United action of the trade union movement on a global scale is the only way to penetrate

the world of the transnational corporations,

French union leader Alain Stern told the second annual international conference on trade union unity, held recently in Toronto.

That conference was an important event for trade unionists everywhere, who recognize that the concentrated power of the transnational Corporations is at the root of the current Capitalist-world-wide economic crisis and the threat of nuclear holoaust.

In the weeks ahead, the Tribune will present exerpts from contributions made by trade union leaders taking part in this important con- ference.

By ALAIN STERN

Many trade unions do not sufficiently understand or are unwilling to concretely face up to the fact of the centralized character of the transnational corporations.

In everything trade unions as subsidiaries of transna- tionals do, they have to confront not only the manage- ment of the factory but also the centralized policy of the Monopoly, which in pursuit of its objectives will man- Oeuvre to counter the actions of the workers. It should be noted that as far as this aspect is concerned the mono- polies have so far had essentially a free hand.

In almost all instances, organized labor lacks real co- Ordination and concentration which can mobilize and Organize a challenge to the transnationals.

What is needed are contacts and discussions among all the unions concerned so that the requirements and the Possibilities of each are taken into account in order to arrive at a common expression of all that is understand- able and attainable. The economic questions which di- rectly influence the industrial future of each factory, and thus the job situation, are aspects which the trade unions at each enterprise and at each transnational would obvi- Ously want to deal with jointly.

The character and objectives which monopoly has given international production often forces workers to Compete against each other. An awareness of this situa- tion and the joint presentation of demands can be the foundation for concretizing what must become real international co-operation that will satisfy needs.

The same is true of the transfer of technology and of its Mastering by those concerned; this question which is linked to the technological revolution, is an extremely important pre-occupation for all.

A Major Gap

Without any doubt it is in the realm of trade union Tights that one can encounter the strongest and most immediate desire for joint action that takes into account all the facets of workers’ lives. There is genuine recogni- tion of the need for information about the general situa- tion of the transnational to whom the enterprises belong.

This requirement is being expressed for the creation of a body which on he level of each transnational, as a whole, will enable representatives of the workers to Meet at regular intervals with their employers.

the transnationals is the lack of any direct voice or inter- vention by workers in the unilateral decisions taken by the head offices.

Thus we should be looking at action on two levels. We are faced on the level of trade union activity itself, of creating conditions so that all trade unions representing workers employed by the same transnational can join and work together, and at the same time fighting to get the head office to agree to meetings between represen- tatives of trade unions at all the enterprises and sub- sidiaries, and the board of directors at head office. -

. There must be no hiding the difficulties that this in- volves. And equally, there should be no underestimation of the possibilities presented to us through its achieve- ment. In this respect there have been certain accom- plishments which can give us an idea of the perspectives of our activity.

As an example of the potential for closer contact, at Renault, in reply to the invitation of the trade union committee of the enterprise, 57 delegates from Renault factory and trade union committees around the world fathered for an international conference of the Renault group at the end of November, 1981 in. France.

First Steps

It was agreed that the participants maintain closer contacts and exchange information on the evolution of Renault in their respective countries, and on the success of their struggles. They also agreed to establish a co- ordinating and information centre at Poulogne-Bil- lancourt in France, and to organize further conferences where it is hoped that the participation of other Renault trade unions around the world will be amplified.

This and other first steps are being paralleled by re- gional meetings of BATA workers in Africa, of Philips and General Motors in Latin America, and in many other instances. It is only the beginning, but it does show that today workers and their trade unions are becoming aware that it is no longer possible to go it alone; that to fight for and win their demands they have to be just as highly organized and informed on the international level as the transnationals they are struggling against; that their action has to be just as concentrated; that their unity has to be just as great; and, that they have to have trade union bodies established on an international level that can put their case, and the case of all workers of the group, to the head office where the decisions for the transnationals and its operations are being made.

The transnationals until now have been able to do more or less as they please because they have not been confronted in a united way by workers and their trade unions. Every conscious worker knows from exper- iences of struggle that workers can’t win anything from the bosses unless everyone stands behind the union and speaks in one concerted voice.

It is crucial that the international trade union move- ment and the trade unions at enterprises of the same transnational realize this as well.

Unity the Only Policy

The only policy is unity. Trade union leaders have to face up to the fact that trade unions of different affiliation and outlook exist at enterprises of the same transnational and if anybody — that is any group of workers — is going to win any of their own specific demands, win any of

- Unity the key in fighting transnational

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BUNE PHOTO — MIKE PHILLIPS

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CGT President Alain Stern ... “Nobody has a monopoly

on workers struggles”.

their trade union rights, they will have to work together in unity and solidarity with others of the group.

Nobody has a monopoly on the struggle, nobody has a monopoly on being the sole voice of the workers to the exclusion of everybody else. If we are really to develop the offensive against the transnationals, the international trade union movement and all trade unions everywhere will at last have to demonstrate concretely their will- ingness for united action, their desire to fight beside their fellow workers, regardless of international affiliation, for demands which they see as their own.

Bans and interdictions will have to be fought against vigorously.

United action is the only way to penetrate the world of the transnationals. United action by workers everywhere is the only voice that the transnational cor- porations will heed.

Our experience shows that the transnationals are the main force behind unemployment, plant closings, the military build-up, the prevention of equitable and just international trade, and the greatest obstacle to properity and a decent trouble-free life for workers in the capitalist and developing worlds.

Our experience also shows that with united and con- crete action against the transnationals workers’ de- mands can be won. Now is the time to act resolutely and effectively; now is the time for the trade union move- ment to begin organizing in a qualitatively new way to cast aside past differences and to go forward and win.

A leading member of the CGT, France’s largest trade union central, Alain Stern is also the general secretary of the Trade Union International of Workers in the Metal Industry, of the World Federation of Trade Unions, (WFTU).

One of the major gaps in trade union activity against

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Scientists seek ban on space weapons

By FRED WEIR Mankind is at a critical turning point, 3 the Reagan administration’s prop- oy military buildup in space represents looming path to destruction.

. That is the message of a petition drawn ee Carl Sagan, universally known as Creator of the popular Cosmos series, Richard Garwin, an IBM researcher.

ae Military expansion into space is not

fron. wow: Say these scientists, the final potter may soon become the final tin cground for humanity. The peti- On’s text:

: Jn the quarter century since the first ficial Earth satellite was launched, on Sed 3, 1957, humans have used their glob Spacefaring capability wisely — for al Communications; monitoring Which resources; for reconnaissance, World tends to moderate destabilizing

fi Po litical and military trends; and

oN erifying the compliance of nations thej

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Ww treaty obligations. The ex- N of space by men and women,

and particularly the scientific results of planetary missions and observations from space platforms, have changed our view of the universe. They have made it possible for us to understand our environment in ways which may be criti- cal in the solution of major world prob- lems. These developments have been almost wholly benign, have significantly benefitted the peoples of the Earth and represent an important aperature to a hopeful future for the human species. ‘After American nuclear explosions in space inadvertently damaged satellites of the United States and other nations in 1962, most countries of the world, includ- ing the United States and the Soviet Union, agreed in The Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 never to explode nuclear weapons in space, in the oceans or in the atmosphere. In 20 years no signatory na- tion has violated this agreement. Most nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, also adhere to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 banning from space. all weapons of mass destruction,

and, specifically, all nuclear weapons.

“But fiction writers and military strategists have for about a century romanticized the purported inevitability of warfare in space. The use of non-nu- clear weapons of more limited lethality than ‘mass destruction’, while forbidden on other celestial bodies by the 1967 trea- ty, is still permitted in Earth orbit, and in lunar, circumplanetary and _ inter- planetary space.

“We believe that the testing or deployment of any weapons in space — in part by threatening vital satellite assets — significantly increases the liklihood of warfare on Earth. The Soviet Union has tested a rudimentary anti-satellite weapons system beginning in the early 1970's, but in 1981 formally presented a draft treaty banning all space weapons and prohibiting damage to or destruction of satellites by any means.

The United States will soon begin test- ing a much more sophisticated anti-satel- lite system. Once such weapons systems

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 22, 1983—Page 5

are established in national arsenals they become very difficult to displace. Prop- osals, for example, to ban MIRVs before their deployment were rejected; today these destabilizing weapons systems are generally distributed and threaten the security of all nations. Failure to limit their deployment is now widely regret- ted. If space weapons are ever to be ban- ned, this may be close to the last moment in which it can be done.

‘“We join in urging the United States, the Soviet Union and other space-faring nations to negotiate, for their benefit and for the benefit of the human species, a treaty to ban weapons of any kind from space, and to prohibit damage to or de- struction of the satellites of any nation.”’

The petition has been signed by over 100 of America’s most eminent scien- tists, space veterans and military men.

It should be noted that the petition was drawn up before last August’s dramatic Soviet proposal, made by Yuri An- dropov, to ban all anti-satellite ; The offer was rejected by the USA.

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