH far apart on the
map, China and Greece are

close in their efforts fo imitate the _

Franco regime in Spain. In both
countries legitimate unions have

been outlawed and government- ~—

sponsored groups set up instead.
The Chinese Association of La-
Lor, which organizes workers
in both Communist-led and
Kuomintang China, still func-
tions freely in Communist areas
but its unions in Kuomintang
areas have had to shift head- —
quarters to British-run Hong
Kong. eee
In Indonesia and Indo-China,
where independent movements
are fighting for freedom from

the Dutch and French respec- _
tively, union members form the |

backbone of the independence
forces. In the Philippines and
India, where technical political
independence has been gained
but where the U.S. and Britain
remain economically dominant, —
labor is still fighting a tough
uphill battle for recognition.
A tremendous revival of unions
is taking place in Germany and
Japan. Over three million of the

six workers in Germany's So- _

viet zone are organized. In the
more industrialized U.S. and
British zones, however, anti-
labor moves by military govern-
ment officials have kept mem-
bership to less than half that
number. In Japan, despite many -
restrictions, five million work-—
ers are organized. , z