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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1956

Your dollar buys even less this week.

Continued from page 1

PROFITS-PRICES

Sranted wage increases’ from
October 1, 1955 to October 1,
1956. Of the increases, 70 per-
cent were under 11 cents an
hour. Approximately one third
of the wage increases averag-
ed less tham six cents an hour.
Burt,

Canadian district director of

In Ontario, George
the United Auto Workers, has
urged all locals of his union
now in negotiations to demand
cost-of-living esealator clauses
in their agreements.

Early this month, the UAW
district council, representing
75,000 Canadian workers, met
Ont., and urged
aunch a searching

into the wage-
price-profit relationship in
auto, steel, meat packing and
industries whose

fi London,
Ottawa to “
investigation

other basic
pricing policies exert such a
decisive influence on the Can-
adian economy.”

In Ottawa, Gordon Cushing,
Canadian Labor Congress ex-
ecutive vice-president, said,
“Labor must go after another
round “of wage increases in
1957

costs.”

to meet higher living

In Toronto, officers of the
25,000-strong United Electri-
cal Workers’ Union hinted that
action may be taken to reopen
two and three-year agreements
before their expiry dates. “We
will

such action under conditions

not hesitate to advise

where the inflation problem
becomes more severe than it
now appears,” they said.

Organized labor has many
precedents for such action. The
best known one is the case of
General Motors, in which the
UAW broke the five-year
wage freeze and compelled
the company to make substan-
tial concessions:

SERVICE CUTS

Bus drivers say

BCER to blame

City bus drivers interviewed by the Pacific Tribune this week bitterly blamed
the B.C, Electric for the cancellation of special Christmas service. __

On Tuesday this week, the Street Railwaymen’s Union, angered by the com
pany’s failure to tackle the problem of nervous tension resulting from traffic conges
tion, speed-up and too much overtime, banned all overtime work. On Wednesday,

the company retaliated by
cancelling the Christmas shop-
ping sheet.

Drivers had signed up on
this sheet to work an extra 25
minutes a day during the holi-
day rush, in order to accom-
modate the public.

An operator on the Victoria
Drive run, a man with more
than 15 years’ seniority, ex-
plained the company’s action
this way:

“With the extra 25 minutes
a day and the increased use of
supervisors as spacers, and
with more relief men at the
end of runs, the edge could
have been taken off the pres-
sure on drivers.

“Instead of recognizing that
drivers have a good reason to
be worried, because three men
died at the wheel this year,
the company is trying to make
the situation worse. They want
to turn the public against us,
but it won’t work. Most of
our passengers are working
people who want to see us get
a square deal.”

Another driver on the Hast-
ings East run, with eight years’
seniority, went even further
in his criticism of the company:

“The B.C. Electric has had
this town sewed up for too
long. They couldn’t get a fare
increase when our pay went
up this year, so they decided
to put the squeeze on the
drivers. Our ban on overtime
Was no sudden action. It came
about because the company
stalled on our proposals to
loosen up downtown traffic
and make it easier for the
drivers,”

He pointed out that in 1955,
136 bus drivers quit their jobs.

The union forced the issue
when the company refused to
consider suggestions for minor
changes to ease the strain on
operators, as a first step in
tackling the overall problem.
Union officials charged this
week that some drivers have
recently worked as long as 17
hours a day without proper
relief,

It is rumored that the com-
pany’s legal staff has been told

to look into the possibility of
legal action against the union.

The company position is that
a lot of overtime is necessary
during holiday periods and
that it is impractical to train
spare men to meet the extra

traffic loads. Many bus driv-
ers, on the other hand, feel
that their union should work
towards the 6-hour day, 30-
hour week, as the basic answer
to nervous strain and over-
time work.

Hungary planning
talks with USSR

BUDAPEST

As soon as it is possible, the government of Premief
Janos Kadar and the Socialist Workers party will ope®
talks with the Soviet government and Communist party
to place Hungarian-Soviet relations on a footing of full
equality, independence and non-interference in internal

affairs.

This statement is made in a
resolution adopted by the pro-
visional central committee of
the Socialist Workers party de-
fining the party’s foreign pol-
icy.

The resolution, published in
Nep Szabadsag following the
committee’s three-day meeting,
attributes the conflict in Hun-
gary to four main causes.

These were: Mistakes made
by the leadership of the Hun-
garian Workers party, the role
played by the opposition group
led by Imre Nagy and Geze
Losoncy, the intrigues of fas-
cist and other elements which
formerly supported the Horthy
fascist dictatorship, and the di-

rection and assistance given by
international imperialism.

Declaring that the armed
conflict was not -a_ national
revolution but essentially a
counter-revolution, the reso-
lution charges that the prin-
cipal force, composed of rem-
nants of the old Horthy army

India sets February
date for elections

NEW DELHI
India will hold general elec-
tions for parliament and state
legislature assemblies in Feb-
ruary, it is announced here.
The elections will commence
on February 25 and close on
March 12, Results will be an-
nounced on March 31.

; G
DECEMBER 21, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — P4

and military police, was oF
anized in West Germany.

This force, linked up with
other fascist groups operatins
underground in Hungary, had
been waiting an opportune
time to make its bid to regain
power, It saw its opportunity
i the peaceful demonstrations
organized by students a”
workers demanding correction
of mistaken policies followe
by the Rakosi-Gero gover”
ment. Skilfully utilizing the
democratic slogans raised
the students and pias
attempted to overthr
re a oth by armed force
and restore capitalism.

Since the crushing of the
counter-revolution on Novae
ber 4, the resolution continue>s
its leaders have resorte eh
calling upon the workers tts
stage strikes and borer
which have met with diminis

it

° up”
ing response as their oe
tive, anti-socialist alm ity 0

come clear to the majot
the workers themselves:
gov-

Last week, the Kadar First
ernment published the the
volume of a white book on
counter-revolution.

The 62-page volume,
will be translated into 5€ te
languages, describes pea
rages committed by oo aapest
revolutionaries in Bu jus
and other centres and 45 aphs:
trated with many photos? a

It was announced that Oved
volumes would be PU q and
as the material is compile

edited. E 16