ae During the air traffic controllers’ strike Senator

_ Donald Cameron of Alberta projected himself into

the dispute by writing a letter which was widely

quoted in the press across Canada. He talked about
“irresponsible union people who cause disruptions in
the economy of the country.”’ The controllers had, of
course, been trying for 12 years to have their par-
ticular status recognized.

One of those who took issue with Senator Cameron

_ was Mrs. L. R. Jeal of North Vancouver, B.C.; and,

in reply to her protest, the senator wrote a letter
giving an unusual insight into the thinking of one of
the more prominent members of the Upper House.

He said bluntly that he thought “‘the right to strike
in defined essential services (should) be removed.”
Further that very heavy penalties, “fines of $1,000 to
$10,000 and/or jail sentences be put in the Criminal
Code to deal with irresponsible wildcat strikers,
union leaders, or representatives of management

who bring about the kind of disruptions we have
had.”’

Despite his flying experience — ‘I have flown
over 2,000,000 miles, something over 200,000 last
year, and I hasten to add, most of this at my own
personal expense or that of some of the companies I
represent’? — the senator holds a low view of the
people who chart the course of the planes he flies in.
He comments with appropriate references to his own
broad educational background: ‘‘They have the
nerve to call themselves ‘professionals’.’”’

Obviously the senator was stung to the quick by
Mrs. Jeal’s reference to the senators voting them-
Selves a 50 percent wage increase, plus an increased

tax-free allowance. That, said the senator was dif-
ferent:

“The air controllers don’t have to keep up two
homes as we do. They don’t have to pay for taking
their families back and forth across the country if
they want to live with their families.

“They don’t have to have every Tom, Dick and
Harry and every kind of community organization in
the country soliciting funds and expecting that
members will contribute to them or expecting that

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

Cc

OMPANY IGNORES RETIREMENT, SO:

CREW BUYS MEMBER COLOUR T.V.

A member of Local 1-417

IWA, Johnny Russell, em-
ployed at Balco Forest Prod-
ucts in Kamloops, was pre-
sented with a colour TV by
his fellow workers on his re-
tirement from the plant.
- The crew bought the gift
for Johnny, a long-time em-
ployee at Balco, when it be-
came apparent that the Com-
pany had no intention of rec-
ognizing his years of service
to the firm.

A strong Union member,
Johnny was in his early days
a solid supporter of the OBU
(One Big Union) and the
IWW (Wobblies) .

Born in England in 1904

Johnny was brought out to ff

Canada at the age of eight
months. By the time he was
nine he was working in the
weaving trade and at fourteen
was in charge of forty-eight
drapery looms.

Shortly after this he left
home and travelled extensive-
ly through Canada and the
Western United States.

Johnny went to work for
Balco Forest in 1953 when the
firm was known as Balison &
Sons. He worked as an edger-
man until 1967 and then took
on the duties of watchman

until his retirement last
March.

THEY DON’T

~~ when they come to Ottawa, the Member of Parlia-
ment or the Senator from their area will take them
out to dinner and look after them in the style to which

LOCAL 1-417 IWA Board member Larry Jensen (left)
presents colour T.V. on behalf of Balco Forest Product
employees to Johnny Russell, a long-time employee of the
Company who recently retired. ge ;

GET THE

they are accustomed.

“T can assure you that the $12,000 which the
Senators received up until July 1971 didn’t begin to
cover the expenses. You talk about a $4,000 tax free
allowance. The taxes on the two homes I have to keep
up run to over $1,000 each plus all the wear and tear
in upkeep as well, and on top of that, my home in
Ottawa was broken into four times in the last three
years which is another hazard — which, of course,
has nothing to do with the air controllers, but it
seems to be one of the hazards a Member of Parlia-
ment has.to put up with in Ottawa.

“And for your further information, being in the
Senate has cost me in loss of income, since I came
here in 1955, not less than $20,000 a year because had
I not been in the Senate, I would have been drawing
down from $60,000 to $75,000 a year.

“This is partly because I worked 12 to 14 and 15
hours a day, year after year, and I didn’t have a 34-
hour week. I often put in 34 hours in two days. So
don’t give me the line about how hard worked the air
controllers are with their 34-hour week.”

And then, later in the letter, Senator Cameron
reveals the real cause of his annoyance: ‘‘Yes, I am
an irate citizen when I have my business plans dis-
rupted, when it costs my firms thousands of dollars
because of the irresponsible acts of people who have
no sense of responsibility and who haven’t the brains
to realize that they are predjudicing their own

_ position by their irresponsible acts.”

—Canadian Labour.

LION’S SHARE

“The folklore of economic
favoritism to Quebec and the
Mythology of enforced bilin-
gualism on a mass scale will
not withstand a straightfor-
ward accounting of what is
happening in this country.

“Look at some examples:

“The whisperers say there
are too many French Cana-
dians in the cabinet. They are
wrong: only 27 per cent of the
cabinet (against 28 per cent
of the population) is French
speaking.

“Quebec, they say, gets
more than its share of equal-
ization payments. Wrong:

Quebec gets $74 per head per’

year against Saskatchewan’s
$102 and Newfoundland’s
$213.

“Quebec, they say, gets the
lion’s share of regional expan-
sion grants, which sometimes
create jobs. Wrong again: in
1971-72 Quebec, with more
than 30 per cent of the na-
tion’s unemployed, received
only 26 percent of the grants.”

—From Toronto Star Editorial,
April 25, 1972.

LABOUR MATERIAL WANTED

The Ontario Educational
»munications Authority has
ced the cooperation of the
® union movement in their
involving the produc-
mn of six or more half-hour
) ns on the history of the

Ontario govern-
tes Channel 19,

Canada's first educational
television network. ;
Education Supervisor Muriel
Clements is asking trade union
leaders and educationists to
provide OECA with informa-
tion about hsitorical material
about their unions. The
material could be pamphlets,
magazine articles, speeches,
newspaper clippings,
programs of events, insignia

and mottos, banners and even
strike signs.

Sound and visual material is
of particular value. This in-
cludes tape recordings of
speeches, songs, meetings,
personal interviews, photo-
graphs and film footage.

Information should be sent to
Mrs. Muriel Clements, Educa-
tion Supervisor, OECA, 2180
Yonge Street, Toronto 295.

WOMAN DEPUTY MINISTER

A rare breakthrough for a
woman in the. male-dominated
public service of Canada was
achieved June 1 when Dr.

Sylvia Ostry took over as chief
statistician of Canada.

Dr. Ostry, a 44-year-old

native of Winnipeg, is a
foremost labor economist. She
has been vice-chairman of the
Economic Council of Canada
since 1970 and will be the first
woman to achieve the rank of
Deputy Minister and head of
such an agency.

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