wwsthewestern canadian

this issue

LWoorA) 3

lumber worker

shed once monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA

Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1

Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC

2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-526)

Editor—Patrick S. Kerr

Business Manager—Wyman Trineer

Forwarded to every member of the |WA in Western Canada in accordance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year.

T is a lasting disgrace to Can- @§ adians that no intelligent or

honest system has been developed to make the changes required from time to time in our Legislatures.

The most recent example of political chicanery at its most cynical was provided by the Socred Government with the redistribution

that they forced through the-

Provincial House in the dying moments of the Session.

You will recall that the NDP Gov- ernment appointed Mr. Justice Norris (a lifelong Tory) to produce a redistribution. The Socreds rejected his report out of hand and ap- pointed Judge L. S. Eckardt a previous Socred candidate, and a

man whose report clearly labels him as a faithful Socred hack.

With the law that gave effect to Eckardt’s report, three Legislative seats are wiped out. Although about two-thirds of the seats in the House are held by. Socreds, all eliminated seats are NDP. Two from Vancou- ver-Burrard, held by Rosemary Brown and Norm Levi and Revel- stoke-Slocan, held by Bill King.

In a gesture that expands the meaning of gerry-mandering beyond

any previous limits, Provincial Sec- .

retary Grace McCarthy is accommo- dated by “a finger’ of solid Socred territory extending into Point Grey.

The Eckardt report, and the redis- tribution based on it, is ludicrous, and a disgrace to any democracy.

THIS WELFARE BUM MEETS VANDER ZALM’S APPROVAL

By Alderman HARRY RANKIN

This is the story of a welfare bum, one that the minister of

inhuman resources, Bill Vander Zalm, didn’t get indig- nant about (and tell it to go back where it came from( and didn’t send his fraud squad to investigate,

This welfare bum is a cor- porate welfare bum and of course that puts itin a different category.

Westcoast Transmission last year made a clear profit of $43 million. It was supposed to pay $5 million in income tax. That’s little enough, that’s a rate of 11.65%.

But it didn’t have to pay this $5 million. By some arrange- ment with the Ottawa tax authorities it was permitted to reduce this amount to $317,000. The rest was deferred to some time in the future. This brought the rate down to 7/10 of 1%.

How would you like to pay

income tax at a rate of than 1%? (This sort of thing has been

- going on year after year. West-

coast now owes a total of $20

- million in deferred income tax,

is, tax which it may (or ay not) pay at some time in future; in the meantime

in be considered an inter-

have it

public treasury and escaping payment of income tax. You Pay more because they pay less.

But there is still more to come.

The company expects that beginning in 1982-83 (when its generous depreciation ~ allow- ances of plant and equipment will have been exhausted) it may have to start paying a higher rate of income tax. Therefore it applied to the Na- tional Energy Board for per- mission to increase the price of natural gas for the next eleven years (and also to increase its depreciation allowance) so that it will get an additional $66.5 million a year, over and above what it is raking in now.

Some people have accused the National Energy Board of being just a rubber stamp for the big gas and. oil-corpora- tions. Surely that can’t be true, if we are to judge from this case, because although West- coast asked for $66.5 million a year for the eleven year per- iod, the National Energy Board granted it only $64.5 million a year for the eleven year period.

No wonder John Anderson, the executive vice-president of Westcoast told the press: ‘‘We are obviously very pleased. We got everything we asked for’’. How would you like to have the right to ask for a wage increase now that will cover all the in- ee et axe rey

ly be raised so that you will pay an extra $100 or so a year, to help out poor Westcoast.

But this still isn’t the whole story.

Westcoast is now applying for permission to increase its rates still further. They see the oil companies raking it in at an even greater rate than they are so they want the price of natur- al gas to equal the price of oil.

If and when the increase is granted it will add another couple of hundred dollars a year to your natural gas bill.

Being on welfare can be very profitable — if you are a corp- orate welfare bum.

This is one more example of how the big corporations use the government and its agencies to redistribute the national wealth in favor of the big corporations.

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER - Sa?

eo

_.-- JULY, 1978

What d’ya mean what party will I vote for? . . . You | know any girls ‘throwin’ some parties?

ea ee ee ES

MHALEN

a

Sie 4 THE SCAB 3

I ought to get a heavenly reward For never carrying a Union Card. : I’ve never grumbled, never struck, I’ve never mixed with Union “truck.” ®&

SoI must be on the way to win,

“Open up, St. Peter, and let me in.” } St. Peter sat and stroked his staff, 3 Despite high office, he had to laugh.

Said he, with fiery gleam in eye, - “Who’s tending the gate, you or I? I’ve heard of you and your gift of gab,

You’re known on earth as a strike-breaking scab.”

Therefore he moved in his stature tall : And pressed a button upon the wall. f

Said he to the imp who answered the bell, “Escort Mr. Scab right down to hell.

Q | “Tell Satan to give him a seat alone ; {

On a red hot griddle up near the throne.

But wait! Even the devil can’t stand the smell Of a cooking scab on a griddle in hell. y

If I send you down to the imps below.

“It would cause a devilish strike, I know, E |

So back to your master on earth to tell

That they don’t even want a scab in hell!”

~BROADBENT TO PRESENT NEW BILL

NDP leader Ed Broadbent gave notice of his intention to present a private member’s bill amending the Canada Labour Code to prohibit the use of strikebreakers during legal labour disputes.

The bill, which amends sec- tion 184(3) of the Code, has two aims: to prohibit any employer from hiring any person as a strikebreaker while a lawful strike or lockout is in progress; and to ensure that any employ- ee who has participated in a

_ Strike is reinstated in his form-

Rie ga at the end of the di :

Mr. Broadbent said his bill would avoid protracted dis- putes such as the strike at CJMS in Montreal, which has been in progress for 17 months.

He noted that Quebec and British Columbia already have legislation outlawing strike- breaking, and said the federal government should follow their example and agree to the measures proposed in the priv- ate member’s bill.

“The employment of strike-

breakers during a labour dis- pute does nothing but lengthen the dispute, and breed ill-will and sometimes violence.’’ he

‘ said, adding that use of strike- | breakers “adds imbalance to . the relative strengths of labour and management during a strike, and the amendment I. | am proposing is needed to | avoid prejudicing the balance ~ é in favour of employers,’’

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A draftee claimed exemption ~~ on the grounds of poor eyesight — and brought his wife along to prove it,

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