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( PROVINCIAL NOTES

Northern cannery

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to collect Ul

PRINCE RUPERT — Hard

times are forecast for the north
Coast this winter because of the
government’s new
Testrictive policies on
Unemployment insurance
Which will see thousands of
fishing industry workers
denied benefits, in spite of
record production levels . in
dollar terms.

United Fishermen and Allied
Workers Union northern
_ Tepresentative Mike Darnell
_ has expressed alarm that even.
fishing industry workers with
top seniority in the Prince
~ Rupert area will not have ac-
Cumulated sufficient hours to
Teceive unemployment in-
Surance benefits.

“Emily Brown is the top
Seniority worker in the Can-
Fisco Oceanside plant here in
Rupert,’’ he told the Tribune
Tuesday, ‘‘And she didn’t
Qualify for unemployment in-
Surance. That is a measure of
the kind of problem there is for
thousands of people this
year,.’’

Canada Manpower nor-
thwest director Mark Winkler
_ has informed the union that
\ Only about one third of

UFAWU members who col-
lected unemployment in-
surance last year will be eligible
to collect benefits this year.

The prospect of the mass
disentitlement from unemploy-
ment insurance has alarmed
community and Native leaders
in many small communities
heavily dependent on the
fishing industry.

The problem has been
created by a combination of
cutbacks in the unemployment
insurance program introduced
by the former Liberal govern-
ment which increased the
qualification period to 20 con-
secutive weeks of employment,
and by the serious reduction in
manhours of employment in
the fishing industry due to the
large scale invasion of
Japanese capital and a shift in
production to the frozen ex-
port market from the tradi-
tional canned salmon market.

The result has been that can-
nery workers are not getting
enough hours to meet the new
UIC regulations, even though
production value has increased
vastly, from $173 million in
1975 to over $517 million this
year.

The UFAWU will be making
a special appeal to the federal
government, Darnell said, to
take the productivity of fishing
industry workers into account

and to extend benefits to

workers who fall short of the
necessary consecutive hours. ©

Canadian vessel
has foreign crew,

Panamanian flag

NANAIMO — _= The
Nanaimo Duncan and District
Labor Council has protested
the introduction of six trading
vessels to the B.C. coast
operating under flags of conve-
nience.

Maxine Zurbrigg, pro-tem
president of the council, said
last week that the first of the
vessels, the Douglas Fir, is ar-
rived at the Nanaimo assembly
wharf. The vessel is Canadian
owned, but manned by a
Japanese crew and sailing
under a Panamanian Flag.

“Canadian workers are be-
ing denied jobs through ships
flying flags of convenience,”’
Zurbrigg said, ‘“‘If such at-
trocities are allowed to con-
tinue the west coast shipping
industry will continue to disap-
pear and along with that 200
localseafarers will no longer
have employment.”

Unionists picketed the ship
in Nanaimo demanding the im-
plementation of the Canadian
Labor Congress policy that all
Canadian ships be manned by

Canadian crews. 3

Ron Johnson, Vancouver, writes:
very much enjoyed reading the
two issues of Labor Comment by

Jack Phillips on the subject of

Social democracy in Sweden. Of
Particular interest to-me personally
Was his analysis of the ‘‘Meidner
lan”? which I described in an arti-
Cle I wrote for the Democrat last
March, ‘
— Phillips confirmed, the
4 €idner proposals call for the crea-
On of Employee Funds in each ma-

JOr Swe

os Wedish industry into which
A ons would be required to
ee 4 percentage of their annual in-
Me. The funds would be owned
iio Workers collectively through
ove. trade unions and would grow
they ; Period of 30 to 40 years until
€come large enough that the
oP and control of the in-
bane concerned would be
the he from the capitalists to
of ee a The plan is the subject
Sweden. Se political debate in_

thaetPs Points out quite correctly
it ot the Meidner Plan is adopted
WM will not eliminate private

W) . .
BS Nership in Sweden. He therefore A

aes that the proposal is not

“tm Kant and offers no path

a socialist economy. I

dj d
"Sagree,
Adoption of the Meidner Plan
ar Sweden with a mixed
chtre id Consisting of government
Operative’ a greatly increased co-
r x Sector and a_ greatly
Private sector. So it is cer-
‘ ue that some private enter-
P Ould continue. But the plan
‘Tadically alter the make-up
ish economy by chang-
Private, Ownership of all major
Origing Porations.
defi, sony the word ‘‘major”’ was
Work. all firms employing over
: Kers. I believe that figure
Pethan, wcreased to 1,000 or even
aaah But whatever the
at may finally be agreed
iNderstat ink Phillips has seriously
Proposal €d the significance of the
Tho
aon. Meidner Plan has been
aed the Swedish Trade
®DProved nfederation (LO) and was
ee Nn principle by the trien-
__ ~~ 48ress of the Swedish Social

tainly

t
Drise :
Woul

OPEN FORUM
Meidner plan upheld

_ as ‘radical proposal’

Democratic Party in 1978. A joint
LO-Social Democratic Party com-
mittee has been created to refine the
proposal and bring in a recommen-
dation for implementing it..
Phillips suggests that the adop-
tion of the Meidner Plan results
from an ideological crisis for social
democracy ,‘‘which motivates its
leaders to search for new ideas in

order to win more seats in elections

...’? But the Meidner Plan is a con-
tentious issue. Far from winning the
Social Democrats extra seats, it is
cited by many of their leaders as

one of the causes of their defeat in,

1976 after 44 years in government.
Yet still they proceed with the pro-
posal. :

The Meidner Plan is not just
another social democratic reform.
It is a proposal that strikes at the
heart of capitalism. Those who sup-
port it in Sweden know only too
well that the capitalists and their
political allies have and will con-
tinue to fight it with a great deal of
vigor. But as the Swedes are known
to do, Meidner’s supporters are
proceeding slowly and confidently
taking care to ensure that the plan is
understood and accepted. _

The Meidner Plan is a logical ex-
tension of social democracy. AS
Meidner explained to me, ‘We had
to develop a realistic plan to reform
the economy or accept that our
work (to build a more egalitarian
society) had gone about as far as it
could go.””

In other words, social democrats
in Sweden were at a crossroads.
They had to make a choice between
leaving the economy In private

hands or proceeding toward a,

socialist economy. They chose the

ialist approach. ae
oT am pad that Jack Phillips
does not deal with the pros and cons
of the Meidner Plan more directly
in his article. Instead he has chosen
to critize those who support the
plan, which of course he is perfectly

entitled to do, But he has not dealt

with whether or not the plan could
work and whether it should pro-
ceed.

I believe the Meidner Plan pro-
vides a viable route toward
socialism in capitalist economies
that can be followed without
revolution. The success of such a
plan would provide ari uncontrover-
tible example of how workers in a
‘Western’? society can run an
economy without capitalism and it
would provide that example in a
context that
could easily understand and relate
to. Capitalists know how serious
the implementation of the Meidner
Plan would be for them and they
will oppose it bitterly. A key ques-
tion here is just how far they would
try to go in a country like Sweden to
oppose such an: idea.

I am convinced the working class
in Sweden, through the LO and the
Social Democratic Party, is strong
enough to implement the Meidner
Plan if that is what they want to do.
But then that I suppose is one of the
major disagreements I have with
Phillips. In any event the introduc-
tion of the Meidner Plan would be
an exciting experiment. Now that
the left has won the national elec-
tion in Sweden it will be more in-
teresting than ever to follow the
debate on the Meidner question.

Canadian workers .

phillip david
rankin stone
paul

mecmurray

barristers & solicitors
500 ford bidg.
193 east hastings st.

vancouver, b.c.
v6a 1n7 682-7471

Low rent tenants
fight conversion

Low income tenants in North
Vancouver are fighting an attempt
by their landlord to convert their
apartments into condominiums, in

violation of an agreement with the ~_

federal government which subsidiz-
ed construction of the low rent
housing.

“They are playing a game of
psychological warfare with the
tenants,’’ North Vancouver district
aldermanic candidate Ernie Crist
said of the landlord, Polygon Pro-
perties, this week in the wake of an
application to district council for
approval of a strata title conversion
of Lynmour Village on Premier
Ave.

If Council approves the applica-
tion, the tenants, most of whom are
on low or fixed income, will have to
buy or leave.

The Lynmour Village was built in
1968 with the assistance of. Central
Mortgage and Housing Corpora-
tion (CHMC) which extended a 50
year, 6 3/4 percent mortgage to the
first owner in return for a 15 year
contract to keep rents below market
levels, CHMC loan director John
Nichol confirmed to the Tribune in
an interview this week.

“‘Assuming that the need is still
there, we will do everything to see
that the agreement is maintained,’’
Nichol said, but CHMC will not ap-
pear before district council, he said.

The need is still there, Crist told
the Tribune this week, citing a ‘‘real
shortage of this kind of accom-
modation in North Vancouver.’
The district has no policy on strata
title conversions, he added, and this
issue should be used to fight for a

policy on all conversions. ‘‘Council.

can be forced to vote against this
conversion if the tenants organize,”’
he said. ‘‘But let’s take it a step fur-
ther. Council must recognize that
there will be a lot more of these
types of applications, and rather
than dealing with each case as it
arises, with the_ possibility of a
dangerous precedent being set, it’s

- will use issue
to press for strata title conver-
sion policy in North Van District.

ERNIE CRIST . .

time for
tenants.””
In Vancouver, city council was
forced to react to a wave of conver-
sions in the early seventies with a
tough bylaw that required 75 per-
cent of tenants to agree voluntarily
to the conversion. The percentage
has since been lowered to 66 per-
cent. But North Vancouver has no
policy, requiring only a vote of
Council to approve conversions.
The Lynmour development con-
sists of 128 1-3 bedroom units.
Tenants are currently paying $206
for a one bedroom apartment.
Tenants identified two problems
with the scheme, the first being af-
fordability. One tenant stated that
on a Handicapped pension of $357
a month, it was hardly enough to
pay $206 a month as it was. ‘“‘It
would be impossible to attempt to
buy the. apartment. I’m. living. in,
with mortgage payments estimated
at over $300 a month,”’ he said.
They have, along with other con-
cerned citizens, until Sept. 25 to in-
tervene in the application by
Polygon to the council of District of
North Vancouver.

a policy to protect

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

COMING EVENTS

SEPT. 26 — Personal account by
Brian Hadden of the Com-
monwealth Conference. and the
Zimbabwean refugee camps_ in
Zambia and’ Mozambique, Wed. 8
p.m., 1811 W. 16th Ave., Van-
couver. Sponsored by SAAC.

SEPT. 29 — The Young Com-
munist League invites you to a slide
show of the recent World Festival
of Youth and Students, held in

Havana, Cuba. Mt. Pleasant
Neighbourhood House, 535 E.
Broadway. $2 admission.
Refreshments, snacks and live
entertainment.

SEPT. 30 —  Grandview-
Woodlands COPE pancake

breakfast, Sunday, Sept. 30, 10
a.m. at David and Rosemary
Stone’s house, 2163 E. 3rd, Van.
Games and fun for all.

OCT. 27 — YCL Halloween Dance
at Kensington Community Centre,
Vancouver.

NOV. 10 — Keep this date open for
the banquet celebrating the 62nd
anniversary of the Great October
Revolution. Sponsored by the
GVRC.

HELP WANTED

FOUR AGGRESSIVE PEOPLE
needed to present an electrical ap-
pliance. Work evenings and Satur-
days. Must have a car. For an ap-
pointment call: 874-7214.

LEGAL SERVICES
Rankin, Stone, McMurray, Bar-
risters and Solicitors. 500 Ford

Building, 193 East Hastings St.,
Vancouver 682-7471.

BUSINESS PERSONALS

ROOF REPAIRS — Reasonable.
New roofs and alum. gutters,
277-1364 or 277-3352.

TRADE UNIONIST seeks re-
search, writing work. Phone Ron
Sostad — 980-5157. —

Heal Fedor
Gosaclles

JEWELLERY REPAIRS

Remodelling at reasonable charge.
For appointment phone 254-7678.

HALLS FOR RENT

RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME —
Available for rentals. For reserva-
tions phone 254-3430.

WEBSTERS CORNERS HALL —
Available for banquets, meetings,
etc. For rates: Ozzie, 325-4171 or
685-5836.

UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CUL-
TURAL CENTRE — 805 East Pen-
der St., Vancouver. Available for
banquets, weddings, meetings. Ph.
254-3436. :

PACIFIC TRIBUNE— SEPTEMBER 21, 1979—Page 11

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