By JACK PHILLIPS

Last week’s convention of the
Federation of Labor will be
ed about in labor circles for
any years.

At the conference of the
Iworkers Union, held prior to
€ opening of the convention,
‘nn Williams, a director of that
on, referred to Barrett’s back-
Work legislation in these terms:
‘It is all the more unfortunate
use it has opened a wider
€ach between the New
-mocratic Party and its natural
€s, the labor movement.”’

The announcement of a
OVincial election on December 11
Mme late on the first day of the
;-hvention, after the government
d been sharply condemned for
‘amendments to the Labor Code
‘Bil 84) and its back-to-work
islation (Bill 146). From that
Point, great pains were taken to
€al the breach. The main
Sument of NDP members and
porters from the Federation
€cutive and some affiliates was
“True, the NDP has done

Harold) Pritchett, of Port
“oquitlam writes: ‘Having spent
Ver 50 years of my life in the
Odworking industry, some of
“lat time as an elected trade union
“cer, I feel it is my duty to ex-
‘Press my concern over the passage

Bill 146, with only three
dissenting votes, by our Barrett
P government.

Premier Barrett states publicly
he tche is a socialist, but actually
__'S areformist. He states that he

resents all the peoples’ in-
sts, both capital and labor and
*refore, he sees no struggles or
Nflicts of interest between
“onal or international monopoly
d the little people who are the
ms and not fhe cause of
mMployment and its twin
Wenace, inflation.

This refusal to face up to the
. torical fact that there are two
"ain classes in capitalist society
the majority which produces
he vthing but owns nothing, and
© minority which produces
Ing, but owns everything, will
assist our premier in-obtaining
results he wishes to achieve.
© middle class, which sits bet-
jen the two main classes,
anges from day to day or week to
according to the cycle of
°m or bust which dominates
\bitalist society, and are as
€rable as the working class.

ot

many things we cannot agree with
or accept. But the time has come to
say nothing about those things. Let
us accentuate the positive things
they have done. If the Socreds
come back, they will be worse than
the NDP.” In short, go along with
Barrett and sweep the question of
labor policy out of sight, at least
until after the election.

True, not every delegate agreed
with this approach and there were
opposition voices. However, it was
the majority sentiment, although
many went along with serious
reservations.

The report of the legislative
committee, adopted by the con-
vention before the election was
announced, contains the following
statements:

e On October 7, the government,
in a frenzy of political op-
portunism, brutally abrogated the
rights of working people in the
province by passing the Collective
Bargaining Continuation Act. This
Act has set back the hundred-year

struggle of working men and .

women in B.C. for the right to

Premier Barrett, like all social
democratic politicians down
through history, will find that he
can not represent two masters, no
more than the lamb can lie down
with the lion, unless the lamb is in
the lion’s stomach.

This is the first time that we in
B.C. have had an NDP govern-
ment, and as I have said before,
they have made some important
improvements in government. At
the same time, it will be the°first
time that any government has gone
to the people on an anti-labor issue
as this government is doing. He no
doubt believes in the old adage,
“He who fights and runs away,
lives to fight another day.”

It appears to me that our
premier, in calling this snap
election in mid winter and with
more than a year left in his term of
office, is seeking ‘an electoral
advantage over the Social Credit
party, rather than sticking to the
principles contained in the NDP
platform which was adopted by the
NDP convention and presented to
the voters in the last election. I
may add that the Socreds are the
party of monopoly and therefore
constitute the main enemy of the
working class.

I for one disagree with the
premier’s statement that, “The
public can elect or defeat me as
they see fit,’’ and would prefer to
see a stand to fight on principle.

will be increased substantially.

Union
~ & all of them.

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will be available to break new ground during the election

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aos

refuse to work for inadequate
wages by withholding their labor.

e No other government in
Canada has yielded so quickly and
transparently to the cries of the
open mouth moderators for action
to subjugate “‘big labor’.

e Tosuggest, as premier Barrett
did, that this is neutral legislation,
is an insult to the intelligence of
working people and a complete
betrayal of all workers who have
actively supported the NDP.

Len Guy, Federation Secretary-
Treasurer, speaking in the debate
on this report, summed up the
philosophy that made him the
target of many attacks from within
the trade union movement: “Put
labor before the party.”

Then came the announcement of
the December election and with it
came a major shift in emphasis. A
resolution from the New West-
minster Labor Council, aimed at
stopping Federation officers from
publicly criticizing the Barrett
government, was discussed behind
the scenes, amended and brought
to the floor. As amended and
carried, it called for all-out support
for the NDP in the election cam-
paign. Len Guy supported the
resolution and those who were out
to nail his hide to the wall also
supported it. IWA spokesmen, who
had been very critical of Guy
earlier, because of his attempts to
promote unity in the wood and pulp
dispute, complimented him for his
declaration in favor of the NDP.

From this point on, most of the
big guns stopped shooting at the
labor record of the Barrett
government. In short, an armistice
was declared. All they wanted to
talk about were those things for
which Barrett could be given
credit, like Mincome, Phar-
macare, minimum wage, land
control and the taking over of a
relatively minor group of bankrupt
enterprises. In short, a
moratorium was declared on all
criticism. The order of the day was
thus stated: “The NDP is my
party, right or wrong, because if
the Socreds are returned, they will
be worse than the NDP.”

OBITUARY

NORMAN McKENNEY

The working class movement
lost one of its best friends last week
with the passing of Norman
McKenney in Surrey. He was 84.

Norman was born in Novar,
Ontario, and lived there until 1920
when he moved westward, first to
Saskatchewan as a homesteader,

- and then to Surrey in 1934 where he

lived until his death. Like many
other young men of the 1930's,
Norman was. drawn into the
struggle of the working class by his
experiences during the depression.
He was one of the early members
ot 2. the Surrey _ Workers
Organization and was soon to join
the Communist Party.

Though he was confined to
hospital for the last year of his life,
Norman McKenney generously

supported the activities of the
Communist Party, the B.C. Peace —

Council and was a_ consistent
contributor to the Tribune. Loved
and respected by all that knew
him, Norman McKenney will be
sorely missed in the struggle for
peace and socialism.

In accordance with Norman’s

-expressed desires, his friends

contributed $125 to the Tribune in
lieu of flowers. We join with all of
Norman’s many friends in ex-
tending our most sincere con-
dolences to members of his family

_ in their time of loss.

When Barrett spoke on Friday
afternoon, he started with a big
lead because of the earlier ar-
mistice that had been declared.
However, it should be noted that
the 30-member delegation from the
Canadian Paperworkers
delegation was absent from the
hall, as a protest against being
legislated back to work. A number
of other delegates did not join in
the applause, as their form of
protest. :

Barrett’s speech was straight
showmanship. Outside of a brief
reference to differences between
the labor movement and the
government, he made no mention
of labor policy. In effect, he called
upon the labor movement to
support him in spite of his labor
policy which has been sharply
condemned by the Federation and
its affiliates.

How this line will be accepted by
the rank and file and to what extent
they will get out and work for the
NDP is another matter. After all,
Barrett has frankly stated that he
will be asking for an endorsement
of his back-to-work legislation and
his support of the Trudeau wage
guidelines, and he has inferred that
we may get more of the same.

A number of speakers in the
debate on the legislative com-
mittee report advanced the con-
cept of the unity of all democratic
forces, including. the trade union
movement, progressive NDPers
inside and outside the legislature,
the Communist Party, tenants,
small farmers and others who find
themselves in opposition to the
monopolies. Homer Stevens of the
Fishermen called upon the trade
union. movement. to maintain its
independence during the election
by pressing all candidates to take a
position on vital issues affecting
working people.

Rod Doran, an active member of
the Longshoremen’s Union and a
member of the executive of the
New Westminster Labor Council,
received an attentive hearing when
he announced he would be a can-
didate in New Westminster for the

Communist Party. This was in the.

debate of the political education
committee which called for all-out
support to the NDP, three days
after the announcement of the
election. He made it clear that the
Communist Party saw the Socreds
as'the main enemy, not the NDP,
but was highly critical of the NDP
for its ani-labor legislation and its
retreat before the pressure of the
monopolies and multi-nationals.
He pledged to fight for the program
of the Federation if elected.

The fact that Doran got as much
applause as Syd Thompson of the
IWA, who made a_ demogogic
speech supporting the NDP,
speaks well for the attention being
paid to Communist spokesmen in
the labor movement. It also
reflects the fact that many

delegates were torn between their
loyalty to the NDP and their fear of
a return to power by the Socreds,
on the one hand, and their dismay,
on the other hand, over the
betrayal of the NDP government
when it brought down Bill 84 and
then the back-to-work legislation.
I had the opportunity during the
convention to speak to a solid trade
unionist who had been a member of
the NDP for many years and then
quit the party when the back-to-
work legislation was enacted. “I
was despondent for some weeks,”’
he told me, ‘‘and I was thinking of
- quitting politics in disgust. Then I
decided to look around for a
genuine socialist party that stood
for the things I believed in. I
thought back over my years in the
trade union movement and _ it
struck me that only the Com-
munists had a consistent policy in
favor of the workers. Along with
many other delegates, I went to a

* public meeting on November 5 to

hear Bill Kashtan speak on wage
controls. That convinced me to join
the Communist Party and that’s
what’ I have done.”’

In closing, I want to thank those
NDP-minded delegates who spoke
to me about some of the articles I
have written for the Tribune, even
though many of the comments
were critical. I was asked to
reconcile what I had written about
the Socreds being the main enemy
with the fact that the Communist
Party is running candidates in this
election. Why not support the NDP,
instead of running candidates?

An article could be devoted to
that subject alone. Suffice it to say

‘that the NDP is not entitled to a
monopoly of the labor vote. The
Communist Party is running on the
basis of its own program and
policies. Among the policies ad-
vanced by the Communist Party is
the unity of all labor and
democratic forces, around im-
mediate aims and objectives.

It is not the Communist Party
which stands in the way of such
unity, but right-wing leaders of the
NDP and candidates. The Com-
munist candidates will direct their
main fire at the Socreds, but at the
same time they will criticize the
Barrett government for its anti-
labor legislation and for its retreat
in the face of big business
pressure. As the only party in the
election which will defend the
genuine needs of the working
people, and which has socialism as
its ultimate goal, the Communist
Party would be delinquent if it did
not participate in this election as
vigorously as possible.

UNIONIZED OFFICES

The number of office workers
covered by union contracts has
nearly doubled over the past five
years to about 33 per cent of the
total number of workers in that
category, according to a federal
Labor Department survey.

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 14, 1975—Page 11

“HALLSFORRENT =~

Election call changed B.C. Fed tone —

PS neo ae ak ce