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WHY YOU PAY TOO MUCH

Profiteering in meat exposed
by wages-prices comparison

Why do prices go up?

“Increased wages cause in-
flation,” say the well-paid
publicists and admen of big
business.

“We must hold the line on
wages,” declare the big cor-
porations and their govern-
ments, Conservative, Liberal
and Social Credit. And up and
down the country, small busi-
nessmen who are themselves
the victims of the monopolies,
farmers, pensioners and even
workers echo their arguments.

But what are the real facts?

The Butcher Workman, or-
gan of the Amalgamated
Meatcutters and Butcher
Workmen, points out in a re-
cent issue that:

The price of meat has risen
in two years a total of 16c a
pound — or 28 percent!”

And, the article points out,
“while meat prices have been
surging higher and_ higher,
wage costs per pound of meat
have held practically still.”
Here is what the actual wage
bill per 100 pounds of meat
sold at retail since 1956 has
cost:

PACKING WAGE PER
100 LBS. RETAIL MEAT

L906 See ks 43c
LOONE ae 45c
1958 eae 44c

While wages went up by
only 1 cent on 100 pounds of
retail meat in the two-year
period, the price of meat rose
by 16 cents for a single pound
or $16 on 100 pounds. Thus
the price increase has accrued
1600-fold to the multi-billion
dollar packinghouse industry.

Wages of packinghouse
workers increased by some 10
percent during the _ period

1956-1958; but during the
same period of time the pro-
duction per hour of pounds of
red meat of the workers rose
from 63.5 to 68.5 pounds.

And in the ten-year period
from 1948 to 1958 productivity
per worker has jumped by an
astounding 37 percent.

“Such gains in productiv-
ity,” says the Butcher Work-
man, “have balanced off wage
gains to keep the wage costs
per unit of production
steady.”

Turning to the retail meat
cutters, an industry magazine
showed that in 1954 retail
labor received 5.5 cents~ per
pound of meat sold. By 1956
(despite hourly rate increases)
this figure was down to 4.4
cents per pound in retail meat
cutting labor costs.

“While consumers’ every
month have been paying more
money for every pound of
meat bought,” says the But-

cher Workman “workers have
been receiving less for every
pound of meat produced.

“Not a fraction of a penny
of the 16 cents a pound aver-
age increase in meat prices
has gone to pay higher
wages.”

Having exploded the myth
of higher wages being respon-
sible for high meat costs, the
spotlight could also be turned
on the other culprit often
blamed by the big business
press—the farmer.

But facts here, too, show
that the farmer is getting less
and less of a share of the na-
tional income.

Gert Whgte's

ASTINGS Community As-

sociation is campaigning for
a swimming pool in the area
and recently presented a brief
on the subject to Vancouver
Parks Board. Signed by presi-
dentdent Don Armour and D.
B. Greenwell, chairman of
the development committee,
the brief makes these points:

“Members of the Hastings
Community Association are
well aware of the handicaps
facing a youngster in the East
End.

“There are in Vancouver a
total of eight public swim-
ming pools built or operated
by the Board of Park Comm-
issioners. In the area east of
Burrard, north of Twelfth
Avenue, west of Boundary
Road and South of Burrard
Inlet there is but one swimm-
ing pool, and that is an> un-
heated tidal pool at New
Brighton Park. This pool is
quite a distance from the
public transit system. It is on
the wrong side of busy rail-
way tracks. It is extremely
difficult for young children
in our area to gain access to
the pool.

“This problem will be
further complicated when the
new Second Narrows Bridge
comes into operation, since
Eton Street, one of the main
thoroughfares to the pool,
will become an arterial high-
way, bringing increasing traffic
hazards to young children

SPOR

J. S. MacLean, former head
of Canada Packers, once gave
the full answer to the ques-
tion of who gets the profits.
Speaking frankly and bluntly
at a public hearing he said.

“We buy as cheaply as we
can; we sell as dearly as we
can.”

This is the essence of the
current highway _ robbery
which has sent meat and food
prices to all-time highs.

The financial pages of the

newspapers ‘tell thé story, the
Canadian UE News points out
in its. September 19 ; issue.

Major food chains reported
profits last year amounting to
14.5 percent on every dollar
of net worth after payment of
all taxes and costs of new
supermarkets,

TLIGHT

who will have to cross it to
get to the pool.

“To parents in our com-
munity who wish to see their
children learn to swim, it
must seem inequitable that
tthey have to send _ their

children to Stanley Park,
when others‘ who are more
able to afford this added ex-
pense have facilities close to
home.

“The directors and members
of our Hastings Community
Association have worked hard
to provide adequate facilities
for the children in our area,
and the present centre is used
by over 2,000 members,
ranging from infants to old
age pensioners who partici-
pate .in many diversified
activities.

“Because the centre lacks a
pool, all centre activities are
curtailed for the summer
months when the staff is
transferred to duties_at other
centres or parks wich have
pools. The invaluable personal
contact between the staff and
the children who use the

centre during the winter
months is thus lost for a long
period.”

How would the pool be
financed? The brief suggests
that if the parks board can-
not build the pool out of
annual budget funds, imme-
diate steps be taken to pre-
sent a money bylaw to the
ratepayers in the district at
the December civic elections.

October 3, 1958 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 7