1 } har Wor Ina rr Centreh May Day statement, the Tunist Pa Xecutive of the Com- Week ,, “ty of Canada, said this Mostaj, tt the demands of the ~ Nst aq S'S and firefighters are backing Should receive the full Wemoore,. Of all labor and “ots, People. “Just as Statement said: MPloyegg 2NdS of the postal “ceive 4 and firefighters must and Ke € backing of the labor ie , lia movements. Mandi ters at airports are titemen, © Wage parity with city Posta 1S a just demand. : randing employees are aK matig hey get the fruits of fhe n and technological Ms. ae Not become its vic- 0, both arc Just demand. hada spat the government of ™loyerg d set an example for — Should clearly kers Outside main post office in Vancouver demonstrate their $ attempt to impose automation and reduced wages on post office employees. establish the fact that no worker will become the victim of automation through loss of a job or through lower living standards, and that no worker in this country will become the victim of the in- flationary price spiral. Inflation affects workers regardless of wage levels. The only beneficiaries of inflation are the capitalist monopolies, bankers and in- dustrialists. “This would be a sound labor relations policy for the government to pursue. “This is not what is being done. The government is threatening to sue the union and its members. Pressure is mounting to take away the right to strike and to collective bargaining in the public service. “The Scrooge-like attitude of the Treasury Board toward workers in FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1974 —Sean Griffin photo r response to postmaster-general the public service is in sharp contrast to the government’s one- and-a-half billion dollar gift to U.S.-owned and Canadian cor- porations in this country. “Governments, be they Liberal or Tory, seem to have no difficulty in putting working people in their place, taking away their right to strike and collective bargaining. “However, when it comes to act against monopoly profiteering and price gouging, these governments seem to be in a State of virtual paralysis. . “The working people of Canada should not allow themselves to be turned against the just cause of the postal:employees and firefighters. “The trade union movement and all democratic forces in Canada must give their complete solidarity and support to these workers in their effort to achieve justice.” Tribune VOL. 35, No. 17 - 15° ‘Inflation root cause’ says postal union head The 205,000-member_ B.C. Federation of Labor has blamed Ottawa’s anti-labor policy for the current dispute with the postal workers which shut down post offices across Canada. In a press statement ignored by most of the media in B.C., the federation. secretary-treasurer Len Guy, pledged full support to striking members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. The statement said: “There can be no doubt that blame for this dispute rests squarely on the shoulders . of -postmaster-general Andre Ouelet and his incredibly naive depart- mental officials. To expect postal workers to stand idly by while the post office implements a plan to put a large number of these people out of work and hire a lesser number of lower paid new em- ployees to work with new machines is both foolish and irresponsible. “By the post office’s own figures, by 1977 a total of 991 employees in the four western provinces will be replaced by some 350 lower paid employees and new letter sorting equipment. And in spite of the money the post office department would save in putting these em- ployees out of the jobs, they still propose to pay the 350 new postal coders $90 less per month than what the workers they will replace are presently receiving.” The BCFL statement said that, “Tn view of this situation and the post office department’s refusal to enter sincere negotiations with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers the B.C. Federation of Labor is pledging its full support to these postal workers in British Columbia protesting the government’s irrosponsible approach to technological change. “The public should not be misled. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is not opposed to automating the post office, but justifiably the CUPW and _ its members want to ensure that employees will not be left out in the cold or manipulated into lower ‘paying jobs. Technological change should be a subject of free negotiation= between the management and their em- ployees.”’ MAY DAY FEATURES e Fight for shorter work week — Pg. 6 e How May Day was born — Pg. 7 Postal union spokesman Bob Hamilton told the PT Wednesday that ‘“‘the root cause of the dispute is inflation.’’ He said postal workers are the ‘‘victims of in- flation’” and that the average takehome pay is $120 — $7 a week less than Unemployment In- surance. ‘‘What can you buy with that?” he asked. A mass rally of postal workers last Sunday in the PNE Gardens, called by the Vancouver Council of Postal Unions, adopted a series of demands which they insisted must be met before they return to work. These included an immediate increase in hourly rates for all postal workers by May 15, and a cost-of-living escalation clause; elevation of inside workers operating the new automatic sorting machines to a higher level of pay; opening of the postal workers contract for renegotiation on June 1, advancing the ter- mination date of the contract now expiring in December; lifting of all dismissals, suspensions, reprisals and disciplinary action; amend- ment of the Public Service Act so that postal workers may negotiate issues of technological change and superannuation. QUEBEC FEDERATION OF LABOR MAY DAY RALLY HEAR: LOUIS LABERGE, president . OTHER PROMINENT SPEAKERS — MUSICAL PROGRAM . SUN. MAY 5 TEMPLETON HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM 717 Templeton Drive 2 P.M.