ZN, -
“WONDER WHAT Tie COMPANY WILL SAY To OUR UNION
WAGE DEMANDS... ”

H.K. WARREN, whose article in the

May 16 issue of the Pacific Tribune,
“Why Are Meat Prices So High?” first
exposed*the reasons for high meat
prices, sent us another article this
week which contains some interesting
material. Its length prevents us from
running it in full, but here are some of

the more important sections.
Editor.

camel, eer,

By H.K. WARREN

To say the least, this writer
was somewhat astounded at the
statment of the Daily Province’s
Emily Post, of May 23. I quote:
“A lot of us will find it hard to
sympathize with the meat
cutters who are precipitating it
(the supermarket. lockout) with
their demands for a 4 day, 36
hour week, plus an added $1
an hour wages. The way our

economy works, it will just lead

Oil Company
PROFITS |

The oil companies now being
struck can well afford to pay
workers’ wage demands out of their
swollen profits, as the following
shows:

1967 is the last complete year for
which profits are available. These
show the following net profits after
taxes; Imperial Oil $92,408,000; B.A.
Oil (includes Gulf and Royalite),
$42,509,000; Shell Oil $43,474,901.
And profits are going up. The first
quarter (three months) of 1968
showed the following net profits
after taxes (1967 first quarter in
brackets): Imperial Oil, $24,000,000
$21,000,000); B.A. Oil, $11,000,000
$10,100,000); Shell Oil, $ 12,309,000

$11,889, 000).

MRS. GRACE STEVENS will attend

an international women’s
‘conference in Helsinki in June.
She was named recently by the
B.C. Women’s Committee for
World Friendship to represent this
province,

Service for labor

veteran Saturday
Wilfred H. Stoneman, 88, of

North Vancouver, passed away’

Monday night at Shaughnessy
Hospital after a month-long
illness.

Funeral service will be held
this Saturday, May 31, at 10:30

a.m. at 1505 Lillooet Road (up the ~

hill from the Coach House). The
service will be conducted by PT
associate editor Maurice Rush.

No flowers by request.
Contributions to the Pacific
Tribune. eee

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 30,

Strike front grows

Cont'd from pg. 1

the policy being pursued by the
joint municipalities has been to
keep wage increases for civic
employees within the boundaries
of the unofficial ‘*guidelines’’
laid down by the provincial
government and the Union of
B.C. Municipalities.

“This is totally unacceptable
to our union membership,”’ he
said, ‘‘because of the sharp rise
in the cost-of-living, and because
of the relatively large wage
increases being won by unions in
comparable sectors of private
industry.’”’ He also accused
municipal governments of trying
to set low-wage patterns for
private industry.

In the event of other CUPE
locals in Vancouver, Richmond
and Burnaby, being forced to
take strike action, a total of
some 2,500 workers in the three
municipalities would be on
strike, thereby bringing civic
administration and services to a
dead halt.

On behalf of its membership,
CUPE locals are demanding a
wage increase of 13-percent
across-the-board in a one year
contract. The latest offer by
MLRB spokesmen before they
broke off negotiations was a 6.5-
percent hike.

Some concern is_ being
expressed in NDP circles in
Burnaby, and by many

prominent NDP’ers in the trade
union movement over the
position of NDP Burnaby Mayor
Robert Prittie. To date he and
his council have gone along with
the hard-nosed policies of the
MLRB, which is dominated by
the Vancouver City Council, and
seek to cut CUPE wage demands
in half or less.

WOODWORKERS

Last week IWA Regional 1st
vice-president Jack MacKenzie
stated in a press release
confirming the union’s demand
for a 12-percent wage increase
Over and above the 18-cents
payable in June under the
provisions of the 1968 master
contract that the ‘mutual
agreement clause in the coast
master agreement enables the
employers to enter into
negotiations leading to a general
wage increase,”’ thereby denying

‘+, Forest Industrial, . Relations
969—Page 12

_ deal with the MacKenzie letter.

(FIR) contentions that the 1968
agreement could not be opened.

Vice-president MacKenzie’s
statement further elaborates the
position of the IWA that:

“The Regional Executive
Board would not accept the
unduly legalistic attitude of the
employers.

“The intent of the mutual
agreement clause in the contract
clearly anticipated its use in an
emergency of this nature.

“That an emergency exists

cannot be denied. Our members |

are badly hurt by the
unprecedented rise in prices and
taxes which could not be
foreseen during the 1968
negotiations. The wage increase
then negotiated has been more
than completely wiped out by
rapidly accelerating living costs,
causing an alarming drop in
living standards.

“The industry is planning to
take full advantage of rising
lumber prices which have
consistently risen and_ will
continue to rise as predicted,
with only temporary and
managed fluctuations.

“The spectacular rise in
corporation profits shown by
their financial statements
clearly indicate ability to meet
the urgent . need of their
employees.”

Job actions in a number of
lumber operations on Vancouver
Island and the mainland are
indicative of the rising anger and
frustration of IWA rank-and-file
members against FIR’s hard-
nosed attitude re its refusal to re-
open the 1968 coast agreement.
Job actions to enforce ‘‘work-to-
rule” policies and a tight ban on

all overtime mark the rising
tempo of such _ on-the-job
policies.

In a letter addressed to ‘B.C.
Lumber Industry Employers”
under date of May 26 and signed
by vice-president MacKenzie, in
which the entire case of the IWA
for a re-opening of the coast
contract is set forth, this action
would seem to by-pass FIR
spokesman John Billings and ‘‘go
right to the top’’.

Lengthy and specific in its
presentation of the case for the
IWA Western Canadian Regional
Council, it will be interesting to
watch how the lumber profiteers

domination of B.C. by big

to higher food prices for all,

including those on fixed
incomes.”’
Our other esteemed daily

newspaper, on the same day, had
a front page 2 column headline
that meat prices had increased
by 70% since January, 1969. The
70% increase occurred before
the meat cutters even indicated
that they were seeking either a
wage increase or_ shorter
working hours. Does this show
that meat prices have only
resulted from wage demands?
Are we going to be conned into
believing that meat prices
increase specifically due to wage
increase demands?

During the period January 1969
to May 1969 the average price of
live cattle to the producer was,
quoting Calgary: medium to
good steers - $28.50 to 32. per
hundred weight; medium to good
heifers - $26.50 to 29.75 per
hundred weight; medium to good
cows - $21.51 to 24 per hundred
weight.

These prices to the producer,
according to the Canadian
Department of Agriculture as
quoted by a leading farm weekly,
have held almost 100% steady in
the past two years with a
fluctuation of 50 cents per
hundredweight one way or the
other. Therefore, we are unable
to lay the blame on the producer
price.

x Ke O*

A Mr. Towsley, not identified
as to his position or authority, is
quoted as saying that the
increase in price is due~‘‘to
heavy Anerican buying in

Canada by Americans and a drop

cause high meat prices

in the number of animals being
produced in Canada.’

The Department
receipts of slaughter ee
during the week of May Fe
May 8th, 1969: Calgary, on
Edmonton, 5,340; Saskia
2,030; Winnipeg, 5,200; Toron'™
9,140.

These figures are well a
the average for the past a
years, and in this week's pe
is 1,000 head over the preceed!
week for Winnipeg. We he
hardly able to credit ! i
suggestion that we have
shortage of slaughter cattle.

I recently went to my favor me
butcher and requested a bee
tongue. He brought a real beau
and quoted ine 59 cents Pe
pound. I questioned this price
advising him that I could buy
beef tongue downtown at 4
cents. He reached for a CP
board on the wall, flipped a ie
pages and blandly told me tha
this was the right price for “thls.
region’. Obviously he was 1°
pricing his merchandise on his
own estimate, but, was using #
convenient circular from 4
central authority.

It is possible that this may no
be classed as price fixing, but. !
is highly suspect. The next day
his beef tongue was 49 cents pe
pound. :

This writer would suggest that
it is about time that somebody
came up with some _ better
answers than wages to explain
why the price of beef is so high.

Communists

action to defeat attack —

urge united

“United support of all labor and progressive forces is urgently

needed to defeat the new offensive
have launched against the labor m

reactionary big business interests
ovement of this province,” state

a warning issued by the B.C. Committee of the Communist Partly

meeting in Vancouver last weekend.

“The big lumber, mining and
oil monopolies have launched an
attack to try and dissipate the
rising wage movement, and are
coming out for Social Credit
more than ever before,” Nigel
-Morgan, Provincial leader of the
Party charged, citing recent
statements of lumber barons
MacMillan and Clyne,
COMINCO head __ Kirkpatrick,
CMA and mining spokesmen, as

well as longtime Liberal
stalwarts like Rathie and
Sweeney, and Tory Ernie

Broome, who announced their
Switchover to the Socred camp
last Thursday.

“The attack on labor and its
efforts to catch up with rising
living costs is not going to be
defeated by backing-off, or
leaving it to an NDP government
to solve as some trade union
leaders are now proposing,”
Morgan warned. ‘‘What is
needed is for labor to strike out
boldly and unitedly to win its

_ Tights on the economic front,

while using its unquestionable
political strength to end the
political and economic

taxes are being prepared.

— kor
business. To do otherwise is 1
fight with one hand tied behind
our back.”’

“Unfortunately the lack of
forthright policy commitments
on such key issues as the sales
tax, resource utilization, etc.:
and statements like those of NDP
President Laxton in his recent
article in the May 3rd Sun
agreeing with Premier Bennett
that ‘‘Socialism vs. Free
Enterprise is the issue in this
election’? does nothing but
provide Premier Bennett with

ammunition to becloud the reat, —

issue and endanger the
possibility of a decisive political
shift in B.C.”’ he said.

The Communist Party pledged
full support to the rising struggle
of B.C. working people for
upward wage adjustments an
economic justice. At the same
time it completed plans for
getting its provincial campaig?
underway for the election now
expected in the fall. Nomination
meetings are underway, and the
platform on which the Party will
fight, as well as leaflets on
resources, labor, education and

et

Otis ~
Agriculture report that thes

Theres

a

Reece