| TR

Bure TO GINGER GOODWIN. During the Comox pI

\ ust Party the participants paused at the grave of Ginger G
Nigel Morgan (above right) pay a tribute to the labor martyr.

—Richard Morgan photo

rotest on April 6 organized by the B.C.
oodwin at Cumberlan to hear party

Fight against inflation

top May Day la

_ By JACK PHILLIPS
holiday ay is the great. fighting
| Worlg S of working people - the
| Workers €r. It was not given to the

above likes a token gesture from

is the «Labor Day in the US but
togetho, pression of the coming
interna ty the trade unions and the
Which penal Socialist movement
ching ie the initiative in laun-
day oF ay Day as an international
| Noy, wiidarity back in 1889.

ofa coleale than three-quarters

that eM later, it is no accident
bolida . Day is a major public
County 4 €very one of the fourteen
Communit Making up the world
Socialist | Y of socialist nations.
Victory fever is the crowning
Dregs Or the workers and op-

World. People in every part of the

Sogj .
answer has found the ultimate
Ploy to inflation, unem-
ison; nt, Poverty and racial
8 ength vaton. The growing
Seve of the socialist world has
imperis); Testricted the power of
tions fore to create the con-
Peneq ora third world war. It has
{ding UP the real possibility of
ations War between states and
Wh as all time.
labop ah © examine the troubled
NY the ation in Canada and ask
tri A are no strikes in coun-
the Cerin as the Soviet Union and
the a Wan Democratic Republic,
the ahs JS simple. In Canada,
the peg ie and political life of
PoWep ble is dominated by
Whose Py corporations
maxim y © aim it is to achieve
echnolo M profits through
Dricg Bical change, speed-up
Mies 8, inflation and any
Pepea open to them,
“Wtences, of the social con-

Work? Socialist countries, the
Produce, People own the means of
Society ‘on and the main goal of the
* Merease the flow of

i Cultural benefits to
hrough overall plan-

Soviet yeaa
the fo. t0n, on the other hand,
Industries are public

large scale unemployment has
become a built-in feature of the
economic system of this country,
the ,majority of the socialist
countries experience the opposite
— a shortage of workers.

As we approach May Day 1974,
the overriding concern of the vast
majority of Canadians is with the
many social problems created by
inflation. Wage increases
negotiated in collective bargaining
have disappeared through rising
prices. Pensioners and others on
low, fixed incomes are in a

_desperate situation. Hence, to a

great extent, there is a turbulence
in the country anda high degree of
militancy among organized
workers.

The consumer price index rose
by 9.6 percent in Canada in 1973,
according to Statistics Canada,
while wages rose by an average of
only 8 percent. On the other hand,
profits for major companies in
Canada rose from 40 to 50 percent.

Inflation is a product of
monopoly capital rule. Monopoly
corporations have such a hold on
the economy that they can raise
prices almost at will, for at least as
much as the market will bear.

All this underscores the
necessity of a united trade union
movement. First, to increase the
effectiveness of the working people
in their trade union struggles for
more purchasing power, for the
shorter work week, job security
and other trade union objectives.
And second, to provide a mass base
for the independent political action
that is required to compel
governments to enact legislation to
protect the people against in-
flation.

The federal government must be
pressed to transform the Prices
Review Board into a body with
power to halt price increases and
roll back prices. Pensions,
unemployment insurance benefits
and social services allowances,
must be adjusted in a more timely
fashion to make up for increases In
the cost of living. Excessive profits
must be heavily taxed and a large
scale program of public housing
must be undertaken. Mortgage and
interest rates on consumer debts
must be reduced and the foreign
domination of our economy must
be seriously challenged.

At the provincial level, the
government must be pressed to do

bor issue

everything in its power to control
rents, prices and profiteering.
While some commendable
legislation has been introduced, it
has so far failed to challenge
seriously the imbalance in the
distribution of wealth created by
the working people and through the
exploitation of our natural
resources which, in the final
consideration, belong to the people.
It is encouraging as we approach
May Day 1974 that the campaign
for an independent, sovereign and
united trade union movement has
reached a new peak of intensity.
The overwhelming vote by the
Canadian membership of the
United Paperworkers In-
ternational Union to establish a
national union, in full agreement
with the international executive
board in the US, establishes a
precedent which could mean a new
day for organized labor. For the
woodworkers, pulp and paper
workers of B.C., it opens up the
possibility of one union in Canada,
a Canadian union with 150,000
members from coast to coast.

The coming convention of the
Canadian Labor Congress which
opens in Vancouver on May 13, will
have many resolutions on the book
calling for a public position in the
direction taken by the UPIU. A
constructive position by the CLC on
this issue will strengthen the hand
of all progressive trade unionists
who are fighting in their unions for
an independent, sovereign and
united trade union movement. The
winning of independence by the
trade union movement will
strengthen the position — of the
working class. It will facilitate the
process whereby the working elass
becomes the leading force in
winning Canadian independence,
thus altering the balance of forces
between the people and monopoly
capital.

There are those who oppose the
concept of an independent trade
union movement on the basis that
it will weaken the power of
Canadian workers to fight against
multinational corporations and
diminish international solidarity.
On the contrary, an independent
trade union movement based on
class concepts will be in a better
position to fight the multinationals,
by joining with other national trade

See MAY DAY,.pg- 11

TENANTS URGE GOVERNMENT:

— . a on

Pass rent rollback
bill, halt evictions

The B.C. Tenants Organization
has called on the provincial
Government to immediately pass
and proclaim the 8 per cent In-
terim Rent Stabilization Act and to
accompany it with stiff anti-
eviction provisions.

‘“‘The anti-eviction provisions are
an absolute necessity to prevent
widespread attempts by landlords
to circumvent the law,’’ said Bruce
Yorke, BCTO president.

At the same time the tenants
organization also called for major
changes in the new Landlord &
Tenant Act itself, now in first
reading stage. The major changes
proposed are as follows?

1. Scrap the Rentalsman — Set
up Municipal Rent Review Boards
with representatives from both
landlords and tenants — give
tenants collective bargaining
rights.

“The NDP promised Rent
Review Boards and Collective
Bargaining Rights. The un-
democratic rentalsman concept is
the brainchild of the Tory-lawyer
Law Reform Commission, and has
been roundly castigated by nearly
all interested parties and ob-
servers.”

2. Scrap: the: provision for all
tenants to pay two months rent in
advance.

“The reintroduction of the in-
famous security deposits, outlawed
by the previous government, is a
retrograde step. The fact that it
will now be government ad-
ministered only compounds the
rentalsman’s task. An additional
month’s rent in advance con-
stitutes a particularly severe
hardship for all those tenants

whose income is already squeezed
to the limit by the scourge of in-
flation.”’

“In our opinion if the ren-
talsman-security deposit
provisions are not scrapped they
will become a political nightmare
that will haunt the government,
wipe out the good features of the
new Landlord & Tenant Act, and
have serious electoral con-
séquences,’” commented - Yorke.

3. Tighten up the rent control
features.

Under the proposed new Act only
increases above the government
declared average rent hikes are
subject to appeal to the ren-
talsman. There is no provision for
appeal to those below, or indeed to
the rent level itself — only in-
creases.

Moreover, because the rents are
again restored to the tenancy
agreement and not the premise, all
tenants entering into a new or
changed tenancy have no
protection against escalating
rents, since the control features
deal with increases only, not
starting rents.

The BCTO has sought in vain this
past week for an appointment with
the attorney general and the NDP
caucus to point out to them just
how far they have retreated from
their election promises, in fact,
ignored them completely.

“The attorney general can find
90 minutes to sit down with Arthur
Block, surely he can not only find
the time to sit down with the
tenants, but also to amend the
legislation to live up to NDP
promises,’’ concluded Yorke.

Inflation galloping
faster than wages

Working people are concerned
about inflation and are getting a
little bit tired of seeing their wage
increases eaten up by the rising
cost of living faster than they can
win them says an ‘economic
report” delivered to last Friday’s
bargaining conference called by
the B.C. Federation of Labor.

Prepared by the BCFL education
and research department, the
report says that “‘if you got a wage
increase of less than 12 per cent
last year and inflation continues at
the present rate you'll be able to
buy less in December 1974 than you
could in December 1973 — even

HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Harold Prit-
chett, founding president of the Inter-
national Woodworkers of America and
a pioneer trade union and Communist
Party leader, celebrates his 70th birth-
day May. 9. A shingleworker by
trade, Pritchett made a major contri-
bution to organizing B.C.’s wood-
workers. The PT joins his many
friends in wishing him “Happy Birth-
day”. He will be honored at a banq-
uet in the Nordic Hall, New
Westminster, on June 1st. Watch PT
for announcements.

with your 12. per cent wage in-
crease.”

Charging that ‘‘one of the main
causes of galloping inflation in this
country is the obscene increase in
corporate profits,’’ the report
points out that while the consumer
price index in 1973 climbed 9.1 per
cent and union wage increases 9.3
per cent that year, corporate
profits increased 43.2 per cent in.
1973 over 1972.

The report says, ‘‘It would be one
thing if that increase in corporate
profit was tied to an equal increase
in sales but such is not the case.
Statistics Canada also reported
that corporate sales in 1973 were
only 20.4 per cent higher than
corporate sales in 1972 — which
means that profits in 1973 climbed
twice as fast as sales.”’

“Don’t be fooled by claims that
simply freezing all prices and
wages will solve the problem,”
warns the report. It points out that
both in the U.S. and Britain they
only succeeded in making matters
worse. Not only would freezing
prices and wages freeze a situation
where wages are too low and prices
too high, it would also encourage
corporations to raise prices even
more the minute the freeze was
lifted for two reasons: to make up
ground they lost during the freeze;
and to cushion themselves against
possible future freezes. ‘‘This is
exactly what happened in the U.S.
and Britain.”

Pointing to the 86 per cent profit
of George Weston Company, the
report says, “Food is a necessity.
Selective controls should be placed
on food items to guarantee a
healthy diet for Canadians. A food
prices review board should have
the power to halt unjustified price
increases.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1974—PAGE 3