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“No wage restraints’ —Morris

MONTREAL — “Organized
labor will not restrain wage de-
mands in 1975 merely because of
inflation, Joe Morris, president
of the Canadian Labor Congress
told the Conference Board of
Canada during a one-day meet-
ing held here last week.

Speaking to 700 delegates rep-
resenting 500 Canadian organi-
zations including ‘business, gov-
ernment, trade agencies and
unions, Morris said that he was
“under no illusion that in the
next year trade unions will not
come under attack, perhaps
greater than ever before, because
of the inflationary situation in
which the Canadian labor move-
ment has played no part.

“We in labor are not guilty of

’ causing inflation. If we have been

guilty of anything, it has been
- our slowness to respond to this
situation. Organized and unor-
ganized workers have lagged be-
hind while others have prosper-
ed.

“I foresee,” Morris said, “that

the catching up in wage settle-
ments in the coming year could

On Thursday, October 3, 1974,
the Labor Council of Metro-
Politan Toronto debated a re-
port of its municipal committee
dealing with the December, 1974
municipal elections. The report
outlined efforts to elect more
labor and community-oriented
people to municipal councils and
school boards in this huge Met-
ropolitan area. The report set
out criteria for endorsation of
New Democratic Party, trade
union, and other candidates, and
came forward. with a platform
under the following headings:
Amalgamation — and structure,
planning and community control,
recreation, municipal employees,
pollution, housing, health and
welfare, transportation, educa-
tion, citizens and the police,
public boards and commissions
and approaches to the provincial

government on a number of is- -

sues, including tax reform to re-
duce the burden of property tax
on home owners with fixed in-
come, and protective laws for
tenants.

Some Criticism

While one cannot quarrel with
what is in this municipal pro-
gram, there are some rather glar-
ing omissions. It speaks of “a
city for people” and of “wisely
planned development” as if the
loan sharks and profit-hungry
developers were no longer a
force to be reckoned with. It
calls for “openness, accessibility
and involvement by citizens in
the decision-making process of
the municipal government and
its agencies” with such incred-
ible naivete that one could easily
conclude that the corporate elite
has abandoried civic govern-
ments to the working men and
women, and all that has to. be
done: now is to walk in there,
| amalgamate the city and bor-
_ Oughs, make a few structural ad-
justments and all our worries
are over.

I should like to single out
housing for a few comments
and some criticism of the way
the Metro Toronto Labor Coun-
cil’ program handles it.

The remedies proposed for
the housing shortage for average

impose added strain on indus-
trial relations in this country.”

Morris also warned against
government action to outlaw
strikes, saying that “unions will
never approve of compulsory
arbitration as a means of settl-
ing labor-management disputes.”
“Responding to suggestions
made by the federal Minister. of

JOSEPH MORRIS

Labor, John Munro, for meetings
between labor, management and
government, Morris said that he
was “not adverse” to the tri-
partite meetings but added “I
would be less than candid if I
did not say that we will not ac-
cept any proposals which would
diminish the legitimate rights of
labor in that process.”.

SASKATOON — Foreign own-—
ership in Canada, mainly by
U.S. business interests, will in-
crease by a minimum of $25
billion by 1978, predicts Ed-
monton publisher Mel Hurtig.
He said the real value of
foreign ownership in Canada
ct present is more than $70
billion and he estmitates that
the cash outflow from Canada
because of foreign ownership
in 1973 was $457,000 an hour
—$11 million a day.

“Canada now has more
non-resident ownership and
control of its industry than all
of the U.S., Britain, Germany,
France, Spain, Italy and Japan
put together,” he said.

end

We RSma\ a Labor must aim to

BY BRUCE MAGNUSON

housing crisis

working class families on limit-
ed income are totally inadequate.
Even with “efforts . . . to en-
courage an expanded role for
public and co-operative hous-
ing,” and for as long as private
enterprisers are relied upon to
Provide the bulk of housing and
rental accommodation, we shall
not solve the problem of exor-
bitant housing prices and unsu-
rious rents and interest rates,
Co-operative housing is most
unlikely to become low or even
moderately priced housing as
long as the capitalist money-
market has to be depended upon
for borrowing. Public and low-
cost housing construction is
declining even faster than the
overall decline in new housing
construction.

Housing Starts Down
There is no answer other than
governments at all levels getting
together to undertake a great
country-wide plan for construc-
tion of publicly subsidized hous-
ing for low and medium income

groups. This means public hous-.

ing, and in the end that hous-
ing should become a public util-
ity. This is the position long
ago adopted by the Canadian
Labor Congress, and for many

years the policy of the Commu-

nist Party. Why does the Metro
Labor Council shy away from
recognizing this truth?

The NDP Ottawa Report of
October 4, 1974, coming from
Mr. Broadbent’s office says that
“low. income housing starts have

declined more drastically than

the overall housing — decline.
CMHC loans for low income
housing covered 52,000 units in
1970, only 47,000 units in 1971
and a mere 34,000 units in 1972.

€-projections for this year in-
dicate even fewer units of low
income housing will be built.”

Developer Friends
Donald Irvine, Ontario’s new
Housing Minister, has threaten-
ed to force municipalities by law
to accept some form of govern-
ment-sponsored housing if nego-
tiations fail because councils and

community groups oppose pub-|

lic housing. That such snobbish

PACIFIC TRIBUNE-FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1974—Page 8

ness exists in the fairly well-to-
co urban areas has been well
known for a long. time.

It is doubtful, however, if
governments and politicians have

- done very much to combat this.

cbstacle. As a matter of fact it
is more likely they have encour-
aged it to avoid any collision
with their developer friends who

supply much of the funds for

their election campaigns.

Mr. Irvine speaks of a plan for
mortgages at lower-than-market
interest rates, probably some-
thing like 1014%. That is not
going to provide low-cost hous-
ing unless large subsidies are
envisaged.

The Ontario cabinet promised
$58-million last June, to be made
available at Such a rate of inter-
est to families earning less than
$20,000 a year. The recent fed-
eral Throne Speech said $50-mil-
lion would be set aside for loans
at 8% for the whole of Canada.
This is but a drop in the bucket.

End Exploitation

Presently, landlords are begin-
ning to fleece workers through
so-called COLA clauses in ren-
tal leases — a form of bonus
or super-profit scheme for un-
scrupulous landlords whose mo-
nopoly control over accommoda-
tion makes it possible for them
to charge all that the traffic will
bear in basic rents in the first
place.

Housing costs today, especial-
ly for people with families, is
a nightmare. In fact, one-quarter
of the people of Canada are to-
day paying at or near 50% of
their meagre income for housing,
in place of one-fifth of such in-
come, which is considered norm-
al for the maintenance of a prop-
er living standard. In socialist
countries the percentage varies
from 3 to 8% of a worker’s in-
come for housing.

Surely the time has come for
a Campaign by organized labor
to put an end to the present
exploitation by ‘developers and
landlords, a Situation which
leaves most of our young fami-
lies desperate and often without
any decent accommodation.

MINERS WARN OF

NATIONWIDE STRIKE
. WASHINGTON — The head
of the United Mine Workers
unicn accused the United States
coal industry last week of refus-
ing to negotiate and warned that
a countrywide coal strike is
likely to begin Nov. 12 unless
the impasse is broken, —
UMW President. Arnold Miller
said the mine operators “reject-
ed out of hand” the union’s con-
tract proposals dealing with
health and safety and other non-
economic issues. He called the
counter -- proposals

gotiaticns with the Bituminous
Ccal Operators Association
(BCOA), the industry’s bargain-
ing arm, on Sept. 3. The current
contract covering some 120,000
UMW members who mine about
75% of the country’s coal ex-
pires Nov. 12.

ITALIAN WORKERS
PREPARE FOR
GENERAL STRIKE

ROME — Italian trade unions
have called a nation-wide gener-
al strike, set for October 17 and
expected to affect almost every
sector of the economy for vary-
ing periods. All industrial, com-
mercial and tourism workers
have been called out from 8 a.m.
to noon local time. Civil ser-
ants are to hold meetings on the
job. Electrical workers are to
stop for two hours,dock workers
fer four hours and transporta-
tion workers for shorter periods.
The strike is to press demands
for greater cost-of-living benefits
in. labor contracts and to pro-
test against production cutbacks
for 71,000 workers at Fiat.

shi!
360 Japanese fishing boats formed a blockade around us
Matsu, in Matsu Bay, Japan. There were protesting the ; Avs
of this nuclear-powered ship in their fishing waters las' Z acift
Three weeks later the ship sprang a leak at sea and was 9%

the ocean leaking radioactivity.

LOSE CERTIFICATION |

for new collective agt®

‘CSAO SETS DEC. 31.

‘Service Association of Omer

world’s longest tine’ d ue
this Normandy poi ont!
_erew voted to end theif ™

POSTAL WORKERS

TORONTO — The Public ea)
ice Staff Relations of the
revoked the certification as bat
Council of Postal Unions 31,00 |

9g 31
gent for Canada's °”
Postal workers, and lett

riers.

The decision comes 45 fe
unions are. preparing t0 5

The withdrawal of. ce ert
also automatically t¢

the existing collective 8%
with the council. es

AS STRIKE DATE | “cw
TORONTO (CP) — The ¥

SAO) set a Dec. ¥% if
veadlines ‘to ‘be observed,
current negotiations 1 6 Ht
Ontario government fal ’
duce an agreement by 9000

The union, representing pet
members of the province Sa the
tional services category ment
largest unit in the 60, king #
ber association — is S¢ a ont
61.5% wage increase I ie)

ear agreement. ow
: Union negotiator Chris ee
er said although a strike ee 4
union members have reat"
point of despération.

WORKERS CONTINUE

LINER OCCUPATIO he
LE HAVRE (France) “7 gt

luxury liner France sal

port here last week Pe

by its striking crew an

future

long mass occupation an@ (ep |
a 121-man “ ty”
aboard.

3 ; ae eo vel
PHOTO — LNS/SANKE

still undecided. 4 an

Thane Ose rae 2S ea a