Vol. XLVIII No. 4

VANCOUVER, B.C.

IWA TO FIGHT PHONE HIKES

The Regional Council on behalf of its
members has filed notice with the
Canadian Radio-Television and Tele-
communications Commission, of its
intention to oppose the interm rate
increases sought by the B.C. Telephone
Company.

In a letter to Mr. J. G. Patenaude,
Secretary General of the Commission,
Regional President Jack Munro stated,
“On the issue of rate increases, our
argument focuses on the questions of
capital expenditures and corporate
financing.

“Tt is our position that the B.C. Tele-
phone’s move to increase rates repre-
sents arrogant corporate behavior that
is openly hostile towards the interests
of its customers. Any approval by the
Commission of increased telephone
rates would only encourage this arro-
gance.”’

Following is the Union’s brief:

The British Columbia Telephone Com-
pany recently announced that it would be
applying to the Canadian Radio-Television
and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) for approval of an increase in the
rates charged to its telephone subscribers.
Depending on the particular rate classifica-
tion, telephone subscribers in B.C. Tel will
be facing a 12 to 20% increase in their
monthly telephone rates if the application is
approved. The Western Canadian Regional
Council No. 1 of the IWA takes issue with
this application because we feel the increase
sought by B.C. Tel is both unnecessary and
unjustified.

As in previous applications for a rate
increase B.C. Tel argues that its proposed
construction program cannot be financed
by its present revenue base and increased
telephone rates must be forthcoming to
ensure both an adequate rate of return from
new investment as well as an acceptable
level of service quality for its customers.

From our perspective, B.C. Tel’s rationale
for their rate increase provokes two obvious

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criticisms; does B.C. Tel’s proposed con-
struction program represent money well
spent?, and does B.C. Tel have sources for
the necessary financing other than increas-
ing the rates charged for basic telephone
service.

With regard to our first criticism, we are
very skeptical of B.C. Tel’s assertion that
the proposed construction program will lead
to improved service quality for all B.C. Tel
subscribers. This is exactly the same argu-
ment that the company made in 1977 when
it received its last rate increase. At that time
the CRTC approved the increase on the
condition that the company compile and
submit a variety of service quality indices.
Reviewing these indices we find that service
quality has not changed demonstratively
over the last two years even though $517
million has been spent during those same
two years.

If service quality is not improving why is
so much money being spent on construction
programs? According to a study by Concor-
dia University regulated telephone compan-
ies tend to over-invest in capital goods
because the inflated investment decreases
the relative size of a company’s profits and
legitimatizes the argument that subscribers
rates must be increased to ensure an ade-
quate rate of return. It is our contention that
B.C. Tel embarks on unnecessary construc-
tion programs not to improve the service
quality of the network but rather to expand

See “Brief — Page Twelve

ELECTRIC RATES
SCORED BY FED.

The B.C. Federation of Labour has called
for the provincial government to instruct
B.C. Hydro to reduce the electricity rates for
British Columbians.

Federation President Jim Kinnaird made
the demand to Energy Minister Bob McClel-
land in a letter April 3, following the federal
government’s awarding of five export
licenses to Hydro to export electricity to the
United States.

Kinnaird stated:

“Tf B.C. Hydro is going to sell electricity to
the United States, then the profits it makes
from such sales should be reflected in lower
electricity rates for British Columbians,”
said Kinnaird. “The electricity they are
selling belongs to the people of this province
and they are the ones that should receive the
benefit of such sales through a reduction in
the high rates we pay for electricity. It is
totally unacceptable to have B.C. Hydro
export electricity on one hand, and at the
same time talk about raising power rates for
British Columbia consumers,” Kinnaird
told McClelland.

“We cannot accept the continued sell-out
of our resources and not expect to get
something in return. If you maintain any
control over B.C. Hydro you should instruct
them to pass on the profits from this sale to

the people of the province through reduced
rates.”

ISSN 0049-7371

ED LINDER
PASSES

Ed Linder, the former financial
secretary of Local 1-80 IWA, Duncan,
passed away April 1, following a
lengthy illness.

At the time of his retirement in 1976
he held the record of being the longest
full-time officer in the IWA. Elected
first in 1948, he served as financial
secretary for the next twenty-eight
years under six different presidents.

Born in Alberta, he left there in 1934
to work on Vancouver Island. His first
job was on a railway section gang
north of Courtenay for the Comox
Logging and Railway Company.

He later went setting chokers until
he was promoted to Second Hooker
with the same company. He worked in
a number of logging camps and was one
of the first to join the IWA while
working at Great Central Lake.

He played an active role in 1948 with
a number of other Local 1-80 members
in keeping the Communists from
taking over the Local. In recognition of
his dedication to the Union he was
elected financial secretary.

The funeral service was held April 8,
in Duncan, and was attended by
International, Regional and Local
officers plus numerous friends.

DOCTORS
CONDEMNED

OTTAWA (CPA) — Doctors unwilling to
accept Ontario Health Insurance Plan fee
schedules should opt out of the plan com-
pletely and not have the provincial govern-
ment bill patients for part of their services,
says medicare pioneer Tommy Douglas.

The former NDP premier of Saskatche-
wan told students at Algonquin College that
Ontario pays an average of 60 percent of the
medical bills submitted by doctors who have
opted out of OHIP and is hitting patients for
the remainder. He said the practice is
destroying the concept of universal medi-
care.

APRIL, 1980