Women’s Day
celebration

International Women’s Day
will be celebrated in Vancouver
on Sunday, March 10 at 1:30 p.m.
in the Russian People’s Home,
600 Campbell Ave., with a lively
program of dancing, singing,
bake sale, and an address by
Bridget Moran, social and com-
munity worker.

She recently attended the
World Congress of Peace Forces
in Moscow. Subject of her’
speech will be ‘‘Peace, Prices
and Poverty.’’ Dancing will be
provided by the Ukrainian
dancers and songs by the popular
Surrey Folk Choir, a recently
formed group of youth singers.

There will be a popular bake
sale, which is a highlight each
year, and afternoon tea will be
served. Sponsored by the B.C.
Women’s Committee for World
Friendship, admission is $1.00.

May Day call —
for parley

A conference to plan for this
year’s celebration of May Day in
Vancouver will be held Saturday,

March 9 at 10 a.m. in the:

Marineworkers Hall, 1219
Nanaimo St.

In a call sent to trade union and
other organizations this week,

George Hewison, secretary of

the 1973 May Day Committee,
has urged attendance at the con-
ference and for financial con-
tributions to help defray the cost
of the 1974 May Day celebration.

The call states that ‘“‘this year
trade unions and working people
face a continuing massive
onslaught on their living stan-
dards as monopolies strive to in-
crease their profits. In addition
trade unions are more involved
than ever in attempting to pre-
vent multi-national corporations
and backward elements in socie-
ty from projecting war and inter-
national tension as the answer to
our economic woes.”’

tion.

The stated aim of this select questionnaire is to
“further improve working and training conditions’’ in
the needle industry. Answers to some 40 questions are
to be answered by a select number of ‘‘intelligent”’
employees in each sweatshop, hand-picked by the boss,

of course.

Away back before the turn of the century, the needle
trades industry in the U.S. and Canada was even then a
highly sweated low wage industry in which long hours,
starvation wages and unbelievably inhuman conditions
were the rule. Then the needle industry in large or
small sweatshops, was staffed primarily by Jewish
workers, and in the main operated and/or controlled by
Jewish bosses, master manipulators in the ruthless ex-.

ploitation of their own people.

Through long years of bitter struggle; the Jewish
needle workers built their numerous unions to combat
the sweatshop, a frightening situation to the bosses, and
equally frightening to the high-salaried union
bureaucracy who had attached themselves to these un-
ions to lead them down the rocky path of class-
collaboration, to provide more profit for the boss, high
union dues and higher salaries for themselves, and.
sweatshop wages for their membership.

Then in the 20’s and 30’s a new turn in Canada’s

Besos CS

TOM —
McEWEN

he billet doux is from the Department of
Labour, Research Branch, Victoria, B.C.,

“in cooperation with B.C. Fashion and Needle Trades
Association,”’ a polite descriptive of a sweatshop opera-

LOS CUATRO GENERALES ed

NEWS ITEM: Mrs. Salvador Allende said before the UN Human Rights
Commission at the United Nations that between 15,000 and 80,000
persons have died since the Chile military junta was established. She
asked the UN body to demand an end to what she called genocidal

repression in her country.

Burnaby rally protests |
oil refinery expansion

“A mass declaration by the
people of the mainland can halt
the expansion of oil refineries on
Burrard Inlet,”’ said Ald. Harry
Rankin last Sunday at a standing
room only rally in Burnaby. The
meeting was called by the
Concerned Citizens Committee
who have mounted a campaign to
stop the expansion of the Stan-
dard Oil refinery despite Bur-
naby Council’s approval of the
company’s plans.

The meeting heard Burnaby
Mayor Tom Constable urge plan-
ning of Burrard Inlet develop-

See

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1974—PAGE 2

ment by all municipalities. The

mayor together with aldermen
Brian Gunn and Gerry Ast of the
Burnaby Citizens Association,
voted against the expansion.

Rankin said the main issue was
the need to establish an in-
dustrial city close to the con-
vergence of both Alberta and
B.C. pipelines, where auxiliary
petro-chemical industries would
provide jobs for B.C. workers.

Eileen Dailly, Burnaby North
MLA, told the meeting that
although she had reported to the
See BURNABY, pg. 11

economic wheel brought ‘‘change’”’ and a new era for
the Fashion and Needle Trades Association boys. The old
semi-feudal habitant communities in French-Canada
and the New England states were breaking up. No
longer capable of maintaining the family units of Jean
Baptiste, so to the big cities mes cheries, and may the
Bon Dieu preserve you from evil — and unions! Inex-
perienced, anti-union (Mother Church saw to that) the
heavy influx into a sweated industry was apple pie for
the FNTA bosses. French-Canadian needle workers
could be used (and were) to cut an already miserable
wage attained'by sweatshop conditions The ‘‘Fashion”’
boys had achieved the impossible of cutting something
from nothing and still leaving more for themselves!
But time marches on. Today with thousands of
French Canadian, Jewish, and hundreds of immigrant
needle workers from other lands, standing shoulder to
shoulder on the needle workers’ picket lines amid. the
’ wails of the union bureaucrats that “‘it’s illegal,” a
valiant blow is again being struck against this long
built-in sweatshop, which robs its workers at the point-
of-production and dooms them to a life-of semi-
starvation. (Years ago a “Royal Commission’’ under
the chairmanship of Vancouver’s Hon. H.H. Stevens,
documented the whole picture in Canada’s leading nee-
dle and textile industries, confirming all the Com- oat eae :
munists had agitated for in seeking eee workers ey and indirectly; to the prime features of
in these sweated industries. But all such documentation
rests peacefully in the Ottawa archives, gathering dust.
Requisat im pace).
Yet another transformation in the national com-
position of workers in the needle trades is taking place
in addition to the tens of thousands of Jewish, French-

STILL TIME TO WIN

Low rent housing
for False Creek

By ALD. HARRY RANKIN

Four years ago, on January
7th, 1970, the then NPA, City
Council, after some considerable
prodding from me, resolved,
“that if and when the city’s land
on False Creek is developed for
residential purposes, provision
be made in the planning for a
significant amount of low cost,
public and senior citizen’s
housing.”’

That Council decision has
never been rescinded. But it has
been completely ignored by the
present TEAM Council.

Marathon Realty, (the CPR’s
real estate arm), the Building
Owners and Managers Associa-
tion of Vancouver, (which
represents the big apartment
owners who don’t want any com-
petition from low cost housing
that might force them to lower
rents), and the Vancouver Board
of Trade, (representing
developer and other big business
interests), all came out publicly
against any kind of low cost or
low. rental’ public housing for
False Creek: :

City Council gave in to them.
Council’s special committee .on
the redevelopment of False
Creek working closely with
developers at all stages of plan-
ning, has come up with policies
that emphasize ‘‘quality’’ hous-
ing on city owned land on the
south side of False Creek. Most
of the housing will be for the

‘middle and upper income

brackets. And most of it will be
for single people or couples
without children.

As for the 15 percent that*is
supposed to be for senior
citizens, there is no provision at
this stage that it be for the low
income senior citizens. The
likelihood is that it will be for
those who retire on comfortable
incomes:

characteristic.

Canadians, German, Chinese and other low-’ have done to make your last job more attractil”
pay categories. The new influx into the industry is made
up of Filipinos, coming to New York, Philadelphia, the
New England states and other needle centers, and into
Canada as well.

“earned,” and with
live!

SASS

‘be turned over to priva™

its adherence to trade ¥ i"
organization, Filipino labor already supplies Canad
leading ship owner ‘“‘patriots’’ with much of the ch

“Not famed for

labor to man their “‘flags-of-convenience” ship!”
thereby avoiding the need of shipping on Cana A
crews or Canadian registry. It is to be hoped that i
new Filipino needle worker will follow the magnificé
example of her Canadian-Jewish, French-Canae!
sisters and others, and help make the needle uniom
driving force for a decent wage and an end 10 ©
tolerable sweatshop exploitation.

The technique used in the introduction of
government-bosses ‘“‘research’’ is simple ®

dle Trades Association, recommends the worker
sonnel who are to be ‘‘researched”’ rather than th
ion. Doubtless in the boss’ choice and in the boss gt
terest, that selection will also be the highest ™
brackets, instead of the. lowest, which will the?
publicized later as. the average, and_ presto, ff
Sweatshop will disappear. All under the aegis °
“socialist” government in Victoria.

Ninety percent of all questions asked are relat

The boss, in this instance the B.C. Fashion and N@
e

cient and modern Sweatshop; low and/or substanda
wages, deplorable working conditions, both of whic
plain a heavy labor turn-over in the industry, and Yi
Canadian women of English-speaking origin giv®
industry a wide berth. :

6“ 44s i
What (did) or do you think the employer oO

Provides an opening for a final punchline.
Pay decent wages commensurate with P
what it costs, not to survive; D

Soest

Mayor Phillips wants the
development on city owned lait
to be a showpiece for the Wy
U.N. Conference on Urball
problems which will be held ™

Vancouver.

The final decision on tif
redevelopment of the city’s lane
on False Creek, known as Areab,
will be made in May or Julié:

Further public hearings are toy
held at that time. Council’s plamy
are that as soon as the hear if
are over, the whole project Wi

developers. 4
It is expected that the CPB
will be coming up with plans!"
the development of its hug
property on the north shore :
False Creek at about the sal
time, including requests ;
rezoning. Its 197 acres 4
presently assessed at aroull i
million. If and when City Coun
rezones this land for commer!
and industrial use, its v4 eT
would skyrocket to perhayy.
something like $100 million.

My view is that it isn’t too lal
to persuade our City Counell a
include a significant amoul i
low cost, low rental housing ‘s
False Creek. Furthermore t il
my conviction that Coun
should pass an added value f
providing that all increases
land value resulting from rea
ing by Council accrue to the a
And if City Council would und@
take to develop its own lands, 4
cluding doing its own conte
work, the total cost of the pra ei:
could probably be cut by ®
half. :

= =
a ee ot Ge Pe eet ey oe CA bt ele he AF Ck

At the moment the developer
have the inside track at ©
Hall. But sufficient press!
generated by citizen and !@ ‘i
groups, could change the sill
tion

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