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INFLATION
TUNNEL

NEWS ITEM: Statistics Canada announced Tuesday that unemployment in Canada took another sharp jump
in March, rising to 8.1 per cent, which is the highest since the federal government started keeping records of -

unemployment in Canada.

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Low-wage workers study
reveals significant data

A Profile of Low-Wage Workers
in British Columbia is the title of a
special report released by the
research and planning branch of
the B.C. department of labor in
March of this year — and it makes
interesting reading.

It is based on a survey made
during the second half of 1975
which involved the collection of
data on a wide range of personal
and labor market characteristics
of low wage registrants at nine
Manpower centres.

Centres chosen for the survey
were Victoria, Kamloops, Van-
couver (Howe Street), New
Westminster, Abbotsford, Prince
George, Terrace, Kitimat and
Nelson. Out of: 37,742 active
registrations for low-wage jobs, a
sampling was made of 9,096
registrants. To be included in the
sampling, registrants had to~be
earning less than $4 an hour in
their last jobs, and such em-
ployment must have commenced
earlier than June, 1974.

e More than two-thirds of per-
sons classified as low wage earners
were women, which tells a story in
itself.

e More than one-half were under
25 years of age, which also tells a
story.

e@ Whereas only 24.9 percent of
the B.C. labor force in the fourth
quarter of 1975 were under 25 years
of age, the survey showed that 53.7
of those in low-wage occupations

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 15, 1977—Page 12

were in that age grouping. I have
no doubt that the unemployment
figures for 1977 would show a
similar disproportion.

‘@ The concentration of women

and younger persons was greater :

in the under $2.75 an hour sam-

pling.
e The proportion of low-paid

LABOR
COMMENT

BY JACK PHILLIPS

women was considerably higher
outside of Vancouver and Victoria,
indicating the difficulties women
face in finding employment
(especially higher paying) in
smaller centers and rural areas.

e Slightly more than half of the
low-wage registrants were single,
and 80 percent-of these stated they
had no dependents.

e Over 80 percent of the sample
had some high school education or
better, and there was a significant
proportion with university or other
advanced education, proving that
education brings no guarantee of a

e The survey found that recent
immigrants to the province do not
appear to hold a disproportionate
share of the low-paid positions.
Male immigrants tended to have a
higher level of education than the
average, while many immigrant
women had little formal education.

It is significant that two-thirds of
the sample and almost 80 percent
of the women were in clerical,
sales or. service occupations,
where trade unionism is weak.
Manufacturing and primary in-
dustry, where trade unionism is
stronger, were “‘under-represented
within the sample.”’

Those earning up to $2.74 an hour
(the minimum wage for adult

‘workers was $2.50 at the time of

the survey) accounted for one-
quarter of the sampling. The most
common wage was $2.50 an hour,
although the average was $3.12 for
men and $3.01 for women. Women
and youths constituted a large

percentage of those earning less
than $2.75 an hour.

Significantly, the report said this
about the lower minimum wage for
youths under 18 which was then
$2.10 an hour: “‘The survey also
indicated that the youth minimum
wage is not a very effective job-
creation measure in view of the
insignificant proportion of
teenagers who received this rate.”’

Results showed a “‘high degree of
labor force attachment” among
low paid workers, as a large
majority were, or wished to be,
full-time, permanent workers. This
should dispel the myth that people
who are compelled to accept low-
paid jobs are inherently inferior to
those in better paid jobs.

More women than men worked
on a part-time or temporary basis.
Women also tended to remain
longer in low-paid jobs, ‘with the
highest rate of turn-over found

among male teenagers. However, «.

Join the Fight,

the general impression gained by
the survey was that for the most
part, job leaving was involuntary
— due to layoffs — and not, as
some would have it, in order to

qualify for unemployment in-—

surance or social welfare benefits.
To quote the report:
suggested that often it is the in-
stability of poorly-paid em-
ployment rather than of the in-
dividual low-paid workers.”’

While the survey was based on
registrants who were unemployed
and seeking work, those who
conducted it believe that ‘‘the basic
profile of the sample is reflective of
the total low-wage population in
the province.”

The report obliquely suggested
that opportunities for young people
to obtain technical and trades
training for higher paid jobs are
short of what they should be.

These notes are no more than a
brief summary of a report of more
than 50 pages, including many
tables andcharts. Readers wishing
to obtain a copy of the report
should write to the Research and
Planning Branch, British

Columbia Department of Labor,

Victoria, B.C.

“It may. be «

Cominco

cut by WCB hit

The B.C. Federation of Labor’s
compensation and safety com-
mittee, meeting in. Vancouver on
April 7, condemned the Workers’
Compensation Board for lowering
the penalty assessment that was
levied on Cominco Ltd from
$30,000 to $5,000 per month.

Following the meeting the
Federation decided to send the
following letter to the Board:

“The evidence is that the con-
taminant levels at Cominco’s plans
in Trail have gotten worse in some
cases and there is not over-all
improvement. The $7 million ex-
penditure announced by Cominco
Ltd., to build a continuous drossing
furnace is apparently the Board’s
main justification for lowering the
penalty assessment.

“This particular plant im-
provement will affect only 20
workers out of a total of 2,800
workers in Trail. Workers in Trail
still are expected to suffer the loss
of their teeth in one operation and
in others fluoride, lead, arsenic
and dust levels greatly exceed the
laws in the province.

‘‘We demand that the Workers’
Compensation’ Board reinstate the
full penalty assessment level and
maintain it until the required
standards under Workers’ Com-
pensation Board regulations have
been met.

“The implications of this
decision are far-reaching as it will
be considered a precedent in the
application of penalty assessments
throughout the province. Should
the Board not reverse its latest
decision, employers will be given

penalty.

an open invitation to, carry oul
superficial cosmetic im-
provements as a way of avoiding
the implementation of proper
protections for the health of
workers.

“The labor movement will look
upon the Board’s decisions in this
matter as an indication of the
Board’s insincerity regarding
industrial hygiene,’’ concludes the
B.C. Fed’s statement.

ane

BCFL display
on May Day

Preparations for the Vancouvel
‘May Day rally are well under way |
according to the chairman of the
Vancouver Trade Union May Day
Committee, George Hewison.

The concert meeting has bee’
scheduled for Sunday, May 1 at 2
p.m.,in the auditorium of Tem:
pleton school.

The rally has been prdbeced by
the Vancouver Labor Council and
the B.C. Federation of Labor which
has named its president, Georg@
Johnson tO speak. The Federation
will present a display in the lobby
featuring literature on wage
controls and right-to-work
legislation. ;
’ Other speakers will include Nigel
Morgan of the Communist Party,
and James Lorimer, former NDP |
MLA for Burnaby Willingdon.

—

Trudeau gets

Members of peace groups in
Vancouver took to the streets
Easter Saturday and collected
signatures on 700 postcards ad-
dressed to prime minister Pierre
Trudeau, urging support for a
global ban on nuclear arms and
protesting the Trident nuclear sub
base at Bangor, Wash.

An attractive leaflet handed out
to thousands of people entitled,
‘Raster and the Nuclear Threat,’’
warns that there is enough nuclear
weapons stockpiled to ‘slaughter
everyone on earth’ and _ that
nuclear weapons now available are
equivalent to 30 tons of TNT for
everyone on the planet.

peace plea

Pointing out that total disat
mament is the only safe and sane
goal, the leaflet appeals for public
support to the demand to outlaW
nuclear weapons and for thé
calling of an UN World Disa
mament Conference. :

Easter Saturday’s demoi”
stration was organized by
Peace Action League which it
cludes the Fellowship of Recol
ciliation, B.C. Peace Council;
Canadian Campaign for Nucleal
Disarmament, Religious Society
Friends (Quakers), Voice
Women, and Women’s I
ternational League for Peace al
Freedom.

: Read the
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