TIMETABLE FOR DISASTER

‘imetable for Disaster” —

'U.S. scientists dealing with
Mate power in the U.S.

of the federal suit filed
in. 10, 1969 against the Big
ih auto — General Motors,
Chrysler and American
— charging them with a
acy to delay development
0g devices in violation of
anti-trust Sherman Act.
#® this took place in the
Md States it applies to Can-
iNsofar as these same mono-
78iants control the Canadian
‘industry and commit the
Crimes here:
St of all, instead of filing
Nal charges, it was only a
~ Suit.
COndly, in the fall of 1969
lustice Department chose to
“€ the suit out of court via a
“nt decree, which means
‘the offending auto moguls
* permitted to walk away
Nout admitting guilt, while
ising not to do it again.
is settlement also locked
Grand Jury testimony and
Sands of documents away
public scrutiny, sweeping
hy vidence under the rug.
“hat are these charges?
Vi: OFFENSE ALLEGED
: Beginning at least as early
53, and continuing there-
“up to and including the
Of this complaint, the de-
ants and co-conspirators
been engaged in’ a combin-
@\. and conspiracy in unrea-
Able restraint of the afore-
interstate trade and com-
€ in motor vehicles air pol-
.. control equipment in viol-
of Section I of the Sher-
Act (15 U.S.C.).
The aforesaid combination
, conspiracy has consisted of
ef) Ntinuing agreement,. under-
ling, and concert of action
}hg the defendants and co-
“Dirators, the substantial

f."S of which have been and
¥

},(2) to eliminate all compe-
i8)ion among themselves in the
Search, development, manu-
ture and installation of
r)otor vehicle air pollution
/Ntrol equipment; and

_(b) to eliminate competition
'the purchase of patents and
hts from other parties cov-

N control equipment.

- For the purpose of form-
* 8nd effectuating the afore-
~ Combination and conspir-
» the defendants and co-con-
tors did those things which
Combined and conspired to
including, among _ other
88, the following:

,(a) agreed that all industry
Orts directed at the re-
; arch, development, manufac-
ae and installation of motor

pment should be under-
n on a non-competitive
Sis:
(b) agreed to seek joint ap-
Vaisal of patents and patent

Bhts submitted to any of
m by persons not parties to

ook contains a revealing |

Ing motor vehicle air pollu- .

icle air pollution control ~

a cross-licensing agreement
entered into on July 1, 1955,
and amended and renewed
periodically, and to require
“most - favored - purchaser”
treatment of all parties to the
cross-licensing agreement if
any one were licensed by a
person not a party to that
agreement;

(c) agreed to install motor
vehicle air pollution control
equipment only upon a uni-
form date determined by
agreement, and subsequently
agreed on at least three separ-
ate occasions to attempt to
delay the installation of motor
vehicle air pollution control
equipment;

(1) in 1961 the defendants
agreed among themselves to
delay installation of “positive
crankcase ventillation” on
vehicles for sale outside of
California until the model year
1963, despite the fact that this
anti-pollution device could
have been installed nationally
“for the model year 1962 and
that at least some automobile
manufacturers expressed wil-
lingness to do so, in -the
absence of a contrary indus-
try-wide agreement,

(2) in early 1964 the defend-
ants agreed among themselves
to attempt to delay the intro-
duction of new exhaust pol-
lution control measures of
motor vehicles sold in Califor-

By WILLIAM ALLAN

The following letter appeared
in the Detroit Free Press:

“Pm an industrial equipment
repairman at Ford’s_ transmis-
sion plant in Plymouth Road,
Livonia. One of our daily chores
is to change the batteries in
the hilo fork lifts. Those bat-
teries weigh 2000 pounds each,
and we lift two at a time with
overhead cranes. The crane
cables are worn, we're deathly
afraid two tons of batteries are
going to land on someone’s
head one of these days. Could
you look into this?”

The paper rubs it into the
UAW by reporting their phone
call got the load cut in half the
cranes will pick up in future,
and only one battery at a time
will be picked up. The federal
inspectors brought in by the
newspaper's telephone call
found the lifting cables on the
cranes frayed, and stopped their
use immediately.

The questions this reporter
couldn’t get an answer to were,
“Where was the UAW safety
man, when had the U.S. federal
inspectors been around, and
why did the workers have to go
to a labor-hating sheet like the
Detroit Free Press to get action
on such a health and_ safety
hazard?”

The Daily World also reports
the death of James Duncan in
the Dodge Main plant back on
Oct. 20, when his charred body

ow auto moguls
conspired to stop

nia until the model year 1967;
despite the fact that all were
capable. of installing the im-
provement for the model year
1966, the defendants agreed
to tell California regulatory
officials that installation of
exhaust anti-pollution meas-
ures would be technologically
impossible before 1967, and
only under regulatory pressure
made possible by competing
device manufacturers not in
the automolibe industry did
the defendants agree to a
California regulatory require-
ment that exhaust devices be
installed for the model year
1966; and

(d) agreed to restrict pub-
licity relating to research and
development efforts and de-
velopment efforts concerning
the motor vehicle air pollu-
tion problem.

VII. EFFECTS
15. The aforesaid combina-
tion and conspiracy has_ had,
among others, the following ef-
fects:

(a) hindering and delaying
the research, development,
and manufacture — both by
defendants and co-conspirat-
ors and by others not parties
to the agreements alleged
herein — and the installation
of motor vehicle air pollution
control equipment;

(b) restricting and suppres-
sing competition among the

was found in a paint baking

oven. Duncan was so sick he
had to be helped to first aid,
then somehow he ended back
up on the job again, meeting
his death.

Chrysler turned the matters
over to Hamtramck police, who
talk vaguely of ‘suicide’ or
“someone pushing Duncan in.”

As the UAW prepares to en-
ter 1973 negotiations for a re-
newal of contracts covering
over a million of its members
in General Motors, Ford, Chrys-
ler, American Motors, farm
equipment, tool and die, and
supplier shops, we hear the
word “humanizing” the work
place, often.

We wonder why the union
leadership has to wait for 1973
negotiations to make this a cent-

e

Veet ‘0 tie ay

EOLNS

SAY
é

defendants and co-conspirat-
ors in the research, develop-
ment, manufacture and instal-
lation of motor vehicle air
pollution control equipment;
and;

(c) restricting and suppres-
sing competition in the pur-
chase of patents and patent
rights covering motor vehicle
air pollution control equip-
ment.

The above is a classic exam-

ple of the role played by mono-
poly corporations as part of the
American ‘military - industrial
complex,” which we in Canada

hear very little about, even
though the branch plant indus-
try in this country is subject to
the decisions made by the U.S.
giants. |

The campaign against auto-

mobile exhaust pollution goes
back to early 1953 when Los
Angeles County Supervisor Ken-

ral thrust? Most of the griev-
ances these days are speedup,
health and safety, cutting down
on manpower and outrageous
disciplinary penalties against
workers who rebel at the indus-
trial slave driving of profit driv-
ing corporations.

Some 460,000 vehicles were
in production this year, more
than the same period a year
ago, while the UAW admits to
220,000 unemployed members. If
this isn’t proof of the inhuman
speedup drive going on in auto
shops, no one could produce a
better one.

“Humanizing” is a fancy
word for doing something about
the hellish conditions in auto
shops. The examples cited in
Ford’s Livonia plant, and Chrys-
ler’s Dodge plant are just two of
thousands more.

World study of deserts made

Soviet experts will contribute
to a two-volume work on the
world’s deserts to be published
in London in 1974 as part of the
International Biological Pro-
gram.

Besides being the most author-
itative work on the subject ever
published, the book will contain
a 20-year research program for
meteorologists, botanists, zoo-
logists, biochemists, geologists,
etc.

Soviet participation was an-
nounced at a session in Lenin-
grad of the Soviet Desert Stu-
dies Committee, set up as part
of the International Biological
Program.

Eighteen countries sent repre-
sentatives to the meeting.

Later meetings of the commit-
tee are to be held in Dushanbe,
capital of Tajikistan, a central
Asian Soviet republic which has
valuable experience of develop-
ing arid lands.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1972—-PAGE 9 _

neth Hahn, a scientist, queried
the Ford Motor Company about
possible devices to either cure,
or at least, control exhaust ernis-
sions. The reply from a _ pub-
licity representative of Ford is
duplicated below:
Mr. Kenneth Hahn
Los Angeles County Supervisor
Los Angeles, Cal.
Dear Mr. Hahn:

The Ford engineering staff,
although mindful that automo-

-bile engine produces exhaust

gases, feel these waste vapours
are dissipated in the atmosphere
quickly and do not present an
air pollution problem. Therefore,
our research department has not
conducted any experimental
work aimed at totally eliminat-
ing these gases.

The fine automotive power-
plants which modern-day engin-
eers design do not “smoke”.
Only aging engines subjected to
improper care and maintenance

~ burn oil.

To date, the need for a device
which will more effectively re-
duce exhaust vapours has not
been established. However, con-
siderable research has been
directed towards more efficient
fuel combustion.

Yours very truly
Dan J. Chabek,
News Department

It devolved upon a scientist,
Milton Farber, a specialist in
the field of science that grapples
with the mysteries of heat, its
action and reaction, to develop
the answer to automobile ex-
haust emissions.

In order to do so he had to
set up a private corporation
called Anti-Pollution Corpora-
tion of America (Antipol), cent-
red in his own_ laboratory,
Space Science Inc., because of
resistance. from chemical, oil
and auto corporations.

The final product which was
‘completed in early 1969, proved
to be a highly successful catal-
yst which transformed exhaust
gases into innocuous emissions,
even to the point of reducing
carbon-monoxide to a non-toxic
substance. He estimates the
cost at between $30 and $40
over and above the current ex-
haust devices on standard auto-
mobiles. The catalyst, however,
traps the lead from burned
gasoline — lead which builds up
in the catalyst and over a period
of time destroys its. effective-
ness.

Obviously, there is a solution
to auto exhaust emissions pro-
vided the oil companies elimin-
ate the lead additive from gaso-
line and the auto makers rede-
sign their engines accordingly.

icine i li i i