Representatives of seven community organizations includin
Bruce Yorke appeared before Vancouver city council Tuesd.

ig Committee of Progressive Electors president
jay in a bid to have a $10 million allotment for

housing included in the five-year plan which will be presented to the electorate again this November. Five

aldermen blocked the motion but a majority was later achieved on a motion callin

the finance committee's recommendation of $2 million.

LABOR COMMENT

By JACK PHILLIPS

Labor’s Manifesto for Canada,
adopted at the May Convention of
the Canadian Labor Congress, is
being widely debated.

The draft policy statement of the
Communist Party of Canada, now
being discussed in preparation for
the convention in October, makes
specific reference to the Manifesto.

“The working class is absolutely
correct in demanding a decisive
voice in all questions of concern to
it, something which our Party has
called for over many years. This is
reflected in part in the demands
advanced in the CLC Manifesto.
However, the way to achieve this is
by restricting monopoly and ex-
tending the rights of the trade
unions to include the right of
working people to participate in
running the economy at the factory
level and the economy as a whole.
This means that collective
bargaining must be enlarged in
scope to include such questions as:
economic and social policy, safety,
technological change, investment
policy, health, the moving of
plants, ‘manpower training and
manpower planning.”

The draft statement warns
against class. collaboration,
designed to solicit the support of
workers for co-determination, the
only aim of which would be to
provide maximum profits for in-
dustry. The tripartism advanced
by the Manifesto is defined as
having ‘‘a_ similar class
collaborationist content’? and as
opening the door to corporatism.

Section 87 of the party document
sums up the party position on long-
term objectives for the labor
movement:

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“Collective bargaining itself
cannot solve the basic problems of
the working class. The battle to
enlarge collective bargaining must
go side by side with the fight for
democratic nationalization and
democratic planning, and for the
election of a democratic, anti-
monopoly -government to im-
plement such a program and to
open the door to a fundamental
reorganization of society on a
socialist basis.”

On July 19, Joe Morris, president
of the CLC, delivered a major
address on the Manifesto to a
seminar at Simon Fraser
University. Also participating was
David Lewis, former NDP leader.

Morris argued that Bill C-73 was
“the first peace-time legislation by
government to control the end
result of collective bargaining. Not
only did it strike at fundamentals
of trade unionism but the
procedures under the regulations
also made each employer an ex-
tension of the state in enforcing the
legislation.”

According to Morris, the CLC is
no longer a remote body to rank
and file trade unionists. “It is
immediate and it is their one
strong defence against arbitrary
government.”

One of the reasons for adopting
the Manifesto, Morris said, was
“the acceptance of the provincial
NDP governments’ wage control
legislation.” Here we had two
governments representing the

political arm of labor siding with |

the federal Liberals in striking at
the most fundamental principles of
trade unionism.

“They either side with the labor
movement from which they sprang
and the working people who sup-
port them or they side with the
corporations and the monied class.
This is the choice they must make.
For both our sakes, let us hope they
choose wisely. For the route they
choose to travel is likely to affect
the future political institutions for

_ some time to come.”’

The role of the federal NDP in
fighting wage controls was
protrayed as positive. The truth is
that the federal NDP caucus op-
posed the Trudeau controls on the
basis that they should be more
“equitable” and has done little to
mobilize the working class against
wage controls. It is equally true

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JULY 30, 1976—Page &

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that taken as a whole, the NDP
policy is two-faced, with the
federal caucus nominally opposing
wage controls while provincial
NDP governments go along with
Trudeau.

The major objective of the CLC
in advancing the Manifesto was
summarized by Morris as. follows:

“The Manifesto is a demand for
an equal voice for labor in the
affairs of the nation. The price of
our cooperation is an equal share
in the decision-making powers
over all forms of income, including
investments, prices, profits and
not just wages and salaries.”’

Morris claimed that labor has
become a new political power in
Canada. ‘For all political pur-
poses, the CLC has become a
political party, for all but electoral
purposes.”’

Speaking of the CLC’s
relationship with the NDP, Morris
said the Congress has no thought of
abandoning its links with that
party. ‘“‘What we visualize taking
place is a closer rélationship and
inter-dependency between the
movement and the NDP as it has
happened historically in Europe.”’
He made no further elaboration,
except to call for a strong labor
movement and a strong NDP.

The overall strategy behind the
Manifesto was defined as follows:
“In the short term, to eliminate
wage controls. In the long term, to
achieve the aims of the
Manifesto.” ‘A prerequisite for
entering the tripartite structure is
the elimination of wage controls. If
it takes a general strike to achieve
this, then we are prepared to go
that route.”

David Lewis, along with other
prominent NDP leaders, expressed
concern that the CLC was moving
away from the NDP. They voiced
the fear that prime minister
Trudeau would regard _ the
Manifesto as a bargaining posture
and work out a deal with the CLC
that would leave organized labor
with ‘the hole in the doughnut.”

Lewis claimed that the
Manifesto was contradictory and
placed too much emphasis on
“labor wanting power.”

Clearly on the defensive in
relation to the NDP in Manitoba
and Saskatchewan, Lewis said that
he could understand the CLC
criticism from its viewpoint and

cont'd from pg. 1
security and police forces. Prime
minister Manley stressed that
since no such official tapes existed,
the recordings could only have
been made by some group with
sophisticated electronic eqiaipment
monitoring and recording all police
and military movements.

Manley, whose People’s National
Party government has embarked
on a progressive course since its
election in 1972, has been a target
of a major destabilization cam-
paign for some months but that
campaign was intensified early
this year following his New Year’s
address when he_ rejected
capitalism development for
Jamaica and announced new
alignments in domestic and foreign
policy.

The new economic policies were
aimed at reducing Jamaica’s
dependence on trade with the U:S.,
repatriating natural resources and

agreed with it. But he expressed
sympathy with the position of those
governments on the basis that they
were elected to serve ‘‘all the
people, not just organized labor.”

Cliff Scotton, NDP provincial
secretary, argued that the
Manifesto was placed before an
unsuspecting convention and that
it should first have been discussed
at lower levels.

Colin Gabelmann, BG:
Federation of Labor political
education director and a former
NDP MLA, questioned the role of
Parliament under a tripartite
system. Like Lewis and other
NDPers, he argued that the ob-
jectives of the Manifesto could be
achieved only if there was an NDP
government.

Morris replied that while it
would be preferable to have an
NDP government, it was not
necessary. To support his point, he
argued that co-determination in
Germany was built up under a
conservative government -and
continued under a coalition headed
by the Social Democratic Party.
He conceded that an NDP
government would be his
preference.

Replying to a question about the
preparations for a general strike,
Morris said the CLC executive
council would soon set a date,
although it might not be announced
at that time, ‘‘for strategy
reasons.”

This dialogue points to the fact
that the Trudeau wage controls
and the crisis from which they flow
have triggered a wide debate in
CLC and the NDP circles. It is
obvious that the needs, problems
and aspirations of the working
class are coming into conflict with
the opportunistic policies ad-
vanced by many of the leaders of
the NDP and echoed by many
right-wing trade union leaders.

Communists and other left-
wingers in the labor movement
welcome the debate which is
Opening up and will make their
contribution. However, at this
Stage, the most pressing item on
labor’s agenda is _ all-out
mobilization for the general strike.
Once the working class is in motion
across the country, the debate will
assume a deeper and more
significant meaning.

promoting agricultural and
dustrial development.

Of central importance was tHe
government’s decision —
nationalize the five or-produciflg
plants in Jamaica and Manley,
demand that higher taxes be pal
on the export of bauxite, the basi
raw material used in the
production of aluminum and #4
major Jamaican resource. =I.

Jamaica is the primary sour)
for bauxite for the thre
multinational aluminum com
panies including the Aluminull
Company of Canada (Alcan). |

Alcan, together with a number ®
other companies including
Bank of Nova Scotia, the Canadial
Imperial Bank of Commer
several insurance companies 4
the Royal Bank had earlier form®
the Private Sector Organization ©
Jamaica which has been a maj
motive force in the afhy
government campaign. i

The Private Sector “ean

first began a program of econo™
sabotage, shutting down mine
slashing bauxite and sugél
production and forcing the closul®
of international credit to UF
Manley government. F
The economic subversion W:
followed by a wave of violence @
terrorist gangs carried 0
assassinations.

Twenty-0m
members of the People’s Nation@
Party were murdered in the per!
between mid-February and eal
April. é

A fire was set in one communil)
in which more than 200 homes wel€
razed and 11 people killed, eight ©
them children. a

Manley declared a state of
emergency June 18 and begall)
making key arrests in a campali
that has so far served to check thé
anti-government actions. Reserves
have been called up for active duly
and hundreds of people have als?
reportedly volunteered to defen™
the country’s sovereighnty.

Barbados, Trinidad and Tobag?
and Guyana have extended an ”
million Jamaican dollar credit #
the country to offset the effects d
credit closure and the decline #
tourist revenue that has result
from the destabilization campaigl

CUPE

cont'd from pg. 1
to a group of professionals and
spend the public’s money in doint
so.” He said that such an actio#
was a shirking of their respot
sibility to the people who elect
them.

CUPE’s concern over the for
mation of the Greater Vancouve!
Labor Relations Association w@?
echoed this week in the coun¢
chambers of the municipality ?
Coquitlam as that council agree
to join the new associatiol
Alderman Jack Gilmore told thé
meeting that municipalities diffe!
from private businesses in that thé
sovereign body is actually thé
taxpayer and as many taxpayel
are CUPE members they deservé
the right to negotiate at the loca!
level.

The only other dissentiné
alderman in Coquitlam was Mike
Butler who attacked Lanskail®
statements to the effect that CUP. f
was seeking to ‘‘divide a
conquer” the municipal gover!
ments. Butler said that it was clea!
that any association which star!
off with this kind of philosophy
cannot help but lead to col
frontation with employees.

CUPE has said that it intends
appear before municipal and cit)
councils in an effort to stop 1
dividual councils from joining th®
association.

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