LABOUR Tories’ trade deal means loss of 56,730 jobs, says B.C. Fed The Mulroney-Reagan trade deal will mean a net loss for British Columbians of 56,730 jobs and will be a “disaster for work- ing people,” a major study produced by the B.C. Federation of Labour has warned. The 59-page analysis, entitled It’s a Bad Deal for British Columbia, is one of the first studies based on the final text of the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement. It was released by the federation last week as the kickoff for a public campaign against the trade deal. B.C. Fed president Ken Georgetti said that federation staff would be working with local labour councils to prepare further material analyzing the impact of free trade on local industries. “And then we'll ask MPs, MLAs, the business community and others who are supporting the trade deal to come out to public forums to debate it. “Free trade is going to kill us... and we want communities to know what the impact is going to”be;” he said. The study, prepared by federation research staff in conjunction with union researchers from various affiliates, bears out that grim prediction. It shows that jobs losses will result throughout the province's industries but with a heavy emphasis in the agricultural sector, a key part of the B:C. economy. According to the study, some 30,350 jobs in both. food processing.and agri- culture will fall vic- tim to the trade agreement if it is ever implemented. “Tt seems clear that jobs in vege- GEORGETTI tables, grapes and wine and soft fruit will disappear altogether and the dairy industry will decrease up to 75 per cent,” it states. “Together these sub-sectors account. for almost 50 per cent of farm income in British Columbia.” The expected job losses stem from the elimination of tariffs over a 20-year period and new restrictions on the imposition of import quotas — both of which have been crucial to protection of B.C. agricultural products — as well as numerous exemp- tions for U.S. imports on which tariffs for- merly applied. Under the deal, for example, a whole range of processed. chicken pro- ducts will now come into Canada tariff-free, effectively eliminating B.C.’s poultry-pro- cessing industry and the jobs that go with it. Also expected to be severely affected by the trade deal is the province’s forest indus- try. The study notes that the forestry sector is not likely to be significantly affected but in the wood products and paper products industries, some 10,000. jobs will be lost — more than one-sixth of the 59,000 jobs in those sectors, Many of those will be concentrated in the B.C. plywood industry which is outdated and inefficient compared to the U.S. indus- ALBERNI PLYWOOD MILL... trade deal. try and therefore would not be able to com- pete. In addition, the study notes, the trade agreement makes provisions for the US. industry to compete in the B.C. housing market which has traditionally been pro- tected by higher B.C. building standards. The study also cites reports from the fed- eral government’s own Department of Regional Industrial Expansion (DRIE) which stated that Canadian manufacturers of such products as windows and doors would be highly vulnerable if existing tariffs were removed by free trade. Similarly, studies by both the B.C. government and DRIE have emphasized the danger to local paper products manu- facturers by the huge U.S. industry which could flood the B.C, market at lower costs under a free trade deal. The federation analysis also points to significant job losses in other industries, including: @ The fishing industry, where 6,000 jobs are at risk, in part because of the recent ruling by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which has demanded the elimination of federal government regu- lations which specify that Canadian herring and pink salmon must be processed in Can- adian plants before export. The free trade agreement would force adherence to the ruling. ® The printing and publishing industry which would lose 5,000 jobs because of stipulations in the free trade agreement that legislation giving tax breaks to companies advertising in Canadian-owned publica- tions be eliminated. @ The transportation equipment indus- try which faces the loss of 3,500 jobs as the result of elimination of Canadian content rules under the deal: @ The clothing and textile industry which would lose 3,000 jobs in the wake ofa flood of imports from U.S. companies which are currently operating below capacity and have the advantage of larger production runs and lower wages. e@ The chemical industry which could lose some 80 per cent of its current 3,400 jobs as a result of the elimination of tariff protection. Virtually all the products made S : PHB UNE : Ny i x - i Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street | _ Vancouver, B.C. VSK 125. Phone 251-1186 g : a a eee ow fw whic eens +0 = 2 crin siete ae - i Acresso. a ea wn eso se ae ae a eee & StS. eee Postal Code. 6 4 ee se ais * | i lam enclosing 1 yr. $160) 2yrs. $280) 6 mo. $10 O g : Introductory offer, 3mo. $3 Foreign 1 yr. $25 0 Bill me later 0 : READ THE PAPER THAT FIGHTS FOR LABOUR 12 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 10,.1988 plywood sector expected to be devastated under in B.C. are from foreign-owned companies. @ The metal fabrication industry which would lose 2,100 jobs. The study notes that there are other sec- tors of the economy, including transporta- tion, financial services, education and public administration in which it is impos- sible to estimate. the job losses. But the impact of a free trade agreement on jobs would nevertheless be negative, it emphas- izes. Only in wholesale trade, real estate and possibly tourism is there any expectation of an increase in employment. One particularly disturbing aspect of the free trade agreement is the possibility that it could stimulate military-related industries because of the U.S. arms build-up, the study warns. Another section of the agreement gives the U.S. the right to respond to shor- tages of nuclear materials — thus restrict- ing our ability to limit or prohibit uranium mining in Canada. In total, the study concludes, “free trade will result in a certain net loss of 56,730 jobs and the potential loss of thousands of jobs in British Columbia, many in regions out- side the Lower Mainland and. many of which are currently held by people with few other employment prospects.” Although the study refers other analyses provided by such groups as the Pacific Group for Policy Alternatives, it has drawn much of its statistical information from provincial government studies and various federal departments. It also challenges what it calls the “‘irres- ponsible approach” of the federal. Depart- ment of Finance and the Economic Council of Canada whose studies were based on assumptions — one was that American branch plants would not close. Canadian operations — which could not be made. The finance department study has been widely criticized by economists. (Ironically, the B.C. Federation of Agri- culture has questioned what it called the labour federation’s “gloomy” predictions — even though studies prepared by most of its member groups in 1986, before the deal was negotiated, painted an equally gloomy picture. The final text of the agreement pro- vides for even less protection for agriculture _ than was expected in 1986.) “Free trade would be a disaster for work- ing people,” the B.C. Fed study emphasizes. “It must be turned down. The prime minis- ter has no mandate for this agreement... In light of the tremendous impact that it will have for many years to-come on the future of this country, at the very least it should be the subject of a general election.” Georgetti said that the public forums and meetings on the would likely begin within the next few weeks as labour councils com- plete their work on the impact of free trade in their communities. _ The federation has hired special staff for six months to co-ordinate the campaign. . Labour Notes : Profits soar but jobs flat Record profits for several compan- ies in this province’s forest industry | have not been reflected in any signifi- — cant increase inemployment, unders- — coring the dismal record of corporate — job creation. B.C. Forest Products, which last — year became part of the New Zealand- ~ based multinational Fletcher-Chal- | lenge, racked up an unprecedented | - increase in profits for 1987, boosting — its net income to $140.2 million. That | compares to a $40.7 million profit f itin | 1986. . But according to the company’s — corporate communications depart- ment, only 20 additional employees — were hired over the course of the year The number on the payroll increased from 6, 890 employees in 1986 t 6,910 in 1987—a 0.3 per cen _ increase compared to a 244 ee cen increase in profils. « The record was even wo _ Weldwood Canada which, despite a _ increase in profits from $30 million i 1986 to $47.6 million last year, lai - 600 workers off due to both tempor- ary and permanent closures at its Bly : : wot mills. NBFL backing | MONCTON — As the strike by 80 — workers at Brunswick Bottling here | enters its 10th month without a set- | tlement in sight, the New Brunswick _ Federation of Labour (NBFL) has stepped up the political pressure on the Liberal government of Premier Frank McKenna to introduce anti-_ scab legislation. Jean-Claude Basque, NBFL strike ~ support co-ordinator, told a press conference here that the federation’s campaign on behalf of the Retail, Wholesale © and ‘Department Store Union (RWDSU) members at Bruns- wick has entered a new stage. “Bo -cott Coke” and “Adopt a Striker _ campaigns have been highly effective undercutting sales from the scab-ru plant and raising | more than $300,000 - 70 per cent of wi _ within the province “We have rarely witne . solidarity.” Basque said. : _ Several groups and organizations . site be approached to support the demand for anti-scab- legislation, to _ join the boycott campaign an id _ financial support. - set re this Soles. _ at the pages Lat are $10 or $5 for unemployed. Speak- ers are Dave Werlin, president of the _ - Alberta Federation of Labour, and | United Electrical Workers president, — L Be caucus costae, Dis mee :