REPORT FROM EUROPE :

" lities

; the socialist sector of the. world.

~ was the local government.

~ Only labor press tells truth —

By TIM BUCK

about people’s democracies _

May / will mark the beginning of Labor
Press Month in Canada, during which the vital
role of labor and. progressive newspapers in the
fight for peace over the years, will be highlighted.
Tim Buck, from Budapest, writes of what he
has seen in Hungary and links it to the labor
press and its task of bringing, the truth to ever
greater numbers~ of Canadian workers.

ea _, BUDAPEST
A VISIT to the People’s Democratic Republics
s toray provides almost immeasurable examples of the
expanding possibilities now opening up for the working-
class press — and also of its increasingly vital impor-

- tance. I myself was impressed first of all with the

absolutely glowing possibilities that developments in the
People’s Democracies offer to our press; but, as time
goes on, | realize more and more 3
that in-its relationship to the press, ‘
the real lesson of all that I am see-
ing is that the working class press
in North America now has greater
tasks and more concrete responsibi-
than ever before —- and,
‘therefore, is more important. ;

If every worker in Canada.
could visit any one of the People’s”
Democracies and see the tremendous
and stirring changes by which the people are raising their
material and cultural living standards, the. circulation
of our working class press would rapidly shoot up by
leaps and bounds. But, because as yet only a. few
workers are visiting the People’s Democracies, it is’
even more important that we fight to strengthen our
press- and take the truth to the workers about the good
new life that the people are building for themselves in

&

pe ao
At the end:of March, I visited Tatabanya, one

of the most important coal rhining districts of Hungary, |
-a’district from which a considerable number of Hun-

garian workers now in Canada came. Now the changes
in Tatabanya are not’ greater than in other places;
indeed I have already seen some “areas such as the
industrial district in Budapest, which became known as
‘‘Angel’s Ground,’’ where changes are ‘much greater.

“But because it is so perfectly average, what I saw in

‘Tatabanya. made me wish that every worker in Canada
could spend a few days there.

The district has been one of the main sources of
coal for Hungary ever since industrial development .
started. Until the People’s government established. the
present basic law that the industries of the country

must be operated entirely to serve the people, the con-
- ditions of the miners and their families were deplorable.

Tuberculosis was rampant, infant mortality ex

high, illiteracy widespread. Their poor dwellings were

clustered around the mines or in one of the four villages.

that were formed by the four largest concentrations of |

Poittives, 23) .2' amiga,
__ Neither the: area.as a whole nor anyone of the
villages were permitted any municipal status, any element

of local self-government or public services — anything

of that sort might have infringed upon the ownership
rights of the man who owned all the priceless coal- :

bearing land in this district and all its 13 mines. _The
area was simply, the district of the Tata mines (Tata-
Banya). Pe) ac rieatienr 3
‘The family. which owned the district,~ ruled it

on high ground surrounded by beautiful gard
almost the only trees in the entire district. That family
All decisions — about

‘ ~ everything — were made in the ‘Castle, as the miners —
een ea,
oe ae Today, that mansion, with its grounds as _beauti-
fully kept as ever, is the sanitorium for the mmers and

tiny elementary school

-- | thirst-quencher, light narcotic and even as an aph-

from a magnificent mansion, a veritable palace senting 3
: : ens and

their families, operated directly by themselves through
their union. They have even added a new wing to
its already vast accomodation so that nursing mothers
who need treatment, rest, or medical care, can be
separated from the semi-vacation atmosphere of the
sanitorium proper. ; .

- Before the liberation of Hungary in _1945, : there
was no: public transportation for the miners (who
sometimes had. to walk miles to and from their work)
between the villages, or between the district and the rest
of Hungary. Although only 35, miles from Budapest
by road and 47 by rail, workers were isolated — few
of them indeed had ever even been to Budapest. There

~ Was ‘an establishment called a hospital, for which the

miners had to pay, but the limit of its capacity in

emergencies was 46 patients — for an area with a

population of 42,000 people, 12,000 of them working
in and around the mines.

There was no provision whatever for medical care
of expectant mothers or of confinement; the midwife or
the neighbors attended to such details, There was one
: in a (population of 42,000
people) but no high school, no technical school and, it
is scarcely necessary to add, no kindergarten. There
was no public library, no theater, no sports arena or
other public facilities for recreation.

Today Tatabanya is an orgamzed municipality,
under that name, incorporating all the villages and settle-
ments under full democratic local self-government. A

‘modern free» bus service operated by the mines to and _

from work and there is a regular bus service to and
from Budapest. . Previously, the Hungarians built those
beautiful buses for ‘‘export only,” now they build them
for thefnselves. “‘After a while,” said one of the bus
drivers to Comrade Julius Nyerki, who was with me,
‘“when we've done the more pressing things, we'll surface
our streets like the highway to Lake Balaton.” (Lake
Balaton was the summer resort of the rich; its scores
of luxurious: summer hotels and chateaux are now

operated by the workers through their unions for workers -

vacation).

“(Next week Tim Buck will describe the tremen-

dous change that has come to Tatabanya; and of the
people who live and work there.) Bae

“And Farley is his prophet

a peng COLA INC., of which James A. Far-
~ N\uley is now vice-president, and King Ibn Saud
of Arabia have concluded a deal under. which
~ Coca-Cola booths will be established at main
~ gases on the routes used by pilgrims to Mecca
| and other Muslim holy places.
* Telepress quotes reports that the Arabian king’s
-rakeoff for allowing Coca Cola to establish its
oases booths will be about $100,000. —
_. ‘Thus, in addition ‘to the oil royalties paid by
the’ Rockefeller and: other U.S. interests, King
Ibn Saud will receive a substanti dollar pay-
ment for all Coca Cola consumed by the faithful.
Already a campaign to popularise ‘Coca Cola
has been launched by methods of whisper common
to these Arab lands. Tales have been circulated
by hired whisperers, extolling Coca Cola as a

rodisiac. SS tana
The Coca Cola booths will be decorated with
pin-up girls, and “‘o attractions” will be pro-

houses. ness :
“The famous coffee-sellers of Mecca are thus
facing the same fate as that which has overtaken
Italy’s lemonade sellers, who are . being swamped

vided to lure the pilgrims away from the coffee

off the market by the Marshall Plan flood of Coca

Cola.

LABOR FOCUS
Gov't breaking |
‘own labor laws

ESPECT the law of the land,” “do nothing unlaw-
ful.” How many times have you heard that admoni-
’ tion from big business spokesmen? Wide-awake people
know, of course, that those who give such advice do so
with tongue in cheek. Big business not only makes the
laws to suit itself and to protect its interests but it
changes them when labor manages to squeeze out any
advantage from such laws. Nor has big business ever
shown any scruples about by-passing,
subventing or openly violating laws
when it wants too.

You and I know this only too well.
We are, nevertheless, shocked at times
by the brazeness with which they do it.
The flagrant and cynical way they are
doing it at present against the Cana-
dian seamen is just such an occasion.
Lest anyone think me biased or partisan
I will let Fred Jones, the labor editor
of the Tory Toronto Telegram, tell the
story. It is sordid and revolting:

“Under the heading of things we'd like to know is how

and why the AFL Seaferers’ International Union con-
_ cluded - ai in pine Senator Norman Paterson’s
Ss ne without t having taken the legal] steps
to ere the Canadian Seamem’s Union as bargaining -

By J. B. SALSBERG

“|... That a contract has been signed between the
SIU and the Paterson company is confirmed by vice-
_ president John Paterson. That the SIU was never cer-
tified on behalf of those engaged aboard the company’s
ships is confirmed by the Dominion’s labor department
at Ottawa. That the CSU was the recognized bargaining
agent for years is proven by signed contracts.

“According to federal labor laws, when a union seeks
to replace a rival group as bargaining representative it
is required to apply for certification through the Labor
Relations Board and show proof it has signed up the
Parad of employees in a unit. But the SIU didn’t do

“We suggest to Hal Banks, Canadian director of the
_ SIU, that his organization has set a dangerous example
which could backfire on the whole labor movement.
Eventual result might lead to confusion, division and
Seven of the trade union movement. Circumstances
suge: there’s a responsibility on the government
assure that its labor legislation is not flagrantly violated.
The onus is also on AFL Jeaders to assure that their rep-
resentatives abide by Canadian regulation.”

The Telegram’s labor editor contributed, of course,
his two-bits a year ago when the same Banks gang be-
~-came’ the union-breaking agency for the Canada Steam-
- ship Lines on the Great Lakes and for the deepsea ship-

_ ping interests. Jones was, as might be expected, :
his hat in the air when Frank Hall brought the SIU to _
Canada to do just what it has done. But even Jones is —
evidently shocked by the latest bit of skulduggery. —

 @

What the Telegram pretends innocence about is the
well-known fact that the government, far from seeing
to it “that its labor legislations is not flagrantly violated,”
is actually the chief architect of the whole dastardly
scheme as it Was a year ago in the deepsea strike. Senator
. Paterson is a Liberal and quite at home in the federal
labor department. Arthur MacNamara, Mitchell’s deputy _
_ minister, engineers the whole business. The Telegram
knows that. Nor can that Tory journal successfully pre-
tend it doesn’t know it is the purpose of the government,
the shipowners and the big shots who stand behind them
to follow the course they are following precisely because’
they know it will “backfire on the whole labor movement”
and because it will “lead to confusion, division and weak- _
ening of the whole trade union movement.” ae

~ ht hats hele objecthic That's W c
baiting as a cloak for smashing Soe creneet x, og We
of Canadian unions, the CSU. That’s why the U.S. govern-

i

‘the CSU. So to hell with a vote, to hell with:

‘The Telegram isn’t as naive as it t what.
of the labor ovement? What of the tender ont tee

the
Congress? What of any trade union officer as
a spark of decency nat wT wand

who are sold down
movement?

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 21, 1950—PAGE 9
/ ; ae