Sete OO Mere UR a rm gwent ts \ od at oe MP's receive Communist anti-inflation plan Call for end | of PRONTO — The president | and f United Electrical, Radio (UE) Machine Workers Union ter has called on Prime Minis- ban Tudeau to place an outright tan wt financial aid to the mili- itvesge? in Chile and to bar Cane ents in that country by radian firms. the a telegram sent Sept. 12 to dent ee Minister, UE Presi- in i S. Jackson said, accord- of ¢ Press reports, a number @Madian corporations, in- fo Chile aid cluding mining companies, were studying investment projects in Chile. , The union leader urged Prime Minister Trudeau have his gov- ernment “join a majority of na- tions who have placed a ban on financial aid and investments with the fascist military govern- ment there which continues to oppress, persecute and murder those who show any opposition whatsoever to the military jun- tay? ’ By ED McDONALD ston action workers at Fire- Loca in Hamilton, members of ats 13 United Rubber Work- Goog. Production workers at Bopp ce in Bowmanville and gg “Oke, members of Locals Wor? 232 United Rubber tinca 2. have been on strike Presto €b.'28 in the case of the Apri) oa workers, and since Year won the case of the Good- Solig Peers. With their ranks Wins, Mey are determined to Sistany CUSH to a settlement con- Detiog With their needs, in this infla4;,°' Spiralling prices, and atnuaty OW running at 14.5% a © Main issues in the strike aheas S°S; cost of living allow- isu, °%4 pensions, with such Voluntar: Shift bonus, vacations, ace} Overtime, sickness Stang Cident benefits still out- Wor a The issues touching on oy, ed conditions and union *Solver M the main have been n Porteg® area of wages, as re- * Sene¥ a Local 113 Bulletin Poseg os 15, the company pro- cents effective Feb. 26, for ski an additional 25 cents 1975 led trades. In February ‘killed. Cents plus 25 cents for 26 cen wades. In February 1976, actos the board. In Militancy strong in long rubber strike ‘ terms of a percentage increase they represent 8%, 5.8% and 4.7%. With regards to. C.0.L.A. the company proposal provides for the quarter of May, June, July 1975 that if the Consumer Price Index exceeds 175.0 points, the difference in the rise will be calculated on the basis of one cent for each .4 rise in the in- dex. The same will apply in 1976 based on 188.0 points. The workers for their part ae king for a general increase 0 58 cents ere Feb. 1974; 37 cents effective Feb. 1975; 37 cents effective Feb. 1976. With regards to C.O.L.A., the union 1s demanding interim wage 1n- creases based on the formula of one cent for each .35 rise in the Consumer Price Index payable every three months. In the area of profits and wages, profits since 1971 rose by 37% while workers’ wages have only risen by 12.5%. Based on the union formula for C.O.L.A., for the period Feb. 1973 to Aug. 1974 and applying Statistics Canada, Consumer Price Index (1961) it would require 85 cents per hour for the workers to keep their heads above water. « In the case of the Firestone workers, they received their last wage increase of 26 cents in Continued on page 10 PARLIAMENT MUST ACT _AS CRISIS INTENSIFIES The overwhelming majority of Canadians are looking to Parliament to come to grips with inflation and a slowing down of the economy with its consequent rise of unemployment. as The impact of inflation is well known. It has eroded living standards, brought about a decline in real income, brought hardship to countless numbers of people on fixed income, created havoc for the poor, and drastically accentuated the hous- ing crisis. The sole beneficiaries of inflation have been the corporations andthe wealthy. te Inflation has turned into “stagflation.” But no matter what it is called, Canada is now confronted with prospects of “no growth,” continued infla- tion, ever-growing unemploy- ‘ment and an industrial recession. The USA is already in recession as are other capitalist countries of Western Europe. The signs of economic decline in Canada are already apparent. Housing construction is down. So are exports. So is consumer spending. So is the capital in- vestment program. The recession today is not like others in the postwar period. It When Parliament meets on September 30 it will be facing runaway inflation and all the pre- dictions of economic gloom that go with it. Concrete steps to meet the growing economic crisis are advanced here in a letter sent to each member of Parliament by the Central Executive of the Com- munist Party on September 23. Scenes like these on Parliament Hill will become more and more takes place on the background of the rule unless the Trudeau government in Ottawa sits down and an energy crisis, tackles the problem of inflation in a real way. a monetary crisis, a raw materials crisis, an international balance of pay- ments crisis. Each impinges on the other and stimulates the other. And Canada is affected in one way or another by this pro- cess, r The fact is we face the real threat of a general economic Crisis throughout the capitalist world. ’ The government continues to argue that inflation is world- wide and therefore very little can be done ‘in Canada to cope with it. This is not so. Inflation is not __. world-wide it is capitalist wide. ' Nor is the government on sound ground in stating nothing can be done to cope with inflation. There are two areas from which inflation stems. A major portion stems from the USA. This is Continued on page 10 a Great upsurge in strike action hits Toronto Many of the strikes are of a drawn-out char- acter with workers at Goodyear, on strike for _5 months, are refusing to yield to company ef- forts to impose a cheap settlement. Steelworkers at Inglis went 13 weeks on the picket line before achieving a settlement. Bakery workers at Chris- tie’s Bread are holding, out after 10 weeks on the picket line, demanding wage increases and cost of living clauses. Perhaps the most significant of the strikes in the Toronto area was the recent 24-day strike of T.T.C. workers who for four days defied legis- lation ordering them back to work and imposing Continued on page 10 By GORDON MASSIE The upsurge in labor militancy finds man days lost to strike action running at a rate almost 150% more than last year—5,000,000 in 1974 as compared to 2,000,000 in 1973. Workers are re- fusing to be saddled with the burden of the inflationary crisis caused by-monopoly and their governments, In Toronto over 30,000 workers have struck or are still on strike over the past few months. These strikes have been marked by their mili- tancy and the main issues centre on inflation with demands for higher wages and cost of living clauses. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1974—Page 5