TheTJ/herman
NDP government is best alternative
THE federal election Feb. 18 has given Canadian workers a second chance to elect a government capable of tackling the immense problems facing our country.
Since the election of the Clark government — a victory that stemmed more from disgust with the Liberals than support for Conservative policies — we have seen what solutions the Tories have in store: rising interest rates, increased unemployment, slashes in social spending, more military expenditures and dismemberment of crown corporations.
The Liberals have done their best to say nothing during this campaign, hoping that an electorate still stunned by the performance of Joe Clark will seek another cold shower of Liberal government to clear its senses.
But Pierre Trudeau's silence is ominous. Perhaps he has learned something since his 1974 about-face on wage controls. He now is refraining from attacks on policies he may seek to implement later.
Certainly, the only real disagreement between the two old-line parties is over how much and how fast working people should pay to extricate our economy from its crisis.
The fishing industry has felt the full force of this economic turmoil. It is a rare fishing industry family that is not in dire financial straits this winter because cutbacks in unemployment insurance benefits have denied a crucial source of income.
Nothing has been done to alleviate the gross over-capitalization of the processing sector or the fishing fleet. Important research into fish stocks has been postponed or cancelled because research funds have been eliminated. Concentration of ownership and foreign take-overs continue unchecked.
We now are assured of oil tankers in B.C. waters. A major spill is considered inevitable, but we have no means to clean it up nor sufficient search and rescue facilities to save mariners who may be hurt.
Our future has been mortgaged through concessions in international treaty talks, half-hearted enforcement of the Fisheries Act controls on pollution and spending restrictions on salmon enhancement.
There has been no shortage of cash, however, in mounting the combines branch attack on the bargaining rights of fishermen. Nor has any cutback been obvious when the processors have pushed for more investment in market research.
The fishing industry workers of B.C. have formulated proposals to deal with all these questions through the conventions of the UFAWU. The Liberal and Tory governments have ignored these programs and have opted to implement policies favorable to the corporations that dominate the industry.
It should be obvious by now that the only way to change this situation is to defeat both the old line parties on Feb. 18. The best way to do that is to vote for the New Democratic Party.
Canadian labor, through the Canadian Labor Congress, is urging Canadian working people to use their considerable political clout to mobilize a campaign of support for the NDP. The UFAWU supports this call because, while the NDP may not embrace the entire program of labor or even of the UFAWU, it is the only realistic alternative to the old-line parties.
The NDP program on fisheries questions closely parallels that of the UFAWU. A vote for the NDP is the surest guarantee those policies will be implemented. 4/THE FISHERMAN — JANUARY 30, 1980
LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE. YOU GET TO KEEP ALL THE OIL SPILLS.
T
U.S.S CARTER
Fish and Ships
CONGRATULATIONS are due to Con Mills, who returned to Cape Breton last fall to resume his fishing career in the Maritimes. Last week's convention of the Maritime Fishermen's Union elected him vice-president for Nova Scotia, one of three such regional posts on the union's executive.
Debate at the convention was lively, Con told us last week, with questions of licensing and bargaining rights of major concern. Fishermen down east feel they have an opportunity to avoid the problems plaguing the B.C. industry, he said, if they can organize quickly enough to present a united front to government. •
With Jimmy Carter's decision to approve construction of the Northern Tier pipeline from Washington to the U.S. Midwest comes news that 1979 was the worst year yet for tanker collisions and sinkings.
The Province reported Jan. 22 that "by the end of November, 20 tankers, representing a total 1,698,000 deadweight tons, had sunk. The full casualty list for the year is expected to be 24 or 25 ships."
A New York consultant who monitors world tanker traffic through computer system calculates that 585 accidents to tankers throughout the world during the first 10 months of 1979 poured 543,000 long tons of oil into the oceans. The increase was registered despite a decline in total tanker tonnage in service.
The loss of the Lee Wang Zin at Christmas is just one reminder of the damage North pacific seas can inflict even on major vessels. The Haida Monarch now is undergoing repairs in Vancouver for damage sustained in a January storm that knocked in the wheel-house windows.
A tanker disaster is inevitable on this coast, whether it is caused by weather or human error.
•
A sad fact of life on the American labor scene during the past decade has been the declining level of union organization, hovering now around 20 percent of the workforce. Canada, by comparison, has a workforce more than 35 percent organized.
A clue to the reason for the decline was contained in the eulogy to former AFL-CIO president George Meany, delivered Jan. 15 by I^ane Kirkland, his successor. "We now have faith that better days lie ahead for the working people of America," Kirkland said, "because George Meany is up there, negotiating the matter with God."
Unfortunately, there's little incentive for God to settle. If He chooses, he can settle the matter unilaterally. Here in Canada, we've had more success negotiating with bosses closer to home, and we hope Kirkland does not neglect the organizing task at hand while he waits for the big settlement from the sky.
•
Decca Marine has announced the
appointment of Fred Tofts as the firm's western region manager, replacing retiring Bill France.
•
We see from the Prince Rupert Daily News that former northern representative Ray Gardiner is looking fit. Ray is shown chairing a Jan. 10 meeting to nominate incumbent Jim Fulton to contest the Skeena seat he won last year from Iona Campagnolo. Ray is local NDP president and was flanked at the meeting by Atlin MI^\ Al Passarell and Prince Rupert MI.A Graham Lea. •
Steve Stavenes has pointed out we erred in our Christmas issue in our description of the saii-gillnetter in Rivers Inlet on the back page. Since the fisher-
• At least some of the herring and salmon missing this year has been fattening this mob of sea lions, spotted by Homer Stevens during the Quaticum fishery last month. The sea lions were outside Nanoose Harbor mouth and more than 80 are visible in more distant shots.
man is standing and pushing his oars, notes Steve, the net stowed behind him must be in the stern, not the bow as we suggested. Furthermore, Steve assures us the boat is not of Columbia River boat design, as we claimed. It's more of a dory style, he suggests, typical of boats used in the area during that period.
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