The 24th CLC Convention: Presiding over growth or decline? (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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, Chairperson, Central Trade Union Commission, Communist Party of Canada      The 24th Canadian Labour Congress Constitutional Convention, June 13-17, will probably be well under way as you read this article. The resolutions, composite resolutions, policy papers and other major documents are in the hands of the delegates. The caucuses are planned, the new delegates orientation, and youth, women's, and human rights forums are assigned rooms and scheduled on the agenda. A Union Label Convention will meet on June 11, along with Labour Council and Human Rights meetings on June 12.      In short the ball is rolling and will pick up momentum as the effects of debate, election campaigning and caucuses shape the convention and send the CLC into implementation mode. This is what conventions are for.      It is of great interest to note that the rank and file delegates at CLC Conventions are the dominant presence as far as numbers are concerned. Canadian workers have maintained this tradition, unlike most labour centres in other industrialized countries, where conventions have evolved into professionally dominated affairs with assigned voting for their entire memberships. There have been attempts over the years to take the CLC in this direction, but so far no one has figured out how to get the rank and file to disenfranchise themselves.      The conventions have changed, and some claim there is too much management of the agenda, but this is only in degree. The essence of the rank and file convention is still there as a very loaded potential for change.      Will this convention motivate the labour movement towards growth? Or will it allow the decline in sector density and membership as a percentage of the population to continue? Will this convention take up the challenge of recapturing the industrial base of the working class and bringing it as a fighting component into the struggle to maintain our social programs, Canadian sovereignty and independence, and the self-determination of the nations within Canada?      This is what real unity is all about. This is what will weld the private sector workers and the public sector workers, the workers in English‑speaking Canada, Quebec, and the Aboriginal workers into a force that cannot be divided or defeated. To do this will require organizing programs that raise the percentage organized in the private sector (both industrial and service), close to the percentage organized in the public sector. Before this can happen it must be desired. By the end of the convention we should have a clearer knowledge if this desire exists, or where it exists and where it is absent.       This writer has not seen all the resolutions or had the opportunity to analyse all of the composite resolutions prior to writing this article. It is probably correct to say that there are not many, or any, really bad resolutions. However the distance between an "ok" resolution and one that escalates labour into being the "pivot point" of the class struggle, the most recognized force for social change, especially amongst the unorganized, is indeed vast. The labour movement is certainly not absent from these struggles, but the degree is far too little and the need is immense. Far too large percentage of the working people are isolated from labour, do not know labour and do not look to labour for leadership. Is it possible to organise millions when this condition exists? Is there a policy paper on this subject?       The challenge to the Presidency of Ken Georgetti by Carol Wall is part of an attempt to address this burning issue. People have many opinions about Ken Georgetti, but he is not alone in presiding over a labour movement that seems to be a spectator of it's own decline.      In page two of "Document No. 1, Unions Make a Difference at the Workplace, Committee Report," it states, "Since the last CLC Convention, membership in affiliated unions has increased steadily... from a figure of 2.2 million three years ago to 3 million today." This is a suspect figure that contains within it new affiliations and mergers but not necessarily newly organized as it implies. It does not either identify where we lost and where we organized. According to Statistics Canada and the labour movement's own figures, the percentage of the workforce organized has fallen. This is self‑deception of a very high degree and is typical of the insistence by important elements in labour leadership that everything is ok.       Everything is not ok, and a challenge to Georgetti is a challenge to this type of elitist balm. If Carol Wall can beat the odds, as Jean-Claude Parrot did, it will be a breath of fresh air and a chance to bring the labour movement into active leadership of the people's fightback.       The delegates gathered at this CLC Convention represent the most organized and advanced workers in Canada. The debates will be in French and English, and in both languages the message must be solidarity, organization, programs and struggle on behalf of all the people, to protect our social programs, for the dignity and self-determination of nations, for peace, justice and a better life.      Good luck to all the delegates and officers who are charged with this honourable task. (Back) (Home) Workers' unity and solidarity (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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 Liz Rowley IN 1974, the Canadian Labour Congress adopted an historic resolution recognizing that Canada, like some other countries, is made up of more than one nation, and that the well-being of workers in these multi‑national states depends on their ability to recognize their common class interests against the multinationals and right-wing governments, while also finding a democratic solution to the national question.      This resolution was fought for by the left and progressive forces in the trade union movement. It was crucial for the CLC to unite the trade union movement and workers in the struggle against the corporations operating in English-speaking Canada and Quebec, generating bigger profits by driving down wages and working conditions, using racism and national chauvinism to turn workers against one another.      By recognizing Quebec as an historically constituted nation, whose people have shared a common language, culture, history, psychology, territory, and economy for almost 250 years, the CLC also recognized the right of the people of Quebec to determine their own future within Canada, or outside of it, if they so choose.      As a result of this new understanding, the CLC established a new constitutional structure, which provided full autonomy to the trade union movement in Quebec. The Quebec Federation of Labour was given full control over the development of policies and structure within Quebec.      In the process, the CLC demonstrated to working people ‑ and governments ‑ that it is possible to democratically solve the national question in this country, by constitutionally recognizing the multi‑national character of Canada, by establishing structures which reflect the equality and solidarity of labour in English-speaking Canada and in Quebec, and by advocating Quebec's right to national self‑determination.      Self‑determination or sovereignty, can be exercised in three ways: separation, autonomy, or a confederal republic built on an equal voluntary partnership of nations, each of which is guaranteed the constitutional right to secede if it so desires.      Developments internationally and nationally suggest that in today's conditions of an intensive neo-liberal assault in both Quebec and the rest of Canada, the best option for workers would not be separation, but a new equal and voluntary partnership of nations, each with the right to self‑determination guaranteed in a new confederal pact. This would create the best conditions for a united and powerful social movement, with labour at its core, that could repel the neo‑liberal corporate assault, and mount a counter-offensive for a democratic, people's agenda. However, at the end of the day, it is up to each of the nations that make up Canada to freely decide how they will exercise their right to self-determination. Efforts in English-speaking Canada to prevent a free choice, will ensure that English-speaking Canada itself is not free. The consequences of force can be dangerous.      Yet, as Jean‑Claude Parrot observed in a 2002 People's Voice interview, the 1974 CLC resolution was passed a long time ago. A new generation of workers has no knowledge of these historic debates and policies.      In fact, most workers in English-speaking Canada today still think Canada is one nation in one country, and that Quebec is a province "like the rest". As a result they don't understand Quebec's demands for self‑determination, and for the exercise of their national rights over health, education, child care, jobs, and other programs and policies.      The CLC has failed to educate its 3 million members and affiliates about the national question in Canada, and has also failed to speak up loudly and to organize in defense of Quebec's right to self‑determination. When the federal Liberals introduced the Clarity Bill, which attempts to prevent Quebec voters from exercising their right to self‑determination, including their right to separate from Canada, the CLC did little other than issue a press release. And most affiliates didn't even do that.      Is it any wonder that when their national rights are under attack and the CLC sits back, Quebec workers feel alienated from workers in English-speaking Canada?      The CLC's laid back attitude will have a high price tag if the federal government and opposition parties are allowed to continue to hammer the national and democratic aspirations of the people of Quebec with barely a peep from organized labour in English-speaking Canada.      Is it any wonder that working people in Quebec feel they have no support within Canada, and might as well go it alone?      The CLC leadership and workers within English-speaking Canada need to think about this question, because the rights and gains of English-speaking workers, including immigrants, are also on the line. This month's CLC convention will confront one of the most powerful corporate offensives since the 1930s and '40s. Labour's strongest weapon in this global battle against neo-liberalism is unity, unity, and more unity, combined with strong and broad‑based organization rooted in the shop floor and in the communities.      Will the CLC to stand aside without intervening, saying in effect, that labour has no particular interest or stake in the future of this multi‑national country, and has nothing to offer in the way of a new equal and voluntary partnership between Aboriginal Peoples, Quebec, and English‑speaking Canada? If so, the future will indeed be settled by those corporate forces in Quebec and in English-speaking Canada who see themselves as "North Americans", and whose main interest is to secure greater super-profits at the expense of workers from coast to coast to coast.      The example of equality and democracy that the CLC achieved more than 30 years ago, needs to be front-lined again today in CLC education programs, in growing cooperation with the QFL, CSN, and CSQ in Quebec, and in campaigns for an equal voluntary partnership in a new constitutional deal based on recognition of the right of nations to self‑determination.      Like the legal right to divorce for individuals, the legal right to secede for nations provides a real and genuine basis to achieve an equal, voluntary partnership free of coercion, free of oppression. Advocacy of the right to self‑determination, including the right to separate, is not the same as advocating separation; any more than advocacy of the right to divorce is the same as advocating divorce. It is the right to secede and the right to divorce which help to level the playing field in unequal and involuntary unions, and which provide the right to exit in the event that an equal and voluntary union is impossible to achieve.    As the Parti Quebecois seems poised to win a large majority in the next Quebec election, another referendum on separation seems equally likely. Working people in Quebec will be hearing from the PQ and BQ that working people in the rest of Canada don't give a damn about Quebec's national rights, and the only option therefore is separation.      The CLC has the responsibility to advance its policy positions, and its own example of an equal, voluntary partnership ‑ of autonomy, of sovereignty association ‑ as another option. While respecting the right of the people of Quebec to choose the form of sovereignty they want, the CLC must stand up for the best interests of workers in Quebec and in the rest of Canada. Not the status quo which is the corporate choice, nor separation which is the choice of the North Americans and those who have no confidence in the working class in the rest of Canada; but a democratic solution which unites the working class of both nations for a new constitutional deal, and for a common struggle against the corporations who want to bulldoze our national and collective sovereignty, and eliminate the gains of decades for working people.      Divided, the working class has a lot to lose. Yet, united, another world and another country is possible. (Back) (Home) Campaign builds against "Security" Laws (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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     June will be a month of actions across Canada to oppose "security" laws which target people from the Muslim and Arab communities. After protest rallies in several cities, there will be a march to Ottawa during the second half of the month.      The actions are being organized by groups such as No One Is Illegal, with the support of a wide range of civil liberties organizations.      On June 8 (one day after this issue of PV goes to press), a pan-Canadian Day of Action against "security certificates" and secret trials is planned. June 8 is the anniversary of the day on which Canada signed the Convention against torture. This is seen as an appropriate day to bring attention to the fact that the Canadian government is trying to deport five men even though the Immigration department recognises they are at risk of torture if forced out.      Canada's "Secret Trial Five" are Muslim men facing accusations that they are not allowed to fight in an open, fair and independent trial. Three are imprisoned in Toronto: Mohammad Mahjoub, a refugee from Egypt who has been in prison since June 2000; Mahmoud Jaballah, a refugee from Egypt who was arrested in August 2001, and Hassan Almrei, a refugee who has been facing deportation to Syrian torture, just like Maher Arar, since October 2001. A fourth man, Algerian refugee Mohamed Harkat, was arrested in Ottawa in December 2002, ironically on Human Rights Day. The fifth, Adil Charkraoi from Morocco, was arrested in Montreal in May 2003.      All five were arrested under "Security Certificates," a measure of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) described by Amnesty International as "fundamentally flawed and unfair".      Security certificates and secret evidence reverse the fundamental rule of innocent until proven guilty. Neither the detainees nor their lawyers are informed of the precise and full allegations against them. They are imprisoned indefinitely without charges on secret evidence and face deportation to their countries of origin, even if there is a substantial risk of torture or death.      Additional information can be presented at any time to the judge in the absence of the detainee and his lawyer. Normal standards of evidence are explicitly waived. There is no right to cross‑examine witnesses who have made allegations. The court is not given the power to decide on the truth of such allegations. There is no appeal. The detainee can be imprisoned for years without bail or charges. In the case of Mohammad Mahjoub, this has meant jail for over four years. For permanent residents like Adil Charkaoui, the court is required to conduct a detention review every six months.      There are other aspects to the Canadian state's involvement in this sordid issue. Canadian authorities use information extracted under torture in security certificate cases, and exchange information with secret services recognised as complicit in physical and psychological torture. The Martin government has failed to criticise the use of torture by its allies in Iraq, Guantanomo, Palestine, Afghanistan and Europe, and is enabling the use of torture facilities in Afghanistan, where Canadian occupation troops are stationed.      As the Vancouver-based No One Is Illegal group says, "It is no coincidence, in a situation like the present, where the `war on terror' is being used to advance an agenda of economic and political domination, that norms against torture are coming under deliberate and concerted pressure. Security Certificates are a tool that has been put to use in the post‑9/11 climate of racist hysteria around `national security' to attack the Muslim and Arab communities, migrants and broader civil liberties. The historical parallels are clear: Japanese‑Canadians interned and deported from Canada during World War II and the `red scare' of the McCarthy era. These should stand as warnings to us."      The families and supporters of these men demand four things: that the five men be released immediately, or, if any case against them exists, that they be allowed to defend themselves in open, fair and independent trials; that they not be deported; that the secret trial security certificate process be abolished; and that CSIS, RCMP, and CIC end the ongoing harassment and intimidation of individuals and communities of Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian heritage and/or Muslim faith.      Following the June 8 actions, Solidarity Across Borders, a Montreal network of refugee groups, individuals and their allies, is planning a one‑week march from Montreal to Ottawa to draw attention to the struggles of refugees and immigrants for life and dignity.      The four basic demands of the network are: the regularization of all non‑status people in Canada; an end to deportations; an end to detentions; and the abolition of security certificates.      Calling for support for the march, Solidarity Across Borders stresses that "In the current political context, as Canada rushes to harmonize its border policies with the United States and create a unified `Fortress North America' in the context of the so‑called `war on terror,' the situation of immigrants and refugees is worsening. Every day, thousands of migrants and their families struggle against the uncertainties created by the racist and anti-poor processes of criminalization carried out by Immigration Canada. They are forced underground; threatened with detention or with deportation to often desperate situations; and subjected to discriminatory legal standards which fall far short even of international human rights standards. The migrants leading the march are simply demanding their basic rights to a secure life, dignity and a future."      Inspired by the 1935 On-to-Ottawa Trek and other historic struggles, the walk to Ottawa will start on June 18 in downtown Montreal, proceeding through immigrant and working class neighbourhoods to the West Island. The march will stop to speak to people in towns along the route, including First Nations communities.      For information and to find out how you can provide support, contact Solidarity Across Borders, sansfrontieres@resist.ca, tel. 514-859-9023. (Back) (Home) France and Holland stand up (The following editorial is from the June 16-30/2005 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.) People's Voice Editorial     The "NO" campaigns in the French and Dutch referenda on the European constitution have strengthened the global struggle against neo-liberalism and privatisation. These victories are a massive rejection of the corporate rulers of the European Union, whose goal has been to use this constitution to concentrate power in their own hands, at the expense of genuine democracy.      The working people of France and the Netherlands have decided that the well-being of the public, their democratic traditions, and the sovereignty of their countries come first, not the profits of giant transnationals and bankers.      Despite these decisive votes, the battle for the future of Europe is far from over. The undemocratic nature of the EU ruling elite is revealed by their insistence on continuing their dream of full European integration, even though they had pledged to abandon the process if any country rejected this constitution.      Similar struggles are taking place closer to home. In country after country of Latin America, voters have rejected politicians who back plans to impose a U.S.-dominated set of trade and investment rules, whether the Free Trade of the Americas or any other form. And in this hemisphere, too, the ruling classes are pushing this neoliberal agenda against massive popular opposition.      However, the tide of history is definitely turning against the drive for complete imperialist control of national economies. The next step is for the working class and its allies to move from the defensive to the offensive, by uniting around a clear set of progressive policies. We need a People's Alternative to corporate power, a strategy to put the interests of the majority ahead of the greed of a few, opening the way to an end of exploitation and oppression. The events in Europe and Latin America should give Canadian workers confidence that we can also advance towards our own victories! (Back) (Home) Labour's EI challenge (The following editorial is from the June 16-30/2005 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.) People's Voice Editorial     A recent opinion poll shows that a majority of Canadians disapprove of the federal government's handling of the Employment Insurance program. But most have only a fuzzy idea how the system works, leaving room for the political right to push for contribution cuts instead of improved benefits. It's a situation that cries out for strong leadership from the labour movement.      The Ipsos Reid survey found that almost two-thirds of respondents believe that the federal government is doing a poor job on the EI progam. Given how difficult it is for unemployed workers to access benefits (only one-third of jobless Canadians are eligible for EI), that's hardly surprising.      However, 35% of respondents believed the EI system is either running a deficit or just breaking even, compared to just 30% who correctly said the program has a surplus. We venture to guess that few Canadians realize that the transfer of the EI surplus (now $46 billion) into general revenues was largely responsible for Paul Martin's so-called budget wizardry.      With a minority government clinging to office in Ottawa, this is the time to demand more than the timid reforms recently proposed by the NDP, which is calling for a reduction to 12 weeks from 14 weeks of work to qualify for benefits in areas where the jobless rate is higher than 10 percent. That would help areas that rely on seasonal work in resource industries, but with $46 billion in the kitty, far more is possible. All Canadian workers are paying into EI, and everyone who gets laid off should have the right to access those funds, at 90% of previous earnings. That would make the bosses scream, but isn't it time to demand that the interests of workers and our families get put ahead of profits? (Back) (Home) Goodbye school, Hello summer job (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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 Johan Boyden      For a million youth across Canada, school is out. Welcome to summer holidays, and hello part‑time work. Welcome to the big, fat, dangerous great Canadian summer job, where you work like a beaver, and get treated like a hoser.      We call it "big" because hundreds of thousands of young people will try to find work this summer. Hundreds of youth job centers have sprung up to deal with this onslaught. Big business can't and won't find jobs for all the new young workers in Canada (actually, 30,000 youth lost full‑time work between January and April, according to StatsCan), so the monopolies use the state for a quick fix. Last year, the federal government spent well over $120 million, paying companies to hire students. The summer job is big business.      We call it "fat" not because you get paid a lot, but because the corporations that hire teenagers - McDonalds, grocery stores, movie theaters, etc. - get fat off your cheap labour.      Take Tim Horton's, the "national icon" owned by U.S.‑based Wendy's. Canada's top food‑service chain has nearly 2,500 locations. Only a handful have been organized by UNITE‑HERE, the Canadian Auto Workers, the Teamsters or (in Quebec) the UFCW.      Timmy's made $2.9 billion in revenues in 2004. Was it because of the late hockey player's business smarts? Or because of ridiculously low wages?      We also call the great Canadian summer job "dangerous" because young people get more injuries at work than any other age group. About 17,000 workers between the ages of 15 and 19 are injured every year in Canada! The majority are still in school and work at non‑unionized part‑time jobs.      People's Voice would like to introduce you to Amanda, Osman and Ling, three teenagers in the world of the summer job. Pay attention: there is a quiz at the end. Pay attention: these young workers could be your neighbors.      You met 19‑year‑old Amanda when she took your ticket at the movies. She cleaned your seat out a few minutes before, getting ready for the next show. Or maybe she sold you popcorn or an over-priced drink. Amanda gets minimum wage (this is Alberta, so it's $5.90 an hour) and is cross‑trained on ticket sales and confection. Last week she thought was done her probation. Think again.      Not so fast, said the boss. Everyone who got hired at the student‑works fair three months ago will be on probation for another three months. That means no lates because of the crappy public transit, no dirty uniforms because boyfriend put his blue socks in the white wash, no missed shifts because the posted schedule mysteriously changed between Thursday night and Sunday morning.      Probation continues. Amanda could get fired at any time. Without a union, she has no right to grievances or arbitration. Oh, the rights and freedoms these corporate giants have!      Osman works for free in a grocery store. Yes, you read that correctly. He is sixteen and getting mandatory work experience so he can graduate from high school. Forty hours are necessary. Osman was initially supervised by his high school careers teacher. Now he works alone, or next to me. He stocks shelves, he weighs meat, he moves apple boxes.      "Osman gets longer breaks than you," his teacher‑supervisor says when I ask him why the kid doesn't get paid.      "You're doing exactly the same job I do, but for free," I tell Osman. "I know," he says. "But I'm not working very hard. I'm slacking big time."      The boss has a different idea. "Why is it taking you so long to work that skid?" he yells. "You can't slack‑off like this in the real world, Osman, and you're in the real world right now!"      Blisters. Ling has two on her heels, and one on her big toe after walking around a Burnaby mall in sandals for three hours dropping off resumes? This is the third mall the 17-year-old has visited, and the farthest from home. Her Mum doesn't like the neighbourhood and doesn't want her to work there. Ling just wants a job but can't get past the first interview. Manager: You don't have much experience. Ling: No, I don't. M: So you've worked in a paint store. What did you do? L: Mixed paint. M: Do you have any customer service experience? L: No. M: Have you worked with cash before? L: No. M: What's your availability? L: Well, I'm free most of the time but some weekends I have to baby‑sit my brother and I might be going away for a bit in August. M: What about the fall? L: Oh, I want to got to college full‑time. That's why I want a job.      What honest answers! Ling hasn't realized that she has to lie through her teeth to get ahead. Here's the right answer: "I'm free around the clock, 24‑7. I want to serve you right."      We'd like to give something to all the well dressed CEOs in expensive suits, who sit back and play shell games with billions in capital while Lyndsey and Osman toil away and Ling is kept unemployed. We want to give them big, fat, dangerous great Canadian summer jobs. We invite you to join this noble campaign to put capitalists to work and build a socialist Canada where exploitation, oppression, insecurity, and want are ended forever.  Join the struggle today and fight back. Get in touch with the Communist Party and the Young Communist League. (Back) (Home) A labour struggle that changed Canadian history (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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.)      During the "Great Depression" of the 1930s, Canada's ruling circles sought to meet the growing demands for jobs, unemployment insurance and adequate relief by herding the unemployed into "relief" camps. British Columbia's relief camps were typical of those in other provinces. The camps were usually located away from settled areas. Relief camp workers received the insulting sum of two dollars a day minus 85 cents for room and board for performing artificial, often unproductive jobs. In 1933, the camps came under the control of a joint federal-provincial commission which subsequently reduced the wages. Later in the year, the camps were completely taken over by the Department of National Defense, which proceeded to reduce the workers' wages even further, to 20 cents a day and board.      The takeover by the Department of National Defense and the subsequent militarization of camp life earned the relief camps the reputation of being slave compounds. The Relief Camp Worker, newspaper of the Workers' Unity League-affiliated Relief Camp Workers' Union (RCWU), carried numerous reports of deteriorating conditions in the camps and the efforts of the workers to improve their lot. For them, there was only one real solution to the steady erosion of their meagre wages and severely limited rights - to organize into the RCWU. The union campaigned for better conditions, unemployment insurance, social insurance, adequate old age pensions and compensation for disability and sickness. It also organized conferences and conducted a number of strikes in support of these demands.      The Conservative government of R.B. "Iron Heel" Bennett remained adamant in its refusal to meet the just demands of the relief camp workers. Government callousness led to a great deal of frustration. In early 1935, the WUL decided to assign Arthur H. Evans the task of leading the RCWU and organizing its struggles. A Communist with a great deal of experience in the IWW in the United States and the OBU in Canada, Evans had already shown himself to be a highly capable and effective organizer. So effective was he, that his organizing activities had landed him in prison on three separate occasions.      With Arthur Evans now its leader, the RCWU organized a conference of all relief camp workers to take place in Vancouver in April. Thousands converged on Vancouver; the camps were emptied in what amounted to a general strike of British Columbia relief camp workers. Over the next few days, a series of mass public meetings and demonstrations were held, enjoying wide public sympathy and support. On April 19, the RCWU organized a mass meeting attended by more than 10,000 people, two-thirds of whom were Vancouver citizens. Working for the local reactionaries, the police attacked a peaceful demonstration a few days later. On May Day, 15,000 demonstrators marched to Stanley Park, where they were joined by 20,000 sympathizers. For another month, actions of this kind continued despite reactionary attempts to frustrate them.      In late May, Evans proposed the organization of an On to Ottawa Trek as a means of forcing the Bennett government to act seriously on the demands of the relief camp strikers. Elected as leader of the Strike (On to Ottawa) Committee, he believed that although the Tories might be able to ignore a province-wide strike, they could hardly ignore a Canada-wide strike of relief camp workers. In early June, the main body of relief camp workers began their trek to Ottawa.      As the trek progressed eastward and the number of participants swelled, Bennett became increasingly alarmed. He had no desire to give his working class opponents another opportunity to strike a blow at his flagging popularity, but at the same time, he persisted in his refusal to make any concessions to the strikers. Going over the head of the Saskatchewan government, Bennet ordered the RCMP to halt the Trek in Regina. Many interpreted the federal government's move as an attempt to intimidate the trekkers into abandoning their plans. The trekkers, however, remained undaunted as they realized that to turn back, when public opinion was solidly on their side, would mean certain defeat. On June 14, the trekkers arrived in Regina were they were greeted by 6,000 enthusiastic citizens.      The Tory government then appeared to take a conciliatory approach. Two cabinet ministers negotiated an agreement with the Strike Committee whereby a delegation of eight trekkers headed by Arthur Evans would proceed to Ottawa at government expense to take up the demands of the trekkers. The main body of trekkers were to stay in Regina where they would be supplied with meals and shelter by the government.      The eight delegates of the trek met with the cabinet on June 22. But rather than listen to Evans' presentation, the Prime Minister launched into a vicious personal attack on the trek leader.      Meanwhile, the Bennett government continued its preparations for an assault on the trekkers in Regina. The bourgeois press tried to whip up anti-communist hysteria in order to create an atmosphere in which violent police action could be justified. About 600 policemen, many bearing machine guns, were posted in and around the city. Meanwhile, a concentration camp for trekkers was being set up near Lumsden.      The trekkers' delegation returned to Regina on June 26. On the following day, the trekkers were denied food relief. The city was then cordoned off by the police and anyone who attempted to leave was subject to arrest. On June 29, the RCWU was declared an unlawful association under Section 98. On July 1, Canada's 68th anniversary, the government celebrated the occasion by ordering the police to break up a mass meeting of 3,000 people, of whom no more than four or five hundred were trekkers, which was being held at Market Square. RCMP officers and the city police charged into the peaceful crowd, clubbing unarmed men, women and children. A four-hour battle in the streets of Regina ensued in which about 100 people were hurt, a number of them shot by police. Over a hundred, including Arthur Evans, were arrested. One plainclothes city detective was beaten to death by his own fellow police officers.      A wave of popular indignation and protest against the government's actions swept the country. Thousands joined in mass meetings and demonstrations.      In Winnipeg, unemployed who were to have joined the main trek set off for Ottawa on buses. Stopped at the Ontario border, the Winnipeg trekkers continued on foot to Kenora, where the presence of hundreds of RCMP officers signalled a potential violent confrontation. Not wanting a repeat of the Regina events, the trekkers negotiated with the Ontario government to ensure their peaceful return to Winnipeg. Some days later, 300 unemployed left Toronto for the capital. After walking the entire 250 miles to Ottawa, trekkers were finally able to present their demands to the Bennett government. The response was as usual negative.      In Ottawa, the parliamentary opposition vigorously condemned the Bennett government for its part in provoking the violence. Former Prime Minister King criticized the government for its excesses in its handling of the situation. J.S. Woodsworth, leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), accused the police of precipitating the riot. In Regina, a Citizens' Defense Committee was set up to counter the efforts of the government and the bourgeois press to slander the trekkers and blame them for the riot. Many prominent personalities, including Saskatchewan CCF leader M.J. Coldwell and two Saskatchewan MLAs, participated in this committee's efforts to have Arthur Evans and other political prisoners freed from detention. Within days after the Regina police riot, charges against half of those accused were dropped due to widespread public indignation. Trekkers were allowed to receive food relief and return home. The mass campaign in Regina laid the groundwork for the election later in the year of a pro-labour city council.      However, the Bennett government intended to pursue charges against Evans and some others with a vengeance. Of the 117 who were arrested, 30 were committed for trial on a variety of charges ranging from vagrancy and assaulting police to membership in an unlawful association. Evans and six others were charged with being members of the RCWU.      This action sparked a campaign to have all charges dropped and imprisoned trekkers released. Mass public unity soon brought about Arthur Evans' release on bail. In the fall, he conducted an exhausting tour across the country with the aim of exposing the Bennett government and obtaining the release of those still in jail.      The Hunger Marches of the early '30s, the On to Ottawa Trek, the activities of the WUL, the Farmers' Unity League and the Canadian Labour Defense League, were vivid expressions of popular rejection of Bennett's program of economic stagnation, sharply reduced living standards, and political repression. Such rejection assumed massive proportions as workers, unemployed and farmers sought alternative policies based on work and wages and guaranteed farm income. This sentiment helped bring about the resounding defeat of the Bennett government in the 1935 general election. The Liberals under W.L.M. King gained 132 more seats than the Conservatives.      During the campaign, King had been forced to respond to the massive working class pressure by promising to repeal Section 98 and abolish the relief camps. In June 1936, almost a year later, the relief camps were closed and Section 98 repealed. With this victory the RCWU was dissolved.      The seemingly all-powerful "Iron Heel" Bennett was finally removed from the political scene. The militant policies and work of the WUL, the FUL and the Communist Party had shown that working people were capable of not only defending but also advancing their vital interests. Provided the working class was united in its struggle against exploitation and oppression, it could make real gains even under the harshest conditions.      The Communist Party, meanwhile, emerged from this period firmly established in the minds of Canadian workers as an unshakable champion of the rights and interests of the working class, the farmers and the unemployed.      (From Chapter 5 of "Canada's Party of Socialism," Progress Books, 1976) (Back) (Home) Salmon wars - food for thought (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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.) Book review by Kimball Cariou Salmon Wars: The Battle for the West Coast Salmon Fishery, by Dennis Brown, Harbour Publishing, 2005, paperback, 375 pages plus footnotes and index, ISBN 1-55017-351-0     IN RECENT YEARS, most Canadian media coverage of fisheries issues has revolved around the collapse of the Atlantic cod stocks and the tragic results for east coast fishing families and communities. It's a major story of the impact of corporate greed on a way of life which had existed for centuries.      The west coast fishing industry has received somewhat less attention, except of course in British Columbia. Now, a new book by Dennis Brown gives readers a solid introduction to this topic, clearing up many areas of confusion around a complex situation.      Salmon Wars: The Battle for the West Coast Salmon Fishery, focuses largely on the 1990s, which saw the culmination of a drive by the federal government and the fish companies to downsize the numbers of B.C. fishermen, supposedly in the interests of efficiency. But Salmon Wars also places this struggle in its historical context, without which casual observers can never hope to grasp the true nature of these changes.      As told by the corporate media, the industry has long been plagued by "too many fishermen chasing too few fish." At a time of a global pattern of overfishing, that version of reality was widely believed by many Canadians.      Dennis Brown gives another perspective, as a member of a third-generation commercial fishing family. The author joined the staff of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union in 1980, as the UFAWU's Fraser Valley organizer. He later held posts as the union's business agent and secretary-treasurer, and served as an advisor representing the union in crucial negotiations around the future of the industry during the '90s.      For the commercial fishermen who built the UFAWU, protection of the various salmon stocks has always been a high priority. Their goal has never been to scoop the maximum harvest from the sea, heedless of future consequences. As Salmon Wars makes abundantly clear, the UFAWU has always been committed to a long-term strategy of saving the salmon and attempting to win a better share of the wealth generated by fishing for those who do the actual work.      Over the course of time, as Brown's book shows, the federal government and the fish companies relentlessly pursued an agenda which favoured wealthy and powerful forces in the industry, at the expense of small boat owners and operators. One key tactic was to impose various licensing schemes which concentrate ownership and control in fewer and fewer hands.      An important arena of this struggle concerns Canada-U.S. relations. For decades, working fishermen and the groups which represented their interests, notably the UFAWU, pressed for agreements based on the premise that each country's annual salmon catch should reflect the numbers of fish originating in the rivers which flowed through their respective territories.      As often happened, Canadian politicians proved reluctant to challenge the US on this issue, allowing fisheries based in Alaska and Washington state to regularly take more than their share of the stocks. It's a complicated tale, explained in a clear manner by Brown as he guides readers through the "fish wars" of the 1990s, a time when federal politicians combined bluster about defending Canada's interests with the "Mifflin Plan" to drive huge numbers of west coast fishermen out of the industry.      Salmon Wars also gives a useful explanation of the controversial Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy (AFS) launched in the early 1990s. Scenes of confrontation between non-Native and aboriginal fishermen made for spectacular TV and newspaper coverage, giving right-wing forces a springboard to jump into prominence, such as some Reform MPs.      Brown analyzes the AFS as largely a poorly-planned experiment which sowed divisions. Far from being racists, he stresses, most UFAWU members were strong supporters of aboriginal rights, and the union has a proud history of working for unity of all fishermen against the companies.      The author concludes with important recommendations for "laws and policies to keep control of our natural resources at the local level." These would include licensing based on the owner-operator principle, and strategies to ensure greater financial returns for each fish landed, which would help ease pressure to exploit the entire biomass. Everyone interested in the future of the salmon should give this book a careful read. (Back) (Home) LABOUR NOTES (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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.) Food Workers want jobs protected Food services workers at the Foothills and Alberta Children's Hospitals are looking for a written guarantee their jobs won't be contracted out in their next collective agreement. "We want to get 'no contracting out' language for those folks," Dan MacLennan, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, told the Calgary Herald in late May. "We've been hearing rumours that it's impending for the past five years now. I think (the Calgary Health Region) is always looking at privatization, and it would be an absolutely wrong decision. The jobs these workers perform are extremely important to the well-being of patients within the system, and they should be secure." Leanne Niblock, spokeswoman for the CHR, said that service delivery methods are being explores. "Nothing has been decided at this point," Niblock said. Calling such uncertainty is terrible for morale, MacLennan said. They continually feel like they're under the gun - in danger of losing their jobs. It's really unfortunate, and really unfair." Bargaining for support services within the Region was expected to begin this month. MacLennan said the workers would also be pressing for a grid pay raise which they have not seen in years. Minimum wage rise not enough The minimum wage in Newfoundland and Labrador went up slightly on June 1, but not enough for employees surviving on it. Yvette Walton, director of the Single Parents Association of Newfoundland, said the 25-cent increase to $6.25 will not be enough to encourage people to enter the workforce and live independently. Walton says social assistance recipients may only keep $150 of earned income per month beyond what they receive from government sources. "It takes earnings of more than [$6.25] an hour for them to earn and to bring home more than they are receiving as income support from the government," she says. The provincial government announced last January it will phase in a $1 increase over a two-year period. The next increases will take effect on Jan. 1, 2006, June 1, 2006, and Jan. 1, 2007. Currently the second-lowest in the country, the minimum wage in Newfoundland and Labrador will be the highest in Atlantic Canada by the end of the phased-in increases. Textile employees sue company One of the latest episodes in the de-industrialization of communities across Canada may result in a legal battle. The last one hundred employees at the No. 6 Cleyn & Tinker mill in Huntingdon, Quebec, were laid off on May 28, ending nearly 100 years of textile production in the town. The Montreal Gazette reports that an employee group has launched a $5-million class-action lawsuit against Cleyn & Tinker on behalf of the company's managers and supervisors. "We are fighting to get the amounts due to us under the Quebec Civil Code," said Isabelle Lachance, former superintendent of the tinting department at the No. 6 mill. Over the previous two months, four other mills at Cleyn & Tinker's Huntingdon complex were shut down. The company had been Canada's largest manufacturer of worsted wool fabric. It had employed about 600 workers in the town of 2,700 people, 60 kilometres southwest of Montreal. Just before last Christmas, another 200 jobs were lost with the closure of Huntingdon Mills. The Cleyn & Tinker jobs have been moved to Burlington, North Carolina. When the closures were announced last December, the company blamed the rising Canadian dollar and the Jan. 1 expiry of a World Trade O(organization agreement limiting imports of low-cost textiles into Canada. Part of the class-action lawsuit is to recoup a 10 percent cut in salaries imposed retroactively to March 1, 2004 on management and non-unionized staff. The company acted illegally by imposing the salary cuts, Lachance said. "The president of Cleyn & Tinker doesn't want anything to do with indemnifying his employees," she added, "even if he is making significant and very important profits with the sale of the company." A statement of claim filed in Quebec Superior Court in Valleyfield has not yet been heard by a judge. (Back) (Home) No attack on Iran, says StopWar (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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 May 31, StopWar.ca, Vancouver's peace coalition, issued the following statement. Recent statements by US administration officials, as well as articles by Scott Ritter and other media reports, lead us to fear that a military attack may be launched against Iranian nuclear facilities by Israel or the United States, possibly as soon as next month. StopWar condemns any plans for an attack, which can only be viewed as part of the US drive to establish its military, economic and political domination of the entire region. Such military aggression would have unpredictable consequences, possibly leading to a wider war with untold destruction and loss of human life. We also reject the argument that Israeli or US military action against Iran could help to improve human rights and democracy in the Middle East. The tragic results of the US/UK occupation of Iraq proves the opposite. This is why all the forces within Iran who campaign for democracy and social progress strongly oppose any foreign intervention in their country. Further, we stress that the United States and Israel, which systematically deny the human and democratic rights of the people of Palestine and other occupied countries, have no right to use such arguments in the course of launching wars. It is particularly hypocritical for the US - the dominant nuclear power on the planet and the main force pressing for an end to international agreements on arms limitations, in contravention of its obligations under these treaties to pursue the goal of nuclear disarmament - and for Israel, which uses its nuclear arsenal to threaten its neighbours, to condemn Iran for carrying out activities which are perfectly legal under the terms of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Finally, we call upon the government of Canada to stop taking part in the campaign to demonize Iran around the issue of nuclear facilities. Not only is this campaign being whipped up as part of preparations for a potential attack against Iran, it also increases the level of anti-Iranian and anti-Muslim racism in our society. If the Canadian government is truly concerned about the situation of the Iranian people, it will cease deporting refugees from Iran back to that country. (Back) (Home) TUC hits working hours "myths" (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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.) Britain's Trades Union Congress has launched an attack on the "myths" which it says surround the UK's opt-out on EU working hours rules. A new TUC report argues that Britain's long hours culture is bad for workers' health, and harming productivity. The report was issued as Tony Blair's Labour government tried to thwart a move by the European Parliament to end Britain's opt-out over the maximum 48-hour working week. Blair says he wants to "maintain British competitiveness." The TUC estimates that 16% of the UK labour force - some 3.9 million people - work more than 48 hours per week, increasing the risk of a range of illnesses. Disputing claims by employers that workers are eager to do large amounts of overtime, the report says most of the extra hours are unpaid. The government's own research shows that two-thirds of workers putting in more than 48 hours a week have not signed an opt-out from the working time directive, which they are required to do by law. The TUC also argues that excessive hours undermine economic performance. Despite working longer than most other EU members, Britain ranks only tenth in terms of productivity per hour. Full-time workers in the UK work for an average of 44 hours, compared with about 40 hours in the 14 other longstanding EU member states, according to the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).  The ETUC says around two-thirds of British workers are unaware of the 48-hour limit. (Back) (Home) Hyundai bosses demand wage system change (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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.) Hyundai Motor Co., Korea's largest automaker, wants to introduce a "wage peak system" for its workforce in the next collective agreement, company officials confirmed on May 31. "Wage peak system" refers to an incremental salary cut for workers after they reach a certain age in return for job security. The union representing Hyundai workers, considered some of the most militant in South Korea, said it would firmly refuse the "retrogressive" demand. The union is demanding a two-year extension to the company's retirement age,, which is currently set at 58. This is the first time a Korean carmaker has proposed a "wage peak system." Hyundai claims the move would address the problem of job security as the company increasingly moves production overseas. But the system is also aimed at reducing average wage levels, admitted an anonymous company public relations official. Currently the average age of Hyundai Motor workers is 39, and almost 600 workers are over the age of 55. The management wants a system in which annual salary peaks at 52, followed by gradual wage cuts, to the point where a 58-year old worker would earn just 70% of the peak salary. (Back) (Home) COSATU calls June 27 protests to save jobs (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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 The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has called for a series of rolling mass actions to protest against jobs losses and poverty. The campaign is in response to recent African National Congress discussion documents which suggest that labour market inflexibility is largely responsible for the slow pace of employment growth. COSATU secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi has announced a national strike on June 27 - two days before the start of the ANC's upcoming National General Council (NGC) meeting. Vavi said the discussion documents showed that there were "elements" in the  ANC which want to "roll back workers' gains" by pursuing anti-worker policies. "We are determined to fight the proposals with everything in our power," declared Vavi. Among the proposals for discussion by the ANC leadership is the concept of splitting the labour market on the basis of geographic areas, and a possible relaxing of labour laws for young employees. A statement from the COSATU leadership "expressed shock that some elements within the liberation movement are determined to roll back gains workers have made in the past ten years in the transformation of the apartheid labour market. This is yet another sign of growing class contradictions within the Alliance. COSATU believes that the overwhelming majority of the delegates to the ANC NGC will never adopt proposals designed to roll back workers' gains. We are determined to fight proposals with everything in our power." In contrast, said the labour federation, the aim of the ANC/COSATU/Communist alliance had always been a single, integrated economy, with equal rights for all. COSATU has also rejected the tendency of some government and business leaders to write off key sectors of the economy such as gold mining and clothing, textiles and footwear. "The unemployment rate is 40% if we count all those who want paid work, and close to 30%, using the narrower definition that counts as unemployed only workers who are actively seeking work. Moreover, economic growth remains relatively slow compared to other middle-income countries. In these circumstances, South Africans cannot afford to lose jobs or economic capacity. Instead, we need urgent action to address the threat to these industries." The union campaign will raise a number of key demands, including: * Measures to end the overvaluation of the rand, which has led to a flood of imports and undermined the profitability of the mining industry. * More serious efforts by the mining sector and other businesses to avoid job losses. * Retailers must stock 75% local goods, cutting back on imports. * Government at all levels should strongly pursue local procurement policies. * A trade strategy to protect jobs in vulnerable industries. * An end to privatisation of basic local services. * Stronger protections for subcontracted and temporary workers. The COSATU campaign will continue for the next year, with strikes and protests planned well in advance across the country. (Back) (Home) "With Bolivar, with Manuel, with the people to power!" (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia has issued a declaration marking the 41st anniversary of the longest armed resistance against oppression in Latin America. We reprint here part of that statement. ... The history of the FARC-EP  is the same as that of the poor of the people. For 41 years, the workers, unemployed, campesinos, indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, women, youth, children and small merchants have been forced to fight to defend their lives, liberties and rights denied by the successive governments of liberal-conservative bi-partyism. Responsible for hundreds of dead, wounded, mutilated and orphaned, and the historic indiscriminate destruction of the precarious hopes for subsistence of the inhabitants in the midst of the roar of warplanes, bomb explosions and the clatter of rifle and machine gun fire that came with a huge military deployment, Operation Marquetalia began on May 27, 1964 for the purpose of exterminating 48 campesinos and their families who, led by the Guerrilla Commandant Manuel Marulanda Velez, were clearing mountain sides, establishing small farms, cultivating them and selling their products in the towns of Tolima and Huila departments. The norms and way of life to which they gave rise were labelled by the Colombian State, with US government support, as unacceptable "Independent Republics" within Colombian territory, a dangerous socialist experiment. No one in Marquetalia wanted a military confrontation. It was the oligarchic State under gringo pressure that unleashed the war and imposed the armed confrontation, sinking our country into an immense field of pain and deaths. We wanted to use the least painful path to bring about the structural changes, but it was denied us, and since we are revolutionaries who one way or another must fulfill our duty, we were obliged to take up arms. That is the origin of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army, which on May 27 celebrate 41 years of uninterrupted political-military action for the conquest of power for the construction of the New Colombia with neither exploiters nor exploited. From 1964 until today, we have been the object of ferocious plans for war of annihilation in which tens of thousands of men of the State security forces participate, ever more trained, with dozens of warplanes, helicopters and tanks, supplied with sophisticated weaponry and up to date communications systems, some donated and others sold by the governments of the United States. Each plan is declared by those implementing it to be the largest and most overwhelming military operation yet, capable of putting an end to the FARC in short order. Neither the trillions of pesos from the national budget, nor the billions of dollars invested by the gringos in their war against the people, nor the training from the instructors in murder, torture and forced disappearance shall manage to break the solid revolutionary convictions of the women and men of the glorious army led by the Secretariat and forged in the ideals of dignity and defense of the interests of its own people... The Colombian people and its social and popular organizations are outraged by Uribe's servility in his marathon of competition to extradite the greatest number of compatriots to the United States, in the most flagrant violation of our sovereignty. At the same time, the gringo mercenaries in Colombia enjoy state immunity to trample on our sovereignty, traffic illicit drugs, arm the paramilitary gangs, and murder and abuse our fellow citizens. With patriotic concern we observe the constant comings and goings of top State Department and Pentagon spokespersons, inciting the war between Colombians with new offers of dollars and war material. At the same time they scold their puppet government and its army for the meager results in defense of their imperialist objectives of greater presence and expansion in our region, riding on the back of Plan "Colombia" or its Plan Patriot phase and using the struggle against the narcotics traffic, terrorism and the guerrilla movement as the pretext. From Marquetalia to 2005, the United States has increased its intervention in Colombia in proportion to its geopolitical ambition and the strengthening of the FARC, whose strategy, including the people, stands as a solid element of popular resistance and new power, as an alternative to the corrupt, paramilitary government of the oligarchy and the open intervention of US imperialism. The ever greater presence of yankee advisors and mercenaries, and the use of "made in USA" technology in counterinsurgency operations like Plan Patriot, have the aim of improving the positioning of the transnationals for attack and plunder in the direction of the predatory assault of neo-liberalism and the imposition of the FTAA, with which they are trying to guarantee the colonization of the continent... We call upon the armed and unarmed left, the workers, the unemployed, the social and popular organizations, the democrats and progressive sectors of the traditional parties who disagree with the State's war and the poverty and misery of our people, to participate actively in the formation of a New Pluralist, Patriotic and Democratic Government of Reconciliation and Reconstruction, with the aim of preventing the re-election of the increasingly discredited Alvaro Uribe Velez, ending the corruption, the dirty politics and the State's paramilitary policy, the impunity and nepotism, the extraditions and the violation of our sovereignty, toward the objective of forever ending the internal conflict... We render a deeply felt homage to all the FARC fighters who have generously and bravely given their blood, from Marquetalia until today, for the cause of social justice, peace and definitive liberation. Their example is the commitment and moral standard driving our struggle on to final victory. Long Live the FARC, People's Army! Long Live Marquetalia and Manuel Marulanda Velez! With Bolivar, With Manuel, With the People to Power! Secretariat of the Central General Staff, FARC-EP, Mountains of Colombia, May 25, 2005. (Back) (Home) The inside scoop on Big Pharma (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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 Truth About the Drug Companies: How they deceive us and what to do about it, by Dr. Marcia Angell, Random House, New York, ISBN 0-375-50846-5, 305 pages, $34.95 Can. Reviewed by Steve Gilbert For over two decades, Dr. Marcia Angell served as editor-in-chief of The New England Journal of Medicine. During this time she acquired first-hand knowledge of questionable practices and outright corruption in U.S. drug companies. In The Truth About the Drug Companies, Angell describes how the results of supposedly impartial research and education are controlled. In many cases, doctors prescribe drugs on the basis of advertising, not on the basis of unbiased reports in established medical journals. Angell describes how new drugs are produced, tested, and brought to market, often with the assistance of rigged clinical trials, deceptive advertising, and unscrupulous legal maneuvers designed to extend patents and marketing rights, while the poor and the elderly are unable to keep up with the ever-increasing cost of prescription drugs. Before 1980, taxpayer-financed pharmaceutical discoveries were in the public domain and thus equally available to all drug manufacturers. But with the election of Ronald Reagan there was a marked pro-business tilt in government policies. In the drug industry, new legislation made it possible for universities and small businesses to patent and profit from research funded by taxpayers. This legislation was a bonanza for the drug companies, and the beginning of their spectacular growth and prosperity. Since the early 1980s, the drug industry has been by far the most profitable business in the United States. Americans spend about $200 billion each year on consumer purchases in drug stores and mail order pharmacies. In addition, large amounts are spent for drugs used in hospitals, nursing homes and doctors' offices. Of all the prescription drugs sold worldwide, about half are sold in the U.S. In 2002 the top ten drug companies in the U.S. earned profits of $3.9 billion - more than the combined profits of all other 490 businesses listed in the Fortune 500. According to Angell, much of that money goes into the pockets of CEOs, who take home millions of dollars in the form of salaries, bonuses and stock options. For instance, in 2001, Charles A. Heimbold, Jr., former chair and CEO of Bristol-Meyers Squibb, pocketed over $76 million. In the same year, the chair of Wyeth made over $40 million in salary plus another $40 million in stock options. The nonprofit foundation Families USA looked into the value of stock options held by major drug company CEOs and found the average to be $52 million. Many academic researchers also have their fingers in the pie, as "consultants" for companies whose products they evaluate. For instance, in 1998 the head of the Department of Psychiatry at Brown University Medical School received over $50,000 in consulting fees paid by drug companies which make anti-depressants. Angell comments: "It's hard to believe that close and remunerative personal ties with drug companies do not add to the strong pro-industry bias in medical research and education. Big Pharma not only controls the details of the way clinical trials are performed, but as a backup, it also seeks to win the hearts and minds of researchers." Drug companies pretend that the spiralling cost of drugs is due to the high cost of research and development. In 2001, for instance, they put the cost of developing a new drug at $802 million. But they refuse to divulge the specific expenses on which this claim is based. According to Angell, much of the money supposedly spent on R&D goes on marketing, which includes advertising, exorbitant consultants' fees, and promotional gimmicks disguised as "education." She writes: "The truth is that there is no reason to think that research and development costs, no matter what they are, have anything to do with drug pricing." Most innovative new drugs are developed not by drug companies, but by researchers in publicly-funded institutions such as the National Institute of Health, and by universities and smaller companies in the U.S. and abroad. In fact, drug companies spend much more on advertising than they do on  R&D. In 2001, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the top ten drug companies spent about 35 percent of their total revenues on marketing and administration. "Those expenditures, writes Angell, "are so immense they simply can't be justified... Many countries would love to have a gross domestic product as big as that." Angell makes a number of detailed suggestions for reforming the industry: the creation of an institute to oversee clinical drug testing; curbing monopoly marketing rights for brand-name drugs; getting drug companies out of medical education; full transparency for drug company profits and expenses; and government regulation of retail drug prices. Most of these eminently reasonable suggestions require congressional legislation. Unfortunately, the lawmakers are constantly pressured by drug companies, which have the largest and most powerful lobbies in Washington and give copiously to conservative political campaigns. (Back) (Home) VOLUNTEER IN CUBA (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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.) Join the 13th CHE GUEVARA WORK BRIGADE * Spend three weeks in Cuba doing agricultural or other work alongside Cubans *Connect with Cubans to learn from each other *Gain a personal and intimate understanding of Cuba's achievements and resistance Cost: CAN$1,699 for 3 weeks (includes return airfare, room, lodging & more). Dates: Departure from Toronto: July 31, 2005 Return: August 21, 2005 Non-profit project endorsed by the Canadian Network on Cuba and other organizations For more info: www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/brigade che_guevara_brigade@yahoo.com 604-831-9821 / 604-254-4635 / 204-334-0136 (Back) (Home) Help send delegates to the Youth Festival! (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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.) Financial support is needed  to send the Canadian delegation to the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students in Caracas, Venezuela this August. Contributions made out to "Festival Preparatory Committee" can be sent c/o People's Voice, 290A Danforth Ave., Toronto, ON,  M4K 1N6 (Back) (Home) PV Drive ready for final push (The following article is from the June 16-30/2005 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.) Summer's almost here, and we need one final push to take this year's Fund Drive to victory. Since our last report, another $3,993 has been raised, bringing us to 76.1% of our target. The Atlantic provinces and Saskatchewan have gone over the top, and Alberta (81.8%) and British Columbia (80.3%) are close, but Ontario (67.5%) and Manitoba (65.9%) still have some distance to go. Thanks go out to all our Toronto supporters who came through with flying colours to put on a successful yard sale and then a banquet on the same day, May 28. It was a long day, but a good one, ending up at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre on Bathurst with the wonderful jazz sounds of Wally Brooker and his band, Saxawoogie. As this issue goes to press, we are preparing for the 13th Annual PV Victory Banquet, starting 6 pm, Sat., June 11, at the Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Avenue in Vancouver's historic and beautiful Strathcona neighbourhood. There is plenty of interest in this year's theme, marking the 70th anniversary of the On-to-Ottawa Trek. We have other fundraisers coming up, including Toronto's "Paladar" - the famous Cuban restaurant in a home. The Paladar starts at 5 pm, Sunday, June 26, at 209 Oakwood Ave., north of St. Clair. Tickets are just $12 (half-price for kids) which gets you a full Cuban meal, including dessert. This event is co-sponsored by the Parkdale and Public Sector Worker Clubs - don't miss it! Call 416-654-7105 for details. Lower Mainland readers should mark the annual PV Walk-A-Thon on your calendars. Meet at 10 am, Sunday, July 17 for the walk, starting from the picnic area of Surrey's Bear Creek Park, at the 140th St. entrance. After the walk, the Lower Fraser Club will host a marvellous East Indian lunch and cultural program. There's lots to do in the park for young and old alike, so come out for a great day. Call Krishna at 604-940-0420 to sponsor a walker or for more information. PV FUND DRIVE: June 3 report   Area--------------------Target------------Raised-------------Percent BC--------------------$22,000------------17,669---------------80.3% Alberta----------------$1,700--------------1,391---------------81.8% Saskatchewan----------$800----------------910--------------113.0% Manitoba--------------$3,000-------------1,978---------------65.9% Ontario---------------$20,000------------13,705---------------67.5% Quebec-------------------$500----------------310---------------64.0% Atlantic Canada------$1,200-------------1,495--------------124.6% Other----------------------$800---------------605---------------75.6% TOTAL-----------------$50,000----------38,063---------------76.1% (Back) (Home)

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