Elderly in poverty a national disgrace TORONTO — Half the elderly women in Canada over 65 have annual incomes under $4,000, and the plight of the elderly widow has become a national disgrace, according to lawyer and pen- sions expert Marie Corbett. Speaking at a conference of Women and Pensions, organized by the Congress of Canadian Women, May 14, Corbett said that even with the number of women in the work force today the situation is unlikely to improve, since more than 55% of all workers are not covered by any private pension plan. : Women make up 72% of the part-time labor force, she said. Part-time workers are rarely, if ever, covered by private pension plans. Wage inequalities in the work force are carried with a woman into her retirement. Earning 60% of men’s wages women find themselves collecting 60% of men’s pensions. She said women should begin now assessing the adequacy of their retirement incomes, remembering that their marital status and attachment to the work force will have a significant impact on their entitlement. Mary Prokop, secretary of the women’s commission for the The peace panel at the CCW conventi Czechoslovak Union of Women, Nelya Ramazanova of the Soviet Women’s Committee, Lillian Curley 0 Women of Economic and Racial Equality in the U.S. Also participating was Laurette Sloan, president of Ligue des Femmes in Quebec and Lilo Morse of the CCW. Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, an organization which for 60 years has been involved in providing independent social services for its members, accused private pension com- panies of blocking necessary reforms to public pension plans. The basi¢ Old Age Security of $100 has not been increased since 1973, she said, the $132.97 increase has Only been in re- sponse to inflation. The OAS should be increased to $600 a month, with monthly indexing to keep it above the poverty line. She also recommended raising Canada Pension Plan pay- ments. CCP, which currently provides for only 25% of pre- retirement income should be raised to 50%, to a maximum of the average industrial wage which now stands at $19,000. The advantage of these plans is that they are universal, port-_ able, not subjected to cuts and do not carry the stigma of social welfare that the supplementary income programs provided by some of the provinces do. “Pensions are not charity”’, Prokop said. ‘‘They are deferred wages. They are a right to seniors for the wealth they created.” Private pensions also came under sharp attack by Nadia Geith, a researcher for the United Electrical workers, a union with about 20,000 members, mostly in Ontario and Quebec. “*Pension companies have become big business’, she said. “By 1980 they had assets equallying 14.9% of the Gross National Product. Yet most of the money never reaches the retiree.” Of the 65 plans the union studied, although each had its own features they had common threads running throughout — no portability, no part-time workers, 10-year continuous work requirements, no survivors’ benefits and no indexing. The results of these restrictions are illustrated when one con- Siders that only 12% of retiree incomes come from these plans. In arguing for a universal public plan, Geith said consideration will have to be taken of time out of the work force to raise children or through unemployment. Her union recommends allowing a 25% deduction from time in the labor force rather than the current 15%. To deal with rising divorce rates and the number of husbands who die before their wives, she advocated 100% survivor benefits and splitting benefits 50-50 on divorce. Responding to concerns as to whether the Canada Pension Fund would go broke in the future, Alex MacLennan of the Toronto Council of Retirees explained that since the fund was established in 1966, $17-billion had been lent to the provinces in low-cost loans with interest ranging from 2.5-12% yet the prov- inces are not in a position to repay the fund. “There is a danger of the fund going broke because it is being given away in an irresponsible, piecemeal fashion,” he said. Women lobby Ottawa for peace, pensions A deputation of nine women from the CCW convention, took the meeting's concerns to Otta- wa, May 17. Members of the Liberal caucus failed to keep their appointment with the delegation. It did how- ever meet with Pauline Jewett and Margaret Mitchell of the New Democratic Party who extended their support. for many of the delegation’s proposals on abor- tion, technological change and disarmament. 5 The MPs reported the NDP had just held a conference on pen- sions and were still undecided on a formula for providing them to housewives. Although they ag- reed in principle with a $600 feel, we make it clear, but we monthly indexed Old Age Secu- don't know where they stand’’. PACIFIC TRIBUNE— MAY 28, 1982— Page 10 rity, they claimed the total costs would make it unfeasible. Participants in the deputation reported that the four Con- servative members they met with, Crosbie found most of the de- mands *‘outrageous’’. ‘‘ Although they support disarmament, they don’t support cutting the Cana- dian defence budget,’’ reported Regina delegate Darlene Ruth. Donna Byers, A_ hospital ~ worker also from Regina said she felt the delegation didn’t come away with much. ‘‘There’s alot of talking around the issues, you can’t get these guys committed to anything. They know how we including finance critic. John- Disarmament, jobs priorities — for women in the 80s — CCW TORONTO — Delegates to the 13th Convention of the Congress of Canadian Women, May 15-16 elected a new president, and called for immediate government action to cut military spending by half and to declare Canada a nuclear weapons-free zone. : The demands were part of a comprehensive re- port endorsed by the convention which outlined the organization’s priorities and emphasized the need to stop U.S.-Canada weapons testing agree- ments (specifically the Cruise Missile tests in Al- berta) and the withdrawal of Canada from the North American Air Defence agreement and from NATO. The Congress also is asking Canada to urge the United States to sign the SALT II agree- ment.” The report, delivered to the convention by CCW president Mary Dennis, who later stepped: down from her position after a seven-year term, cited the struggle for peace as ‘‘the most burning issue’’. Close to 70 delegates from British Columbia to Ontario attended the two days of meetings which opened with the president’s report. Dennis told the delegates ‘‘$5-billion was being spent by Canada in 1981 on arms, the cost rising by 12% yearly. ‘Yet only one Leopard tank could be cashed in to pay for 36 kindergartens; one Trident submarine could pay for 416 schools. Her point was emphasized by a number of guests at the convention. ‘‘Governments are feeling the pressure for reduction in ‘arms,’’ said Laurette Sloan of La Ligue des Femmes du Quebec. ‘‘Rea- . gan is talking of opening the SALT talks, and our government has said they will delay the missile testing in Alberta, until after the UN Special Ses- sion’ on Disarmament, she noted. Nelya Ramazanova, editor fo the English edition of magazine Soviet Woman, expressed her solidar- ity with Canadians struggling for peace. She stres- sed the number of pressing social issues that could be addressed if the arms race were halted and the process of disarmament begun. Other guests welcomed by Dennis, included the head of the Czechoslovak Union of Women, Maria Kabrhelova and Lillian Curley of the U.S.-based e Women for Racial and Economic Equality (WREE). i ; Delegates noted that while the threat of nuclear war had taken on a new importance in people’s lives, sections of the labor movement were not taking up the question with sufficient seriousness. B.C. delegate Karen Dean’s recommendation to produce kits relating arms spending to unemploy- ment and social service cuts was unanimously en- dorsed by the convention. ‘‘Peace is more than a motherhood issue”’, she said. ‘‘We need peace not just because it wouldn’t be nice to get incinerated, we need it because without a massive arms cut, inflation will continue to run rampant, social ser- vices will continue to decline and jobs will be lost. Disarmament is in our own immediate self in- terest.”” Another resolution endorsed holding a con- ference in conjunction with women in the labor movement to explore the links between dis- armament and jobs. Lack of employment opportunities and the growing threat to jobs through the introduction of _ to women particularly the fight for better daycare. -in the labor and women’s movement. new technology into the workplace was anothet major concern of the convention. | As many as one million jobs could be affected the next decade, warned Deborah Littman, | sociology instructor, specializing in women studies. She also outlined the health hazards linked to video display terminals the technology requifes, Cataracts, nervous disorders, skin problems am, statistically rare clusters of miscarriages and b defects have been associated with these machines. Littman was critical of Canadian and U-S. stam dards of exposure to the radiation the machi emit, noting they are based on “‘whether or not y¢ burn up’’. In the USSR, she said standards are I times higher than here and aimed at protectin, workers from any physical change, includi headaches, eye strain, etc. Based on the workshop Littman led, the conven tion decided to develop a policy paper on the € fects the new technology will have for women to hold regional seminars on the subject. : It also called on government to enact legislation to allow workers’ control over introduction of tht new technology, give them the right to refuse work until proven safe, and introduce a shorter wor week with no pay loss to ensure workers benefil from the new technology. The Canadian constitution was also noted by tht delegates for its sellout of women’s, Native French Canadian rights. Defending the right Native people to self-determination, the convel tion issued a strongly worded resolution to on vincial governments, condemning the practice or, removing Native children from their homes andi! some cases selling them to adoptive couples in th U.S. or placing them in non-Native homes whet their cultural identity is lost. Explaining the situation of Native women, Jant Gottfriedson, president of the Native Women Association of Canada, said the aim of all gover ment policy, including denying Indian status t0 Native women who marry non-status Indians is t0 ‘eliminate the Native community’’. x The convention also passed resolutions in er port of two single mothers’ groups who presente their cases to the delegates. The Dixon Hall Projet! is a group of 11 mothers who are pressuring th federal Manpower department to fund an on-the: job retraining program. The Family Benefits Workgroup is tackling the Ontario Governmen over its proposal to transfer single mothers from Mother’s Allowance onto the municipal welfare rolls where they would be forced to conduct jol searches in order to qualify. Other resolutions adopted included the demant for free, universal child care, cuts in interest rates a roll back on food and children’s clothing co Ss, ending discrimination against women applying for unemployment insurance and paid maternily leave. = The new CCW president is Virginia Thomson, 3 30 year-old daycare teacher and member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Thomson ” has been involved in a number of issues of concert .—" Elected with her was an almost entirely new member executive of women with backgrou