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By OBSERVER

“a Week’s article we drew activity to the trade union Y program adopted

ae by the Communist

.Program adopted by the epiitish Columbia thirty- a a pe. It should have Sinig7o. Ive years later, that fe rection is important aid 1979 € decade between 1960 Saw many significant Vemenn the trade union ‘bolt nt. There was an htely aw relative growth of ean unions across Beg tainly in the public %XClusiy _: Sector, but not as of fly. Some of this growth hitnot i. Permanent character, Inthar very case. H a decade we saw the rise Workers’ © of the Canadian Iron- Misinat Union in BC, tom 4 ne as a secession Uhig ranch of the American Patp anf ee same period, the Wag bor aper Workers’ Union the th n, as a break-away from Pay rational Brotherhood Vonkers wPhite and Paper Mill lave x Today, the two unions hemhep oximately the same Ben Ip in B.C. However, Dott all Canadian member- leg in © American union, with lites 4, we Provinces, is eight Maly. c. Membership of the anadian union which so leRockien Confined to west of

ie

Iter 0-197 decade saw the Mit s ational Union of Mine, With the Melter Workers merge meric Nited Steel Workers of Vaneous and the independent Uhion Yer Civic Employees aa A = Canadian Union an mployees. This Nbsts that of those unions with a Wer ec base in B.C. that Cone, celled from the Labor Only 4 during the*cold war, Allieg United Fishermen and Meousiag Union remains Nong Ace vote were taken rel © trade unions in B.C., She Merican unions, the Nery o Would receive an Soin th Ming invitation to 4 a abor Congress.

tee a Who attended the last Ration cutions of the B.C. the 410m of Labor could deny a this statement. It altany ¢ SO be noted, and tai, © the claims of some in Long theadian unions, that atest °se who fought the “Drege or the Fishermen were rio Pantives of American iets qe paid officials. i 08e aie be said that among we ‘ 10 have been con- ho vote on this issue, and a Bi : against the Fisher- clonal he 1979 Edmonton ie + “Onvention of the CLC, ran y ion sehtatives of Cana- ! Buys Tn short, not all the wit, = are in American oq a More than all the S are in Canadian

SECESSION

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» Wo a 19 "Kers of Canada in the in ttal. sp) ‘SSue of their official " T e 1B . ; 4€aflet. In explain-

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iti t tet at me Steelworkers at

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“This would perhaps be a good time to outline our concept of the PPWC as new groups of workers approach our union for charter.

‘“‘We anticipate a structure along the lines instituted by the Confederation of National Trade Unions, whereby the overall body is broken down into several sub-bodies. In our case, pulp, converting, plastics, chemical, aluminum workers, etc., would make up one group.”

In Quebec, because of certain historical developments, there are two provincial trade union centers, the CNTU and the Quebec Federation of Labor, chartered by the Canadian Labor Congress. The CLC body is the larger one, but the CNTU has almost 10 percent of the total trade union membership in Canada. This situation came into being in a period extending over half a century. The progressive elements in both centers are con- stantly striving for united action and organic unity.

Here in British Columbia, the PPWC leaders are attempting to create a new center by promot- ing secession and raiding, in opposition to the overall pressures for a united labor movement across the country.

In the same issue of The Leaflet there is an interview with Stan Shewaga, Canada President of the PPWC, repro- duced from the Skeena Weekly of Prince Rupert. A few quotes are in order:

“There is not much that can be done -within the framework of the CLC because basically the structure of the CLC is composed by and large of inter- national unions. . .

us because you didn’t order a general strike.”

‘The truth of the matter is that the call for a general strike at that time by certain ultra-left elements made it easier for right- wing leaders to advance the idea of electing a New Democratic Party government as the only solution. What was needed was an aggressive policy of mobiliz- ing the rank and file of every union around a whole number of actions designed to accelerate the tempo of resistance.

Out of such a campaign, the basis could have been laid for a general strike if necessary. A general strike against a govern- ment bill is one of the most highly political and significant actions the labor movement could undertake. You can’t create a general strike out of thin air. While leadership is an essential ingredient, there must also be certain objective factors and a favorable mood among those who have to put their jobs on the line.

UNITY NOT DIVISION

It should be noted that in the past two years, contrary to the estimation of Shewaga, the leadership of the B.C. Federa- tion of Labor, in response to pressures from below, has made a positive contribution in the fight against Bill 33. Much more remains to be done, but credit must be given where it is due.

The Federation has made a major contribution is discredit- ing the Mediation Commission, the instrument created to impose Bill 33 on the labcr movement. The trade unions have suffered some defeats, but

Secession and raiding which splits trade unions is not the way ahead for

labor. . .

Unity looking towards one all- embracing trade union centre. . .

This is the best way to advance the workers’ interests in face of growing

monopoly power. .- .

“When the infamous Bill 33 was passed, there was a responsibility of the trade union movement at that time to take the government head on

‘And if there was to be a role of organized labor in this prov- ince at that particular time, it was to defy government, because I don’t believe it was a just law, not insofar as labor is concerned. And the only way to defy it was to call a general strike.”

This is a neat but transparent screen that fails to hide the true facts. First, the PPWC were not in attendance at the special con- vention called after Bill 33 was first brought down. After all, and according to Shewaga . - - “there is nothing that can be done within the framework of the CLC”. . . so they pulled out long before Bill 33 was intro- duced. Now, from the outside, with all the wisdom of hindsight and with all the conviction of a small opposition group convinced of its:own moral

superiority, they say “You failed |

\

the Socred government hasn't had it all its own way. The boycott of the Mediation Com- mission originated by the Federa- tion is one of the chapters in its history/

When unions” like the Teamsters and Policemen announce, after bitter exper- ience, that they will never again appear before the Commission, the government can’t be very happy.

What we see here in the PPWC is yet another example of the secessionist bug which has bitten the B.C. trade union move- ment on so many occasions, and in most cases, with disastrous results. :

Instead of fighting within the established trade union movement and ruthlessly opposing right-wing policies, it is much easier to draw up an ideal constitution, promise to right every wrong, offer cheaper dues, and set up a brand new union guaranteed in advance not to produce any fakers, porkchop- pers, sellout artists or top-level interference. If it was that easy, Great Britain, with a purely

Unity not division need of labor

ase CALLE EH

national trade union movement, would have a perfect model for us to follow, which is not the case.

‘Nothing that has been said in this article is meant as a defence of the policies of the Inter- national which led to the break- away in B.C., and the formation of the PPWC. However, when the leaders of the PPWC proclaim their objective of setting up another trade union centre based on secession and raiding (which they call liberat- ing) it raises important policy questions for the entire labor movement.

The lumber and pulp industry in this province has reached a very high degree of integration at the point of production and is dominated by a handful.of monopoly concerns. There are four key unions in the industry: International Woodworkers of America, International Brother- hood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, Pulp and Paper Workers .of Canada, and United Papermakers and Paper- workers of Canada. As the futile strike of the PPWC proved, when they failed to change the settle- ment pattern laid down by their rival, the International Union, what is needed is a mutual co- operation and assistance pact involving all unions in the industry, with the ultimate objective of one union.

AUTONOMY

Such a degree of unity is not easy to achieve and will not be won overnight. The fight to reach these goals is not separate from the continuing fight within the main trade union bodies fora wider degree of Canadian autonomy.

In a recent speech to a. con- ference of the Canadian Society for Industrial Security, John Fryer, General-Secretary of the B.C. Government Employees called upon the international unions to give the following rights to their Canadian member- ship: .

e A Canadian office to speak for the union in Canada.

e Union leaders in Canada to be elected by the Canadian membership.

e A Canadian policy confer- ence to serve the needs of Cana- dian members.

e Canadian union dues to remain largely in Canada and be controlled by Canadian union leaders.

e No collective agreement negotiated in Canada to acquire approval from the union’s head office in the U.S.

On the issue of the right to merger in Canada without prior consent from the USA, Fryer fell short of taking a forthright position that Canadian branches of American unions should be allowed to merge with other unions with or without consent from the USA.

The kind of a situation that we see developing in B.C. acquires a momentum and centrifugal force of its own quite inde- pendent of the wishes of many of its initiators. Acts which would “A : normally be considered unprincipled on the grounds of expediency and truth is diffi- cult to extract from a web of conflicting claims and distor- tions.

_For example, one of the justi- fications for ‘‘liberating’’ the Kitimat workers from Steel is the alleged failure of the leader- ship in the 1970 negotiations and strike. If that criticism is valid, it must also be noted that the same yardstick should be used with equal enthusiasm. in measuring the performance of purely Canadian unions. If this was done, a good number of them would leave much to be desired.

This writer knows of a number ‘of situations where members of Canadian unions are dissatis- fied and would like to secede and join American unions, with the hope of winning higher wages. If raiding on this basis became the order of the day and on a wide scale, the labor movement would be the loser.

How does the fight for autonomy and independence relate to the need for a united labor movement, on the basis of opposition to the monopolies who dominate the economy? How does it relate to the key question of the defence of the basic, class interests of the workers? To what extent do branches of American unions enjoy autonomy? Is autonomy an outdated slogan and should it be replaced by independence?

These and other questions will be dealt with in our next and con- cluding article-in this series.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1971 PAGE 3