Before
da foll

; organized labor in Can-
mer. Ows Finance Minister
ae advice to moderate its
athe for higher pay as a
1 oy ae tax reduc-
’ e€ best to i
ie examine
ace the 300
Mised, even if

acts. In the first
: 000 new jobs pro-
alin €n if they were to ma-
Beate would pretty well
where employment statistics
or re €y are at present. As
: Sa tax reductions given to
ng Porations, there is noth-
latever to indicate that

€ passed on to the
n the forms of low-
Ployment a eee ye unem:

: 2

trom gement figures show that
tembe, Ptember, 19715 to Sep-
1972, the average in-

all wae € base rate under
Was agreements in force
after e a But in real terms,
by they crease was deflated
the a ost in consumer prices
only ie to workers averaged
thousand 9. For hundreds of
has S below the average it
Beatle decline in
e wer. This means a
buying Pecitig Up on this lost
Up wi eh 4S well as to kee
sume rien uously rising ae
Ments in ae let alone improve-
eet IVing Standards plus
ob security syrrter hours and
meet -

Plant «Ctange, the ee ee

Osin S a
oyment. and growing un-

?

Purchase:
he iA Sing po

The ee into Debt
With ine y ay that worker
Year ca mes below $10. 000 s
debt. est is by ae per
that last ys, Shown by the fact
gen Consumer erent
g On the books of

3 ers inc
tics a: accord reased
~* Canad report. = ese:

Inne increaseq » COrporate
Nals a ‘struction vies
‘tion 38 Re 36.8%; poe.
a Benen’ 00d processing,
ue isa manufacturing,
S410" merchandizing,
As f
t Or ¢
he he tax Teductions and

Tet . St-of-jiy;
tag fiving index, I shall
€nt to the editor

Globe and Mail

of th Trespond
te © To
ae

BY BRUCE MAGNUSON

WYsTh)°M esis Higher consumer prices

make higher corporate profits

“Statements concerning the
rise in the cost-of-living index
are getting more outrageous by
the day. How does the cost-of-
living index get established any-
way, to come up with such my-
thical low percentages as 5.1%
in general and 10% in food
price increases for the last year,
when every average consumer
knows this to be the wildest
understatement of the century?”

Low Profits?

The letter goes on to relate
how Townhouse Rent has risen
57% in nine years; Boys’ cordu-
roy pants by 40% last year,
Shoes by 100% since 1971;
Flanksteaks by 61% since 1971;
Eggs by 26% since 1971; Green
Beans by 9.5% in two months,
September to November, 1972;
Peas by 11% in the same two
months; Oxtails by 9.8% in one
week of February, 1973; and
Chicken Thighs by 55% since
1971.

And then:

“By the way, where did you
find pork chops for $1.25 (Globe,
Feb. 10)? Dominion sold them
that Saturday for $1.58.

‘If I were not so incensed I
would find Herbert Gray’s,
(Minister of Consumer and Cor-
porate Affairs, Feb. 14) state-
ment about the high cost and
low profit margin for super-
markets amusing ... And...
Eugene Whelan’s (Minister of
Agriculture, Feb. 14) statement
that inflated incomes are to be
blamed for over-demand and
subsequently the rise in cost of
living, especially meat. I am al-
ways amazed how easy it seems
for people who make more than
$30,000 to assume that every-
body in the below $20,000 bra-
cket asks for too much. It
sounds impressive, that the aver-
age weekly salary rose from
$81.55 to $144.00 within the past
10 years. But that’s gross, not
net, and if we forget about the
phony cost-of-living index and
consider that house prices have
doubled, rents, public and priv-
ate transportation, theatre tick-
ets and clothing went up around
50%, university extension cour-
ses (developed for the average
lower-and- middle-income citiz-
ens) tripled, it seems ludicrous

to put the blame for the rise of
the cost of living on the con-
sumer’s extra spending power.

Runaway Prices

“Even assuming there would
be some validity to the bigger
spending power argument, why
have the United States and the
Canadian Governments not fore-
seen this rise in demand, but on
the contrary created an artificial
shortage by subsidizing the
farmers for years on taxpayers’
money not to overproduce?

“J am pleased that the Gov-
ernment is willing to relieve the
cost-of-living burden for low
income groups. But the middle-
class standard of living too has
continuously deteriorated from
1968 on....

“If we get another rent in-
crease we don’t know what we
will do. And this goes for every-
body in the $10,000-$20,000
bracket which dwindles consid-
erably when _ taxes, pension
funds and insurance are deduct-
ed.

“To suggest a wage and price
freeze now when prices have
literally run away, strikes me as
sheer insanity. Of course when
the Consumer and Corporate
Affairs Ministry are under the
same portfolio the consumer is
bound to lose out in the end.”

Bo *

Only the huge monopolies in
food processing and merchandiz-
ing are the initiators and ex-
clusive beneficiaries from the
price gouging in food. In the
meantime farmers are worse off
than ever, along with the work-
ers, both of whom (along with
their dependents) are the great
majority of consumers.

Both the workers and the
farmers, who are ,the primary
food producers, have a common
interest in organization and un-
ity in the fight against the
profiteering monopolies, who are
today robbing both groups of
producers, and the vast majority
of the Canadian people. Farmers
must seek price guarantees and
more power in the market place,
while workers must seek sub-

stantial wage increases in 1973 .

bargaining along with shorter
hours and job security.

that

® &e s=--One A

he oymen down Strikes ae

Rin, the o_, "ecentl

niga cial quebec Minister ot
a ituti

Taig Capp tens, Compe

ves, William

Gone.
; Dress ister yw

“Stern Onferen as addressing

Ce, part of a
Consultation
T aimed at
Prcig Td the aes govern-

Unity
Stir a8 man
last TOugh strikes x
year,” said the

trad this to a “high
pean sophisti-
ent high level

‘he West, William

120 as
a We]
+ Ploym

Tetley indicated he wants to at-
tract other Provinces’ attention
to—and invite participation in—
Quebec’s new central data reg-
istry system.

Copied from France—the lead-
er in this field according to Mr.
Tetley—the system, using mag-
netic tapes, would gather all the
information’ now contained in
some 104 filing systems.

Everything from hydro bills
to unemployment insurance and
income tax records will be re-
corded on one personal file in-
stead of the present 104 files.

“No, police files will not be
included in the main file,” em-
phatically stressed the member
of the Bourassa cabinet.

However, Mr. Tetley said that,
for government and industry of-
ficials the file would be open,
while for the public only general

information would be available.

When asked if his government
would consider a price freeze to
protect the consumer, Mr. Tet-
ley said that that alone “is not
fair’; instead the whole econ-
omy would have to be frozen.

In another area, Mr. Tetley
said that Quebec’s Radio and
Television Code differs from the
codes of the other provinces in
three respects.

Medical advertising is not
allowed; personalities cannot
advertise; and cartoon charac-
ters cannot be used in adver-
tisements. Jail sentences and/or
4 fine up to $25,000 accompany
violations of the code.

Agriculture is Canada’s larg-
est single industry and provides
more than half-a-million full-
time jobs.

vile es ics Reishee
By RAILWAY WORKER

On Feb. 16 the Associated
Non-Ops who bargain for 55,000
Canadian railway workers broke
off contract talks because “the
companies were unwilling to
submit an offer acceptable for
‘settlement.”

Reports emanating from Mon-
treal confirm that the unions
will be calling in their General
Chairmen for consultation prior
to deciding whether to ask for
conciliation or seeking some al-
ternative route which could lead
to more meaningful negotiations.

In view of these developments
in the Associated Non-Ops, the
Federal Mediator, Mr. A. Gib-
bons, has suspended temporarily
the 20,000-employee Shop Craft
group negotiations.

Both groups have been nego-
tiating since last November and
both have experienced the same
frustration and lack of progress
towards an acceptable contract.

The fact that all union groups
have submitted a demand to ne-
gotiate pensions has demon-
strated that railway unions are
dropping their traditional ani-
mosity towards each other and
are cooperating better than they
have done at any time in the
recent past.

Jack Pickett, president of the
Canadian Railway Employees
Pension Association, likes to
take credit for pensions being
placed on the negotiating table.

With all due respect to Mr.
Pickett the facts are that nego-

TUs rebuff

LONDON — Prime Minister
Heath and his Tory government
are facing a revolt of massive
proportions as one trade union
after another adds its voice in
opposition to the pay freeze.

Early last week gas workers
conducted a one-day walkout
which effectively cut off the gas
supplies from the works in East
Greenwich and Croydon areas.
The gas workers’ walkout was
quickly followed by an announce-
ment of the hospital workers’
leaders that a campaign of selec-
tive strikes, bans on overtime and
a withdrawal of co-operation will
be launched March 1. It will be
the first national official indus-
trial action in the history of the
health services.

Railway workers have also de-
cided on a one-day strike to pro-
test the pay freeze on Feb. 28.
Another stiff challenge to the
government's policies could
come from trade unionists at tte
Ford plant. The unions rejected
the Ford Company’s latest pro-
posal and an all-out strike has
been set for March 1.

tiated pensions have become a
reality only after a long and bit-
ter fight was waged by the Ma-
chinists and other groups, a fight
which has gone on intermittent-
ly since before 1965.

It goes without saying the rail-
way workers and all the class
conscious rail union leaders wel-
come any support Mr. Pickett
and his Association can supply
in order to win their pension
demands.

In this respect both the Asso-
ciated Non-Ops and the shop
crafts served demands that
would have achieved the much
sought-after 2% benefit formula
that Mr. Pickett, the General
Chairmen’s Association, and the
railway workers are seeking.

Rumors which to date have
not been officially confirmed, but
have all the indications of being
well-founded, have it that the
railways made an offer to both
union groups of a 5% wage in-
crease for 1973, an additional
5% for 1974 plus a 2% benefit
pension formula. It is suspected
the 2% benefit will be made re-
troactive only to Jan. 1, 1973
which in effect will not give
much to workers with long
years of service who will re-
tire shortly.

This, among other things, is
one of the reasons the Associa-
tion of Non-Ops broke off nego-
tiations and this could well
mean that the shop crafts, whe-
ther they like it or not, could
very shortly find themselves
facing the same situation.

pay freeze

were paid on several days last
week when more than 1,500
frustrated civil servants walked
out as a protest of the pay
freeze. And in still another sec-
tor, London teachers have pro-
mised to add their weight to the.
protests by conducting a three-
day walkout at 200 schools.

In response to the strikes and
walkouts, spokesmen for the
Heath government tried to inti-
midate the workers with the
“threat” of a general election.
But the threat was met with
scorn by many of the workers
who are preparing for a general
election which could lead to the
demise of the Heath Tory gov-
ernment.

The Communist Party news-
paper, Morning Star, comment-
ed on the “threat” editorially
and said, ‘Millions of factory
workers, miners, tenants, farm
workers, teachers, hospital work-

ers, railwaymen, gas workers
and victims of high prices want
nothing more than an early op-
portunity to vote the Tories out

No social security benefitsof office.”

British gas workers,

protesting the Tory government's wage freeze,

igs i AGG AISE fl

NO {bias

demonstrate outside the House of Commons in London while waiting

to lobby-their MP's.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1973-“PAGE 9° ©