LABOR SCENE

by

BRUCE MAGNUSON

Last week I mentioned the
rather unique and unprecedented
injunction, granted by the B.C.
Supreme Court at the behest of
the West Coast Maritime Em-
ployers Association, forbidding
members of the International
Longshoremen’s and Warehouse-
men’s Union from exercising a
right granted them by the Parlia-
ment of Canada — namely to ob-
serve Victoria Day, May 23, as
a statutory holiday by remaining
away from work that day.

Since that was written there
have been new developments, Ten
officers of the union have chosen
three months in prison rather
than pay the $4,100 fine imposed
by Mr. Justice Verchere, follow-
ing convictions for contempt of
court,

If there were any doubts about
the role of governments and the
judiciary as instruments in the
hands of employers to enforce
and maintain a dictatorship over
labor in this country, these ought
now to be dispelled by this un-
mistakable _example of class
justice,

Following on the judgment by
Mr, Justice Gale of the Ontario
Supreme Court in the Tilco Plas-
tics case, this latest B.C. injunc-
tion case proves the need for the
trade union movement to proceed
with firm and speedy action to put
an end to this provocative use
of unjust laws to subvert Can-
adian democracy and destroy the
rights o f labor.

The skeleton of what was once
a federal department of labor at
Ottawa is now presided over bya
big business tycoon who undoubt-
edly feels ill at ease in his
present position. Under such
conditions itis not surprising that
government agencies lead the
parade of resistance to labor’s
demand for decent wages and
working conditions,

It took a strike of postal em-
ployees to force an investigation
of the shameful conditions in our
post offices across Canada.
Workers on the CNR forced the
Freedman Investigation, It re-
mains to be seen if the employ-
ees of the CNR will have to strike
to secure a newcollective agree-
ment.

Is it any wonder that big corp-
orations feel secure in a pattern
of court injunctions, police pro-
vocations and open strike-break-
ing to the point of demanding
government action to impose a

straitjacket on labor by means of

compulsory arbitration laws?

This kind of government labor
policy is obviously out of line
with the needs of our complex
society, now moving inthedirec-
tion of technological change and
automation, Not even union
agreements can any longer be
looked upon as legal strait-
jackets, but must be made subject
to reopening for review and pos-
sible changes through processes
of democratic and equal collec-
tive bargaining. :

Labor’s rights are not sec-

ondary to management’s rights,

The benefits of technological
change and automation must be
shared with labor and the com-
munity at large. The needs of
people are not secondary to pri-
vate profit, Democracy must be
made operative on a day-to-day
basis, as well as every-so-often
at election time.

The federal labor minister,
John R. Nicholson, told Canad-
ian labor in Winnipeg seven weeks
ago that he would act soon to
implement the Freedman recom-
mendations, But a month later
he told Parliament the exact
opposite, Presently employers
have launched an all-out cam-
paign to discredit the recom-
mendations. Will Mr. Nicholson
listen to the employers, or will
he heed labor’s opinion, which is
the voice of the majority of Can-
adians?

It must be made clear that
the Freedman report and recom-
mendations not only of concern
to the railway employees but all
workers in all industries of this
country. Moreover, it is not
just a federal matter, but also a
matter for provincial govern-
ments to act on, The Freed-
man recommendations are not
only useful as a guide in collec-
tive bargaining, but must be enac-
ted through legislation at both the
federal and provincial levels of

. government,

Now is the time when the Can-
adian Labor Congress, repre-
senting 70 percent of all organ-
ized workers in this country,
ought to convene a country-wide
conference of representatives of
all unions, affiliated and non-
affiliated, to demand government
action to implement the Freed-
man recommendations, Such a
conference could project an ac-
tion program to meet the needs
of labor and make plans for ac-
tion to secure its implementation.
The key to advance labor’s cause
is solidarity and unity in action,

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Canada and the
crisis in NATO

By WILLIAM KASHTAN
National Leader,
Communist Party

The NATO Council which met
in Brussels recently, was unable
to resolve anything. It could not
even decide where to move its
military headquarters now that
France has withdrawn from its
military. structure. In fact, on
Canada’s insistence, a decision
on this matter was hoisted for the
time being.

The real problem confronting
NATO, however, is not where to
move but what to move on, Here
too the NATO Council maintained
a frozen position and failed to
come to grips with a changing
world situation whichis reflected
in the crisis in NATO itself,

Part of the changing world
situation is reflected in the re-
emergence of countries like
France as strong imperialist
powers who do not wish to be
subordinate to U.S. imperialism
and are striving for an inde-
pendent course in world affairs.
This is why it can be said that
the crisis in NATO is a deep-
seated one and is likely to be-
come more acute until and unless
the causes of that crisis are
understood and proper conclu-
sions drawn,

One of the first causes of the
crisis is the collapse of the
argument that NATO was needed
as a “shield” against an alleged
«danger from the East,’’ that is,
the Soviet Union. No sensible
person believes such a danger
existed or exists today,

This is not to suggest there is
no threat to the security of Europe
and of Canada.
it comes from the Johnson admin-
istration which wants to enlarge
the scope of NATO and involve it
in its military adventures in
Vietnam and in the Far East as
part of its policy of escalation
of war. The U.S. government
has been working systematically
to realize this objective and it is
this which is causing internal
stresses and strains in NATO
itself. This, then, is the sec-
ond cause of the crisis in NATO,

A third factor accentuating this
crisis is the effort of the John-
son administration to forge a

military-political bloc between
itself and the German Federal

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Republic. In line with this aim,
U.S. policy is directed to making
nuclear arms available -to the
West German revanchist@ — a
policy which would endanger
European security and threaten
world peace, ‘
The Bonn government has made
no secret as to why it wants these
weapons: to bring about a forcible
revision of state boundaries at
other peoples’ expense and to
liquidate the German Democratic
Republic. Such a course would
inevitably involve the entire
world in another blood-bath,

For Canada or any other coun-
try which is part of NATO to
agree to such a policy would be
not only stupid but suicidal,

Rather than being more deeply
involved in such military en-
tanglements the sane course for
Canada is to work for a Europ-

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DON
ean Security Pact. The heart
of such a pact must include a
clear-cut declaration that:

*West Germany will not be
permitted to have access to nu-
clear’ arms in any way, shape
or form;

*Nuclear free zones will be
established in Europe;

*Existing boundaries in Eu-
rope will be recognized by all
governments;

*The German Democratic Re-
public be recognized and brought
into the United Nations;

Fitin (Havana!

*A German Peace Treaty will
be concluded and a non-aggres-
sion pact be signed by the NATO
and Warsaw Pact countries as a
preliminary to the eventual elim-
ination of both military group-
ings, :

Such a course could strengthen
European security.and therefore
Canada’s security also. It would
eliminate the vestiges of the last
war, eliminate regional blocks,
put an end to the cold war and
make the United Nations a truly
universal body,

Instead of focussing attention
on these questions External Af-
fairs Minister Martin chose’ to
argue the point of where and
when NATO headquarters shall be
moved. However, what Mr.
Martin and the government failed
to do Parliament ought to do.

There is need for parlia-
mentary debate on a question of
such vital concern to the Can-
adian people, And because this
is so, all those concerned with
peace ought to insist on such a
debate and press for anew course
in Canadian foreign policy.

Such a new course ought to in-
clude a reassessment of Canada’s
relationship to NATO, There
is all the more reason for it on
the eve of 1969 when the NATO
agreement comes up for renewal,

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July 2, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 2 —

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