(The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)   Acadia U faculty seek fair contract   Special to PV Picket signs went up at 8 am, Feb. 23, around Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, ranked by MacLean's magazine as the "best university" in Canada last year. Contract negotiations between the Acadia University Faculty Association (AUFA) and the Board of Governors (BoG) ended on Feb. 20. Last summer, AUFA members rejected a tentative agreement, and in January they rejected a tentative agreement, and in January they rejected the administration's "final offer." The first-ever faculty labour dispute at Acadia was sparked by the administration's refusal to offer a fair and equitable contract for professors at the most expensive university in Canada. Acadia charges the highest tuition in the country, but pays its faculty much less than most Canadian campuses. Average salaries for Acadia faculty rank 41st out of 48 universities polled. The faculty and staff at Acadia University formed AUFA in 1976 to work for better working conditions and fair salaries. Since then, AUFA has consistently been able to come to some form of agreement with the university. But more recently, AUFA has not been successful in trying to have the BoG treat its members with respect or fairness. The Union is not only fighting for a salary increase, but also for a dental program, maternity leave for all employees, security over their intellectual property, and freedom from arbitrary dismissal. AUFA has tried to bargain for a series of other measures that are considered to be regular labour rights in many industrialized nations. AUFA also wants a beneficial environment for students to grow and develop, by fighting against increased class sizes. (The university's website misleads current and prospective students on this issue claiming that "Acadia is particularly proud of advancing its position in ... class size at the first and second year levels." In actuality, the university is seeking to cut expenses by reducing the ability for new staff to be hired and by increasing future class sizes.) What has taken place at Acadia University is another example of a small group (the administration) hoarding the monetary value derived from the labour-power of others (the faculty), and not allowing a fair portion of the earnings to be distributed to those who enabled the institution to obtain the income in the first place. The percentage of Acadia University's budget that goes to pay the faculty and staff (who educate 100% of the students), accounts for less than 25%, a decline of 10% from ten years ago. However, since 1999, administrative salary packages have increased by 86%. The negotiating team for AUFA tried on several occasions to work out an equitable solution, only to have the administration call the union representatives "saboteurs." On Feb. 19, after the BoG failed to come to an agreement with the union, AUFA (with 95% support from its members) presented a 48 hour strike notice. People arriving at Acadia on the morning of Feb. 23 were surprised to find that the administration had literally locked out its staff and students by changing all locks overnight. On the plus side, representatives from the Canadian Association of University Teachers brought a cheque for $1 million to support AUFA members during the dispute. Messages of solidarity to AUFA can be sent to http://www.cuat.ca/aufa. (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Labour Councils call for IWA suspension   PV Vancouver Bureau Two British Columbia labour councils recently called upon the Canadian Labour Congress to suspend the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers from the CLC until the IWA deals with a local engaged in raiding and other anti-labour actions. The Squamish Labour Council adopted a similar position back in December. On Feb. 17, delegates to the Vancouver & District Labour Council voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion from the Children's and Women's Hospital local of the Hospital Employees Union. The next evening, the Victoria and District Labour Council voted unanimously for the motion, which reads: WHEREAS the raid on HEU by Local 1-3567 shows its leadership are consciously and actively collaborating with Gordon Campbell's campaign to privatize health care; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Vancouver and District Labour Council urge the CLC executive to suspend the IWA until such time as Local 1-3567 has withdrawn from these yellow-dog contracts or has been expelled from the IWA. At the VDLC meeting, delegates from both public and private sector unions condemned the actions of the IWA leadership, which are also opposed by large sections of the IWA membership. Many expressed frustration that little had been done to sanction the IWA since Local 1-3567 began it raids on the HEU. Starting in December 2002, leaders of IWA 1-3567 met with the Compass Group and negotiated a deal that cut wages almost in half, eliminated pay equity and pensions, and slashed benefits for workers represented by the HEU. Seven months later a similar deal was signed with Aramark. The agreements give the IWA voluntary recognition as the union for any work the company may be awarded in that health region, at the time of signing or in the future. Last Sept. 17, a CLC neutral umpire found IWA 1-3567 to be in violation of the Canadian Labour Congress constitution, and just one week later, new charges were laid against the local for another violation. All LHEU members whose jobs are privatized must reapply as new hires, facing a blacklist and instructions from their new employers to sign IWA cards at the  time they are hired. It has also been revealed that in 2001 Local 1-3567 signed a similar agreement with G.H. Noble (a custom-cut sawmill in Surrey), cutting wages by 35% and allowing for weekend work with no overtime, no sick pay until four months off the job, and no restrictions on contracting out. The employer happens to be Gurdial Ghag, brother of Satnam (Sonny) Ghag, president of Local 1-3567. Members of the Vancouver IWA Local 1217 have filed court affidavits, alleging that last December 16, Satnam Ghag participated in a violent assault on the crew at Mainland Sawmills, an assault in which baseball bats, peavey poles and a knife were brandished and/or used. On Jan. 24, 2004 nearly 100 dissatisfied members of IWA local 1- 3567 were prevented by Satnam Ghag from exercising their right to speak at a meeting of the local executive board. Interestingly, Elections BC reports show that individuals named Satnam Ghag and Gurdial Ghag made large donations to the BC Liberal party just before the 2001 provincial election. (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Edmonton TV workers win first contract   Combined sources Striking A-Channel television station workers in Edmonton have ratified a first collective agreement, and will return to work on March 1. (See People's Voice, Feb. 1-14/2004 for background.) "This settlement sends a message to media companies right across Canada that CEP is not only capable of organizing within the industry but also will fight with everything we've got to ensure a fair first contract," said Dave Coles, western region Vice- President of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. The strike began last Sept. 17 when members of CEP Local 1900 walked out in support of union proposals for a fair wage system and job security provisions. Ratified overwhelmingly on Feb. 14, the first collective agreement contains an immediate 5% increase followed by increases of 3.5% in each of the next two years. When the strike began, the average annual salary at the station was $28,000. The agreement also contains a salary grid for unionized employees. "We were told by the company that they would never do that, and they did," said Local 1900 Communications Committee member Megan Venner. Downplaying media reports suggesting potential conflicts between former strikers and A-Channel employees who crossed their picket line, Venner said "We are all professionals. We will go back without problems... It's been a really long haul. We can hold our heads up high when we walk in." A-Channel Unit Chair Adrian Pearce credited the agreement, which met most of the union's objectives, to "the tenacity and determination of these young men and women." More than 60 Local 1900 members will return to work March 1. Another eight to 10 strikers have agreed to take a severance package. The union's focus will be on rebuilding the station's ratings, which according to the Edmonton Journal plummeted during the strike from 22,600 viewers to 8,300 for its supper-hour newscasts. A-Channel Edmonton is owned by Craig Media Inc. which also operates A-Channel stations in Calgary and Winnipeg as well as Toronto 1, a new station which went on the air in September. (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Cuba's infant mortality rate lower than U.S.   By Emile Schepers, People's Weekly World Newspaper Under the best of circumstances, it is hard for a poor, Third World country to equal, let alone surpass, the social statistics of wealthy developed countries. For years, Cuba has been passing all other relatively poor countries in its statistics on health, health care and education. It has now officially passed the United States of America, the richest country in the world, on one key measure of national well-being: the infant mortality rate. The infant mortality rate represents the number of babies per every 1,000 born in a given year who die before reaching their first birthday. In mid-February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta revealed that the US infant mortality rage now stands at 7 as of 2002, backsliding from 6.8 in 2001. In early January, the Cuban Ministry of Health announced an infant mortality rate of 6.3, more than a half-point lower than the US. Worldwide, the lowest infant mortality rates are generally found in countries which are both wealthy and have well-developed social safety networks, such as Sweden, which has an infant mortality rate of 3. The countries with the worst infant mortality rates are desperately poor and have a social safety net that is minimal or nonexistent, such as Afghanistan (infant mortality rate of 165) and many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The worldwide tendency is for infant mortality rates to go down, due to urbanization,, improvements in sanitation, health advances, and other factors. What is remarkable about the Cuban achievement is that it has gone down so far so fast. Cuba's rate is far better than those of the vast majority of countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, wealthy economies such as those of Japan and Singapore excepted. People who know Cuba attribute this to the high level of education of the Cuban population, the supportive social networks that are encouraged by the Cuban socialist government, the investment of Cuba in public health and health care, and the low AIDS and drug addiction rates in Cuba. These things are made possible by Cuban socialism. The Center for Diseases Control attributes the worsening of the infant mortality rate in the US to the tendency of more women to have babies when they are already in their 30s and 40s, said to be a greater risk for the neonates. Even if this is accepted (which it should not be) as an excuse for such a negative development, it raises more questions than it answers, such as: * How come the same thing is not happening in other developed, wealthy countries, where the demographic trends on childbirth are similar? And how does this break down among different racial, ethnic and economic subsections of the US population? Could it be the atrocious state of health care among low income and minority workers is the major factor that is causing the increase in infant mortality in the US? * Are there economic factors behind the decision to have babies later in life, such as the inability of many families to survive economically without both parents out working full time, unable to support or care for children? Are the policies of the "pro-family values" Bush administration making the US the wealthiest child- unfriendly child-unfriendly country in history? (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Make women's rights a priority   International Women's Day will be celebrated around the world, in a dazzling variety of forms - militant demonstrations, dinners, art shows - reflecting the fact that IWD crosses many boundaries of geography, culture and class. But above all, March 8th is a working class event, launched in 1911 by Clara Zetkin and other socialist women, marking the date of a major 1908 struggle by New York garment workers. Canadian women will hold hundreds of IWD events on and around March 8th, demanding an end to government and big business attacks against pay equity, access to social assistance, adequate funding for women's shelters and rape crisis centres, child care, and other hard-won gains of the past. The diversity of these events is powerful proof that the woman's movement is still very much alive and necessary. Unfortunately, there is presently no active pan-Canadian women's organization bringing together equality-seeking groups under one united umbrella. much of the blame for this difficult situation lies with the federal Liberals, who ruthlessly cut back core funding for the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC). Provincial governments have likewise slashed funding for women's organizations. Women's rights are far too important to allow this situation to continue indefinitely. We hope that leading figures in the woman's movement can find ways to bring together a wide range of individuals and organizations to rebuild an all-Canada women's coalition, with strong support from the labour movement, women's centres, anti-poverty groups,and other concerned sectors. Not least, progressives should use the coming federal election to support candidates committed to equality, not just empty rhetoric.   (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) No Canadian land for Star Wars    Rushing to carry out his agenda before going to the voters for a real mandate, Paul Martin is moving quickly to ensnare Canada in the Pentagon's so-called "anti-ballistic missile" scheme. During a Feb. 22 television interview, Defence Minister David Pratt refused to rule out the building of US radar stations and missile launchers in Canada. In other words, the federal government is willing to open Canadian territory to station US missiles as part of the Star Wars plan. Pratt said that Canada is considering making "some of its geography in the north" available in lieu of a major cash contribution if Ottawa decides to join the program. This move would pull Canada much deeper into Washington's long- range strategy of complete military domination of the land, seas, air and space. It would be another step towards full-scale integration of the Canadian military into the US armed forces. After all, the argument will go, if Canada relies on US missiles to protect our airspace, why shouldn't US troops help guard Canadian ground borders? But there are alternatives to endless ratcheting up of the arms race. The federal government must be compelled to stop this madness, and begin pressing for global peacekeeping and disarmament. We urge readers to tell Prime Minister Martin that we do not want US missiles and new radar stations to be placed in Canada. Send your messages directly to the Prime Minister's office, tell your families, friends and co-workers to do the same, and use the upcoming federal election as an opportunity to expose this Liberal/Tory sellout of Canadian sovereignty.   (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Stop the war against women!  International Women's Day 2004 is a time to salute those who have struggled for decades to win important equality advances: the vote, reproductive choice, trade unions, some legal protections against violence, homophobia and racism, social programs to provide a measure of equality. Today all these gains are threatened by profit-hungry corporations, fundamentalist groups, and right-wing governments. Working women need a united fightback to defend our rights, and a strategy to achieve a world truly liberated from exploitation, oppression, poverty, war and environmental catastrophe. The war against women On a global scale, women face rising unemployment, ecological crises and regional conflicts. Many of the political and economic leaders who impose neoliberal policies also seek to strengthen the institutions of patriarchy, widen social inequalities and divide working people. US imperialism and its allies are the worst enemies of women's rights, under the guise of their phony "war on terrorism." Hundreds of Afghan women were killed by US bombs when the Taliban was overthrown; more than two years later, Afghan women who work outside the home often face the threat of rape and murder. The illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, led by the United States and Britain, have killed thousands of defenceless civilians, and life has become much more difficult for Iraqi women. The regional allies of the US in this occupation include Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, notorious for treating women as second-class human beings. The women of Palestine are a major force in the resistance against Israel's illegal occupation of their territories, while the US funnels billions of dollars in aid and arms to Israel. The Bush White House has lined up with patriarchal religious forces in a global offensive against women's rights. President Bush has reinstated the "Global Gag Rule," which condemns hundreds of thousands of women and girls to unsafe abortions and even death by denying funding to health care providers which provide information on abortion to their patients. In the former European socialist countries, all progress towards women's equality has been rolled back over the last decade, as part of the brutal restoration of capitalism. Here in Canada, the corporate agenda includes attacks on childcare and parental leave, and vicious cuts to social services. The shift towards "home care" for the sick and elderly aims to force women to leave their jobs to care for relatives. The BC government's attempt to eliminate access to welfare, and the Charest government';s attack on Quebec's $5/day child care system, are among the latest assaults on social rights. Violence against women remains widespread, yet funding is being eliminated for women's shelters and rape crisis centres. Women's organizations have been virtually destroyed by funding cuts. The very concept of feminism is ridiculed by right-wing forces, and the self-confidence and achievements of many young women are twisted by the mass media to spread the lie that "male inequality" is the "new reality." Behind the backlash   What's behind the backlash against women's rights? Most immediately, this attack comes from neoliberal governments and corporations, backed by right-wing media outlets and fundamentalist bigots. But the underlying problem is the economic system based on private ownership of most wealth: capitalism. Human societies were originally based on a non-hierarchical division of labour. When private ownership of resources arose, societies became divided, with wealthy (mostly male) rulers exploiting the rest of the population. Women were largely restricted to domestic labour, in a position of economic, social, political and cultural inferiority. The patriarchal family structure became the official norm. Only capitalists benefit from the systematic oppression of women and minority groups. The transnational corporations super-exploit women as workers, reaping extra profits by paying them lower wages. Women of colour and Aboriginal women face even higher unemployment rates and lower incomes. Millions of women are caught in part-time and temporary jobs, low-wage ghettos in the service industry, or home-based jobs difficult to organize into unions. Some male workers think they benefit from this pattern, but their wages and working conditions are also dragged down by the oppression of female co-workers. As well as forming almost half the paid workforce in Canada, women still do the bulk of domestic labour. While such unpaid labour is not directly part of the cycle of capitalist exploitation, it is essential in the process of raising each new generation of workers. This double burden is a key form of oppression of women under capitalism. What's the answer? The Communist Party of Canada believes that the entire working class movement must step up the struggle to defend and expand women's rights. We must all combat the sexist, racist, homophobic, anti-immigrant and militarist views promoted by the corporate media and culture. Above all, the trade union movement must build on its historic record of defending the social and workplace rights of women. That means more efforts to organize part-time, temporary and contract workers, and the unemployed, so that these workers can raise their living standards and expand their political and economic action. By consistently combating scape-goating, the labour movement can help unite all sections of the working class. Despite recent setbacks caused largely by government cutbacks, women's organizations remain a vital force in the battles for pay equity, affirmative action, fully paid parental leave, reproductive choice, universally accessible child care, social assistance, and housing for all. As long as capitalism promotes discrimination and oppression, the women's movement will be a necessary factor for change. The Communist Party believes that our daily struggles must be integrated into a long-term strategy. We call for stronger unity of all progressive forces, during elections and in our streets, schools and workplaces, to help build a People's Coalition. Full women's equality must be a crucial element of the policies which unite such a coalition. This strategy could open the way towards a socialist Canada, where the principal means of producing and distributing wealth will be the common property of all, and the exploitation of labour will be abolished. Ecological degradation will be replaced by measures to reduce the impact of human life on the natural environment. Poverty, insecurity and discrimination will be ended. Socialism will finally realize a new society based on solidarity, equality and emancipation. Communists demand equality The Communist Party of Canada demands: * end all Canadian participation in the phony "war on terrorism." * solidarity with the women of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, the Philippines, Korea and other countries facing imperialist violence and threats. * reject the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas and other forms of capitalist globalization. * full funding for quality, public healthcare, education and social welfare systems. * a universal, affordable non-profit childcare system. * a shorter work week with no loss in pay and no reduction in public services; full benefits for part-time workers. * intensify efforts to organize part-time workers and female dominated workplaces. * restore and extend employment and pay equity legislation; expand job creation programs, especially for disadvantaged young women; enhance parental leave benefits, to eliminated barriers which disqualify thousands of women. * emergency federal action to save working farm families. * reinstate and expand core funding for women's equality seeking organizations, including NAC; full funding for grassroots, feminist services to deal with violence against women. enshrine within the constitution the rights of Quebec, Aboriginal peoples, and Acadians to self-determination and self-government, and guarantee the full economic, social and political equality of Aboriginal women. * safe, [public, accessible abortion clinics in all parts of Canada. * allocate 1% of the federal budget to the creation of social, affordable and subsidized housing. * establish a fair and just immigration and refugee policy. * extend all public benefits, including marriage rights, to same- sex couples in all provinces and territories; end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. * replace the student loans program by student grants; phase out post-secondary tuition fees. (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) PV  Fund Drive begins!   Looking through recent issues of People's Voice, you can see why a newspaper like ours plays a critical role in the working class movement. how often can labour activists and other progressives find reports of major struggles from coast to coast - such as the Acadia University faculty strike covered in this issue, the battle to stop welfare cuts in British Columbia, and much more. People's Voice isn't the only media, but our role is both unique and crucial. Here are a few reasons why. * Very few publications based in English-speaking Canada consciously work to build unity with our sisters and brothers in Quebec. People's Voice reports regularly on major developments such as the upsurge of militant labour struggles in Quebec, the campaign to declare May Day a statutory holiday in that province, and the formation of the Union of Progressive Forces, the left-wing electoral alliance which has shaken up Quebec politics. * Labour activists across Canada have grappled for several years with the difficult problem of building a broad people's fightback movement. People's Voice has given strong backing to initiatives to strengthen that fightback, and to win wide support for a comprehensive, radical People's Alternative to neoliberalism. *. The struggle for democratic electoral reform gets an occasional mention in the mainstream media. But only People's Voice gave full coverage to the legal case against the Canada Elections Act launched by the Communist Party in 1993, ending in victory with the Supreme Court ruling last June. * The anti-war movement has again become a powerful factor in world politics. People's Voice has played an important role in building the peace forces across Canada. Starting with the mass demonstrations against the NATO attack on Yugoslavia, our newspaper has kept thousands of readers informed on the crucial issues of peace and war, and on the work of local and Canada-wide anti-war organizations. * Perhaps most critical, People's Voice stands for both immediate reform and revolutionary social change. During a time when the ruling class is on an ideological rampage, our newspaper is a proud advocate of socialism, the only system which offers liberation from exploitation, oppression, war and ecological collapse. Clearly, the times cry out for much wider circulation of the working class press. But our ability to achieve these goals depends on you, our reader. People's Voice needs to raise $50,000 in the 2004 Press Fund Drive which starts March 1, especially since costs of printing, shipping and mailing have risen dramatically. $50,000 represents over half of our annual budget - so any shortfall would have a negative impact on our short-term work and our long-term viability. We have already received some generous donations for this year's drive, including Ted Buck's wonderful annual gift of $1,000. Fundraising events are underway, from the Feb. 29 PV Brunch at 290 Danforth Avenue in Toronto, to the Left Film Night on March 13 at Vancouver's Dogwood Centre. Please let us know about all your events, and help us reach our $50,000 target as quickly as possible! (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Spanish police attack dock workers Some 60 people were hurt on Feb. 18 in two violent clashes between protesting dockyard workers and police in the southern Spanish city of Seville and at nearby Cadiz. The incidents occurred at dockyards owned by the state-run Izar group, whose drop in orders the company blames variously on Asian competition, the soaring euro rate and workers' demands for higher pay. According to union leaders, 38 workers were hurt in Seville, with three hospitalised after police in riot gear used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up the protest. Local government officials said a dozen policemen were also injured, and added (that) another 10 policemen had been slightly hurt at another dockyard in Puerto Real, in the adjacent southern province of Cadiz. The incidents followed protests the previous week at dockyards in the Basque region of northern Spain and at Ferrol in the northwestern region of Galicia. Workers say Izar has failed to respect agreements to produce contracts following a recent merger of military and civilian dockyards. Union leaders said they were calling on the employers to promise "not to close a single site." Ignacio Ruiz-Jarabo, chairman of Spain's State Society of Industrial Participation (SEPI), which owns Izar, blamed "unfair Asian competition and the euro-dollar exchange rate" for the company's problems. However, another spokesperson for Izar recently pinned the blame for the tension on work-force demands for a 6.8% pay rise. Izar, which employs some 11,000 workers, received no orders for merchant ships in 2003, but existing military orders may provide sufficient work at some of its sites through to 2010. (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) More women working at sea   Women Seafarers, a new book published by the International Labour Organization and the UK-based Seafarers International Research Centre, is the first to focus on contemporary women seafarers on a global level. The participation of women in the seafaring trade is a limited but growing phenomenon. Although women represent around 1% to 2% of the world's 1.25 million seafarers, in the cruise line sector they make up about 18%. The book covers every aspect of a woman seafarer's life. It says that although making inroads, women seafarers face not only the general challenges of rough seas and hard work but may also face discrimination, sexual harassment or being relegated to low-paying jobs with limited opportunities for promotion. Concerning promotion on cargo vessels, women seafarers surveyed said they felt they had the same possibilities as men, although this varied among companies. In some, women said there was a reluctance to promote them to senior positions, while in others there were special efforts to promote women. Sexual harassment is a reality for many women at sea. This can range from persistent verbal harassment and inappropriate comments, to physical assault. However, notes the book, cruise-sector companies that have established high-profile sexual harassment policies have been able to reduce the number of such incidents, and to encourage women to seek company support when harassed. The book also reveals that there is a long way to go concerning other important issues for women seafarers, such as the right to maternity benefits. Recent surveys of the shipping sector indicate a growing shortfall of certain categories of seafarers, particularly officers. Women are an underutilized source of maritime talent, and their participation in this sector may help address this shortage. Improving living and working conditions at sea, argues the book, is an essential part of attracting both women and men. (To order "Women Seafarers," visit http://www.ilo.org/ and click on "publications.") (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) Czech unions agree to work with Communists   By Ken Biggs Relations between the Czech Communists and the main Czech trade union centre improved on February 10 after leaders of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia held talks with the Czech Confederation of Trade Unions (CzCTU) which organizes about a third of the country's workforce. The CPBM delegation was led by the party's chair, Miroslav Grebenicek (an MP), and the CzCTU delegation by its chair Milan Stech, a Social Democratic senator. As Halo Noviny, the Czech communist daily, put it the following day, "CzCTU and CPBM to cooperate." Among topics discussed were the Social Democrat-led "right-left" coalition government's deeply unpopular plans for pension and tax reform, amendments to the Labour Code and government plans to reduce the higher VAT rate from 22% to 19% and transferring other items to the higher rate. Interviewed in Halo Noviny on Feb. 18, Vojtech Filip, another member of the CPBM's delegation and the Chamber of Deputies' communist deputy-speaker, said that both sides agreed that the VAT change would not result in lower prices for consumers. Businesses would simply use the reduction "to increase their margins." Filip added that in his view the CPBM's policies for dealing with the economic and social crisis facing the country were "more radical" than those of the trade union centres. "The unions' demands are the CPBM's minimum programme, and so we support their calls for basic foodstuffs and housing-related services to be zero- rated. But we go further on a whole number of other issues." The two sides also discussed the June elections to the European Parliament, when the CPBM hopes to win its first seats in Brussels. As Senator Stech told Halo Noviny, the Czech unions are holding talks with all parties represented in the Czech Parliament with a view "to familiarising them with the position of the European unions and winning their support." With 41 MPs the CPBM is the third strongest party in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies. Opinion polls currently put the Communists neck-and-neck with the Social Democrats, the largest party in the government led by Social Democrat Vladimir Spidla and well ahead of its junior partners, the centre-right Christian Democrats and the right-wing fundamentalist Freedom Union-Democratic Union. The government has lost popularity since the Social Democrats, under pressure from their junior coalition partners, reneged on the manifesto on which they  won the 1998 elections, rather than talk to the Communists about forming a Left government backed by a 22- seat majority in the Chamber of Deputies. Since the events of 1989, the Czech trade unions have undergone immense changes. One of the principal aims of the Havel-led counter-revolution was to destroy the Revolutionary Trade Union Movement (ROH), set up in the closing days of World War Two as Prague was about to erupt into open revolt against the Nazi occupiers. The ROH was founded on May Day 1945 at an underground conference held in the Czechoslovak capital. At the time of its dissolution in March 1990, it consisted of 17 industrial unions, a formidable force which had wielded considerable power during the 40 years of socialism. Foreign industrial relations consultants like Price Waterhouse brought in during the "economic reform" of the 1990s admitted as much and master-minded the attack on trade union influence. Fifteen years later the Czech trade unions are much weaker in membership and influence - mainly because of the employers' success in destroying the principle of "one industry - one union," compounded by other negative influences - like the emergence since 1989 of mass unemployment (officially well over 10% or the workforce and even higher in real terms as women and older workers have withdrawn from the labour market), fear of victimisation (which in some well-publicised cases has obliged trade unionists employed by foreign companies to organise secretly), the 1990 ban on political activities at the workplace, massive privatisation of the state sector, a shrinking labour force, the breakup of Czechoslovakia's traditional heavy industries and coal mines and, last but not least, CzCTU's failure to give real leadership to its affiliated unions in the fightback against retrenchments. There are now four trade union centres. The CzCTU and the Confederation of Cultural Workers are officially recognised by the government for the purposes of maintaining the fiction of post-1989 tripartite "social partnership." Discontent with the CzCTU's role in facilitating "transformation" of the pre-1989 state sector-led socialist economy in the 1990s led to the farmworkers' and rail unions breaking away and forming a third centre, the Association of Independent Unions (ASO). The fourth centre - the Trade Union Association of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia (OSCMS), formed in the early 1990s - is communist-led, but open to all workers. Its industrial muscle is weak since its members are mostly retired workers. Communist workers still active in trade unions often prefer to work in CzCTU, where they are at least in direct touch with people of working age. Trade union rights are under constant attack, especially in the private sector. The right to strike exists only theoretically and is restricted to situations created by the breakdown of annual pay and conditions negotiations. On the few occasions since 1989 when trade unions have called major strikes, employers have usually declared the strike "illegal" and tried to take the unions to court. The Czech Labour Code mirrors EU industrial relations legislation, but at office and shopfloor level, in the absence of strong workplace unions, many private employers ignore or flout it. (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) March 20 - The World Still Says No to War   By Darrell Rankin, Chair of the Communist Party of Canada's Peace and Disarmament Commission Peace groups across around the world will hold large rallies and protests against war on March 20, the first anniversary of the U.S.-led aggression against Iraq. In the U.S. and Canada, the protests are key efforts to make peace a major issue in elections this year. In the U.S., Iraq will be the major issue on March 20. In Canada, the peace movement is raising a wider range of issues because of its success keeping Canada out of the war. The Canadian Peace Alliance has called for protests on March 20 to end the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and for Canada to stay out of the U.S. Missile Defence program. Major rallies are planned in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton and many other cities across Canada. In Some cases, the rallies are being coordinated. For example, the Edmonton Coalition Against War and Racism (ECAWAR) is arranging for participants to hear Noam Chomsky's speech to the Vancouver rally being organized by StopWar.ca in that city. Meeting in Mumbai, India on January 19, various major peace movements called for people to fill the streets on March 20, noting that resistance to Iraq's occupation is increasing. In the U.S., the broad coalition United for Peace and Justice is calling for people to "say YES to peace and NO to pre-emptive war and occupation." The UK Stop the War coalition is organizing a "No More Lies Mr. Blair" protest in central London. (Back) (Home) (The following article is from the March 1-15/2004 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.) "All out for peace" - CPC delegates Delegates to the recent 34th Convention of the Communist Party of Canada adopted the following resolution urging full support for the March 20 Global Day of Action against War. The first anniversary of the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq will be marked by a Global Day of Action against war, on Saturday, March 20. The 34th Convention of the Communist Party of Canada urges the strongest possible mobilization of CPC members and all peace forces on this important date. One year after the attack, the main perpetrators of this imperialist aggression, George W. Bush and Tony Blair, have been forced to announce "inquiries" into the so-called "intelligence failures" which were used to justify the war. This development shows that instead of fading, opposition to the occupation of Iraq is growing stronger. The CPC once again demands the complete withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq, the withdrawal of Canadian and other foreign troops from Afghanistan, and a just settlement of the Israel- Palestine dispute, based on the withdrawal of Israeli forces and settlers from all Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and from the Golan Heights of Syria. Another key issue for the anti-war movement on March 20 will be the decision by the federal government to enter into high-level negotiations to participate in the Pentagon's Missile Defence project. This betrayal of Canada's longstanding official opposition to the weaponization of space is no surprise, since Prime Minister Paul Martin supports more complete Canadian integration into the US military-industrial complex. The peace movement has stressed for decades that "Star Wars" is an offensive strategy, designed to give the US military the ability to strike first from air, land, sea and space against any potential target. New US military  doctrines make it clear that the far-right forces which control the White House see Star Wars/Missile Defence as an important tool in their quest for total US imperialist domination of our planet. The Communist Party categorically opposes any participation in this dangerous and enormously wasteful scheme. We call on Parliament to reject Star Wars, and to turn towards a foreign policy based on support for the United Nations Charter and other international laws which prohibit "pre-emptive war" and military aggression. Instead of helping to weaponize space, Canada must give full support to treaties which lead towards comprehensive global disarmament. It is not too late to halt this fateful decision, which will only be finalized later this year by Parliament. Canada's growing collaboration with US imperialism must become a major issue in the federal election expected this spring, when Communist candidates will work to expose support for Star Wars by Liberal and Conservative candidates. The Communist Party will continue to help build a broad and powerful peace movement across the country. The overwhelming opposition of the peoples of Canada to Star Wars and to the illegal occupation of Iraq must be seen in the streets on March 20, and reflected in the next Parliament! (Back) (Home)