Taxpayers burned on P3 deals (The following editorial is from the November 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.) As if more proof was needed that right-wing governments are turning health care into a for-profit industry, independent economist Hugh Mackenzie reports that Canada's hospitals are threatened with unnecessary and expensive privatization. In a report released Oct. 20, "Financing Canada's Hospitals: Public Alternatives to P3s," Mackenzie looks at the backlog in hospital construction and the history of hospital finance in Canada, concluding with 17 recommendations to rebuild the public hospital system. The report reveals that Brampton's private P3 hospital deal will cost at least $175 million more than if it were to be built publicly. And Coalition said in releasing this report, the normally pro-privatization Calgary Regional Health Authority recently cancelled a planned P3 hospital and replaced it with plans to build the hospital publicly. In British Columbia, an accountant[s report has found that costs have almost doubled at the planned Abbotsford P3 hospital. Despite all this, Quebec's Charest government just announced two P3 superhospitals in Montreal, and Ontario's government is attempting to complete contracts for P3 hospitals in Brampton and Ottawa. The Brampton hospital board says that construction will start now despite the fact that the financial deal, already at least a year behind, is not yet completed. Clearly, the largest provinces in Canada are governed by political forces which place the interests of health profiteers far above the interests of patients, healthcare workers, and taxpayers. Fully aware that P3s are a shocking waste of tax dollars, these politicians are moving as fast as public opinion can be manipulated. If this means that hundreds of patients die from preventable infections, as is happening in Quebec, this is apparently part of the price these corporate toadies are quite willing to pay. The sooner these death merchants are driven from office, the better. (Back) (Home) "Glittering prizes" seized in Yugoslavia (The following article is from the November 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.) With the intense international focus on the debacle that has evolved in Iraq, many of our readers are undoubtedly very much aware of the links between US corporations now happily helping themselves to Iraqi state assets and the military machine that pried open the Iraqi door for global business. What is less widely known is that an identical process is well under way where B-52s were dropping bombs not so long ago in yet another "liberation" mission. At the time of the US-led bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, that country was the last economy in central-southern Europe that was un-colonised by Western capital, socially-owned enterprises pioneered in Tito's time still being the norm, with a full 75% of industry being state or socially-owned. Of course the high priests of corporate colonialism were not pleased by Yugoslavia's reticence in embracing "economic reform," NATO-speak for privatization and opening the doors to the multinationals. They were apparently so unhappy, that during the bombing campaign only 14 tanks were hit but 372 industrial facilities were hit. Significantly, not a single foreign or private facility was bombed, leaving one to conclude that those "smart" bombs were a lot "smarter" than we originally thought. In a reply to the Campbell River-Courtenay Labour Council, the then Prime Minister's office stressed the "humanitarian" nature of the war in that there were no material or economic prizes to be won, a position advanced by NATO spinners generally and echoed by our own North Island MP, John Duncan. Now, contrarily, western media (New York Times) are openly crowing about the war's "glittering prizes" awaiting the victors, which includes petroleum, mining, auto and tobacco industries. The jewel in this corporate bonanza is the giant Trepca mine complex with a 1997 value of $5 billion US, which was seized from its workers in a raid soon after the war by some 2,900 NATO troops firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Five years after the NATO attack, the UN mission in Kosovo is "pleased to announce" the privatization of the first 500 socially- owned enterprises, the sell-off conducted in the "investor-friendly environment" guaranteed by the west's puppet government currently holding sway in Belgrade. With the corporate ghouls prowling the ruins of Baghdad and Pristina, neither the "liberation" of Iraq nor the "humanitarian" bombing of Yugoslavia has done anything to prove the critics of either of those actions to be wrong. Letter to the Editor, Karl Ettinger, Courtenay, BC (Back) (Home) Looking back on "Soviet times" (The following article is from the November 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.) By Kimball Cariou The year was 1978. I was a student in Moscow, one of a half-dozen Canadians taking courses in philosophy, economics and politics at an institute now owned by Mikhail Gorbachev's personal foundation. As the 87th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution comes nearer, my thoughts turn back to that time. Things were very different then - the working class was still very much in power, and nobody thought that counter-revolution was just a decade away. Our class often visited workplaces, housing complexes, state and collective farms, museums, courtrooms, and other places to get a better understanding of Soviet life. One such tour was a week-long trip to Leningrad, where we took in everything from the glorious Hermitage Museum to the unforgettable site of mass graves of victims of the Nazi blockade during World War Two. As a young worker, I was particularly affected by a tour of a huge plant specializing in construction of pre-fabricated housing units. Before heading to Moscow, this was precisely the work I had been doing in a much smaller factory back in Edmonton. I watched in fascination as my Soviet counterparts did the same tasks I knew so well, amidst the roar of machinery and shouts of foremen. One difference was that few of these workers wore the steel-toed boots familiar to most Canadian industrial workers. Pointing this out, I was told that since the pace of work was less hectic in the Soviet Union, there was less chance of accidents. Well, perhaps, but I still winced at the thought of a prefab wall landing on a poorly protected foot. Looking around the plant, we noticed a series of large charts and graphs placed high on the walls. Tell us about those, we requested, so our interpreters began to read the contents. One of the first charts listed the percentage of workers who had given blood donations so far that year. The participation rate was extremely high, although I don't recall the exact numbers. Why do so many workers donate blood, we asked. Representatives from the management and trade union gave an explanation which astounded us. In part, this reflected a high level of civic awareness. But there were also real material incentives. Workers who donated blood received a free meal at one of the plant's cafeterias, but even more important, they were given that day and the following day off with full pay! As citizens of a capitalist society, we thought there must be some mistake in translation. But repeated questioning made it clear that this answer was correct. Under socialism, they pointed out nonchalantly, it was important to ensure strong participation in such matters, and equally important to treat workers in a just manner. Why, they asked, isn't that how things are done in Canada? I laughed at the idea of my boss back at Con-Force giving me two days off with pay to help out the Red Cross. In retrospect, this naive assumption by our Soviet hosts revealed a lack of understanding of the predatory nature of capitalism, a shortcoming which proved deadly when Socialism came under attack during the late 1980s. My time in the USSR provided many such examples of two vastly differing social systems. The lower level of production of consumer goods in the USSR was obvious, but not surprising given the country's low starting point in 1917 and the devastating Nazi invasion of 1941. Sometimes the USSR's recent feudal past became evident in patriarchal attitudes towards women. But we also saw daily evidence of a society based on the values of social justice and equality, not private profit. The USSR was living proof that workers can take control of their destiny, building an economy without corporate masters to dictate their lives. Yes, mistakes were made. As Dr. Norman Bethune observed after his trip to the USSR in 1935, "creation is not and never has been a genteel gesture. It is rude, violent and revolutionary... Russia presents today the most exciting spectacle of the evolutionary, emergent and heroic spirit of man which has appeared on this Earth since the Reformation." Precisely for this reason, imperialism sought desperately to undermine, weaken and eventually crush the Russian Revolution. The results of this anti-working class crusade are evident from even a casual survey of the Russian media. While the glamorous shops of downtown Moscow and St. Petersburg are jammed with expensive goods for Russia's new bourgeoisie, most of the country struggles through terrible poverty. On October 20, some four million teachers and medical workers walked off the job, demanding a decent salary for their difficult work. During Soviet times, these sections of the workforce were not the highest paid, but they were guaranteed employment, housing, free education and childcare, pensions, and many other social advances. Today, they are not even paid their miserable salaries on schedule. The total of salary delays in the state sector reached 28 billion roubles by March 1, 2004. This situation is much worse in outlying regions. In Ulyanovsk region, 36 percent of residents have earnings smaller than the minimum living wage, according to the regional Federation of Trade Unions, which see fighting poverty as their main work. Farm workers in the Mishkinsky District, Bashkiria Republic, were recently given 100 kilograms of salt per person in lieu of their salaries. They have not received cash since 1991; they have salt supplies for many generations ahead, but no money to buy bread. As one Russian newspaper noted last month, official statistics adds the income of an oil company executive and a janitor, divides the figure by two, and uses the average of $150,000 a year to claim that people's earnings are growing. Eighty-seven years ago, Russian workers and peasants took a bold leap into a new world, inspiring their sisters and brothers across our planet to struggle for a better life. The destruction of their Revolution has brought disastrous results on a global scale. On November 7th, take a moment to thank the working people of Russia for their supreme effort to establish socialism, and pledge to carry forward their heroic struggle during the 21st century. (Back) (Home) Condemn Israel's aggression in the Gaza Strip - Solidarity with the Palestinian people! (The following article is from the November 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.) The Communist Party of Canada condemns the latest horrific aggressions of the Israeli military against the Palestinian people, the incursion into the densely populated Gaza Strip, causing more than 100 deaths, including of children, hundreds more with serious injuries, and immense destruction and suffering. The United States vetoed a U.S. Security Council resolution on October 6 demanding that Israel cease its aggression towards the Palestinians, echoing claims by an Israeli government spokesperson that "the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed from our agenda... All with a [U.S.] presidential blessing and the ratification of both houses of Congress." The criminal attempts of the Ariel Sharon government to crush the Palestinian people with military might is futile and will continue to produce hardships for working people of all nationalities in both Israel and Palestine. There can be no peace without a political process designed to end the occupation and create a truly independent and viable Palestinian state. Israel cannot be permitted to continually hide behind U.S. protection to shield itself from international outrage over its illegal and immoral occupation of Palestinian lands. The Communist Party of Canada demands that the government of Canada take a firm and unequivocal stand against the occupation and Israel's ongoing brutal war on the Palestinian people. We condemn the government of Canada's abstention vote on a U.N. General Assembly resolution to respect international court decisions which declared illegal the wall Israel is building in the occupied territories. Instead, Canada must call for the wall's removal and for the payment of full compensation to all Palestinians who suffered losses. We support the immediate removal of all illegal settlements from the occupied territories, and demand that the government of Canada cease the export of pre-fabricated housing to Israel, and abrogate the free trade agreement with Israel that reduces tariffs on such housing. Other measures to restrict international trade that helps sustain Israel's continued occupation must also be supported. The Communist Party of Canada will work unceasingly to build a broader and stronger solidarity movement with the Palestinian people. In this regard, the Central Committee approves the proposal to invite to Canada representatives of Palestinian and Israeli communists to visit Canada and tour Canada as soon as this can be arranged. (Adopted by the Central Committee, Communist Party of Canada, October 17, 2004) (Back) (Home) CPC condemns assassination of Jaime Mosquera (The following article is from the November 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.) Resolution adopted by the Central Committee CPC, Oct. 17, 2004: The Communist Party of Canada condemns the assassination of a leading trade unionist and human rights activist in Colombia, and holds the Government of Alvaro Uribe Velez responsible for this heinous crime. Jaime Mosquera, vice-president of FENSUAGRO is but the latest victim of the paramilitary forces, in league with the fascist Uribe Government. His corpse was uncovered in the Arauca region of Colombia recently, with clear evidence that he had been severely tortured prior to his murder. Colombia today has degenerated into a "killing field" where countless wanton crimes are committed daily - with complete impunity - against the people, particularly those who defend the rights of the workers, peasants and oppressed and dispossessed people. It is a sad irony that the Canadian government has listed Colombia's insurgent people's forces - the FARC-EP and the ELN - as "terrorist" under the so-called Anti-Terrorism Act (C-36), while the state terrorism of the Colombian government and its fascist paramilitary collaborators is excused and even justified. No doubt, extensive Canadian corporate involvement in Colombia is the reason Ottawa has taken no punitive economic or diplomatic steps against the Government in Bogota, even though it is directly responsible for the vast majority of war crimes against the innocent civilian population. The longstanding civil war in Colombia will only be resolved through political, peace negotiations, not through any military solution or U.S. intervention. The CPC calls on all labour, democratic and international solidarity organizations to condemn the brutal acts of vengeance committed by the Uribe regime and its fascist cohorts, and calls for stepped up pressure on the Colombian government to end its war offensive and instead return to the negotiating table, and to take immediate measures to safeguard the democratic and human rights of the Colombian people as a whole. (Back) (Home) Wal-Mart union ban draws heat in China (The following article is from the November 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.) Wal-Mart, Kodak and other major U.S. corporations are coming under fire for ignoring labour laws by forbidding employees to set up trade unions, according to China's Legal Daily newspaper. "Other companies which have been [preventing workers from organising trade unions] include Dell Computer (China) and the eight subsidiaries of Samsung and American fast-food chains McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken ... they have not established trade unions for many years," the paper reported recently. As the number of foreign-invested and privately owned companies grows, the establishment of trade unions faces increasing resistance. At the end of 2003,  734,000 non-state-owned enterprises in China employed more than 24,187 million people. Wal-Mart will not allow its more than 19,000 employees in 18 mainland cities to set up a trade union, the newspaper said. Although officials of the China Federation of Trade Unions (CFTU) have raised the issue with Wal-Mart since 2001, the company is not co-operative, the report said. According to Chinese labour law, foreign or domestic companies must allow employees to establish trade unions and bear all the operational costs. (Back) (Home) GM workers in Germany strike (The following article is from the November 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.) Employees at General Motors' Bochum plant in Germany have ended a six-day strike which hit production at several other factories. Workers walked out on Oct. 14 after GM announced it will cut 12,000 jobs in Europe, including some 4,000 jobs at Bochum. The wildcat strikes came as the workers' union, IG Metall, also faces mass cuts at other companies and a government drive against labour rights. The stoppage in Bochum was not put to an official ballot by IG Metall. At an Oct. 18 meeting, the workers voted to continue the strike. But two days later, some 6,400 employees out of the workforce of 9,500 voted for a return to work while 1,700 voted against. Head of the workers council Dietmar Hahn described the decision as "wise," and said negotiations with GM managers would resume the next day. "We will do our utmost so that management does not implement its horror plans," he said. The Bochum workers received support from all over Germany. Trade unionists from other sectors and unions in the region came to express their solidarity, and messages were received from abroad. When the plant at Bochum stopped producing parts, Opel in Ruesselsheim, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium, were forced to stop production. Unions have demanded no plant closures and no layoffs, GM seems determined to press ahead. The firm has not yet said which of its 11 European plants will be affected, but its German sites appear vulnerable as management blames its workforce for being too "expensive." GM Europe lost $161 million US in the first half of 2004, up from $68 million one year earlier. GM's European operations currently employ 64,000 people, and make the Opel, Vauxhall and Saab brands. Observers noted the "danger and fear" that erupted when GM made its job cuts announcement. "In Germany, employees only protest spontaneously when they feel alone and abandoned," said Manfred Wilke, a researcher in trade unions at Berlin's Free University. Blaming the "arrogance" of GM executives for setting off the protests, Wilke said IG Metall was in a "tough position" - torn between defending those on strike in Bochum and its obligation to negotiate with Opel's leadership. "Fighting alone is not enough but negotiating is not enough either,"the deputy head of IG Metall, Berthold Huber, said in an admission of the union's difficult position. In July, IG Metall sacrificed a 2.7% pay increase promised by US- German industrial group DaimlerChrysler and accepted longer working hours without extra pay for some employees when the company threatened to move some production to South Africa. Meanwhile electronics giant Siemens was able to push through a return to the 40-hour week at two plants, up from 35 hours, without pay raises, after it too said it would outsource jobs. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has forced through a tough package of anti-labour "reforms" against the fierce resistance of the unions, traditional allies of the ruling Social Democrats. After attacking plans to reduce benefits for the unemployed, IG Metall and the giant service sector union Verdi have agreed to talks with the government. Next, automaker Volkswagen has announced plans to impose a two-year salary freeze with the aim of slashing personnel costs 30 percent by 2011, threatening to cut 30,000 jobs if IG Metall does not yield to these concessions. (Back) (Home) Millions of Russians strike over wages (The following article is from the November 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.) An estimated four million teachers and health workers walked off the job across Russia on Oct. 21, the biggest show of union strength since President Vladimir Putin came to power five years ago. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest against low pay. The average Russian salary is about $245 a month, but most state sector workers earn little more than half of that figure. Over the past summer, workers held several major rallies against plans to cut state benefits to veterans, public sector workers and other vulnerable groups. Putin calls these benefits "a drag on state finances" which should be replaced by cash payments. The latest protests come as the Russian economy is buoyed by record oil prices. Teachers and other educational workers want their salaries to be increased by 50 per cent immediately and doubled by next year. Moscow demonstrators held rolling protests outside the cabinet building. In St. Petersburg, 1200 educational centres, including schools, universities and kindergartens, were involved in the protests. About 30,000 demonstrators rallied in Voronezh, 640 kilometres south-east of the capital. Sergei Vorobyev, headmaster of School No. 73, told Russian television: "More than 90 per cent of teachers in my school are forced to moonlight in order to survive." Galina Maslova, a geography teacher for 20 years, said she begins her days sweeping the floor and emptying the rubbish in a local supermarket, for which she is paid more than her $86 a month teacher's salary. The strikes involved 114,000 educational, medical and cultural establishments. Some enterprises were shut down for up to three hours, while teachers went out for the entire day. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said salaries may be increased by 30 to 50 per cent, but not until next year. Meanwhile, the Russian Duma (parliament) has introduced a law banning the drinking of beer in public. Pro-Putin Duma deputies, working on a series of "homeland security bills," claim this is necessary to restore civil order. But opponents of the anti-beer law, including local brewers with foreign investors, said the ban will dampen a business sector expected to grow by 7 per cent this year. They blame lobbying by the country's powerful vodka industry. Public consumption of vodka is already prohibited by law, but often ignored. (With files from The Telegraph, London) (Back) (Home) PSAC members vote soon on tentative deals The following article is from the November 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 Vancouver Bureau ONE OF THE most complex labour struggles in recent Canadian history is moving to the next stage, as members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada prepare for votes on contract offers. PSAC's 150,000 members work for more than 200 different employers right across the country, in a wide range of occupations. Membership votes for Parks Canada workers will be held Nov. 19 to Dec. 15. Those employed at the Canada Revenue Agency will vote Nov. 19 through Dec. 8. In both cases, tentative agreements have been reached. Votes for Treasury Board and CFIA employees are scheduled for Dec. 6-17, and resuming Jan. 3-26 of the new year. The union has recommended rejection of the offer to Treasury Board Tables 1 and 3, and acceptance of terms for Tables 2 and 5. The union is still in a legal strike position while these votes are taking place, has suspended general strike action. After five weeks of strike actions, PSAC finally struck a tentative agreement with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on Oct. 13, covering 25,000 covering 25,000 workers whose contract expired on Oct. 31, 2003. The four-year agreement would run to Oct. 31, 2007, providing annual pay increases of 2.5%, 2.25%, 2.4%, and 2.5%. The deal also includes improved health and safety provisions, a commitment to regular consultation on Workforce Adjustment provisions, new language to protect members' rights during grievance processes, improved leave for personnel selection, less restrictions on family-related leave, and five days of marriage leave for workers who participate in same-sex public commitment ceremonies. The union has won improved conditions for term workers, who will be allowed to retain accumulated sick leave credits if they are rehired within a year. This breakthrough will help stop term workers from being penalized if they become ill. Those rehired within 90 days will not be required to repay any top-up paid by the Agency during maternity or parental leave. According to Betty Bannon, president of the PSAC-affiliated Union of Taxation Employees, CRA has agreed to follow up on the recommendations of the joint study into term employment conducted after the last round of negotiations. "This study took a serious look at many aspects of the working conditions of our term members, but the Agency has been reluctant to implement any of the recommendations. Under the action plan, the Agency is committing to convert at least 25% of the 1,100 term workers who have over three years of continuous service to indeterminate status. The conversion will provide new job security for approximately 275 workers." On the downside, reports PSAC, the settlement required "give and take on both sides. As part of the settlement, the union has agreed to the employer's demand to convert leave from days into hours." On Oct. 12, a tentative agreement was reached with Parks Canada, ending a two-month-old strike by 4,800 Parks workers. Highlights of the agreement, which expires August 4, 2007, include annual wage increases of 2.5%, 2.25%, 2.4% and 2.5%, additional salary adjustments ranging from 2.6% to 19% to help close a wage disparity identified last year by a Treasury Board-PSAC pay study, and various other improvements. Also on Oct. 12, PSAC's Table 2 negotiating team reached a tentative agreement with Treasury Board for the 10,778 members in the Operational Services Group. The agreement will provide most members with wage increases and salary adjustments to narrow wage disparities. In addition, the Table 2 deal includes improved allowances and leaves, funding to continue the PSAC/Treasury Board Joint Learning Program, stronger whistleblower protection, and progress towards implementing the Social Justice Fund with Treasury Board. The agreement also contains some rollbacks: the conversion of all leave from days into hours except for bereavement, a cap on the amount of vacation leave that can be carried over to the next fiscal year, and a new definition to shift work that will cut some shift premiums. While this deal makes no progress on the key union demand for national rates of pay, it does prevent regionalized rates of pay as proposed earlier by the employer. At the Treasury Board, the employer tabled its "best offer" on Oct. 15. After reviewing the terms, negotiating teams for the Program and Administrative Services Group (Table 1), and the Technical Services Group (Table 3) unanimously recommended rejection. PSAC President Nycole Turmel said, "While they may have been prepared to accept Treasury Board's monetary offer of 2.5%, 2.25%, 2.4% and 2.5% over a four-year agreement, they are not willing to accept the employer's demands for concessions." Some of the contentious issues include the partial loss of the terminable allowance for members at the Canadian Grain Commission who stand to lose up to $3,000 a year; the loss of $2,000 a year in an enforcement allowance for fisheries officers; the lump sum payments, instead of a salary increase, that Treasury Board wants to impose on many PSAC members who were transferred to the Canada Border Services Agency; and some losses on family-related and other leaves. "The issues that have forced our teams to recommend rejection of the offers could easily have been resolved by the employer," said Turmel. "Our teams are disgusted, and so am I, with the employer's final offer and the lack of respect Treasury Board has shown for our members, their employees." The Table 5 negotiating team did reach a tentative agreement including the four-year pay increases and some specific gains on allowances and professional development. Their proposal also includes stronger contract protection for whistleblowers, the PSAC's Social Justice Fund and a renewal of the Joint Learning Program until the subsequent collective agreement is signed. While PSAC members are anxious to vote, the process is complicated for a large union. PSAC members are spread from coast to coast to coast, in large urban centres and small villages. Some work outside of Canada, some are on ships, others are seasonal workers and no longer employed in the workplace, but all must be informed of the details of the tentative agreement or employer's final offer and given an opportunity to vote. Membership meetings are being held across the country, and seven different ratification and information kits are being written and translated. (Back) (Home) Canadian dockworkers to be fingerprinted for security" The following article is from the November 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.) International Transport Federation, Oct. 21, 2004 Port workers in Canada could soon be fired if they refuse to participate in intrusive new security checks, to be implemented as part of the federal government's proposed new transport security measures. Around 10,000 dockworkers in the ports of Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax would be required to have their fingerprints and photographs taken, if new security measures, now in the final stages of implementation, take effect. The measures, which are being planned on the back of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, would also involve extensive background checks. These include Canadian police and security intelligence services checks for known or past associations and criminal records. In addition, financial checks would be carried out in order to determine if a worker was prone to being induced. The Canadian government has stated that information would be shared with other foreign intelligence agencies. If a worker refused to undergo security clearance, they would lose their job. According to Vancouver-based International Transport Federation coordinator Peter Lahay: "The regulations, in place since July 1, have limited ITF inspectors' ability to spot-check flag of convenience vessels due to the requirement to seek an invitation in advance of the inspection. Meanwhile the government is doing nothing in the way of truly securing the nation's ports. This starts with a dedicated police force. Canada disbanded theirs in 1997. Security is being papered over and workers are being turned into scapegoats." Kees Marges, ITF Dockers Section Secretary commented: "This is a wake-up call for port workers' unions across the world. They should be alert to the consequences for unions and port workers of the misuse of the USPS Code. So far only unions from the US, Canada and Australia, confronted with the implementation of government policies, have raised specific concerns about the issue." The ITF's safety and security campaign, launched last month, aims to protect transport workers from excessive security legislation, which is frequently being used to undermine workers' rights. (Back) (Home) Ward defeat means big challenge for COPE The following article is from the November 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.) By Kimball Cariou Never boring, Vancouver civic politics was set in turmoil on Oct. 16 by the 54% "NO" vote in a referendum on a change from at-large elections to a system based on 14 wards. The result stunned the governing left-centre Coalition of Progressive Electors, which has campaigned for wards since its formation in 1969. Previous referenda on the issue (except for a very confusing vote in 1998) had always won a majority, without reaching the 60% needed to force the provincial government to implement wards. This time, with the high threshold gone, opinion surveys showed ward supporters ahead. But their clear lead evaporated in the last few days as wealthy opponents of wards swamped the media with misleading propaganda. Ironically, the results proved why wards are needed to improve local democracy in this deeply polarized city. Residents voted "yes" in areas badly under-represented at City Hall, especially the Downtown Eastside, the north-east area and the west end of downtown, as well as most of the Kitsilano area. But the wealthier west side neighbourhoods and most of the southern parts of the city voted "no." As often happens on election day, the higher turnout in upper-income neighbourhoods carried the vote. Contrary to the views of many civic Greens and other "reformers" who sided with the corporate elite, the outcome may block attempts at changing Vancouver's electoral system for several years. There is no support among COPE's city councillors to return to this issue over the next year, at the expense of precious time and dollars needed to tackle problems such as housing and transit. Looking ahead, the winners of the November 2005 civic election may be reluctant to propose changes. If COPE wins (more likely if the right-wing Campbell Liberals win another provincial majority next May), the labour-backed party will have little incentive to change the system. On the other hand, an NPA majority would confirm that "at-large" usually serves the interests of the rich developers who have dominated Vancouver since the 1930s. The next window of opportunity for real debate on the issue could be after the 2008 election. Many ward supporters blamed the city's official ads to promote the referendum. That campaign featured pictures of two pizzas - the first whole, the other cut into 14 slices - asking voters to pick one. Some people assumed the notice was a pizza flyer and tossed it into the recycling box; others tended to thin, "of course I want the whole pizza." But the results point to a more fundamental challenge for COPE: how to stand clearly as the force for progressive change in City Hall. In this referendum, the NPA and their allies (including many Greens, with important exceptions such as David Suzuki) painted the wards option as the reactionary choice of corrupt insiders. Given today's widespread public cynicism about politicians, and the high level of interest in other types of electoral reform (such as proportional representation, which was not a legal possibility for the 2005 civic election), this clever tactic paid off in full. But this message would have been less effective if COPE's councillors had been more united and consistent in carrying through the coalition's policies. Just two days before the Oct. 16 vote, for example, two of COPE's three representatives (Mayor Larry Campbell and Raymond Louie, but not David Cadman) on the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority reversed a stand taken in September against a bus fare increase. That retreat opens the door for a 25 cent fare hike on January 1, violating COPE's historic policies, and angering the Bus Riders Union and many COPE members. COPE's authority on the issue of civic democracy has also been affected by its reluctance to demand provincial changes to municipal election spending rules. Given that the NPA has won many Vancouver elections by outspending COPE, this is hard to understand. COPE's only majority was won in 2002, in an election where the NPA was demoralized and the labour movement donated huge amounts of money. But COPE remains in debt from that campaign, and it faces a major challenge to finance a similar effort next fall. However, COPE has not used its majority to push the province for the authority to set election spending limits, or to implement full contribution disclosure rules. This appears to many activists as wasting a rare opportunity to break the stranglehold of big money on electoral politics. COPE's successes since 2002 mark an important turn away from the reactionary era of NPA rule, towards policies oriented on the needs of working people. But many of those who worked hard for years to elect a majority of progressives in City Hall feel much more could have been achieved. As the next campaign draws closer, the wards referendum should send a signal that motivating the coalition's powerful grassroots membership will be crucial, and that this means putting up a more consistent fight for basic COPE policies. (Back) (Home) Sparks fly at HEU convention The following article is from the November 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.) By Kimball Cariou There was plenty of heated debate at the first convention of the Hospital Employees' Union since a controversial deal ended escalating job actions across BC in solidarity with the union's striking members. Faced with a vicious provincial government intent on breaking the union, the HEU and BC Federation of Labour leaderships accepted wage rollbacks of 11% and other concessions, touching off angry disputes over whether the deal was the best that could be achieved. That debate is far from over, judging from the first day of the HEU convention, which began Oct. 18 in the "big tent" at a hotel in Richmond. After the union's top officers outlined the events leading up to the strike and the process which followed passage of the Campbell Liberals' union-bashing Bill 37, some 48 delegates lined up at the microphones. Many were shocked at being told on Sunday, May 2, to return to work the following morning, just as teachers, bus drivers, forestry workers, and many other unions were gearing up to shut down much of the province. As the HEU convention bulletin admitted, "a predominant theme, during the four-hour discussion, was the union's failure to communicate to the rank and file the shifting circumstances leading to the May 2 memorandum." For a sizable number of delegates, the most troubling problem was not communications, but a lack of confidence in the power of working class solidarity to force the government to back down. The alternative was to accept major rollbacks in hopes of preserving the union until the May 2005 election, and helping to elect a more labour-friendly NDP government. "We anticipated difficulties under Gordon Campbell, but nobody predicted just how bad it would be," said HEU President Fred Muzin, speaking on the second day to 510 delegates. "We were faced with heartbreaking decisions and unpalatable choices," he said, referring to what he called the "uncontrollable outcome of a general strike" and what he considered the likelihood of declining public support if the strike continued. Muzin spoke about the ongoing problems faced by hospital workers with much reduced incomes and higher workloads, and the battle against healthcare privatization and contracting out. Infighting, he said, erodes the union's strength at a time when some 8,000 members have been lost. He supported the leadership's move to place more emphasis on support for the NDP, even to the point of backing labour-oriented candidates in riding nomination battles, such as former CUPE President Judy Darcy, and former BC Teachers' Federation leader David Chudnovsky, both seeking NDP nominations in Vancouver ridings. One sign of differences over this strategy came when B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair defended the May 2 deal, and urged delegates to "get political" over the next seven months by electing the NDP. Some delegates tried to rouse a standing ovation for Sinclair, but only about one-third of the convention stood up. Muzin was re-elected the following day, though not without criticism from the convention floor. Mary Laplante was re-elected as financial secretary, a post she has filled since 1984. The union's former secretary-business manager, Chris Allnutt, resigned last August and was not at the convention. Despite sharp differences over some critical questions, there was also a mood of determination to save the union from destruction. Formed in 1944 by 500 workers at one BC hospital, the HEU today has 43,000 members. One delegate, Jose Monzon, won loud applause when he told the convention that "this union may be 60 years old, but it's not ready to retire." Some 87% of HEU members are women; 50% work in hospitals, and another 42% in long-term and intermediate care facilities. About half work in the Lower Mainland, with another 17% on Vancouver Island, 15% in the Okanagan, 6% in the Kootenays, 4% in the Fraser Valley and 7% in the North. In a related development, delegates heard that an agreement hammered out by HEU and CUPE means IWA Local 1-3567 will withdraw its raid application at Victoria's Beacon Hill Villa, limit the signing of voluntary agreements and not target "flipped" contracts. Local 1-3567 has struck a number of deals with transnational corporations to take over groups of workers in the health sector, forcing them to accept massive wage cuts in the process. (Back) (Home) CA wants STV, not FPTP for BC The following editorial is from the November 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.) Surprising many observers, British Columbia's Citizens Assembly CA) has strongly recommended dumping the "first past the post" (FPTP) electoral system, in favour of the Single Transferable Vote (STV). The CA, a set of citizens chosen randomly to propose electoral changes for a province-wide referendum, has picked a system which used to be fairly widespread, but today is limited to elections in Ireland, Tasmania, Malta, and the Australian Senate. While supporters of STV call it "easy as 1, 2, 3," explanations of the proposal are already taking up entire pages of the daily papers. In essence, STV BC-style would create a number of large constituencies, each with two to seven MLAs, to replace the current 79 single seat Legislature. Voters would rank their choices among the candidates in each constituency. Candidates finishing last (are) dropped off succeeding rounds of counting, with the voters' second (then third, fourth, etc.) choices added to the totals of those candidates remaining. Supporters of STV argue that this system ensures that "all votes are counted," and that it ensures a degree of proportional representation. That view is rejected by the BC Green Party, which called for a mixed-member proportional representation system, as did a majority of those who made submissions to the CA. But despite flaws in the STV proposal (imagine ranking 50-plus candidates in a seven-member Vancouver super-constituency, for example), it is now the only option for British Columbians who want to break the undemocratic first-past-the-post system. Whether STV has sufficient merit and clarity to win the support of the necessary 60% of BC voters next May remains to be seen. At a minimum, the debate will stimulate deeper discussions on electoral reform across Canada - and that's a step forward. (Back) (Home) Party growth highlights CPC Central Committee meeting The following article is from the November 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.) Special to PV Encouraging news about the biggest surge of new membership in years was the highlight of the Oct. 16-17 meeting of the Communist Party of Canada's Central Committee. Over 75 new members have joined since the start of 2004, and new CPC clubs have been formed in several areas, including Halifax, the London-Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario, and the Saguenay region of Quebec. Across the country, a large majority of CPC members have joined in recent years, resulting in a much younger age composition. The last year has also seen rapid growth for young Communist League clubs, as the YCL moves towards becoming re-established as a Canada-wide organization. Elected at the CPC's 34th Convention last January in Montreal, the 26-member Central Committee is the party's leading body between conventions. This meeting of the CC heard reports from most provinces about the increase in new members, which began around the time of massive protests against the illegal US/UK occupation of Iraq. Earlier this year, the CPC's highly visible participation in the federal election campaign helped generate another wave of recruiting. Party leader Miguel Figueroa kicked off the meeting with an overview of the changing Canadian scene since the June federal election. The results were a significant victory, he said, since voters blocked the right-wing Tories, weakened the stranglehold of Paul Martin's Liberals, and gave increased support to left-of- centre forces. The first session of the minority Liberal government has just opened, but already there is "a highly fluid, volatile political situation in the house of Commons, full of intrigues and manoeuvres," said Figueroa. He warned that to dismiss this as "bourgeois jockeying and political play acting" would be to miss the main point, that there are now "significant openings for the popular forces to blunt the neoliberal attack, and possibly even win certain advances." "If labour and its allies can make the maximum use of this political conjuncture - through mobilization, not through its silence - this will create ... better conditions to make further advances in the next election, and the next Parliament," said Figueroa. He noted that the federal Liberals "are saddled with a fairly progressive legislative agenda (national childcare, aboriginal rights, healthcare policy, etc.), the result of their opportunist manoeuvring in the last election campaign, which they cannot now jettison without paying a high price." Figueroa pointed out that the influence of the NDP caucus "may be increasingly marginalized in this parliament, much more so than they thought on election night. This is a key moment for the NDP. The working class has a right to expect and demand that Layton and the NDP caucus remain firm in this session around the NDP demands put forward in June - limited as they were - and not retreat in some lame attempt to appear 'reasonable' and 'mainstream'." The key factor, he said, will be the ability of extra-parliamentary movements to mobilize mass campaigns to pressure the Liberal caucus on key demands, such as missile defence, an independent foreign policy, opposition to the FTAA and other trade deals, defence of health care, Canadian sovereignty, childcare, the environment, and electoral reform. A key item on the CC agenda was the draft of a new Labour Program, which has been under discussion by the CPC's Labour Commission for some time. The new Labour Program is intended to help guide the work of Communists and to build the party's membership in strategic sections of the working class. The Central Committee hopes that work on this project can be completed early in 2005, for use leading up to the Canadian Labour Congress biennial convention next June. To help strengthen this crucial area of work, the meeting voted to add CC member and Central Labour Commission chair Sam Hammond, an industrial worker from Hamilton with long experience in the trade union movement, to its Central Executive Committee. The meeting set plans for a quick mobilization of Party clubs and members against Canadian participation in Washington's "missile defence" scheme. Across the country from late October to mid- December, Communists will take to the streets with leaflets and posters on the issue, and gathering signatures on the Canadian Peace Alliance petition against missile defence. (Call your nearest CPC organization listed on (this Web Page) for details. Over the winter, the party will develop a larger-scale campaign on the related issues of the FTAA/"free trade" and the corporate attack on social programs, especially Medicare. Communist work among young people was discussed at length by the CC, which passed a resolution giving full support to the World Festival of Youth and Students taking place next August in Venezuela. Since the formation of YCL clubs in British Columbia last year on the initiative of young CPC members, the YCL has grown rapidly in BC and Ontario, with good prospects in many other areas. Several reports were heard on the CPC's international work, such as the recent conference in Athens, attended by George Gidora, the party's BC leader. That gathering took steps to bring communist cooperation to a higher level, such as the formation of a working group representing a number of major parties to plan next year's conference. The CC discussed the critical situation in the Middle East, denouncing Israel's latest aggression in Gaza and its "wall" inside the occupied territories, which has been declared illegal by the international Court of Justice. The CPC is working to arrange speaking tours by prominent Communists from several countries, including Palestine, Israel and Iran. The meeting also discussed efforts to help overturn the federal government's listing of liberation movements such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) as "terrorist" groups. Another important topic concerned the CPC's status as a registered federal party. Under recent changes to the Elections Act, all parties are required to collect 250 signatures of members, up from 100 in the past. While the CPC objects in principle to this arbitrary barrier to party registration, the CC agreed that sufficient signatures will be turned in by the Nov. 15 deadline. (Back) (Home) "The most important battle of our lives" The following article is from the November 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.) Excerpts from a report by the Communist Party USA to the International Conference of Communist & Workers Parties, held in Athens, Greece, October 8-10, presented by Pam Saffer and Joe Sims. As we meet here in Athens, the US is in the middle of a gigantic electoral contest. It is difficult to convey the fervor and intensity of this great fight. Some have compared it to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, others to the momentum behind the efforts to found the industrial unions in the 30s, still others to the movement against the Vietnam war. But whatever the comparison, it is seen as perhaps the greatest and most important battle of our lives. The understanding of this simple truth has awakened millions and drawn them into political life. From New York to Los Angeles, from Seattle to Miami, a march to the ballot box on election day is underway. This is a march already four years old. It began with George Bush's theft of the election in Florida in 2000. Even as the dust settled from the terrorist attack of September 11th it continued. It grew larger with the protests against the illegal war in Afghanistan. This march became a mass all-peoples protest movement in the demonstrations that occurred before and after the overthrow and occupation of Iraq, led by United for Peace and Justice. There has been an almost continuous stream of protest: around abortion rights, immigrant rights, the environment, racism, a two- state solution in the Middle East, an end to the embargo against Cuba to mention only a few. Millions have taken to the streets, in small towns as well as big cities. And while the issues vary, all have had a sharp anti-Bush, anti-ultra-right character. This was especially evident in the historic march of half-a-million against the Republican Convention in New York City, just a few weeks ago. The demonstrations signify the deep misgivings and fear about the direction of the country. These fears are not unfounded. At issue is the victory of democracy or the triumph of extreme right reaction. The choices are crystal clear: pre-emptive war against the world, or peaceful cooperation among the family of nations within the framework of the United Nations. State-sponsored terror, individual acts of terrorism, the inevitable retaliation, or dialogue and non-violent resolution of conflict. The long-term occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan or the withdrawal of US forces. The American people are faced with two distinct choices: tax giveaways to the super-rich or overtime pay for workers; the corporate rape of the environment or the observance of international treaties and agreements; the suppression of dissent, police-state surveillance and intimidation of protest or a return to democratic norms; a healthcare program for the 80 million without insurance or the privatization of public pensions and other services; the widespread use of torture and other forms of barbarism, or a return to the arms of civilization. It was almost a truism in our movement that imperialism in the 20th century meant reaction all down the line, This is certainly no less true in the 21st century, in the era dominated by the US imperialist transnationals. The fight against such reaction as expressed in the policies of the US ruling class through the Bush administration therefore must be at the center of the battle against imperialism. There is a growing awareness in our country of what is at stake. Despite the fog of fear woven by the relentless right-wing propaganda machine, the American people are inching steadily towards a democratic outcome. Although the contest is still undecided, such a victory remains possible. (The) Republicans have spent billions to convince the public that victory is at hand. The US people and the world community have been subject to what might be called a campaign of ideological shock and awe, borrowed from psychological warfare manuals of the CIA and Army intelligence and used on the battlefields of Iraq. The aim is to create an aura of invincibility around the campaign. This is accomplished by repeating the mantra of the inevitability of their victory. Their design is to disorient and demoralize the opposition. The goal is to suppress by all possible means the voter turnout. This attempt goes beyond the battle of ideas to actual efforts to forcibly suppress the vote as we saw in Florida in 2000. These efforts are underway again today and have a sharp racist edge. If voters are convinced their candidate stands no chance, they are less likely to come out and vote. In this regard, public opinion polls have taken on a new quality. Some have had Bush ahead, others show a closer race: all are very volatile. Can the polls be trusted? There's an old American expression that sums this all up: "Figures never lie, but liars always figure." As we well know it is better to keep one's eyes and ears closer to the ground in the voter registration and mobilization efforts, particularly in what are called the battleground states. Here a huge effort is being undertaken that is truly without precedent. Organized labor is at the center of this effort and they have devoted their resources, cadres, and finances to it. For several years now, US labor is splaying a new role, which shifted the terrain on which the battle for the White House and Congress is being fought. It should not be forgotten that wide sections of labor, far more than during the height of the anti-Vietnam war movement, came out against intervention in Iraq. They have joined with the movements of the racially and nationally oppressed, the women's movement, youth and students, environmentalists, business people, artists, gays, lesbians and bisexuals, and even some sections of the ruling class itself have joined them. An extremely broad, all-peoples electoral front against the far right has come together and it is slowly but steadily gaining momentum. They have been doing door-to-door voter registration, canvassing voters, raising money, making telephone calls, putting in place plans to bring out the vote on election day. Hundreds of thousands of new voters have been added to the rolls in the battleground states as a result of these efforts. From all reports, Democratic efforts at registering new voters have surpassed Republican and (it is) these voters that may well decide the outcome. In our opinion, the election will stand or fall on which side is able to turn out the highest vote. ... It may be that a new social movement has been born in this battle against neo-conservative right-wing extremism. Taken as a whole, the quantitative developments of the past few years may give life to a new quality. Much depends on the outcome in three weeks. A victory will give new impetus to the people's movement as it struggles ito give meaning to the electoral platform and keep the new president steady in face of what is sure to be tremendous pressure from the right. A loss will set back this movement and force it to fight defensive battles against a no-holds-barred right ascendancy. Still it is unlikely to defeat it. A longer-term outlook is already anticipated. We have argued today that the battle against imperialism in its center lies through the defeat of its most reactionary sectors grouped in and around the presidency of George W. Bush. Recall that they control the White House, the Congress, and Supreme Court. This struggle while sure to be long and protracted, must confront new realities. The framework for our struggle in the US changed after September 11th. The terrorist attack reversed the fortunes of an unpopular and failing presidency and precipitated an onslaught (from) which we are reeling still. Fear of terrorism has become the backdrop against which the election and indeed all other things are placed. It may be that internationally this problem is playing a different role as seen in recent events. US imperialism is conducting a phony war on terror. In the face of US imperialism's brutal onslaught in Iraq that call has receded to the background, but the issue will not go away. We recognize that imperialism uses the "terrorism" charge with a broad stroke to attack peoples' and nations' legitimate right to defend their homes, lives and national sovereignty. We completely support this right. At the same time, it should not deter us from engaging this issue. We should think through the ways and means of grappling with it. Terrorism - the attack on civilian targets - is mainly a right wing tool and so it must be exposed. At the same time, frustration and centuries-old oppression at times gives rise to terrorist tactics. Our complete solidarity with peoples and countries fighting for their sovereignty and independence need not require endorsement of every tactic. For now we engage it by building a broad popular movement against the far right. We do it by recognizing the right of the Palestinian people to a homeland within the framework of a two-state solution, in which they and Israel cal live in peace. We do it by calling for an end to the blockade of Cuba, and demanding the withdrawal of US troops from all bases abroad, and for a serious resolution to the problems of the world's poor. We are fighting for a more peaceful, but also a more livable world. As the world anti-war and anti-globalization movements alongside many new victories for our movement attest, there is much to build on. (Back) (Home) Missile Defence vote looms in Parliament The following article is from the November 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.) The Canadian Peace Alliance and other anti-war groups are making a final push to mobilize public opinion after Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals agreed to hold a Commons vote on participation in the U.S. missile defence program. The promise to let MPs have a say will not commit the Liberal cabinet to any decision on participating in the U.S. scheme. Instead, the vote is seen by the government as symbolic of the co- operation it claims to be building with opposition parties in the Commons. Many observers believe that the Liberals fear a Commons vote would expose divisions within their caucus on the issue of U.S. military strategy, at a time when Prime Minister Martin is aligned with forces pushing for more complete integration with the United States. In September, Defence Minister Bill Graham said that a vote on missile defence was unlikely because the government retained sole authority for treaties with other countries. The government failed to promise a missile-defence vote in the throne speech at the beginning of October. However, sources in Ottawa told the media that Martin agreed to hold a vote after the opposition parties acknowledged it would be merely symbolic. The Bloc and the NDP had wanted the vote to be binding. But the Tories, in favour of the missile-defence program and with enough seats to help veer the vote in that direction, were said to be content with taking advantage of Martin's promises to make the Commons "meaningful." The deal with the opposition parties covers five major areas: missile defence, the demand for a citizens' assembly on such issues as electoral reform, independent scrutiny of the federal Employment Insurance fund, taxation policies, and more independent scrutiny of government finances overall. But the missile defence vote will be "rigged" in the Commons to guarantee Liberal support for the weapons system, says Mississauga Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish, who predicted that Martin will twist the arms of his 69 cabinet ministers and junior ministers. Parrish also believes the vote will be skewed by new MPs itching to impress the PM by backing his position. "It would make it look like it's a 2-1 vote in the House of Commons for missile defence, and I don't think if you went into the hearts of most of the MPs you'd get that," Parrish said on Oct. 13 after the weekly Liberal caucus meeting. "We're good Liberals, we didn't want to go (into) the war in Iraq, and I doubt if we want to waste money on something as foolish as this." Parrish called on Martin to buck a Conservative amendment to the throne speech which forces a vote on the controversial program and make an executive decision. "Let it rest on his shoulders," Parrish said. "I don't want him to get the moral certitude out of a rigged vote in the House of Commons." In an attempt to help bring more public pressure to bear on the government, the NDP attempted to get Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee to hold hearings on the issue. That effort was shot down by the committee on Oct. 20. The Communist Party of Canada, which has made opposition to "Star Wars" a key policy ever since Ronald Reagan's presidency, supported the call for public hearings, and went further by demanding that the government not act on missile defence until it conducts its long-promised foreign policy review. Given the crucial significance of this plan to tie Canada into the Pentagon's military planning, the Central Executive of the CPC has also called for a Canada-wide referendum. The party will be carrying out a special public campaign against Canadian participation from the end of October to mid-December. Meanwhile, the British media has reported that Tony Blair's government has agreed to a similar deal in principle, but wants it kept under wraps until after the next election. The Independent on Sunday newspaper says that Blair has agreed to let the U.S. base missiles at the RAF Fylingdales base in North Yorkshire. The weapons would supposedly allow the US to destroy incoming missiles, although most independent scientists have grave doubts that the system will work as promised, given the dismal record of tests to date. A British Ministry of Defence spokesperson said, "We are not going to comment on this alleged secret deal. What we will say is that no formal approach has been made to the UK to base missiles here. Nor have we decided whether we need our own missile defence system here in the UK." However, work has already started on a half-billion-dollar project to upgrade RAF Fylingdales to make it part of the US anti-missile defence programme. Until now, the government has only confirmed it will allow the US to use early earning radar at the base. In August the Danish Government signed a deal to allow a radar base in Greenland to be used, but the US did not ask to site missiles. According to the Independent on Sunday, the deal to permit missiles was brokered in Washington last May by senior officials from the British Embassy and the US State Department, as long as it was kept quiet until after an election expected within the next few months. Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell said: "These reports, if true, are a source of grave concern given that a decision appears to have been taken behind closed doors before a full public debate on the costs and strategic implications. This could have major implications for the defence posture of the UK, our relationship with NATO countries and other allies." Prominent Labour left-winger Diane Abbott said, "It is another example of how we appear to be in the pocket of America. We have no national interest in having American missiles on British soil." (Back) (Home) More predators in the smog The following article is from the November 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.) By Sam Hammond, Labour Secretary, Communist Party of Canada Who the hell do steelworkers really work for? While people have been getting paycheques for years from Stelco, fighting grievances, negotiating contracts, etc, have they really been fencing with an oblique shadow-image of international bankers, vulture capitalists and financiers? The more the "bankruptcy protection" fiasco unfolds, or drips, the more predators and reptilian financiers emerge. Some of these, believe it or not, have taken time from their other heady responsibilities in Zurich and Berlin to enter the "restructuring" fray at Stelco in Hamilton. Apparently they claim to represent the "major bondholders". Are these the real owners? Who knows? Stelco went into bankruptcy protection because it owes $375 million to its creditors. One of these creditors, perhaps the major one, is Canada Steamship Lines. A major player in smashing the Canadian Seamen's Union and importing the waterfront thug Hal Banks from New York many cold war years ago, Canada Steamship Lines is owned by the illustrious Martin Family which produced our Prime Minister. There is much more than a casual interest in this whole affair by the Prime Minister and his family, but we will never know how much because he cannot comment. He has a conflict of interest. UBS Canada, the local pit bull of the Union Bank of Switzerland, and the Deutsche Bank, which still has a light spot on the head office wall where the Fuhrer's picture used to hang, have entered the fray to get a place at the trough. UBS Canada has just been fined $2 million (the largest ever penalty) by the Market Regulation Services Inc. for inflating shares on the Canadian stock market. The UBS internet homepage calls itself the "Bank for Banks" and goes into its sales pitch with this line: "Imagine a global financial firm with the heart and soul of a two-person organization." Okay! Which one of you two persons inflated the shares? Sounds more like the heart and soul of a couple of medicine show hucksters. UBS and Deutsche Bank (which has emerged as the major bond/debt holder) want to organize the bondholders so that they can end up owning the company for the unpaid debt. Nobody knows if making steel is part of this agenda, or if the acquisition is merely preparation for a market sale to the highest bidder. The giant Russian corporation, Severstal, is also waiting in the wings for Stelco to get its restructuring plan approved by the court. There have been closed door meetings with Justice James Farley of the Ontario Supreme Court, who must approve equity raising and the sale of substantial assets. He must also approve any interruption of supplies from suppliers or any cancellation of major orders. Stelco has a lot going for it, but it has frittered the months away without any apparent haste and made good profits because of record high steel prices. Enter General Motors and DaimlerChrysler. These giant auto makers have jumped into the melee by threatening to find alternatives if Stelco can't guarantee steel supplies, which it can't if it is strikebound. The obvious thing to do, of course, is to make a fair deal with the workers, guarantee their pensions and benefits, give them a permanent stake in the company and turn around 60 years of rotten labour relations. They have to learn that there are actually human beings beyond the corporate office walls, workers who have produced everything that the bosses have confiscated and wallowed in over the years. Stelco is in negotiations with Local 8782 USWA at its Lake Erie works, also under the same "bankruptcy protection" as Hamilton. Lake Erie workers have been without a contract since July. Alarm bells went off weeks ago at Lake Erie when it was learned that Stelco, at its AltaSteel operation in Edmonton, were trying to impose a "defined contribution" pension plan for new employees. This masterstroke of corporate arrogance resulted in an 82% strike vote by the 265 Steelworkers there and the posting of a 90 day strike notice by the Steelworkers at Lake Erie in Ontario. The Steelworkers are no fools. They have felt the thin edge of the wedge between their shoulder blades before with this company and they have reacted in a militant and highly principled manner. Rolph Gerstenberger, President of Local 1005 in Hamilton, said "There are a whole bunch of vultures circling around. Their only concern is, they want to make a buck." Bill Ferguson, president of the Steelworkers at Lake Erie, said in his usual blunt and straightforward manner, "They're depending on people's greed. What they're saying is that you'll be okay. The guy you've never seen before is going to get screwed. Peter Leibovitch, Vice-President of Local 8782, said the company should have begun negotiations weeks ago. "If Pratt (re- structuring coordinator) had ordered his people to sit down and negotiated a collective agreement in good faith with Lake Erie, he wouldn't have this problem." The Steelworkers local unions involved in this affair have carried on a principled public fight in the stacked courts, against the machinations of the corporation and in defence of their members. They have been as public as the media have allowed. They have leafleted, demonstrated and organized lobbies to protect their members and their pensioners, and to warn the Canadian public of the dangers of foreign control. The Steelworkers have been patronized, lectured, threatened and legally bullied by the phony public anguish of a bunch of international thieves fighting over the still warm corpse of an industry vital to Canadian sovereignty and trade. The Steelworkers are the only element in this struggle who represent the interests of the Canadian people, who have consistently warned of loss of sovereignty with loss of industry, who are refusing to sell out the futures, and who are refusing to allow the creation of second class workers within their midst. Throughout this giant squeeze play, this manipulation by international capital, by the Bay Street-Zurich-Berlin-Moscow exploiters, the Steelworkers have been calm and militant. No matter what happens here, the Steelworkers in Hamilton and Nanticoke are the only ones representing the interests of Canadian people, their own members and the future generations. (Back) (Home) Communist parties to step up cooperation The following article is from the November 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.) On October 8-10, sixty-four Communist and Workers Parties met in Athens at an international conference on "Resistance to Imperialist Aggression - Fronts of Struggle and Alternatives". The Communist Party of Canada was represented by George Gidora, member of the party's Central Executive Committee; excerpts from his speech were printed in the Oct. 16-31 issue of PV. In a step towards increased cooperation and unity of Communist and Workers' Parties, the delegates adopted (with just one abstention) a joint statement at the end of their discussions.... Many speakers addressed the situation following the military occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. The participants condemned the violation of the principles of international law by the US and its allies, which deepened the crisis in the UN and its role in promoting peaceful settlement of disputes between states. The US doctrine of "pre-emptive strike," also adopted by the EU, Australia and the Russian Federation in the name of "confronting terrorism," was considered as being particularly dangerous for world peace. The militarization of Japan, which for the first time since World War Two is sending an army outside its borders, was noted in particular. Delegates emphasized the necessity for broad and coordinated action to confront this danger, such as campaigns and mobilizations to change the current balance of forces for the benefit of peace and socialism. Many speakers noted the vicious attack of neo-liberal policies on the social and workplace rights of the working people, with the principal victims being youth and women. Poverty and the concentration of wealth are both rising, while the increasing burden of external debt suffocates the people of developing countries. Several speakers referred to the restriction of democratic rights and freedoms by "anti-terrorism laws", and the related problems of immigrants and refugees. They rejected slanders against national liberation movements as "terrorist," and supported the legitimate right of the people to resist occupation. They expressed their concern about the rise in anti-communism, as well as in fundamentalism, racism and neo-fascist viewpoints and forces. Many speakers noted the special role played by the decisions of the "G8" in international politics, the role of NATO with its new aggressive doctrine, guided by the concept of pre-emptive war, and the role of the EU with the creation of its own "rapid deployment force." They warned that the new expansion of NATO essentially transforms it into a global policeman, under the leadership of US imperialism. Participants from the CIC countries pointed out that recent dramatic events in the Russian Federation are linked with interests of imperialist circles, first and foremost US ones, that aim at weakening Russian Federation unity. Speakers called for mobilization against the "Greater Middle East" plan, promoted by the USA and approved by the G8 countries and NATO, which foresees the "reformation" of the area in accordance with imperialist interests and which includes military action. The plan embraces countries in the Caucasus, Caspian Sea, Africa and the Arab countries of the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Gulf -  the "energy belt" of countries that produce oil or through which pipelines for oil and natural gas pass. Participants expressed solidarity with Lebanon and Syria, which face intensified threats by the US and its allies. Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people was condemned, including recent assaults on the Gaza Strip and the wall that annexes the occupied territories of the West Bank. The US government's threats against Iran, delegates said, create the danger of total destruction of the area. A military strike directed by the USA against Iran, said the communique, "will not only be catastrophic for the people of Iran but also for the movement for peace, progress and democracy all over the world." The participants stressed that the future of Iran must be decided only by the Iranian people and the progressive and democratic forces, not imposed by outside forces. Several speakers addressed the complicated situation in Africa, where there is an emerging antagonism between France and the USA. NATO is also formulating plans for its military presence in Africa, in the name of either "confronting terrorism" or the supposed "failed states". EU military forces are already present in the People's Republic of the Congo. The events in Darfur, resulting from the policies of the Sudanese government, are being used as pretext for the deployment of troops under the auspices of either the UN or NATO. Participants expressed solidarity with the inhabitants of Darfur and the idea of solidarity missions to the area. Regarding Latin America, conference participants condemned the imperialist "Initiative for a Free Cuba," and called for the release of the five Cuban patriots imprisoned in the US for their efforts against terrorist groups based in Miami. The Free Trade Area of the Americas and its military version, "Plan Colombia" (now renamed the "Andean Regional Initiative") were sharply criticized, along with the "Puebla-Panama Plan," which aims at the exploitation of the region's natural resources by North American multinationals. Participants referred to the increased tensions on the Korean peninsula, expressing their solidarity with DPR of Korea facing a US-led blockade, diplomatic isolation and threat of imperialist aggression. Numerous speakers noted that despite its power, the US faces powerful opposition from the peoples who defend their national independence and sovereignty, such as the popular forces which were victorious in the recent vote in Venezuela. The participants expressed the need to continue and multiply similar meetings of Communist and Workers Parties, mentioning as an example the meetings of the CPs of South America and the idea of holding similar meetings on the occasion of EU summit meetings. Important campaigns and mobilizations noted in the statement include: an international event in Prague next May to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the anti-fascist victory; the struggle against the EU constitution and the attack against social programs; resistance to the increase in work hours and firings; continuation of anti-NATO mobilizations this year in Venice and during the NATO summit in Nice in 2005; and the World Festival of Youth and Students next August in Venezuela. To see the full statement and the presentations by delegates to the Athens Conference, visit http://www.solidnet.org on the Web. (Back) (Home)

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