Dr. Spock arrested during Washington kneel-in

WASHINGTON — Charging that Reagan’s budget cuts are “‘brutal and outrage- ous’’, noted pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock and 11 other activists were arrested on the White House lawn June 3 for conducting a “‘kneel-in’’ for restoration of funds for health care. The group knelt in prayer for about six minutes before being arrested by police. Spock told the press he opposes the Reagan budget which will transfer needed funds for social programs to the arms budget.

- More Canadian aid for Grenada OTTAWA — The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will con-, tribute $7.3-million to revitalize Grenada’s cocoa industry in an on-going program to replace low-yielding trees and bring neglected land back into production. The project will double the income of the island's 6,000 small cocoa farmers. CIDA also announced a $1.5-million grant to establish a central auto garage to replace seven seperate ones now in operation which service government, fire, police, public health, public works and other - vehicles.

ZAPU sweeps local vote in Zimbabwe BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), easily captured all 15 local seats in the country’s second largest city. ZAPU, led by Joshua Nkomo defeated candidates of prime minister Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), who managed to win only 10% of the 145,000 votes cast.

West blocking Namibia settlement LONDON — Charging that the western powers were sabotaging Namibia's liberation process, Sam Nujoma, president of the Southwest African People’s Organization (SWAPO) told a press conference here that after three years of negotiations on Namibia, “the governments of the five western powers, above all the Reagan adminstration, are

conspiring to distort the UN plan for the country’s independence." Nujoma said the western powers (including Canada) *‘want SWAPO to agree to the preservation of privileges for the racist minority and transnationals . . . and buy time for

Britons march for jobs

- LONDON — 100,000 people gather at Trafalgar Square to protest the economic disaster Caused by Prime Minister Thatcher’s policies, ending a 30-day march which began in northern England. The ‘People’s March for Jobs” highlighted the plight of Britain’s 2.5 ‘million jobless — over 10% of the country’s workforce. The march was organized by the

Trade Union Council.

continued South African occupation of Namibia.”

Flowers, orchards around a steel plant?

By LIZ ROWLEY

KREMIKOWZI, Bulgaria — The first thing that struck me on arriving at this huge steel plant, employing some 25,000 workers was how clean the air was.

Coming. from. Hamilton, where. the air stinks 24 hours a day and the pollu- tion index is always on overload, my

first thought was that the plant must be -

shut down. Yet the environment around the plant was clean too. To my surprise there was a big orchard in full blossom right next to the plant as well as a vegetable garden complete with singing birds, and bumble-bees.

This and other agricultural efforts, I found out later, were the joint property

of both union and management to pro- -

Vide rest and recreation for workers on disability, at full pay on the one hand, and free food and a little market for take-home shopping for in-plant work- rs, on the- other.

The other thing that struck me was the total absence of any housing or liv-

ing facilities anywhere near the —

Kemikowzi steel plant. It tumed out that it’s Bulgarian Government policy not to build any living accommodation within 60 kilometers, (36 miles) of the plant.

The government provides low-cost transportation to and from the steel plant and management picks up the en-

tire tab for all workers under the terms ~

of the contract between the union and Plant management.

Such tough anti-pollution laws and Controls both inside and outside the Plant have reduced the incidence of Cancer to a lower level than among the 8€neral population of Sofia, the capital. Lung diseases, the number one killer of ian steelworkers and miners, are also lower in occurrence among the

“remikowzi steelworkers than among the general population. This is also due

the shorter work hours of the steel Plant _Workers, early retirement. and Superior working conditions.

Wages and Conditions pl Kremikowzi is a fairly modern steel ant. Built in 1960 by the Soviet Union,

the last of its three blast furnaces started up in 1975. The three oxygen furnaces produce enough steel to meet 80% of the Bulgaria’s total require- ments, and the plant puts out some 2,700,000 tons of which 60% is sheet metal and the remaining 40% is bars.

The expansion program over the next five years will see the plant greatly modernized with the introduction of robots, more automation and compu- terization.

With an iron ore mine just three kilometers from the steel plant the whole operation from start to finish is done almost on the spot.

Wages in the steel industry are — esate coe eo ea wa ee ee aoe

among the highest in the country, only miners and workers in the shipbuilding industry earn more. Working condi- tions are excellent. In the sinter plant, blast furnaces and coke ovens, for example, the workers do six-hour shifts and four changes during any 24-hour period.

For these workers the shift pattern is three day shifts with two days off, three nights followed by two days off then three afternoons followed by two days

esofts

All other production workers do

four, eight-hour shifts with two days off -

while non-production workers do five, eight hour shifts a week.

Low-cost Vacations

Every worker gets a guaranteed four-week holiday every year, which they can spend, if they want to, at summer resorts owned and operated by the trade unions. For the equivalent of one week’s pay, for each adult, the Bulgarian steelworker can buy a 21-day vacation at such a resort with all the trimmings included.

Depending on the kind of work being done, there are different pension ages. In the heavy mills men retire at age 50 and women at 45, while in the rolling mills it’s 55 for men and 50 for women. Workers not in production retire at ages 60 and 55. ;

Under the one-year collective agreement, women work in the heavy mills only if it is absolutely needed. Be-

(

cause of the labor shortage in the coun- try, this clause is hard to enforce, but the union, management and the Com- munist Party committee in the plant are all determined that the 7,200 women working in the plant will be pro- tected from work that is physically too demanding or threatening to their child-bearing ability.

Pregnant women are guaranteed the right to move to lighter jobs with no loss in pay or seniority as well as a shorter

From Bulgaria

Liz Rowley

work day. When their children are born the mothers get one year’s maternity leave at full pay, and can take another two years off, unpaid, if they wish. When they return to work they return to their old jobs with full seniority.

Pre-school aged children and infants are cared for in 24-hours a day, seven days a week child and infant care centres run by management and the union. The Kremikowzi daycare centre is located in the city, away from the plant and production, and the plant provides special transportation for women with kids in the centre. :

Health and safety is a high priority in this plant with the emphasis on preven- tion. Every new worker has to pass a seven-day safety training program and for the first month on the job an exper- ienced worker *‘sponsors’’ him until the new worker can get along without injuring himself or endangering others. A number of sanitoriums and hospitals are attached to the plant. Run jointly by the union and management they treat injuries, but their main jobis to reguarly check on the health and well-being of the workers.

And, unlike workers in any capitalist-run factory, the Kremikowzi steelworkers, like workers in every so- cialist country have the power through their unions to shut down any mill or

department of the plant if the workers feel the safety is inadequate.

e

Education and Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship training is well thought out and planned. In the high schools, general trades are taught alongside academic courses and there is no streaming, as we see in the Canadian education system.

Apprentices take on-the-job training, combined with 15-day and three-month

' theoretical courses depending on the

trade they're learning. While taking these courses, the apprentices get full pay. Evening courses are offered for workers who want to become ‘‘medium qualified specialists’’ and this means that while they're taking these courses the workers are put on steady days and one hour less a day than their normal shift for the course’s duration.

The steel plant has four technical schools attached to it, providing both practical and theoretical training to apprentices inside and outside the plant. Management pays the full cost of the training and the workers collect full wages while studying or learning their trades. :

For workers wishing to study at uni-

‘versity, management provides scholar-

ships, and pays the students a living allowance if they agree to return to the plant and work for a specified time period.

All apprenticeship and _ trades courses are run jointly by management and the union under the direction of the Bulgarian department of education.

In all of the discussions with work- ers, Management and union leaders in this plant and throughout the rest of the country, Canadian workers can be im- pressed by the very real control Bul- garian workers have over their lives.

That power, the socialist system from which all social benefits and superior working conditions spring, goes well beyond anything workers in Canada can hope to have as long as the rights of the multi-nationals and big corporations are ‘‘God-given’’ and the rights of workers are attacked and eroded daily.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— JUNE 19, 1981 — Page 7