y

The following is a letter sent to
the Tribune by several railway
Workers outlining some of the
Problems in the current dispute
°n the railways. It. has been
edited for brevity.

To the worker, the impor-
tance of wages and job security
'S obvious but in the transporta-
tion industry the combination
Of these two factors means the

ifference in having a public ser-

_ Vice or not having a public

Service. Transportation to the
People is service; to the trans-
Portation industry it is profit.
cnt trends show a vast in-
Pease in the profits of the trans-
eecuen industry but at the
cr time the public service has
a ee service reduction,
an ating costs, and, in some in-
: Ces, discontinuation __ of
Ssential things to smaller com-
Nunities. z
he deterioration of service to
Public is the result of a
A Perated enterprise
ak ling an industry using
Public tax money, making the

‘Mdustry established and profit-

able— and then turning it over to
Private industry.
cpr se in:point is the CNR-
ibint Telecommunications, a
Hee Operation effected after
aa had established a net-
4 of telegraph offices across
ae The only reason that CP
= Be rested in such a venture
obvi Or profit which is glaringly
Fl eo by the fact that all CN
€s turned over to CP suffer-
Teduced service.

“ € Victoria office was one of
thos

€ taken over by CP. Before
eee

__IN APPRECIATION

Ng would like to thank the
1s Y people who attended
a MacCuish’s funeral and ser-
vy atthe Fishermen’s Hall and
© expressed their sorrow to us
"ough their kind words.
eee and Dan MacCuish,
“in-law = and

the takeover, services were
available until midnight, seven
days a week. After CP moved in,
the staff was reduced and the
service made available only
during regular office hours.

The workers involved opposed
these cutbacks as they occurred
but the public was never made
aware of the obvious ad-
vantages of publicly-owned
services. Workers were laid off
in staff reductions, the service
was substantially reduced, the
profit margin increased and—
the public paid the price.

This is just one example of
how Crown corporations are
being undermined by a
transportation policy that shows

no regard for the workers in the °

industry nor for the public. The
pattern is becoming well estab-
lished in the form of railway ser-
vice discontinuation, contract-
ing out of work normally per-
formed by employees of Crown
corporations, and joint pro-
grams by private and public
companies.

It is time for the public to
become aware of the concerns
and frustrations of the workers
in the transportation industry.

The railway worker is faced
with the prospect of layoffs as
well as depressed wages and
deteriorating benefits and condi-
tions. The former channels for
negotiations are failing to the
point where railway workers,
once among the highest paid, are
now among the lowest.

This situation has been facili-
tated by disunity among rail-
way workers, not surprising
when you consider that 17 unions
are involved in the bargaining
process. Communication _ be-
tween unions is all but non-

Beaver Transfer

* Moving
* Packing
* Storage

cil, brother,

rg, Sask. 790 Powell St.
t Phone 254-3711
ee

In an Irish lyric

Man unto Man

So shall he see

fo

IN MEMORY OF
SAM LYNAS

| hear the praise of that man
For whom | weep

. Must take account
For what he fought,

In sons and daughters of tomorrow.

to tiends and members of the family who have contributed
eemorisl Fund in lieu of flowers, which stands at $146
|S Pacific Tribune and Communist Party.

253-1221

FOR ALL YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS

Contact:

GLOBE TOURS

2679 E. Hastings St., Vancouver 6, B.C.

254-2313

existent and isnot much better
between the rank-and-file mem-
bership and the leadership.

The time has come when the
rank-and-file must assumere-
sponsibility for the direction
that railway unions will go. Itis
of paramount importance that
unity be established.

Only through unity and solidar-
ity will the workers be able to
take a militant stand in the
face of the companies and, if nec-
essary, government legis-
lation. Such unity and militancy
must have public support to
bring drastic reform in the Cana-
dian transportation industry.

PT mailing
on computer

After years of mailing out the
Pacific Tribune on vintage
equipment, the operation is
making the bold step into the
20th century — our paper will
now be prepared for mailing by
a computer.

As with any change in pro-
cedure or equipment, the trans-
ition may have some wrinkles
that only time and patience will
iron out. But have faith in the
staff that should your name be
misspelled or your address not
quite what it should be, your com-
plaint will not be fed into. the
computer— it will be dealt with
by the staff as quickly and pa-
tiently as ever.

The PT will come to your
home in a new wrapper con-
sisting of computer print-out
paper. The lettering on the
paper will be slightly changed
and the expiry date on your sub-
scription will appear, for
example, as 730122 meaning Jan-
uary 22, 1973.

Please inform us if all is not
well with your paper. And please
be patient — all this new tech-
nology is very new to us as well.

U.S. bombing at
all-time high

U.S. bombing tonnage during
April and May, 1973, an average
of 53,000 tons per month, was
higher than the amount dropped
on Cambodia during 1970 or
1972. In 1971 the 12-month total
was 62,000 tons.

Thse figures were released by
the U.S. defence department
recently.

NDP GOV'T.

Cont'd. from pg. !

government’s operation of
Crown companies.

The public welcomed the take-
over of Columbia Cellulose by
the Barrett government. Much.
could be done by public control
of this forest giant in diver-
sifying and turning the forest
industry to more manu-
facturing, and to bringing
bigger returns to provincial
revenues.

But the people who voted for
the NDP didn’t expect that the
B.C. government would turn its
Crowncorporations over to the
same gang of big capitalists who
have had the economic power
before. They expect, and still
expect, labor and people’s repre-
sentation on such boards to
ensure wide democratic control.

BPE RAW. BOE Ss ee ra ?

ITED STATES OFA)

4 TEADES

aeo Saas

AND WwoRLD

Victoria mayor challenges B.C. Tel

Mayor Peter Pollen of Vic-
toria last Thursday demanded
that the B.C. Telephone Co.,
‘«stop stealing from us’’ through
its monopoly practises of
buying equipment from three
affiliated companies that are
subsidiaries of the phone com-
pany’s parent-corporation.

The Victoria mayor made his
charges in debate ona resolu-
tion before city council which
will go to the Union of B.C. Muni-
cipalities’ fall convention. The

resolution demands to know the
financial relationship between
B.C. Tel and its affiliates.

The three affiliated com-
panies involved are Canadian
Telephone Equipment Ltd.,
Lenkurt Canada Ltd., and
Dominion Direetories Ltd.
Mayor Pollen chargedthese com-

panies were making “‘inor-
dinate profits.’’ He said the prac-
tice of siphoning off B.C. Tel
funds to the’three affiliates is
reprehensible,

YOUNG WORKER BENEFIT BASH

Salmon bake — Swimming
SUNDAY JULY 15 — 1 P.M.
Folk singing — fun and games — Refreshments

3310 Cardinal Drive, Burnaby
Adm. $2.50 — under 12 and over 60 — $1
Tickets: Co-op Bookstore, PT office, YCL members

* LOUGHEED

N

+

e! WAL AT
c

BA/MBRID

BUFFALO

Classified Advertising

COMING EVENTS

WANTED

July 15th — GARDEN PARTY,
Come and Relax under the
Old Apple Tree. Borsch with
Smorgasbord Supper at
Beynons’ 1503 Dovercourt
Rd., July 15th from 2:00 p.m.
— on. Refreshments and
Music. Admission $1.50 —
Children 75¢. EVERYONE
WELCOME. North Van-
couver Club CPC.

July 29th = Reserve
this day to celebrate 20th
Anniversary of CUBAN
JULY 26th MOVEMENT.
Details later. Ausp. Can-
ada Cuba Friendship
Committee.

BUSINESS PERSONALS

Blind person wants old
gramaphone_ records, all
kinds. Buy or trade. —
325-6954.

HALLS FOR RENT

UKRAINIAN CANADIAN
CULTURAL CENTRE - 805
East Pender St., Vancouver 4,
Available for banquets. wed-
dings. meetings. Phone 254-
3436.

WEBSTER’S CORNER HALL
— Available for banquets.
meetings, weddings, etc. For
rates, Ozzie 325-4171 or 685-
5836.

Need car or house insurance?
Call Ben Swankey 483-
8323.

RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME:
Now available for rentals. For
reservations phone 254-3430.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1973—-PAGE 7