By PHYLLIS CLARKE SASKATOON the ae a Sun shining. Pa Pr nes of snow a : fround, with 6-foot arrived here t Current this morning Pity Marct 25 miles outsi “ple intakes One wonder mc alts this part of the One also high cost = annual ae Prices of : tS between 1960 pera creased at the aioe na Per year, the : Nd services has at the rate 88s in yy: : ve Prices of farm im- aged Percent in pent in 1965. In arm he so sored uth- ( ite katchewan I , 4 number of Be 4g to machine m of ¥ to get around arse high costs, wast Machine co- Ww past area. ‘ ith more in 4 DS ig Benen bership in 4 amilieg frally four to Ongj g find 162° CO-ops, these i tm nt y Can cut their N hale. The Operation Stim © agricultural ; that in the aad the usage Per hor approximately SePower but that askatchewan farmers in action FIGHT HIGH MACHINERY COSTS The 80,000 members of the National Farmers Union have now launched their boycott of new farm machinery. Linking farm unions of Bri- tish Columbia, Alberta, Sas- katchewan, Manitoba and On- tario, the NFU board voted last week to start this ac- tion. Farm unions in 28 states will also be participating. Roy Atkinson, NFU_Presi- dent, speaking in Ottawa said that the boycott will demon- strate the purchasing power of the farmers and their im- portance to the economy. “Farmers are a very impor- tant economic lever in terms of the whole country,” Atkin- son said. “We want to indi- cate this powerful muscle can be used to negotiate.” national boycott called by farmers Pledge cards are now being circulated in all five provin- ces and farm union members in addition to signing them- selves are urging non-mem- bers to join in the boycott. The objective of the boy- cott according to the NFU is to force governments at the federal and provincial level to recognize the need to improve net farm income and to force these governments to develop programs to establish production goals for various commodities, pricing mechan- isms and orderly systems of marketing. There has been no time limit placed in the boycott. “We will stop when there is a major breakthrough in gov- ernment action,” Atkinson said. the best utilization would be 30- 35 acres. They suggest that for every foot of a combine one should be using it on 100 acres. Most of the co-ops run on the basis of pooling all produce, and in effect this creates a basis for the pooling of land. The depre- ciation on the machinery is set aside, wages are paid for the time the farmers spend running the machinery, and. the profits are split on the basis of the land owned by each individual mem- ber. . This form of machine utiliza- tion is far more efficient and thus profits run high for the members. Machines are traded in every second year. One side benefit is in relation to the health of the farmers. Since there are at least four men to run the machines, generally each is required to work only six hours a day. Where no co- ops exist. farmers often work long, long hours which has a detrimental effect on their health. One weakness of the whole set-up, though, is that the estab- lishment of such co-ops and the assistance forthcoming from the ry Th Mhe, e Mase: Work osY@ hull of : 2 eid ce -foot barque Monte Christo is pulle er at Lynnwood Marina in North Vancouver. d from a construction shed so provincial government's Depart- ment of Cooperatives is based on the theory that “people must come to us.”” The result is that field workers for the department cannot go out and sell farmers on this idea as a means of im- proving their economic position. However, the farmers that I met, who were members of such machine co-ops, were very en- thusiastic and one suspects that as the pressure grows in the cost-price squeeze there may be an ever larger number of farm- ers turning to cooperative farm- ing. This, of course, is only one way that farmers are attacking the question of the high machin- ery costs. Here in Saskatchewan, as in Alberta. the farmers are geared for the buyers’ boycott. Returns received by the Saskatchewan Farmers Union on a ballot on the boycott showed 96.4 percent were in favor of the action. A “Stop Buying” pledge card has gone out to the members of the union and other farmers which the farmer will sign. It reads: “Yes, I pledge to ‘Make do for a year or two’ without buying the following new farm machines that 1 had planned to buy in 1967." A list of the various machines then follows with a place for a check mark. In 1965, farmers in Canada purchased $427 million in farm machinery and repair parts. Of this, Saskatchewan farmers ac- counted for 31 percent or $133.3 million. The SFU also has called, in its submission to the Barber Royal Commission investigating costs of machinery and repair paris, for the industry to be brought under strict public regu- lation: The brief proposed that the federal government could take a lead in bringing about identical legislation in all: prov- -inces to regulate the farm ma- chinery industry. The SFU also recommended that an investigation be made by the Restrictive Trade Practices Commission to determine the ex- tent to which the actions of farm machinery companies are in restraint of trade. In addition they call for a performance test by a public agency before a machine is offer- ed for sale, for the standardiza- tion of bearings, chains, belts, hydraulic couplers, shafts, wheels, knife sections, guards and oil filters and for a longer guarantee period in the farm ma- chinery industry. “It’s time farmers started to flex their muscles and demon- strate some unity,” was the comment of one farmer in send- ing in his ballot to the SFU of- fice. The fact that the union's action here is linked with four other Canadian provinces and 28 states of the USA should cer- tainly make the big U.S.-Cana- dian monopolies in the farm ma- chinery industry sit up and take notice. As Roy Atkinson, SFU presi- dent, says: “Seldom before have farmers on such a broad front indicated the desire to organize for a common objective. Seldom before have the stakes been so high. Seldom before have farm- ers had such an opportunity to demonstrate group solidarity.” Maybe the blizzards will con- tinue but if at least the farm- machine industry profiteers can be forced to bring down prices, life here on the prairies will surely be better. ee ae labor leader honored in Peg In the city where once he was sent to jail for his leadership of - the workers, Robert B. Russell was honored last week. Founder of the One Big Union, leader in the Winnipeg general strike, Bob Russell becomes the first trade unionist in this area to. have a school named after him. The premier of the province and Jimmy James, president of the Manitoba Federation of La- bor were on hand when the Robert B. Russell Junior Voca- tional School was dedicated. April 21, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 3 Russell, who died in 1964, fifty-five years after he cams: io Winnipeg from Glasgow, had . been a member of the board c: Winnipeg's Technical-Vocational School. Money to build this schocl had come from the federal and provincial governments with 75 percent of the $2.5 million cost being borne from Ottawa. The decision to honor Russel! and to perpetuate his name in the schoo! had been made by the Manitoba government.