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HO CHI MINH IS DEAD. This sad news reached us just as the PT
was going to press. Next week the PT will pay a tribute to the
great leader of the Vietnamese people.

EDITORIAL

countries’
. Czechoslovakia for

Some waking up to do

* Qala of how many press or other analysts air

their views on the pros and cons of the Socred elec-
toral sweep of August 27, there is one issue, almost totally
blacked-out during the election campaign: an issue which now
can no longer be obScured or explained away: that of the anti-
labor Socred compulsory arbitration act, more commonly
known as Bill 33.

During the election campaign Premier Bennett and his
followers were studiously silent on Bill 33, adopting a socalled
‘hands off’ attitude and behaving as though Bill 33 didn't exist.

Nor did the Liberals and their ‘‘optimistic’’ Pat McGeer
see any grist for votes from Big Business by any mention of
Bill 33, so they too remained discreetly silent on that score.

Tragically enough, the NDP and its leading spokesmen
observed a similar silence. Seized by a Pollyannish illusion
that they were going to be ‘the next government of B.C.” not
only almost expunged all mention of Bill 33. from its electoral
program and literature. but were highly successful in silencing
organized labor in B.C. on the issue of Bill 33 basing itself on
the illusion that when and if the NDP became “the
government” Bill 33 would be speedily eliminated in part or in
toto. Thus any independent labor political action on its own
behalf during the election campaign was viewed by labor's top
brass as a possible “embarassment to the NDP’. and
therefore to be avoided.

When however, the votes were tabulated heralding an
unprecedented sweep for a return of the Bennett government
(and a basic analysis has still to be written for that unforseen
political phenomena), Bill 33 hit the headlines — with evidence
of a new political determination to apply it — ‘‘in the public
interest’’ of course.

Searcely 24-hours after its re-election. the Bennett
government involved the mediation machinery of Bill 33. with
advance notice of “compulsory arbitration” against the
striking Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAWU).
should that union not come to terms with the six gigantic oil
monopolies dominating the industry and their subsidiaries in
B.C., and reaping millions in profit in the process.

Ed Lawson, chairman of the Teamsters Joint Council had
let it be known that his union would regard the products of all
struck oil distributors as ‘hot’: that it was time to halt the
killing of workers picketting ‘‘hot™ oil plants, etc. A position
which served the Bennett government as a pretext for
invocking the threat of Bill 33 with its ‘compulsory
arbitration” provisions against the striking oil workers to end
their long struggle for modest wage increases and improved
working conditions.

The Lawson statement has been interpreted by the Socred
Bill 33 addicts as being tantamount to a call for ‘a general
strike’’ and hence must be stepped on before it got under way.
For the aspiring Lawson it was also designed as a policy blow
at the B.C. Federation of Labor which early in the Oil Workers
strike had decided on declaring only one company products
“hot’’, (Imperial Esso), but had done little or nothing about
enforcing its own policy, since everything hinged on the
election of ‘‘an NDP government’’.

It is now crystal clear that B.C. labor must completely
abandon its grand illusions of an ‘‘NDP government’’. and
begin without delay to make good its pledge to ‘come to the aid
of the first union under threat of Bill 33°". There's now a lot of
united labor action to catch up with, and some *‘waking-up”’ to
do. The time is NOW.

- BILL 33 PUTS
LABOR IN CHAINS

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 5, 1969—PAGE 2

‘United action needed to |
beat attacks’ - Kashtan

William Kashtan, national
leader of the Communist Party
of Canada, addressing an enthu-
siastic crowd of 3,500 at
Toronto’s 34th Labor Festival at
Palermo August 24, called for
redoubled efforts to win peace in
Vietnam. declared that the Bonn-
Washington efforts to utilize the
anniversary of the Warsaw Pact
entry into
counter-
revolutionary activity had failed,
and called for united action by
labor, farmers and youth to beat
back the attacks on people's
living standards being mounted
by the Trudeau administration.

~The campaign around Czecho-
slovakia is part of the efforts of
imperialism to change the
course of history.” he said. “It is
important to keep one’s feet on
the ground, and to estimate
events correctly so as not to get
lost. This year. in
Czechoslovakia, the imperialists
hoped to do what they, could not
accomplish last year. Their
strategy was to test the new
government; to create a
situation which would compel
the Czechoslovak government to
use Warsaw Pact countries.”

“However. he said, ‘‘the
Czechoslovakian government
showed that it had learned the
lessons of last year. With the
support of the majority of the
Czechoslovak people, it
frustrated the efforts of those
who tried to provoke a situation.
The events in Czechoslovakia are
a gain for world security, for
peace and socialism.”

Mr. Kashtan sdid, ‘‘When the
capitalist press cries ‘freedom’
about what happens _ in
Czechoslovakia, one is moved to
ask: are you really concerned
about Czechoslovakia, or what?
If they are so concerned about
‘fredom’ why don’t they tell the
American imperialists to get out
of Vietnam? Why do_ they
support the fascist military
junta in Greece? The kind of
‘freedom’ they want is the
freedom to exploit.

“Some of the difficulties in
Czechoslovakia arise from
mistakes. The building of a new
society is not like following a
blueprint. But one mistake the
Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia and its people
will never make is to _ stop
building socialism. The barrage
of propaganda is designed to stop
movement of the people of
socialism.”

Turning to the struggle
between imperialism and
socialism. Mr. Kashtan said,
‘Has the world picture changed?
Have we reached a point where
we can say that the forces for
peace and socialism are no
longer superior to those for
capitalism and war? Has the
growing danger in the Middle
East. fascism in Greece. the
successes of reaction in Indo-
nesia changed the picture?
There are some temporary
defeats. but looking at the
picture of the world as a whole,
imperialism is in an even deeper
crisis and is desperately trying
to change the picture in its favor.
This is the source of its
increased aggressiveness.

~What about Nixon? He toured
Asia and Romania. and speaks
about the need for negotiations.
while his government forces
through the ABM system and

continues the war in Vietnam.
The American government now
states it will stop the withdrawal
of American troops’ from
Vietnam.”

He said, ‘‘There needs to be a
wider protest, both in our
country, and on a world-wide
scale, to compel American
imperialism to withdraw from
Vietnam. The Vietnamese forces
have inflicted a defeat on
American imperialism. Now it is
shifting its strategy, trying to
build up a South Vietnam force
to fight Vietnamese. The idea
behind it is Asian against Asian,
in the American interest.

“The American government
hopes that the sharpening of
relationships between China and
the U.S.S.R. will aid them. They
are trying to utilize it to
maintain a foothold for their
imperialist interests in Asia. It
is an unfortunate fact that this
conflict is one of the biggest gifts
imperialism has received for
some time. The whole
orientation of the Chinese
Communist Party was changed
at its IX Congress, in the
direction of an open anti-Soviet
campaign.

“A tragedy is taking place in
China. Mao Tse-tung is trying to
unite the Chinese people behind
his harmful policies by raising
the bogey of Soviet -aggression
and simultaneously uses it to
crush all opposition. The purpose
is to prepare for war. Their basic
position is that socialism will be
achieved through war. This
stands in sharp contradiction to
the International Conference of
Communist and Workers’
Parties which declared that the
path to socialism could be
achieved through the struggle
for peace and against
imperialism.

The Chinese-Soviet border-has
suddenly become a_ problem.
Although Mao Tse-tung
declared, at the VII Congress of
the Communist Party of China,
that the U.S.S.R. had been the
first nation in the world to annul
unequal treaties and that no
unequal treaties existed between
China and the U.S.S.R., now
there are border problems which
are forcing the U.S.S.R. to shift
troops to the Far East.

“This is opening up a front in
the face of mounting threats
from the Bonn government in
Europe. Bonn and Peking are
two governments demanding
frontier changes and both
orientate on ways to accomplish
these ends. Bonn is demanding a
return of G.D.R. and Polish
territories ceded after World
War II. It is these policies that

i

“What do they mean — EXCESS

profits. Profits are NEVER
excessive!”

are a threat to world peace. We |
are compelled, then, to face UP |
to the grim reality that the Mae
line endangers world peace. -
“The Maoists are beinning !
flirt with the United States, They
now think it okay to work out #
deal with the U.S.A., as long ast!
is directed against the U.S.S.B
This is a shameful fact,”’ he said.
‘Unity, as the world conference
of Communist Parties agree:
would bring about the dramall¢
change in the world situatiom
when we could speak of ¢
complete defeat of imperialis™
an end to war, and the possibility |
of a pieaceful path to socialism
Turning to domestic politics:
Mr. Kashtan asked: ‘Wha
changes has the Trudeau
administration carried throug!’
Taxes and interests go up. 2”
poverty continues. Nothing as
been eradicated. Instead °
tackling these problems.
sees a policy soft to monopoly
and hard against the people. *
speaks for the interests of

See KASHTAN, pg. 11

Project 200 :
made fo pay

Fight saves city —
half a-million

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

As a result of a battle put UP 2)
some of us in City Council.
couver taxpayers will be Sav
almost half a million dollars:

Here’s how it came about. he

Council was considering t
granting of developmé
permits for Project 200. Involy ;
in this was the closing of ie
CPR viaduct which now links 4
north end of Granville street
the north end of Burrard Stree 4
Closing this down would cass
present “‘through’’ traffic 1 |
funnelled back to Hastings
Granville. nd

The solution is to ex!
Cordova Street, which now & +t
at Granville, to Howe. The on
would be approximately
million. ol

A number of aldermen ue
the city to pay the whole pill
this extension. It would ng
passed but for the Ste.
objection raised by a few of 4
We pointed out that:

’ (a) The extension of U
from Granville to Howe ! the
necessary because 9 |
construction of Project 200.
(b) Project 200 will b
directly from this extensio?- ried

(c) It has been Council P® val
to make developers pay un¥S
development costs caus?
them. wh
» After a stiff battle thos¢ |
wanted to give the CPR-Prol
200 developers this $1 millio?
gave in somewhat. The co™ nat |
mise finally agreed on was
the city would pay 54 pet ©
and the Project 200 devel
46 per cent.

My stand was that the cP
and the Project 200 people si
pav the whole shot. But is
with this compromise it "Tio!
a saving of almost half a ™! it
dollars. That made the
well worth while.

a

enelit 4

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