Wages, ‘Safety,

in Chilean coal

By PHYLLIS CLARKE
. + MONTREAL

"In. two mines we had twenty-
five. workers die last. year,”
Omar Sanhueza, president of the
union of coal miners in Chile
told me when I met him in Mon-
treal last week. Fourteen of
these were killed in explosions
and eleven in caveins.

Safety conditions was one of
the. big issues facing’ these
miners who as in eastern Cana-
da, have to go far out under the
sea to the coal face.

This 32-year old union leader
_had spent 13 years in the mine
himself and spoke feelingly of
the other big question—wages—
facing the 4,300 miners in the
union.

“Wages underground, he
from: a minimum
of $1.20 a day to a maximum
of $1.50. For the surface work-
ers it’s 10 cents a day less. We
have a constant fight to raise
our wages.”

He went’ on, “In case of an
accident the company now
gives at least a pittance. It used
to be that the miner’s widow
would receive $16 as a lump
sum payment. Now we have got
it up to $30. We’ve also won a
pension—if she is under 45 she
gets $16 a month for a year and
if over 45 she gets it for life.”

As for the orphaned children,
the company now pays $4.50 a
month for each child.

‘One other union gain has been
that where a miner loses a limb
the company must pay for a
orthopaedic arm or leg and give
the miner light work since the
pension is not enough.

While the coal mines are part
-of Chilean national industry,
they are supported by the Na-
tional Corporation to Improve
Production, which in turn is

financed from North America,
particularly the United States.

“Often,” he said, “the fore-
man punishes me for fighting
for the other workers by forc-
ing me to work in the smallest
tunnels on my hands and
knees.” Then, he shrugged and
added, “But I. was doing. what
Communists must do.”

When asked whether the fact
that he was a. Communist had
any effect in the union, he re-
plied, “It’s because I’m a Com-
munist that they elect me union
president.”

Sanhueza explained that in
his village there were 1,300

Communists out of a population.

of, 80,000. Of these, 500 were
coal miners. The mayor in his
village, Lota, was a Communist,
and two other members of the
5-man city administration also
were members of the Commu-
nist Party. ‘

a 2

Profits, Inflation, taxes, the cost of living ...

issues

mines

He spoke of the forthcoming
elections in Chile and of the
need for the workers, Commu-
nists and Socialists to unite in
order to take the government
for the people.

“We know,” he said, “that it
will be difficult but we hope
that in a short time we can con-
vince them of the necessity of
unity. It really isn’t a dream
but the passionate, ardent will
of our people to have power.”

Sanhueza was in Montreal to
attend the Hemispheric Confer-
ence to End the Vietnam War.
He said the miners had had to.
spend lots of money to get him
here, but it was well worth
while to “show solidarity to our
brothers like the Vietnamese
people who are Sehting US.
imperialism.”

“We've all got to do 2 = =

ensure the defeat of U.S.
perialism in Vietnam,” he added.

others are being considered.

America;

MORE UNIONS MERGE

‘Donald MacDonald, president of the Canadian Labor Con
gress, said “Canadian union members are consolidating the
organizations through mergers.” MacDonald said reports ré-
‘ceived at a meeting of the CLC’s Executive Council showed
that not only were a number of mergers in progress,

bu!

Cited as examples of the merger trend were:

The merger of the'\Journeymen Stone Cutters Association 0
United Packinghoust Workers into one organization with th
merged members of the new organization becoming the Can
adian Food and Allied Workers; 4

The decision of the members of the Association of Radi
and Television Employees of Canada to merge with the Can

adian Union of Public Employees;

The merger of the Joruneymen Stone Cutters Association 0
North America with the Laborers International Union of North

The merger vote now being conducted in the membership
of four railway unions: the Brotherhood of Railroad Trait
men, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen,
the Switchmen’s Union of North America, and the Order 0
Railway Conductors and Brakemen;

The referendum being conducted by the Transpottation-
Communication Employees Union on a merger with the Bro-
therhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks.

International Harvester

- Staff settle

Trouble-ridden International
Harvester of Hamilton signed
an’ agreement with its 350 office

-workers last week and opened

the gates for 2,000 production
workers who had been laid off
since September 27, a week fol-
lowing the office workers’
strike.

The office worker agreement,
which provides for pay raises of

up to 32 percent and an increase
in average weekly salaries from .

$104 to $132, climaxes a year of
bitter feuding between labor
and management there.

The actual trouble dates back

three years to when the United
Steelworkers signed an agree-
ment with Harvester which

placed the workers there con-

siderably behind other agricul-
tural implement workers in the
Canadian industry.

When negotiations got under
way this year the workers were

- determined to overcome the

and when a rumor sv
through the plant last June
that the union leadership
going to recommend a cont
below the demands of the :
ers, they shut down the 0)
tions. The leadership swung }
behind the movement and

‘strike became official on JU!

18. They remained out unti

2,000 voted by a margin of
to accept the agreement re
mended by their Bargail
Committee. :

The process of getting:
men back to work. had ha
been completed when the 0
employees, who are members
a separate Steelworkers Jo
struck.

Main beef of the office wo
ers was the percentage increav"
proposed by the company W: whid
advantaged the higher paid
further discriminated agé
lower-paid employees.

alf dewhurst

Task force favors strike ba

The press on Dedember 5 re-
ported that the Woods Task
Force on Labor Relations will
propose a strike ban in essen-
tial industries and services when
it tables its report with the fe-
deral government later this
month.

The press leak states that the
task force does not define what
it considers “essential” but all
press stories suggest that such
industries would
railways, the St. Lawrence Sea-
Way, and postal services.

The task force will recom-
mend the setting-up of a three
man commission by the federal
_government charged with the
task of defining essential indus-
tries and dealing with disputes
in such industries and services
‘before they result in strikes.

The commission, to be known
as the Public Interest Disputes
Commission, would be composed
‘solely of so-called public per-

sons. It would have powers to -

impose settlement procedures
ranging from mediation to com-
pulsory arbitration.

The press reports also that
.other recommendations will in-
clude:

@ Secondary picketing of an

include the

information character providing
it does not cause a work stop-
page;

e Transferring to the Canada
Labor Relations Board the pow-
ers now vested in the courts for
injunctions and restraining ord-
ers on picket line strength;

e Give unions the right to
automatically collect dues from

.all workers in the bargaining

unit;

e Allow unions to strike dur-
ing the life of a contract if there
is no agreement with manage-
ment on how to reduce the bur-
den imposed on workers by
technological change:

According to the press the of-
ficers of the Canadian Congress
of Labor are studying the infor-
mation which has leaked from
the task force. Mr. Smith of the
Canadian Brotherhood of Rail-
way, Transport and General
Workers is reported 2s saying
that the recommendations seem
to go “in the right direction”.

It hardly seems likely that the
president of the CBRT & GW
would.make such an unequivocal
comment as he is reported as
having made, particularly so at
a time when his union in com-

pany with other unions repre--

senting 75,000 non-operating
railway workers has just opened
negotiations with the two major
railways for new contracts. Mr.
Smith is a veteran of many
rounds of bargaining with the
railway companies. He knows
full well what it means _bar-
gaining with stubborn. employers
under the constant threat. of
parliamentary strike-breaking.

Judging by the inspired news
leak, the task force recommen-
dations will be a mixed bag:
They will most likely contain a-
number of proposals favored by
the trade union movement. How-
ever, favorable proposals will
be of questionable value to or-
ganized labor if they are con-
verted into a rationale for the
implementation of the main
thrust of the task force report:
i.e., the prohibition of strikes.
in “essential” industries and
services.

There can be little doubt in
anyone’s mind that the news
leak was in the nature of a trial
balloon to sample labor’s reac-
tion to the proposition to ban
strikes in “essential” industries
and services. It is important to
note that the so-called essential

industries are not defined by the
task force leak. This could mean
that it is intended to give the
Public Interest Disputes Com-
mission a blank cheque in this
respect.

However, the important point
to bear in mind is that if initially
only one industry of one service
is defined as “essential” it
would constitute a body blow
against the whole labor move-
ment. Organized labor cannot
afford to be divided. on this
score. The scope of the term
“essential” will be as broad as
what the commission-to-be of
“public - minded citizens” con-
ceive it to be.

It is for these reasons that
it is certainly disquieting, when
the quoted reaction of the top
Officers of Canada’s largest
trade union center is only one
of “study”. One would expect
that the immediate reaction to
this task force trial balloon
would have been one of instant

- rejection by these labor leaders.

It can be argued that it is
best to wait for the report. to
be tabled. But such an approach
discounts the purpose of the

trial balloon. It is to be hoped

that the lead given by the ©

Officers “to study” is not
up by the officers and mem»)
of CLC affiliates across
country. Nor by. the CNTU,
the independents. The task {6
needs to be told in no uncé
terms that labor’s right to SU
will not be bargained off for 4
consideration. And, there
need to wait for the 0
tabling of the report to do

The -organized workers
their unions are not irresP
sible maverick elements in ©
adian society. When they |
the serious step of striking,
secure their demands it is_
cause stubborn and_= arr
employers force them to a
To be stripped of this final
crucial measure of ’ collect
bargaining would put the wot
ing class at the mercy Of
employers.

What Canada needs is J
legislation compelling the |
corporations to bargain in 8°
faith on all questions affec
the wages and working con
tions of their employees
ever those wages and cond ditio
are altered by changes in P
duction and work schedules
stituted by managements