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?foq4f.dw,, o/ THE DEMOCRATIC LEFT

January 1974-Vol. 2, No. 1 ~98 Edited by MICHAEL HARRINGTON Power and the Canadian Left By MICHAEL HARRINGTON inces, Canadians, citizens of a nation able to provide Regina, -In airport, on my for all its own energy needs, were forced to import way to a socialist conference here, one of 's three their oil, primarily from Venezuela. The profits from provincial capitals ruled by a socialist government, I the Western production were, in part, pumped out of met a fellow conferee, T. C. (Tommy) Douglas, the the country along with much of the Canadian crude. 's parliamentary spokesman on In each case the policy criterion was not Canadian energy policy. Douglas and the MP's with him were need, but the profit position of the companies. juoilaut: they liad just used their position a8 a balance Last spring, the New Democrats under the leader- of power in to exert a major influence on Tru- ship of David Lewis and Tommy Douglas (Lewis' deau's position. The press-and the disgruntled Con- predecessor as Federal leader of the Party) hammered servatives-were rightly saying that the Prime Min- away at the government for not controlling the export ister had capitulated to the New Democrats. of Canadian crude. Finally the socialist pressure I go into these events in some detail not simply be- forced Trudeau to set up export controls, including a cause they concern the politics of the Canadian Left, tax aimed at capturing the difference between the but also because they shed light on the energy crisis in wellhead price and the price on the Chicago market. the United States-and how to resolve it. Recently, the NDP caucus decided that it would If, as I believe, the oil companies in the United States vote in favor of a no confidence motion on December have put their own profit ahead of the nation's needs, 10th-and bring the government down-if Trudeau that is doubly true with regard to Canada. One can be did not accede to three basic demands. First of all, even more brutal about exploiting someone else's coun- fuel price controls had to be extended; secondly, the try, and the oil corporations which have dominated pipeline from the West would be extended all the way Canadian energy are, of course, mainly American. to the East and the artificial energy division of the The oil companies long ago made a deal with the nation would be brought to an end; thirdly, and most Canadian government. In the Western provinces, only important, a national petroleum company would be Canadian crude could be sold; in the Eastern prov- created for the development of the country's energy resources. Five days before the crucial vote, Trudeau capitu- UMW insurgents lated to the New Democratic demands. The Liberal Prime put on a bravura performance--he told his party faithful at a rally in he had become leaders acted "to prevent an immense rip-off by the oil com- By BILL GoonE and JACK CLARK panies." He did not, however, explain why he had only We were only at the Mine Workers' forty-sixth Con- become aware of the rip-off, and reversed his policies, stitutional Convention for a few days, but what we saw when the NDP threatened to tum him out of office. there impressed us greatly. The United Mine Workers, Tommy Douglas' answer, delivered with a grin, was to under its new leadership, is an inspiring social move- quote Samuel Johnson: "Knowing that you are going ment on its way to becoming an enduring and effective to be hanged in the morning concentrates the mind labor union. - wonderfully well." Just one year before the Convention, Arnold Miller, After Trudeau's announcement, David Lewis went Mike Trbovich and Harry Patrick won their inspiring on to fill in the details of his party's proposal. The victory over the corrupt and despotic machine of UMW government, he said, should immediately nationalize President Tony Boyle. The three rank-and-file activ- (Continued on page 7) ists appealed to the pride of the miners with their slo- gan, "Let's make the UMW great again." They also benefited from the revulsion in the ranks to the INSIDE ... excesses of Boyle's strong-arm leadership. The Miners Women unionists confer - Donart Page 2 for also, of course, had a base in the Black Fall of Papadopoulos - Goldbloom Lung Association which helped them as they stressed Page 3 Energy outlook issues like mine safety and health. And the MFD had Page 4 .Letters (Continued on page 6) Page 5 No more ladies' auxiliary!

By GRETCHEN DONART intervention was seen as imperative if women are to "When you go to evening meetings, your husband achieve full equality. will miss you, miss meals, miss your doing the laundry, • access to union leadership positions. Casual men- but he will learn to take up the slack," Lillian Roberts tion of the need for women on executive boards ?f the State, County and Municipal Employees un- brought unexpectedly sharp and prolonged applause. ion told 300 women who gathered in Philadelphia Rosemary Trump of the Service Employees said, "We last month for the East Coast organizing meeting of must educate our daughters that they, too, can become the Coalition of Labor Union Women. president of the AFL-CIO." Emphasizing that working She urged the women from 35 international unions men and women have common goals, Evelyn Dubrow to work to change attitudesin their unions and at home of the Ladies' Garment Workers said, "We have as lit- to accommodate working women who want to take an tle use for women who climb over the backs of men as for men who put down women." a~~ive ~ole in their locals. Roberts said that active par- tic1pat10n of women in union decision-making will In the closing session, Addie Wyatt, the articulate expand labor's consciousness of issues such as child care director of the Amalgamated Meatcutters' Women's and the quality of neighborhoods and education. This Division emphasized that the same qualities of soli- new consciousness will be felt both in new collective darity and common purpose that have made the labor bargaining demands and in political action programs. movement strong are needed if the Coalition of Labor The Philadelphia conference was one of a series of Union Women is to be an effective force for women's meetings around the country preceeding a national equality. "What we need and what we seek as women conference of the Coalition of Labor Union Women next can be found in the labor movement if we only make it March in Chicago. The regional conferences are part of so. We must make the labor movement more meaning- a. process of feeling out the potential, scope and direc- ful than ever now that more people depend on it." D !ion of, and the need for, independent women's action m the labor movement. Walking the Picket Line Participants ranged from young rank-and-filers to 30-year veterans of union staffs, from individual union- The United Farm Workers, in the last six months ists eager to challenge sexist employers and insensitive have faced disappointment, violence and failure. Yet union leadership, to some official representatives of the Farmworkers themselves, and especially President Cesar Chavez and Vice-President Dolores Huerta seem l~c~ and ce~tral labor bodies "keeping an eye on the girls 1 for their male superiors. indefatigable through it all. Chavez appeared~ New York on November 29 at a rally typical of the boycott Th~ participants listened as attorney Ruth Weyand descnbed the monumental AT&T settlement in which support spreading across the country. she represented the International Union of Electrical He spoke with optimism about the Chicano revolu- Workers. Audible gasps went up when she said that tion-the Farah strike and the struggle of the Farm- in .cases where wage discrimination is found, up to workers. "The strikers at Farah have been out since twice the pay differential for the past three years May, 1972. The company is in the red now and the may be awarded, as well as legal fees. She added that strike will be won next year. And the UFW is also the courts have encouraged sex discrimination suits. going to win." Even in cases that were lost, the courts have ordered Right now, 1500 farmworkers are organizing boy- the employer to pay the legal fees of the union or indivi- cotts around the country, picketing supermarkets, fruit vidual that brought the suit. stands and produce terminals. In Boston, the boycott The participants and speakers repeatedly empha- has succeeded, and Dolores Huerta proudly proclaims sized issues like: that the stores there are all "clean". In some other pla- ces, the union faces injunctions against picketing • the need to organize more women workers. Only (which will be met by civil disobedience) and mammoth 4 million of the 34 million working females in the U.S. food chains, which she explains are more cynical and have union representation, and as a proportion of male more wealthy than they were in the '60's during the income, the average woman's income has decreased in original grape boycott. But Chavez, Huerta, and other the last ten years. Many felt that their unions could be farmworkers are convinced that they can and will win. doing more to organize and bargain effectively for wo- "The supporters get discouraged, but farmworkers men in their trades. Several expressed hope that a mul- have more confidence," Huerta explains. "I guess get- ti-union effort would be mounted to organize service ting discouraged is sort of a middle class luxury." workers such as clerks and secretaries. • unemployment. Many fear that the energy crisis Beat Willie will cause massive unemployment, which will affect The Amalgamated Clothing Workers' boycott of women disproportionately. Backlash against affirmative Farah slacks is taking a toll on the company. Company .action for the promotion of women is increasing with President Willie Farah blamed the union and "its ·every new layoff. Many suggested a shortened work church supporters" recently as he announced the clos- week as a partial solution to both unemployment and ing of plants in Victoria, Texas and Las Cruces New the double burden of working mothers. Government Mexico. Other plans are running only two days a 'week. 2 Greece: out of the frying pan . .. By MAURICE GOLDBLOOM no other candidate was permitted. The Constitution The events which brought down the Papadopoulos and Papadopoulos were duly approved in a blatantly regime began late in 1972, when the junta decided to falsified plebiscite. demonstrate its "democratic" nature by holding elec- Papadopoulos then appointed Spyros Markezinis, tions to replace the appointed boards which had con- the only politician to collaborate with the junta from trolled student organizations since 1967. To make sure the beginning, as Prime Minister, with the task of pre- that the elections did not create a center of opposition, paring elections. The military members of the old however, the Papadopoulos regime systematically cabinet were removed-some of the most important falsified them. This led to student protests and de- of them objected strenuously and publicly-but a mands for new elections, first in a few schools and number of the civilian nonentities were kept on. Am- then, in reaction to the government's repressive mea- nesty was proclaimed, and most of the remaining poli- sures, in every institution of higher learning in Greece. tical prisoners were released. (But new arrests and Arrests, police brutality, and the large-scale drafting prosecutions simultaneously took place.) Martial law of student leaders resulted in an increase in the scale was ended, but the legal framework of repression re- and intensity of student demonstrations, and a broad- mained. The result was that, while Papadopoulos ening of demands to include the restoration of democ- failed to win over any section of the opposition, or racy for all Greece, not only for the universities. The persuade it to take part in elections for a parliament government then tried to forestall opposition by per- whose role seemed bound to be a farcical one, he mitting the students to demonstrate and by agreeing alienated many of his own military supporters. to consider their academic demands; the students took advantage of the government's retreat to demonstrate Violence in the streets more vigorously for the demands which the govern- When the students returned in the fall, demonstra- ment had. rejected-and which, of course, included tions intensified. They became overtly political, and the most important ones. Carrot and stick were re- students were joined by large numbers of workers and peatedly alternated by Papadopoulos; neither worked. middle-class Greeks. A police attack on people leaving Meanwhile other parts of the population were drawn a memorial service for George Papandreou was fol- into what had started as a student movement. In some lowed by a series of conflicts between demonstrators cases, the relatives of students were activated by the and police, in which the latter found they could no mistreatment which students suffered at the hands of longer control the streets. Students of the Polytechnic the po~ce; in others, ~eople who had only been waiting occupied it, established their own broadcasting sta- for a sign that effective resistance was possible were tion, and called for the overthrow of the regime. A d.rawn in by .the stu~ents' example. But the greatest desperate Papadopulos turned to the Army which smgle factor m arousmg those groups which had previ- attacked the students with machine guns and tanks. ou~ly tolerated the regime was the galloping inflation. There were mass arrests and mass killings; we do not Pnces rose approximately 15 percent in the first half yet know how many of either, but the official figures o.f 1~73; then they rose even faster, so that the total for both are far below the true ones. nse m 1973 may reach 40 percent. (In October alone The issue was joined; only true democracy would the official consumer price index rose 4.7 percent.) ' satisfy the Greek people, and Papadopeulos's pseudo- Papadopoulos was, at the same time, under pressure dem?c:atization was in ashes. At this point, the Army, from Europe to restore democracy; the relationship of unwilling to front any longer for a dictator who had Greece to the European Economic Community was fail~d, removed Papadopoulos in a bloodless coup. fro~en as long as the dictatorship lasted. Even the While all branches of the armed services participated, Umted States urged him to hold elections to disarm the lead was taken by General Ioannides head of the ~he Congressional critics of U.S. aid to the junta. Dur- Military Police. Known for his cruelty (~swell as for mg the summer-when the students were dispersed- the fact that he was one of the few junta members h~ atten:;ipted to give the appearance of democratiza- who had not enriched himself), he was the leader of tion, w~e at the same time consolidating his power, by the junta's hard-liners. He also had the support of announcmg that Greece would henceforth be a "Presi- many elements, both royalist and republican that dential Republic" under his leadership. (The charge wanted the restoration of democracy and believ~d the that Constantine was responsible for a naval mutiny removal of Papadopoulos to be a necessary first step. serve~ as .a pretext .for. ending the monarchy.) A new The fii:st r~action of most of the Greek public was Co.r:istitution, establishing a parliamentary regime-in euphonc: smce the tyrant was overthrown people were whi?h all power over defense, security, and foreign anxi?us to believe the ?est. It was not' long before caution and t~en opposition returned, as the regime n~rurs was r~served to the President, along with the ·3ght to appomt a tenth of the members of Parliament demonstrated m various ways that it would not bring -was announced and submitted to a referendum. A an end to repression. The expected release of the hun- vote for the Constitution was also a vote to name dreds of arrested students ~d not take place; only a Papadopoulos as President for the next eight years; few were freed, and the regime refused to disclose the names of those it held. Many believed that this refusal Maurice Goldbloom is Editor of News of Greece. (Continued on page 4) 3 Energy outlook: freeze with honor NIXON'S TEN BILLION DOLLAR energy program mainstay; about half our energy comes from oil. Before is as phony as the rest of his administration. Unfor- the Arab oil embargo, we were using 17 million barrels tunately, Carl Albert's critique of it was given cursory of oil daily. Eleven million barrels of that were domes- attention by the press. Only $3.5 billion of that sum tically produced, and 3 million were imported from is new money "and the rest is simply a result of re- other places than the Middle East. shuffling existing budget titles to place activities only THAT LEAVES A DEFICIT of 3 million barrels vaguely connected with energy research and develop- of oil daily. Since both the government and the oil in- ment under this heading." The program is not slated dustry have been short-sighted about developing new to take effect until fiscal 1975 and most of the money technology and increasing refinery capacity, we is assigned to breeder reaction, "a program which will have to economize for a while. may help us by 1990, but certainly not before that time." There are not sufficient funds for coal gassifica- THAT BRINGS US TO POLITICS. The Nixon plan tion and liquefaction that might work in the '70's. for conserving energy has been "rationing" through Finally, Albert figures that the "$10 billion" will yield higher prices. Quite simply, as Congressman Wright $55 million in hard cash this year. Patman has pointed out, it is a system of "rationing" which favors the wealthy and discriminates against the BELT TIGHTENING is the watchword of the day, as poor. Paul Samuelson compared the higher prices solu- we are told to conserve scarce energy resources. But tion to the energy crisis to "the capitalistic solution" let's look at this in perspective. Oil has been our energy the British offered in the Irish potato famine of 1845-49 in which millions of men, women and children starved. "RIOTS AT THE GAS STATION" are foreseen by Greece ... Arthur Okun, former chairman of the Council of Eco- (Continued from page 3) nomic Advisors, if a combination of higher prices and was motivated by a desire to conceal the number "congestion rationing" is used to allocate fuel. Maybe killed; many parents did not know their children were the truckers' highway blockades are the prelude to dead, thinking them under arrest or in hiding. Okun's nightmare. The only alternative seems to be The regime announced the end of censorship but direct ratiening. If we hobble along without it, there's actually tightened it. The conservative opposition a danger that money and political clout will determine newspaper Vradyni was suppressed for a mild edi- energy allocation. Recently, for example, President torial criticizing the policy statementof the new Prime Nixon increased fuel allocations for general aviation Minister, Adamantios Androutsopoulos, for its vague- -small aircraft used for pleasure flying and corporate ness on the government's political plans. (Androutso- transportation. peul(')s, who had come to Greece shortly before the 1967 coup after living in Chicago for ten years, MISALLOCATION OF FUEL is only the beginning served in every junta cabinet prior to the one headed of the public's worries in this crisis. Unemployment will by Markezinis. He is widely suspected of being a CIA shoot up. It could be a serious recession when the ripple agent.) The.English-language Athens News, which for effect is considered. Unlike old recessions, the price the last couple of years has been the most outspokenly level is unlikely to drop. In fact, Administration spokes- anti-junta newspaper in Greece, was unable to carry men are suggesting that the rate of inflation will also a report of Vradyni's suppression; its pages became be climbing in 1974. When Nixon first brought us this almost devoid of Greek political news. New arrests miracle of an economic slump along with rising prices, occurred daily; there are almost certainly more peo- it was christened "stagflation." The Wall Street Jour- ple locked up than there were last year. Yet, some nal suggests that with the dropping of environmentaol piembers of the cabinet continued to give public assur- standards added to the old Nixonomics, 1974 might be ances that power would be returned to the people in the year of "stinkftation." a matter of "months rather than years." The new THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES in both the short run regime is not yet monolithic, but for the moment and the long run to the Nixon program. Immediately, ultra-repressive elements seem to be in control. since we have to save energy this winter, we could start But the new regime must face the same factors by cutting down on industrial energy waste. One Brit- which undermined Papadopoulos. The economy is ish authority on the subject has suggested that when tottering, and the mass demand for freedom which it comes to industrial energy use, "you Americans aren't found its voice and took organized form during the fat, you're obese." And a DuPont study estimates that year has not disappeared. At the same time, Ioannides more efficient use of industrial energy could save us has a narrower base of support than Papadopoulos; more than one and a half million barrels of oil daily. certainly not all of the latter's supporters in the Army 8.re reconciled to his overthrow. The divisions among FOR THE LONG RANGE, there are possibilities, but democracy's enemies could still speed its return, if there are also dangers, particularly if the oil consort- its supporters can retain the ·of action they began iums are left free to manipulate the supplies of oil, coal to develop in the fight against"Papadopoulos. D and uranium (which they also control) to maximize 4 profits. And questions remain about nuclear fission be about ten years, that's probably unrealistic. But (safety, radioactive wastes), while research on nuclear there is also a disturbing undertone. The "Project :fusion, iRadequately funded, proceeds very slowly. Independence" scheme raises an ugly spectre of eco- nomic nationalism-one critic has called it a "Darwin- KING COAL may return to previous glory under the ian nightmare." The United States, with 6% of the current energy pinch. There's certainly a lot of it, and world population, already consumes 35% of the world's some new technologies, like gassification, make coal energy. And Nixon is calling on us to shut down our even more promising as a resource. The problem is get- oil exports, to ignore the calculus of human need beyond ting to the coal and getting the coal to the users. Vast our borders. There are real possibilities there for intense amounts of low sulfur coal exist in Montana, Wyoming international competition-the strong vs. the weak or .and North Dakota but the best way to reach it is by the petroleum rich vs. the petroleum poor. strip-mining. Existing technology makes it possible to reclaim strip-mined land, but that, of course, adds to THE ARAB OIL BOYCOTT may hurt the Third the costs and eats into the profits. Under those condi- World countries more than the United States. The Lon- tions, it will not be done by the private companies. don Economist reports that the rise in oil prices for the Their alternative ·plan is to use the public pressure Third Wo:fld has already left those countries $5 billion caused by the shortage to gut the federal regulations poorer, a sum equal to 25% of the foreign aid they now requiring reclamation of the strip-mined land. Without receive from the advanced economies. If, as is expected, strict enforcement on reclamation, these lands could oil prices double within the next two or three years, so become dust bowls by the 1980's. will the problems of the developing nations. India's costs have already gone up by 6%; even Moslem Paki- OIL SHALE might be another solution to the crisis. stan has had to pay out an extra 15 million pounds. Right now, it is federally owned, but the Interior Dept. This catastrophe occurs, ironically, at a moment when is planning to divest itself of the oil shale lands in a the terms of trade are better for the poor lands than at series of bargain leases to private companies. Commer- any time since the Korean War. The value of their cial oil shale reduction is pegged to begin in 1978, and commodity exports is up by 30% and their currency to get into full swing a decade later. The technical cost.a reserve has increased twofold. If, however, there is an will be high; environmental costs will be monumental. international "oil" reces.sion, their improved position To produce two barrels of oil from oil shale, a strip- will be destroyed as demand in the advanced countries mining operation for tons of rock required. Te three is slackens. The Arabs have talked about, but not insti- obtain as mu~h energy from oil shale as from coal, ten tuted, a "two-tier" pricing arrangement which would times as much bulk must be mined and processed. The sell fuel to the Third World at bargain rates. Strongly reduction process requires temperatures of 900° Faren- heit plus large supplies of water (in a water-short area). opposed to this policy are Nigeria and Indonesia, two oil-rich developing countries. in December Nigeria told SELF-SUFFICIENCY in energy is Nixon's proclaimed Ghana and other West African states that they must goal, and he wants it by 1980. Since the lead time for pay cash on the barrelhead. In short, the poor, as usual, developing new technifiues and new energy sources will are the prime victims of trade policy. D

the establishment of Israel by Ashkenazi Jews. I do not Our readers write think we should pretend that there is a "socialist" or even To the editor: a "democratic" solution to the problem. -Horst Brand Mike Harrington's argument for the defense of Israel, outlined in the November NEWSLETrER, is fallacious. The To the editor: "basic political and moral commitment" to Israel's right Although I can't disagree with any of the specifics in to exist in peace does not, and must not stem from her Mike Harrington's article (November NEWSLETI'ER, "The being a democratic or social-democratic society, but from Middle East: Is Peace Possible"), I wasn't very happy with the principle of the right of any community to life, a right the emphasis. The article seems to fall into the trap of that is independent of the political form of such a commu- criticizing the Israelis because they are reasonable, but nity. Is Algeria a ? Bangladesh? Pakistan? not bothering to criticize the Arabs because they are un- They are not, but their right to life, to independence and reasonable. Besides, we should state our own support for self-determination cannot be argued. Whether Israel has a the Palestinians' right to a state of their own, without contribution to make to the of her neighbors re- criticizing the Israeli position-after all there has to be mains to be seen; she has not done so hitherto. But this .is some trade-off for Hussein not fighting. irrelevant to the more basic question of her right to exist. I also think the criticism of Jackson is out of place. After Of course, one has hardly any choice but to second all, if the United States plays the role of "even-handed Avineri's position on the Palestinians. All "solutions" in honest broker" while the Soviet Union is solidly committed the Middle East will be historically unjust solutions. Is- to the Arabs, Israel gets left out in the cold. Jackson is rael's rights unavoidably clash with the rights of the dis- right to criticize Nixon on this score. placed Palestinians who in the early forties still accounted Finally, I think we are going to have to junk the idea for roughly two thirds of the population of pre-1967 Israeli of reducing the defense budget-not because we have any territory. In the scale of justice, if there be one, little weight more need for the strategic weapons systems which the attaches to such factors as that Israel has become the Left has opposed, but because we are going to have to spend home of some of the survivors of the Holocaust; the major- a lot more money on developing and stockpiling tactical ity of Israelis immigrated from oriental countries where weapons. The Russians have completely outclassed us in their position had become untenable as a consequence of surface-to-air and sea-to-sea missiles. -Ben Ross 5 supporters still hold their positions in local or District Mine Workers . .. leadership and on the union executive board. The first Convention would have been an opportunity to (Continued from page 1) whip the union into line behind the new leadership. The the help of socially-minded lawyers (Joe Rauh and Jo- spectre of the Yablonski murders could have been seph Yablonski's sons), former VISTA workers and raised; the ugly memories of Boyle's leadership could scores of young activist volunteers. have been used. They weren't. Instead, Miller and They had a serious drawback in seeking the leadership his fellow officers chose to stress that the union was of an internationalunion: utterlack of union leadership truly a united mine workers' union. The delegates experience. Like John L. Lewis before him, Tony Boyle responded in kind. One local officer explained that he controlled every level of the Mine Workers' union. Dis- knew some miners who had voted against Miller, but trict leaders were appointed by him, a number of locals they weren't calling themselves Boyle men. "He (Mil- were virtual "rotten boroughs" without a single active ler) is president now, and they'll be loyal to him, just miner and dependent for their pension checks on re- like they were loyal to Tony Boyle." maining in Boyle's good graces. The locals which had active miners were easily persuaded of the wisdom of Institutionalizing reform going along with the Boyle leadership. The threat Jo- Collective bargaining demands were formulated at seph Yablonski posed was that he had been part of the the Convention. The delegates seemed to agree with the leadership and had the experience to put another ad- comment Miller made in his keynote address: "Coal ministration together. miners have a lot of lost ground to make up, and we in- tend to recover a good piece of it in November" (when An open Convention the new contract is negotiated). Miners used to be Miller, Trbovich and Patrick had none of that. And among the highest paid blue collar workers in the coun- considering that fact, the recent Convention was all the try, but they've lost ground in recent years. And as more impressive. Not that you'd have to go too far to their wages fell behind, their fringe benefits, once the have a better Convention than Tony Boyle and the envy of organized labor, just about atrophied. gang used to put on. A couple of comparisons illustrate The delegates were pushing hard for a wage boost; the change in the UMW: the leadership was stressing new benefits, an improved • under Boyle, in 1969, the Convention cost $6.5 mil- grievance procedure, adequate mine safety and a six- lion. This year's Convention in Pittsburgh cost the hour day. A number of delegates expressed a hope that union $500,000. the welfare fund could be freed from the "royalty" sys- • in 1969, Boyle's goon squads roamed the Conven- tem which ties industry contributions to miners' pro- tion hall, keeping dissidents in line. Some Yablonski ductivity. Miller put the operators on notice that the supporters were assaulted for attempting to speak on union is ready to go through a strike to win on these the floor. The only violence this year involved some del- demands. egates from Alabama who knocked down a union staf- More than militance is needed. With only 52% of the fer. Delegates were encouraged to take to the floor mines organized, the operators, whether conglomerate mikes with their views, and many of them did; some or independent, might choose union-busting resistance were very critical of the union leadership. over sophisticated and modern collective bargaining. • the '69 Convention, like other Boyle extravagan- To overcome that, the UMW will need to organize zas, was packed by the administration. Union staffers at least some of the 50,000 non-union miners. went as voting delegates automatically, and Boyle loy- And if the UMW is able to bargain effectively with alists were brought in several weeks to a month early the operators, it will need to develop district and local to serve on Convention committees and live on the leaders who have the sophistication to take on the cor- union expense accounts. This time staffers had votes porate negotiators. Once they win a decent contract> only if elected as delegates from their locals, and every- the Mine Workers will need to deploy hundreds of stew- body came to the Convention at the same time. ards and grievance commiteemen capable of enforcing • at the 1969 Convention, most of the floor votes the safety and working conditions clauses. were ritualistic; the work and the decisions had been That means the mineworkers need to set up organiz- taken care of in committee (a procedure typical even of ing drives and education programs. They need increas- far more democratic unions, and the greatest contribu- ed staff (to supplement the excellent people they al- tor to the deadly dullness of most union conclaves) . The ready have). The officers have to consolidate their delegates vigorously debated committee recommenda- power and exercise leadership while maintaining de- tions this time, rejected some of them and sent others mocracy. The union has to create enough discipline so back for further study. that the constant wildcats can be supplanted by more After the shameful leadership of a Tony Boyle, the effective long range strategies against the companies. Miller leadership needed an open and democratic Con- Yes, the Miners for Democracy are, as they must be> vention to prove its good faith to the miners and the in the process of becoming an institution, even a bu- public. They had the most open and democratic union reaucracy. As the process continues, they will part com- convention since the '30's. But they had more. They pany with some of their more romantic well-wishers. had a Convention which stressed reconciliation. The But if the process continues successfully, it could be Miners for Democracy were only partially successful even more exciting - and significant - than the vic- in winning control of the union, and many former Boyle tory over Tony Boyle. O 6 New Democrats ... ll!!lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll§ I=== I=== (Continued from page 1) On Saturday,Labor February and the16 and Left Sunday, Feb- one of the existing Canadian oil corporations and use = ruary 17, the Democratic Socialist Organizing = the structure as the basis of its own effort. And, Lewis ~ Committee will hold a conference on "A Left ~ continued, the NDP will make further demands, in- ~ Perspective on the Labor Movement" in Chicago. ~ cluding joint Federal-provincial development of the Athabasca tar sands and a uniform national price 1 for crude oil attained by having the national petroleum twill~~~Zfli~!~t~~;:.~.Eh1~~~!n~?s~ corporation control all imports. I- · inc ude Victor Reuther, Mic ael Harrington I= Clearly, the ideas put forth by Lewis and Douglas i and Heather Booth. I .are similar to---though well in advance of-proposals = For more information on the conference, write ~ for the public development of energy in the United ~ to conference co-ordinator Nancy Shier, 400 West ~ States. How could Canadian socialists have such an impact? During the Regina conference, I met Al = Blakeney, the , Ed Schreyer, ~:1:1:111~1~1;1;111~1~1:1::1:111~~;1111~~1:1~1~1;11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111; the Premier of Manitoba, about ten members of the ity status. In the late Fifties, however, the Canadian Federal parliament, and leaders and rank-and-filers labor movement unified, and turned to the CCF for from the NDP, particularly in the Western provinces. a joint venture in organizing a new political party. My co-panelists, Gunnar and , were as Out of that effort came the New Democratic Party in impressed as I was with the NDP's quality, and what 1961. Its Eastern base is urban trade unionists; follows might explain why. on the prairies, it is still primarily composed of farm- In the West, the NDP has given socialist content ers; and on the Pacific coast it has both rural and to the old populist tradition (which :flourished in the urban support. United States, but was lost to the socialist movement Quebec nationalism because of the socialists' sectarianism). In 1933 the One enormous problem which the Party, like the prairie Leftists created the Cooperative Common- nation, faces is the nationalism of French Canada. In wealth Federation and within ten years had won the Quebec, the NDP has very little strength, not least provincial government in Saskatchewan. Now the because most of the separatist parties-including the NDP, the CCF's successor, is in power in British most successful of them, the Parti Quebecois-have a Columbia and Manitoba as well as in Saskatchewan. socialist ideology. In the immediate future, the NDP's In the Sixties, Saskatchewan was the site of a :fierce hopes are focused on making a major breakthrough in struggle over medical care, with the doctors striking province. In the more distant future, there are against the NDP's public health program. The social- possibilities of a larger realignment with the Liberal ists persevered and the principles they trailblazed in Left and some who are now in the separatist political one province now extend to all Canada. movement. It is an extraordinary experience for an American The trade unionists who support the NDP are, for socialist to meet Saskatchewan socialists. Most of the most part (the Public Employees Union is an them are farmers who look like their U.S. counterparts. exception) affiliated to the AFL-CIO or the UAW. On social and cultural questions, they are fairly con- In ethnic and class terms, the workers and farmers servative. And yet, out of their own experience--in who participate in this socialist movement (the NDP the struggles against bank foreclosures and for co-ops, is the Canadian affiliate of the ) in the battles for medical care in the Sixties, and now are very much like their brothers and sisters in this in their :fight to gain Canadian, and social, control of country. There are, of course, major differences be- their own resources-they are socialists. tween the two countries: for one, the parliamentary In the mid-Forties, it even seemed that the move- system in Canada allows a third party to play the ment which had begun in the west would sweep to kind of creative role the NDP is now effecting. power in all of Canada. But the momentum peaked Some of my NDP friends in Regina were worried and in the Fifties the CCF seemed doomed to minor- that Trudeau would get the political credit for actions socialists forced upon him. That is possible, but per- haps the Canadians will react like the Germans in the ~ o/ 1880's and 1890's, who responded to Bismark's "left" turn by voting for the socialists who forced him to THE DEMOCRATIC LEFT make it. Michael Harrington, Editor So there are problems for the NDP. But its magnif- Jack Clark, Managing Editor icent success in shaping Canadian energy policy is an The following people helped to put out this issue: Liz Bass, David Bensman, Gretchen Donart, Carol omen of how powerful and important the movement Drisko, David Kusnet, David Lindorff, Alex Spinrad, already is. I told the audience that we Americans Mark Schaeffer. dreamed of the day when we could have their kind of Signed articles express the views of the author. difficulties-the difficulties of working out the tactics Published ten times a year (monthly except July and of exerting power in the name of socialist principle- August). Office: 125 West 77th St., New York 10024. in the United States. D 7 Jimmy Higgins reports . ..

PETE McCLOSKEY, the anti-war California Congressman Now they're after a new-and bigger-target. The who challenged Nixon in the '72 Presidential primaries, December 7 edition of New Solidarity, the NCLC's had a falling out with the Party faithful in early 1973, but publication, announced that Operation Mop-Up will the rift has been healed. Disillusioned with Nixon, Mc- be pressed "against the Woodcock-Reuther leadership Closkey left the GOP shorUy after his re-election to Con- of the United Auto Workers." In classical sectarian gress. He's back in the fold now because he's found that fashion, the NCLC accused the "bureaucracy" of "lead- his faith in "free enterprise" coincides with the GOP's ing the entire American labor movement accept ..• philosophy. Despite his reputation as a liberal (and to his contacts with genuine liberals like Allard Lowenstein}, the Second ." It was not clear whether and his own description of himself (before a college audi- the "working class organizers" of the NCLC intend ro ence} as a "radical," Mccloskey In most ways fits right resort to the same violent tactics they used against the Into the Republican mainstream. He's against the Ken- Communists, but New Solidarity estimates that it will nedy-Griffiths health security bill, for Instance, because take two years to "get rid of these criminals." he considers it "socialized medicine." And at home in California, McClolkey's winning coalition is a strange mix FOOD ACTION is a consumer group which has recently of anti-Nixon liberals and college students (Stanford been protesting the concentration of ownership in the University is in McClolkey's district) and out and out re- food industry. Testifying before the Senate Subcommittee actlonarlea who have .awhere else to go. With Jerry Ford on Monopolies, Jim Hightower, who is a coordinator for now installed as Vice President, a part of that Republican Food Action, warned that "monopolistic food corpora- mainstream may be swinging over to McCloskey's stand tions are taking charge of the food supply." He cited a on impeachment: he wants It now more than ever. Federal Trade Commission study showing that 80% of the profits In the caMery business fall to four companies. THE PUNDITS WERE AT IT after President Nixon's In an earlier letter to the United Nations Panel on Multina- recent financial disclosures. The best crack we heard: tional Corporations, Food Action noted that food produc- "for two years, Nixon paid the same taxes as a person tion and distribution "is the largest Industry in the world." with a family of four who's making $8000/year. Never And both old familiar food conglomerates like Nestle's. since Andrew Jackson has a President been so close to and Del Monte, and relative newcomers like ITT, Tenneco the working people." But Nixon's own "working man," and Dow, are "affecting all of us with little accountability former New York building trades official and present to anyone," according to Food Action. Secretary of Labor Peter Brennan, jumped to his chief's PUBLIC-MINDED CORPORATION WATCHERS defense. Workers "probably wish they had the same have found an unlikely ally in the Securities and Ex- deal," Brennan told a Washington press conference. change Commission. The SEC has ruled that starting And any worker who was as successful as Nixon would December 28, companies which pay at least 5% less deserve the deductions. "I hope I can make it and take than the statutory rate of 48% in corporate taxes must the same deductions," said Brennan enviously. submit reports detailing which tax breaks enabled them to save money. Corporate executives are muttering that THE "EVEN HAND" OF GOVERNMENT controls on wages and prices has been in evidence lately as Cost of Living anti-corporation types like Ralph Nader will be helped Council Director John Dunlop slaps down wage hikes and by this ruling, and indeed, tax reformers and public pats business price boosters on the back. UAW negotia- interest advocates will be aided in deciding just how tors complained that they were "bargaining under a sha- much the corporations are getting away with in the dow" as they took on the Big Three automakers and the great treasury raid. COLC's 5.5% guideline for wage increases. Shortly after the pacts were ratified, and wages for the industry were r------, set for the next three years, the Council lifted controls for Please the industry price fixers. And this followed on the heels enter my sub8crlptlon to the Newsletter t of massive "energy crisis" lay-offs by the automakers (lay- ~MeDemocNlt/cLfltt t offs which hit hardest at production in the medium-sized Regular Subscription $5 Student rate $2.50 r field but left the lines churning out the big gas-eaters). Suatalnlng Subeorlptlon $10 I The Cost of Living Council decision on auto spurred spec- . t ulation that the government is about to lift controls from l other industries, most notably steel. Less than two weeks Na111e ...... 1. before the COLC decision on auto, U.S. Steel had said s that its scheduled price increase on January 1 would Addl"8H ...... exceed the 6.5% guideline laid down months ago by the l Cost of Living Council. i Clly...... Zlp •...... l OPERATION MOP-UP was a two bit reign of terror f Send to ot the I· waged by a weird radical grouplet, the National Caucus Neweleftel' Democratic L'1tt 125 WMI 77lh Street, New Yort, N. Y. 10024 t of Labor Committees. The original target was the Com- I munist Party, but soon the NCLC "truth squads" were From each according to his ablOty ••• l out "confronting" almost every ether group on the Left. J ------~