210,000-member__—B.C. ae of Labor warned last ie Hae the Tory proposal for a oe freeze would result mic chaos and work » atatement by the BCFL cee same time that Con- : a Robert Stanfield heey ing to drum up S his reactionary wage Sat reeze plan. He told a ec rence Friday that if © will see that as a ee his plan through. field is anti-labor attitude, dg; Said his government _“iscipline” union leaders »~ agreements. He didn’t 0 Se Bet disciplinary action a ~“severnment would take Tory leader Robert Sited Comox on er Asland. After the beauty of the alley he is reported to i he hoped that oil ~ 1 the coast will not Peauty of the Comox € nuclear pollution ‘uction which threatens * Coast because of the °f nuclear weapons. a Said nothing about ee is a supporter of : rad — because he ” Nuclear weapons on ian territory, r oud and Liberals see ie as a foreign policy r is, ne to a Which ce with the U.S. hi we are committed uclear weapons on territory, : the Tories and Liberals ‘or should w ae e allow the seep it under the rug a federal election B0 Is on, se eannist Party has lian ¢ new independent je reign policy free “omination and has rite Canada a “© zone. They are vane Canadians Mand the removal of fads and an end to Ship in NATO and NE UNIONS, WARNS STANFIELD against the unions, but his statement is seen as an attempt to get big business and right wing political support and also to in- timidate labor. With its statement warning against the Tory wage and price freeze, the B.C. Federation of Labor has thrust itself into the federal election campaign on the central issue of inflation. Warning that the Tory plan would do ‘absolutely nothing to help ease inflation,” Len Guy, secretary-treasurer of the Federation said ‘the B.C. labor movement is deeply concerned that freezing incomes would only continue the severe financial hardship faced by pensioners and other low income earners in the wake of the current inflationary spiral.”’ Following a meeting May 30 of the executive officers of the Federation, Guy issued the following statement: “There is ample evidence that wage and price controls are un- workable. Wage and price controls did not work in the United States or Britain and they will not work in Canada, and I suspect the Con- servative Party is well aware of this fact. I suggest that in proposing a wage and price freeze the Conservative Party is prepared to risk wrecking the Canadian economy and plunging labor- management relations in this country into chaos in a frantic lust for power.. “The Conservatives know that ‘pensioners and low income earners will not benefit from having prices frozen at levels that are already too high. A wage and price freeze will only extend further an in- tolerable situation. “The Conservatives also know FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 1974 William Kashtan, © Canadian Communist leader, called last Friday for a 25 percent rollback in prices for foodstuffs, clothing and footwear. Speaking to an enthusiastic and large crowd in the Ukrainian Cultural Centre at 805 E. Pender St., the Communist leader said that this is one of the major points in the new economic policy for Canada which Communist candidates will fight for in the federal election campaign, and after. Kashtan opened his party’s federal election campaign on the Pacific Coast with a number of rallies in Vancouver and. on ‘Vancouver Island, and with press, radio and TV interviews. He will return later in the campaign to address a large number of public rallies. While in B.C. three ad- ditional nominations of Communist candidates were announced. (See story on page 3). The Communist leader told his audience that the main feature of a new economic policy for Canada must be to raise the people’s standard of living. He urged that wages and pensions be raised, that prices be controlled and rolled back by 25 percent on food, clothes and footwear, and that government subsidies be paid to make lower prices possible. i We need subsidies which will benefit the consumers and not the corporations whom they have benefited in the past, said Kashtan. - Subsidies must be passed on to the consumer in the form of lower prices and not higher profits for the monopolies, he added. Kashtan said there are people who will ask: Where is the money to come from for this program? Drawing attention to the half billion dollars in tax exemptions given the big corporations, Kashtan said if the government can find half a billion dollars to give to big business, it can also find the money to subsidize lower prices. ‘“‘It’s not that it can’t be done,” he said, “‘it’s that they don’t want to do it.” An important part of any new economic policy must be a new approach to housing. ‘‘The Com- munist Party,” he said, ‘‘ad- vocates that housing be made a public utility. It must be taken out of the hands of speculators and real estate sharks.’’ Kashtan said housing is one of our major social issues. ‘Every Canadian must have the right to a decent place to live.” Advocating nationalization of land where necessary to make it available for low cost housing, and for imposition of rent controls, Kashtan advocated that low in- Canadian Commun B.C. party headquarters. that the price of imported goods cannot be controlled to meet Canadian requirements. “And when the controls are lifted, as inevitably they must be, prices will skyrocket to make up ground lost during the freeze and also in anticipation of future freezes. This is what happened in the U.S. and Britain and the Conservatives know very well that the same problem would develop in Canada. “The Tory proposal to freeze incomes. and prices would also make a mockery of the process of free collective bargaining. In- comes are already controlled. If an employee is a member of a union the wage that person earns is legally controlled by the union contract and can only increase by amounts negotiated between the union and employer. See LABOR, pg. 12 VOL. 35, No. 23 terest mortgages be made available at 5 to 6 percent. Criticising the Liberal housing proposal in the recent budget for 10-year home ownership, Kashtan asked how many can put aside $1,000 a year for a home in 10 years, and if they did, how much would that $10,000 be worth at the end of 10 years the way inflation has been rising? : -. Kashtan said. the Tories are aiming to push politics to the Right. “Their calculated plan,” said Kashtan, ‘‘is to use inflation as a weapon against the working people, and to stir up a backlash against labor, standards of living, social legislation, jobless in- surance and the right to strike.” “In all their program the real culprit, monopoly and the big masses cbt HG Team | NOAM) 3b BCFL secretary-treasurer Len Guy who warned the Tory freeze would be a disaster for Canada. Tribune «= 15° corporations, are untouched. There is no suggestion of any ac- tion against monopoly profiteering.” ; . The Liberals too, said Kashtan ‘have no program to meet the ef- fects of inflation. ‘“‘Liberal policy is bankrupt, and the government has not been able to cope with poverty. Twenth-five percent of Canadians continue to live below the poverty level,” he said. Kashtan said the Communist Party believes that without’ cur- bing and controlling monopoly and the multi-national corporations it will be impossible to get at the basic issues. ‘‘We must stop monopoly acting the way it does,” he said, adding that the best way to do that is through public owner- See KASHTAN, pg. 12 ist Party leader William Kashtan being interviewed at a press conference last Friday in —Sean Griffin photo