US oil workers at head of pay fight

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'Well, they told us they'd do more drilling after Near four million worker: will face contract battles this year and a key test of the outcome will be in the national strike of 60,000 Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers.

The oil workers who struck every major oil company on January 8 are facing a united front of the bosses.

Even with the billion dollar profits, the oil companies refuse to offer more than 5% in new money and a fully paid health and welfare plan.

Presently, many of the 60,000 workers pay $48 to $84 a month from their check to cover their medical plans.

Hawaii

The effects of the strike has been felt most sharply by Hawaii where oil is not being delivered throughout the island.

The strategy of the companies is to bleed the union members through a long strike and run the plants with scabs and supervisors.

They are supported by Carter and the federal government along with mapy union officials who are attempting to impose wage "guide lines"

The federal government has also issued injunctions halting mass picketing.

Although the Teamsters leadership have sanctioned the strike, oil is still being transported by Teamster members.

In addition, American and foreign. maritime unions continue to ship oil to the United States.

A key struggle must be to demand that the International Transport Federation that represents transport unions throughout the world must halt all shipment of oil to the Us. prices went up' American oil workers should' take a lesson from the British steel strike, where European and other international unions are halting the movement of all steel to England in a powerful effort to defeat the British Steel Corporation and the ToryThatcher government. The same they'd ©1979 Herblock in The Washington Post support should be built for the OCAW strike.

In an important act of support, the Inland Boatmans Union, representing tug boat operators is refusing to unload oil barges at the 365,000 gallon-a-day Chevron refinery in Richmond, California. fror A flotilla of OCAW boat pickets are now successfully stopping the unloading of oil barges and this action must be taken nationally.

The entire labour movement must solidarize with OCAW strikers in mass picket line support and financial contributions.

The 60,000 OCAW strikers face many months without strike payments and the labour movement in every region must contribute to the strike fund.

The AFL-CIO, Teamsters, ILWU and UAW must also build mass support rallies and picket lines to win the strike.

Mass picketing

These oil refineries should be shut down by mass picketing of thousands of workers. Those unions, such as the CWA, Constructions, Hotel and Restaurant, and Steel workers whose contracts expire this year should be on the front line of mass picketing to back the oil strike because their contracts will certainly be affected by the success of the OCAW battle.

The strategy of . OCAW president Goss was to go along with Carter's previous wage guidelines. This has further eaten away at the wages of OCAW members.

A key contract demand must be for a full cost of living clause semi anually based on the real rate of inflation for working people, yet this is not one of the concrete demands of Goss and the bargaining committee.

The government itself has already admitted that inflation rose last year at the rate of 13.3% nationally yet even that is understated by the government Consumer Price Index.

The Centre for Economic Alternatives, a Washington economist group, calls the CP! an Labor News important purchases for workers such as food, energy, housing and medical care, have increased much faster than the CPI general rate.

Their "Index of Necessities" in the first 11 months of 1979 increased by 17.2% compared to the 13.1% of the CPt..

The trade union movement itself must determine the real rate of inflation since the government's is grossly understated and this should also be a part of the OCAW demands and the entire labour movement as well.

Political attack

The loss of real income by OCAW workers and the American working people in every area is a political as well as economic attack on labour, yet the trade unions continue to support the Democrats and Republicans who are controlled by these same oil companies and union busters.

political the rest of the labour movement by calling for a break from the Democratic and Republican parties and forging an independent labour party movement with a policy of nationalizing the oil companies under workers control.

The war mongering by Carter and the rest of the Democrats and Republicans is not only directed against Russia and Iran but against the basic rights of American workers. The trade union movement must have a clear political alternative to this.

*Victory • to the OCAW strike.

*Transport boycott of oil to the US.

* Mass picketing to shutdown refineries.

*Full cost of living escalator clause with labour index.

*Nationalise oil companies under workers control.

*Break with business labour party now. line his life