a Tae a By RUSS RAK OSHAWA — General Motors’ so-called ‘‘car of the future’’ will spell fewer jobs for Canadian auto workers, and moves away from the direction of creating a stable, growing auto industry in the country. During the past month, GM has conducted a massive advertising campaign to introduce its four new ‘‘X”’ body, 1980 model front wheel drive cars. The company claims these lighter and more fuel-efficient cars will be the “*backbone of the future’’ and are designed to compete with the small foreign imports. GM ex- pects these automobiles to cap- ture more than 50% of the com- pact and sub-compact car market. GM president, E.M. Estes, has said the designing, engineering, production and testing of these cars cost more than $1.5-billion, and another $1-billion was spent on plants to produce these cars. General Motors’ long-term plans are to redesign its entire line of: cars using the X body front-wheel drive design. ; Last fall GM chairman, Tom Murphy, announced that GM will invest about $5-billion a year on new plants and the. most scienti- fically advanced automation equipment through 1985. But he refused to indicate whether any of this investment will take place in Canada. 40 Oshawa Jobs The facts are that all the in- vestment and work of designing, engineering production, assembly For the third year straight, the first quarter of 1979 was the best ever for corporate profit. Com- inco Ltd., controlled by Canadian Pacific, netted $38.3-million com- pared with $9.5-million the year previous, or an increase of 400%. Alcan Aluminum Ltd., increased ~ its first quarter profits by 63%, on top of almost 70% last year over the same period. Algoma Steel gained about 50%, as did North- em Telecom, a subsidiary of Bell of Canada. Even the CNR showed an annual profit gain of $131.1-million in 1978, a 56-year record. Taken as a whole, operat: ing profits of Canadian corpora- tions increased by 53.3% in the first quarter of 1979. 3 Union settlements, on the other hand, have been modest indeed at anywhere from 6 to 8%. The rail- way settlement, at 10% in the first year and 8% in each of the two succeeding years of a three-year contract, has been seen as a danger signal for double-digit wage increases which a Toronto Star editorial on March 2, 1979, claimed would trigger double- digit inflation. Even the shame- fully low legal minimum wage — which runs from $2.50 an hour in Newfoundland to $3.37 in Quebec, and only $2.90 federally, is under attack by price- and pro- fit-gouging monopolies who seek to cover up their own inflationary profiteering. In. this hypocritical stance they have the backing of their own kept politicians — _ GM's ‘car of future’ means and testing of these new cars is* being done in the United States. The only work that Oshawa will get, related to these new cars, is the production of steering- control-arms which is supposed to create 40 new jobs. Last fall, Murphy said’GM has no plans to establish any large scale research -and development work related to” the auto industry in Canada at this time. On May 1, 1979, GM presi- dent Estes told a new conference in St. Catharines GM has no plans for any major plant expansion in Canada. And, while the latest estimates ~ a Elect a communist to par- liament, auto worker Russ Rak Says in the accompanying arti- cle, to fight for an independent Canadian industrial policy that would include the creation of a Canadian auto industry, and open up jobs for Canadian workers. Rak, an active member of Local 222 United Auto workers, is a GM worker and the Communist Party can-’ didate in Oshawa riding. primarily Liberals and Tories — and governments pledged to sup- ply cheap labor. But the concept that wage levels are the significant inflationary feature in our capital- ist economy is an effort to hide another fact, which is that of all the many factors entering into production, only one, labor pow- er, creates new value. The truth is that the wage con- tract entered into with labor is not, and can never be or become, in- flationary, simply because the worker must always generate more value than his or her wages repre- sents. The worker must create enough value to meet the worker’s wages; repair wear and tear of, and pay for new, means of produc- tion; provide rent, interest and profit; pay for the living standards of the captains of industry; provide capital exports; and through rates and taxes, pay for all local and gov- ernment projects, including large and escalating military spending, and so on and on ad infinitum.. As aconsequence of the above, One must assert that this trans- action, the collective agreement signed between an employer and a trade union representing employees, is the only non-in- flationary transaction, while all other transactions are, actually or potentially, inflationary. $k Inflation. and unemployment act as a barometer that measures the instability of the state- PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 18, 1979— Page 8 . Profits up ‘wages down from Detroit indicate capital spending by the four major U.S. auto makers will total as much as $78-billion by 1985, much of it is earmarked to pay for the de- velopment of weight-saving aluminum and plastice parts needed for the down-sizing prog- ram. Very little of this investment will take place in Canada. The question Canadians, par- ticularly auto workers, need to - ask is: How will this affect the fu- ture of our Canadian auto indus- try, and Oshawa in particular, in terms of jobs for Canadian work- ers? The answer to this question is embodied in the serious warn- ing given to the Canadian Government by the Science Council of Canada last fall that . . . “the auto industry has no viable future in Canada unless there is new investment of $6-8-billion over the next few years. Scrap Auto Pact Therefore all workers must in- sist that the federal government use its power to compel the giant U.S. auto monopolieis to make the required investment in Cana- da. Otherwise the result will be a massive loss of Canadian auto in- dustry jobs to the U.S., layoffs in Oshawa and the Canadian sector of the auto industry will become obsolete. _ Moreover, the 1965. U.S.- Canada Auto Trade Pact will not prevent this from happening, be- cause it was not designed to safe- guard Canadian jobs nor to ensure the development of an indepen- monopoly capitalist system and its rapidly approaching end. To prolong its life the system de- velops various stratagems and tactics at the expense of the work- ing class. One such stratagem is the so- called deferred profit-sharing plans (DPSPs) sold to employees | as a means of escaping taxes on corporate profits. The DPSPs were set up by the federal government. Under the scheme, | up to $3,500 a year per employee can be taken from profits and placed in trust for employees. (This is in addition to the $5,500 maximum that can be set aside each year in a registered re- tirement savings plan (RRSP). This scheme allows an employer to write off this amount as a busi- ness expense while still keeping control of the funds. A ‘worker is Not liable to a tax on any supposed benefits until he or she quits or retires. There are always ways Open to an employer. to cut an employee off from any benefits accruing from such a deferred profit-sharing plan. The scheme is not designed to help the worker, but to help the employers evade taxation and, at the same time make the employee a docile vic- tim of exploitation. For real job and reitrement security, and to end inflation and unemployment, vote and elect Communist candidates as part of a progressive majority in the new parliament, May 22. dent Canadian automobile .man- ufacturing industry. In the 13 years since the U.S.- . Canada Auto Pact was signed, Canada has run up a total deficit of $7.5-billion in auto trade with the US. In 1975, Canada’s share of the North’ American auto sales was 11%, while employment in Canada totalled only 9.1% of the North American auto industry’ work force. According to calcu- lations, by the United Auto Workers, (UAW), this represents the loss of around 16,000 auto in- dustry jobs in Canada. Last fall, a study compiled by the U.S. Data Resources of Canada for the U.S. Government on the auto trade between our two countries, estimated that Canada will plunge another $10-billion into the red in its auto trade with the U.S. over the next seven years. Unless this is prevented, it will totally undermine what auto industry there-is left in Canada. No Jobs Guarantee The facts are that the. U.S. government and the giant U.S.- controlled auto industry monopolies do not interpret the Auto Pact as any guarantee of auto jobs or production in Cana- da. This was stated last fall by Julius Katz, assistant U.S. Sec- retary. of State for economic and business affairs, during his dis- cussions with New Democratic = . eee less jo Party leader Ed Broadbent on ‘ Auto Pact. : Since then, after several stud of the Auto Pact in Canada, Liberal government and the Co servatives say the Auto Pact iit benefited Canada and shouldnt be changed. GM chairman Mut phy, said the same thing [a November. Meanwhile, all the UAW wait is annual reviews of the Auto Fat to ensure that it is being lived to. ’ However, it is obvious to al worker who has observed t developments, that what ?. needed is not more studies or nual reviews of the Auto Pat! The time has come to scrap worthless agreement which te benefited only the giant U.S. a monopolies in the form of billio of dollars in super-profits at expense of Canadian labor a the Canadian people. Vote Communist That is why in Oshawa, need to elect a worker to patil ment who is prepared to take the battle for an independe? Canadian industrial policy th will gain Canada a viable @ tomobile industry (not just # sembly jobs) and our fair share the North American auto marke! PSAC issues call : to save medicare ‘OTTAWA. — The Public Ser- vice Alliance of Canada called on its 180,000 members, May 7, to support a campaign to save Cana- da’s threatened medicare — pro- gram. ae Canadians should have free access to medicare,’’ Al- liance President Andy Stewart said. *‘Extra billings by doctors and the imposition of health care premiums are a denial of the prin- ciple of free access. ‘‘We support fully the Cana- dian Labor Congress demand that all provincial governments adopt the principle of free and universal access to health care and that they negotiate and sign binding collec- tive agreements with the medical profession. ‘‘Attempts by most provinces to force doctors into a situation in ~ which they will resort to extra bil- lings must end,”’ he said. Stewart said the present medi- care problems arose after federal cost sharing of provincial medical Pensioners Pierre and Joe offer you a services was replaced in 1977 by; combination of tax points conditional grants. ‘The result is that the provi now have much greater discreti in the use they can make o} eral money,”’ he said. 4 “Provincial governments pear to be using federal medi money for other purposes. The are permitting doctors to opt of medicare but to retain some the advantages of being in. “The provincial governme are closing some hospitals and ducing staff. Deterrent fees being introduced.”’ health premiums and user fees bt eliminated from provincial med cal care programs. And, both the federal and pro Vincial .governments must abat don their indiscriminate attempts at cost cutting by reducing the quality of health care,”’ he said. choice: Vote for a change!