—See editorial, page 12

Tribune

FRIDAY, MAY 4, 1973

Vol. 34, No. 18

eae 50
ESD 330

“WATERGATE AND VIETNAM

SPE

Unig KING AT VANCOUVER MAY DAY RALLY. Above is Jean Pare, vice-president of the Electrical Workers
~ Ond Jack Phillips, representing the Vancouver and District Labor Council.

—Sean Griffin photos

M

La
Botta May Day when the

Veg ou: 80vernment had
Lorie tly to crush the his-
Servicg K€ Of 210,000 public
Quep,, Workers, the workers in

With oueed the streets to

om. the three leaders of

ge vee Front— Louis La-
Chars arcel Pepin and Yvon
Digg, "®aU — on their way to

An
loyy )2Y€ar later, on May Day
the = Workers of Canada, by
Gems, S2nds reechoed their
"leas for the unconditional
Sasi! the Quebec Three
“Wuara UVer in the city hall

VRE REN I fT gd

SAY DAY RALLY CALL:

Free Quebec unionists’

leading to the jailing of the labor
leaders and pointed out that
more than 61 injunctions were
served against the public service
strikers in Quebec, and were fol-
lowed by the swift passage
through the Legislature of Bill
19 which made the strike illegal.

‘‘The leaders in Quebec had
no choice but to challenge the
government when it took away
the right of 210,000 workers to go
on strike,’ Pare stated. ‘‘Which
law were we to obey,”’ he asked,
“the one on the books for years
or the one that was introduced
overnight?”

Pare spoke of the protest that
hasswelled against therepres-
sive Bourassa governmentand

of the hints that Bourassa has--

leaked out that “‘if the three’

AXA i ’ Sar S

labor leaders ask for pardonor
conditional release it might pos-
sibly be granted.

‘‘But why the hell should they
apply for pardonor conditional
release,’’ he demanded, ‘‘when
their only crime was to imple-
ment the right of 210,000 workers
to goonstrike? They are guilty
of nothing; we ask for their
unconditional release.”

Pare warned of the dangers in
Quebec if Bourassa is not chal-
lenged. He told the crowd that
‘“‘there are those that say that
Duplessis was worse. But he

never had the guts to impose mili-

tary-rule in Quebec such as was
done in1970 when the War Mea-
sures Act was passed. And the

‘.’)* See LABOR ACT, pg. 12

The announcement by Consumer Affairs Minister
Herb Gray last Friday thata Food Prices Review Board
will be set up with powers to probe the high cost of food,
falls far short of what is needed to protect consumers
from high prices and profiteering.

This was the overwhelming
reaction of consumer groups
and the general public, whoare
deeply concerned with runaway
prices and skyrocketing profits
by the major food monopolies.

Announcing the government’s
decision to set up the board

under the Public Inquiries Act,
Gray said it will be composed of
about five members and have
powers to investigate food
prices. He made it clear that
under terms of the act, the
board willhavenopower toroll
back or control prices.

The board’s mandate will in-
clude preparation of a quarterly
review on trends in food prices.
It willalso be able to make speci-
fic inquiries into particular
food price increases, and to
summon witnesses and compel
them to produce documents. It
will also be able to report
directly to the public. But it will
have no teeth. It will only beable
to make recommendations to
the government.

Fact that the government has
been compelled to set up the
board reflects the massive

public pressure for action on
high prices. Commenting on the
government’s announcement,
Elaine Podovinnikoff, spokes-
man for the Vancouver Co-ordin-

ating Committee of Concerned
Organizations, said it repre-
sented a step inthe right direc-
tion but it doesn’t go far enough

She said, ‘‘the power the board
has to make public its findings
could be an important weapon in
the fight to curb profiteering,
but the board lacks teeth. It
should be an independent board
which could take action and
should have the power to halt
price increases, and roll back
prices.

““We don’t need a board to tell
us every three months that food
prices have gone up, and where,
and by how much. What we need
is a board to act when action is
needed.”’

The Co-ordinating Committee
announced this week that it will
hold a public rally at City Hall
Square on Sunday, May 27 at 2
p.m., to highlight the need for
an independent prices review
board with power to enforce
decisions. The Committee is
asking NDP-MP Paddy Neale,
Rosemary Brown, MLA, anda
representative of the Van-
couver Labor Council to speak.

The Committee is also issuing
a petition form this week ad-

See PRICES BOARD, pg. 12

IN THIS ISSUE

Why railway workers
are fighting mad... 1.3

Labor condemns U.S.
: bombing. | N. 5 E | Asia en ed