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The Canadian Labour Con-
gress is waging an all-out cam-
paign to force the federal
government to take action to
implement a “full employment
programme in Canada.”

_ The CLC points out that
Canadians have been experi-
encing an over six percent un-
employment rate for the past
eighteen months — the highest
rate of any major industrial
country, and the situation will
worsen unless a crash pro-
gramme to find jobs is im-
mediately undertaken.

To gets its programme roll-
ing, the CLC has issued to its
affiliates instructions on how

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

they can pressure their in-
dividual members of Parlis-
ment to support the measure.

The Congress also drafted a
resolution which calls on the
federal government ‘‘to im-
mediately declare, as a cardi-
nal principle, acceptance of the
responsibility to provide
every Canadian willing and
able to work with the guaran-
tee of a job commensurate with
ability and training and at
wages which are reasonable
and fair.”

On top of this, Congress is-
sued a statement on Canada’s
economic crisis which contains
wide reference to the remarks

made by the Economic Council
of Canada with respect to the
number of jobs needed now and
in the rest of the 1970’s.

Over five hundred thousand
jobs are needed immediately
and an estimated 2,600,000
further jobs needed before the
decade is over, the Council re-
ported.

The IWA believes that the
Congress’ programme should
be given top priority by all
thinking Canadians. The Union
suggests that all IWA mem-
bers pressure their M.P.’s for a
full employment programme
to put the country back on a
proper economic footing.

NEW PUBLICATION SHOWS |
WOMEN BADLY PAID ON THE JOB

Women make up an increas-
ing part of the labor force, but
they usually are paid less than
men in similar occupations.

These long-known realities of
Canadian society are con-
firmed in a new publication of
the women’s bureau of the
federal labor department. Its
title: Women in the Labor

Force 1970 Facts and
Figures.

The department describes as
a “statistical profile of the
working woman.”’

One of the most significant
Statistics in this 73-page
publication concerns the
proportion of married women
working on jobs outside the
home. It was 19.2 percent in
1960 but by 1970 had jumped to
32 percent which means close
to one in three married women
has a job.

In 1960, 27.9 percent of
women were in the labor force.
In 1965 the percentage was
31.3. This jumped to 35.5 by
1970.

The women’s bureau com-
pares wages and salaries for
men and women in similarly-
described occupations. In 1969
women were paid more than
men in about four percent of
them, but men were paid more
than women in 96 percent.

Examples: in the hotel in-
dustry, front office room clerks
earned an average $384 a
month if they were men and
only $329 if they were women.
In the women’s clothing in-
dustry male sewing machine
operators averaged $2.61 an
hour but the average wage for
women was only $1.50.

The differences are also high
in the professions. Women
teachers in elementary and
secondary schools earned an
average $8,550 in the 1969-70
academic year; men earned an
average $9,840. Men teachers
in universities and colleges
averaged $13,593, against
$10,895 for women.

Some other facts:

@ In 1968, 20.1 percent of
women paid workers were
members of trade unions
compared with 39.7 percent of
men paid workers.

@ In 1970 women comprised
71 percent of workers in
clerical professions and 60
percent of all employees in
service occupations.

@ Married women made up
65.7 percent of the female labor
force in 1970 compared with 45
percent in 1960.

@ In 1960, 1965 and 1970, the
highest participation are of
women in the labor force oc-
cured in the Atlantic provin-
ces.

And here’s one finding that
will confound many critics of
women as employees:

@ In 1970, 1.55 percent of
women in the full-time em-
ployed labor force were absent
from work because of illness
for the whole of a given week,
compared with 1.85 percent of
the men in the full-time labor
force.

>
LOCAL 1-80 TRUCK DRIVERS
HEAR OUTLINE TO NEW DRIVING ACT

Some 60 truck drivers from
seven trucking companies met
in the IWA Hall, Duncan, to
hear and discuss changes in
the Motor Vehicle Act.

The drivers, all from IWA
certified trucking companies,
heard Glen Barter, Chief
Examiner for the Provincial
Motor Vehicle Branch, speak
on the new section regarding

Classified Licences. The Joint
truck drivers’ meeting was
Sponsored by Local 1-80 IWA
and arranged by the Local
Union’s Safety Director, Jack
Mumm.

Mr. Barter outlined the

changes to the Act. He told how
the truck drivers had certain
in getting
licences,

responsibilities

proper driver

CHIEF EXAMINER for the B.C. Motor Vehicle Branch, Glen
Barter visited the Local Union recently to speak to 1WA truck
drivers. Mr. Barter is shown here with Safety Director Jack

training, and spoke briefly on
safe conditions for operating a
vehicle.

Those attending the meeting
had an opportunity to ask Mr.
Barter about the Act and were

pleased to receive the in-
formation first hand.
Jack Mumm, Safety

Director for Local 1-80 said
arrangements are being made
for a future meeting of this
nature. He said that because of
overlapping regulations with
the Department of Transport
and the Motor Vehicle Branch,
a future meeting may be held
with representatives from
these two departments.

Consideration is also being’

given to have representatives
from the R.C.M.P. and the
Workmen’s Compensation
Board attend the meeting. It is
hoped that the meeting will be
held on a panel basis with
written questions to the panel.

Truck Drivers from Arrow
Transfer, Doman’s Transport,
Reg Dorman _ Trucking,
Hearsey Transport, H. A.
Davis Trucking, Gerald
Patterson Logging and Quay

Transport attended the
meeting.

J

ANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1972 —

“The dominant fact of the present economic situation is unemployment”

STUDY RECOMMENDED
ON SHORT WORK-WEEKS

Managements and unions
may be wise to study hard
before plunging into new styles
of short work-weeks. The
impact on employees could
have bad side effects, not just
benefits.

Generally, labor favours a
shorter work week, but
companies seem set on the
four-day, 40-hour week if they
are ready to give at all on the
issue. :

Labor fought valiantly for
the eight-hour day but now
must fight again to preserve it
or lose it for the benefits of
fewer work days. ;

Along with the growing in-
terest in a short work week is
the thrust to a longer business
week. Sunday store hours are
widespread in Canada (except
in Quebec, where provincial
law restricts business on that
day).

The Ontario Government
says it’s concened about wide-
open Sundays and is planning
legislation to curtail the
practice. Will we ever see a 24-
hour city, with stores never
closing?

It may come to that if bosses
can keep lengthening the work
day. Public transportation
would have to operate more
extensively. Other services,
like telephone and restaurants,
would have to keep employees
at work earlier and later to
accommodate it.

A recent article in New York
magazine warns that a 24-hour
day may upset the delicate
body cycles of most humans.
“A 24-hour city,’’ says the
magazine, “‘could produce an
enormous increase in psycho-
somatic illness, in neurosis and

serious mental illness.” People °

would need ‘‘superhuman’’
tolerance to adapt to traffic
and loud street noises and

The Canadian L
skyscraper will be del

MILLION DOLLAR GOOF

other normal business at odd
hours.

The magazine asks, ‘‘Would
it be worth it?”’

Perhaps some manage-
ments, especially in the white-
collar occupations, are
dangling the shorter work

week to keep their offices non-
union.

Imperial Oil Ltd. in Toronto
recently put 700 office em-
ployees on a four-day week.
They start an hour earlier, 7:30
a.m. and leave the same time,
5 o’clock. They also get a four-
day weekend every five weeks.

Relatively little progress has
been made on cutting hours of
work, and the long-day, short-
week theory won’t help reduce
actual time on a job. A century
ago, reports The Record (the
publication of the Retail,
Wholesale. and Department
Store Union in the U.S.), the
average American worked 53
hours. Today it’s around 40

hours, just a 13-hour reduction
in 100 years.

Imperial Oil is trying a
three-day, 12-hour work week
atits refinery in Winnipeg. The
employees seem to enjoy it. A
group of nurses in the same
city are working the same
shifts.

Kingston, Ontario, gar-
bagemen work a four-day week
but can go home at end of each
day’s collection rounds. This

works out close to a 32-hour
week.

Proponents claim the shorter
work week reduces absentee-
ism, especially on Mondays.
Another benefit to the worker
is more leisure time in a
compact period. Leisure today,
notes a U.S. business con-
sultant, is a ‘‘myth” since time
off is so fragmented. Travel to

work eats up much “‘time off.”

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