| Unemployment and the micro-chip_

_ By GERRY van HOUTEN
Technological change has always been
th us and has been developing rapidly
N the post-World War II scientific and
 “Chnological revolution. An example is
? the fact that in 1960, each Canadian auto
Worker produced on average 20 motor
Vehicles a year, and in 1980, he produced
More than’41 a year.
© purpose of technological change
/ 10 the Capitalist system is to increase
Profits by producing more goods with re-
atively fewer workers.
ie to now, technological change has
_ aM uneven impact on various in-
dustries. Yn the auto industry, there was a
197 Y growth in the number of jobs until
|-7/9 when there were 39,000 employed
| has qn Since then, the number
as dropped sharply due both to the pre-
a ‘Crisis of overproduction and now
80 due to automating.
N industries such as smelting and
d ig (which includes the nickel in-
Ustry) and iron and_steel, technological
change Made it possible to bring about
Increases in production while keep-
the number of employed workers at
Ore or less the same level. In the smelt-
8 and refining industry, the number of
Production workers employed in 1980
‘aS almost the same as in 1965. At the
€ time, primary metal production in-
ased almost 27% in the 10 years end-
8 in 1981. Again the present crisis has
"da devastating effect on jobs.

M Ustries where a substantial qualitative
3¢ has taken place. The number of
Obs Is actually being reduced. In the
“NWay industry, this qualitative change
0,8 Seen the number of jobs fall from
Ver, 200,000 30 years ago to 94,000 in
978, while substantially increasing rail-

*| Then there is a third group of in-—

what previously seemed to affect only a
handful of industries is in fact a
generalized trend whose impact has been
uneven from industry to industry. In all
industries, technological change is in-
creasing both real productivity and pro-
ductive capacity. It is at the root of
capitalism’s inability to provide jobs
even during periods of economic growth.
Unemployment has been growing stead-
ily since the mid-1960s independently of
the economic cycle of booms and re-
cessions.. :
Also, the growth in productivity and
productive capacity due to technological
change has worsened the cyclical crisis
of overproduction. The severity of the
present crisis is directly attributable to
the fact that production has been growing

much faster than the ability ofthe domes- —

tic and international markets to absorb it.
Inventories built up and lay-offs began.
Wage controls will worsen this situation.

By far the largest growth in jobs was
seen in the tertiary sector of the econ-
omy, that is, white collar workers and the
professions such as teachers, scientists,
technicians and health care workers.
This growth occurred because of the
growing complexity of modern economic
life, the ever deepening involvement of
all levels of government in the economy
and society as a whole, and not least the
gains made by the working class in the
post-war period.

Microchip Impact
For most of the post-war period, the

large majority of new jobs were created
in the non-industrial branches of the
economy. Between 1951 and 1978, 28

years, 2,300,000 non-industrial jobs were .

created compared with 700,000 in the in-
dustrial sector. In other words, the non-
industrial sector was taking up the slack
that was developing in the industrial sec-
tor due to technological change.

But now technological change in the
form of microchips is having an impact
on white-collar occupations. Until the
1970s, the impact of technological

change on white-collar workers was’

marginal. Although computers were
introduced in the early 1960s, their use
tended to be restricted to the govern-
ments and huge corporations which
could afford them. Technological change

improved efficiency and any negative

impact it might have had on jobs was
easily compensated for by the demands
of an expanding economy.

From a technical standpoint, micro-
chip technology is an almost radical leap
in comparison with technological
changes of the 1960s. What once re-
quired a room-size computer can now be
accomplished by a desk top micro-
processor containing silicon chips the
size of a fingernail. Microchip technol-
ogy is not only more advanced but at the
same time very much cheaper. It is now
economical for companies to replace

low-paid clerks with microprocessors. In -

fact, whole categories of jobs from the
auto worker on the assembly line to.the

Analysis

file clerk in an insurance company office
are being threatened with elimination.
Because microchip technology can re-
place many workers and employees,
many lower level management jobs are
becoming redundant as well. According

. to the Institute for Research into Public
Policy, and Statistics Canada, the rate of.

growth of white-collar jobs has slowed
down rather suddenly in the recent
period. Clerical employment, for exam-
ple, increased 33.4% during the 1971-75
period, the highest for any five-year
period since World War II. However,
between 1975 and 1979, the growth rate
dropped to 12%. Considering thai the
introduction of microprocessors has ac-
celerated in the last three years, it is safe
to conclude that the growth rate has fal-
len even more.

Permanent Jobless

What all this implies is that at a
minimum, technological change will

bring about a permanetly high level of

unemployment. In fact, last month, the
Economic Council of Canada predicted
that unemployment would stay above
10% for at least the next five years. All
this also implies that the more rapid
development of the productive forces
through cheaper and more advanced
microchip technology will bring about
much deeper and longer crises of over-
production such as the one we are now
going through.

In fact the unemployment due directly
to technological change and that due to
crises of overproduction are more and

more closely bound together. What is

"ay transportation capacity.

forestry industry provides another

ple of this dramatic change. In

1, there were over 101,000 workers
Ployed in the industry. In 1978, there

te 58,000. Between 1971 and 1978, the

© industry saw production increase __
by 2406, alae

3 () tl)

Generalized Trend

*Y looking at the employment trends
Industrial sector of the economy,

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distinctive about the present phase of
technological change is, firstly, that it is
occurring at an unprecedented rate, and
secondly, that it is having a major impact

These features will probably make it all

present crisis.

Clearly, the working class and its allies
have to unite and fight for policies which
will use technology in the service of the
working people rather than at the service

ne. VAS.1C- eo

"te is mounting evidence to show that

of corporate profits.

not only in industry but in offices as well. ©

that much more difficult to pull out ofthe —

as Peter Lougheed for Nov, 2, will be a vital one for
© people of Alberta.
__,the election comes at a time of sharp economic de-
al: Cline which shows no prospect of recovery, a time when
}| (1,000 Alberta workers are without jobs, a particularly
ard blow for young workers and women, who are first
© suffer,
_On the other hand, Alberta in recent years has beena
ual gold mine for the large petroleum corporations.

People of the province and of Canada, through high oil
4nd natural gas prices. At the same time the wages of
|| Workers, in terms of purchasing power, have declined by
s)| *Pout 12% since 1975. |
(| ,,Ver the past two years corporation taxes collected in
Alberta have declined from $434-million in 1980-81 to a
' proiected $359-million in 1982-83. Personal taxes on the
¢ aa hand have risen from $937-million to $1,520-
On,

Re Everything For Oil Giants ;
i Albertans have watched cutbacks in social services
Alt a Education to an inadequaté level, while health care is
| "Nderfunded by both the Alberta and Ottawa govern-
pants: Lougheed has shown no concern. Instead he has
Oi to Ottawa to battle for better oil prices for Imperial
€xaco and Gulf, to name but a few.

EDMONTON — The provincial election, set by Tory”

1 They have reaped billions of dollars at the expense of the»

In announcing a $750-million mortgage subsidy on
Sept. 7, Lougheed primarily assisted the banks and trust
companies, while offering no programs to solve the prob-
lem of growing unemployment. :

At the August 1982 premiers’ conference, one of his
solutions to Canada’s economic mess was to eliminate
the Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA). By this
Lougheed supports opening our borders to unlimited
foreign capital, and the buying up of Canada by U.S.
corporations, using Canadian capital.

This is not a policy for the people of Alberta but a
policy of the multi-national corporations whose only
interest in Alberta is large profits. The premier is fre-
quently portrayed in the media as the defender of Alber-
ta’s resources, yet in reality it is his big business govern-
ment that is giving them away.

Foreign Corporate Control

The oil industry and the Alberta Government have
claimed that the National Energy Program (NEP) has
caused the economic slowdown in Alberta. This has no
foundation in the real world, however. In Texas, with no
““controls’’, only 2,600 rigs were operating in August
compared with 4,600 a year earlier.

Clearly the crisis in Canada is not caused by FIRA or
NEP but by massive foreign and Canadian corporate
control over the economy, compounded by the capitalist
world’s deep-going ‘crisis. The proposals for limited

Alberta’s milk and honey era ends _

From |,
Edmonton |‘

Canadianization of oil and natural gas outlined in the
NEP, while gesturing in the proper direction, are clearly
inadequate.

The only realistic answer to providing guarantees for
long-term energy supplies and jobs, is for all the oil and
natural gas corporations to be owned and controlled by a
joint federal-provincial crown company, democratically
controlled.

In September 1981, Premier Lougheed and Prime Min-
ister Trudeau signed an oil and natural gas pricing
agreement, anagreement that will push up all energy and
ertergy-related prices for working people and farmers.
As our gasoline and natural gas prices go up so do
corporate profits.

Next week: The Western Canada Concept versus pro-
posals for a genuine people’s cpalition to implement a
program for jobs, growth and a rising standard of living
for all the working people.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 22, 1982—Page 7 _