Must uphold Paris Agreements

By OLGA TROFIMOVA

cow (APN) —The Viet-
Wome,euest came to the Soviet
ly eS Committee immediate-
Where a Kremlin ceremony
Order ee was awarded the
Deg of the Friendship of Peo-
tiury oa decree of the Presi-
Savior the USSR Supreme
N ,
Boat Thi Binh, a prominent
Oreign ene and the minister of
Revotut alrs of the Provisional
the Re lonary Government of
and Breelic of South Vietnam,
long stare Women are linked by
pepane friendly contacts.
tidence. 4 an interesting coin-
the int 8uyen Thi Binh was
Soviet Weng women, and the
the omen’s Committee was
Bahizati among Soviet public or-
which ons to get this award
While Was instituted a short
aMhive 80, on the eve of the 50th
= ieuy of the USSR.
ad for ‘$8 great honor for me
Deople the entire Vietnamese
Thi Bin 1S the view of Nguyen
Doug he emphasized that
trenoth Spare no effort to
ts Pecuter the friendly
5 € peoples o
> R and Vietnam. . aah

Sdecigi’ Ut this time it is of
Words ,, “8Rificance.” These
ened © Vietnamese guest

ed a
Soviet Wocund table talk in the
eens Committee.

in igre. that just today
lerferen 3 ended the armed
tee OY the American
Months : mM Vietnam. Two
Bteement to a day the Paris
hed, ‘ on Vietnam was
Bard qp..° Vietnamese people
iN as their great
years struggle.”

| te) . 88 e.
* countrie 4 Victory for social-
8, she continued, for

“The Vietnamese people regard
this event as their great victory in
the 30 year struggle .. .”

all forces upholding peace and
progress. It will be no exaggera-
tion to say that all nations have
dreamed of peace in Vietnam.
And all contries, especially the
Soviet Union, have contributed
in a large measure to the real-
ization of this dream. Soviet
people rightfully share the vic-
tory of the Vietnamese patriots.

And yet one cannot say today
that the struggle is over, noted
Nguyen Thi Binh. There is still
no lasting peace, freedom and
independence in South Vietnam.
Many political prisoners in tor-
ture chambers of the south have
not yet received their freedom.
The Saigon authorities, backed
by U.S. imperialism, have still
not given up their policy of ter-
ror and repression.

The basic task now facing the
Vietnamese patriots is to consol-
idate the victory and to ensure
the strict observance of ‘the
articles of the Paris Agreements
by all sides.

Nguyen Thi Binh expressed
confidence that the difficulties
encountered by the Vietnamese
people on their way to peace
will be overcome with all-round
support from socialist countries
and all progressive forces in the
‘world.

The need to unite efforts of
the international public in sup-
port of the Vietnamese people
and to work for a lasting peace
in Indochina was stressed by
Valentina Nikolaeva-Tereshkova,
pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR
and head of the Soviet Women’s
Committee. She quoted Leonid
Brezhnev, general secretary of
the CPSU Central Committee, as
saying, in consonance with the
feelings of Soviet people: “In
the days of peace, as in the days
of war we shall be together, in
the same ranks. Support for
Vietnam is our internationalist
duty. It is the common cause of
all socialist countries.”

Addressing the Vietnamese
guest, Nikolaeva - Tereshkova
said: :

“Your name is well known in
the Soviet Union. Your life,
exemplifying a courageous fight-
er for freedom and_ indepen-
dence, is much respected. The
Soviet people think highly of
your beneficial work as minister
of foreign affairs of the Provi-
sional Revolutionary Govern-
ment: of the RSV. Your noble
efforts in ensuring peace in Viet-
nam and cementing the patriotic
forces of South Vietnam are
finding a ready response among
the Soviet people.

“We are proud of the heroism
and self-dedication of our Viet-
namese women friends, of all
the Vietnamese people, shown
in the struggle for the indepen-
dence of their country.”

Meg CIN
hye tive The economic per-
recently by
ley) p Geral Republic of
Dog in the evemnment leave
Shana bllity, ay poh cllowing
le otie illy Brandt in Re
of ,,'8 1p 4 CY statement on
tgg "Sue, effect, the price
8S in jg 8004S continues to
i (CUP 6% by offi-
to 85 is ip estimated that

.~ Ostj
tg Stig hedtes appear to be
hae unt Rover, if one takes
Whe Sever e announcements
h tach Price nite’ enterprises
dye Near fu IKes are forecast
alki
0) Marks

ic
Mingfters ot poe million) in
ts aise, Bey, flour-
iy tiie ageing behind
De — 8 behind —

Totecas Stry, for ex-

du
>, Lip. .* bike of 10%.
: bio, these, Costs U
+ ee
a “fect, pin will have

es 1 De tacked
“Ss, increa i

Mtoe 1 of pub ses in
Ieee 10 ae Tansportation
ae € instances) ,
Boye Up 8.29"! Security bee
ent and taxes. The

its fo fiscal policy
See an added

two billion marks in revenues
through supplementary taxation
in 1973, along with a further 4.7
billion through an_ increased
sales tax (from 11 to 12%). And
it’s not a secret to anyone that
people on lower incomes are
more affected by this kind of
taxation.

A Frankfort economic journal,
Blick durch die Wirtschaft,
speaks in one of its recent edi-
tions of a constant devaluation
of the DM; that is, its buying
power. If the present tendency
continues, the DM will shortly
fall, for the consumer, to “four-
fifths of today’s value”.

*

Strike of metalworkers in Baden-Wuerttemberg, West Germany.

The importance which the
working class gives to the
elaboration of salary agreements
which are presently due to ex-
pire, and to the collective bar-
gaining now going on which af-
fects more than half the West
German work force is easily
understood. From these negotia-
tions, workers are waiting for
corfipensations for rises in prices,
taxes and social security pay-
ments, along with a real net
salary increase of 4%, the figure
agreed to by the DGB (West
German Trade Union Confede-
ration).

* See * saat | stems.

TIVE.

national Red Cross, 7 Avenue

Between 200,000 and 300,000 prisoners are still in South
Vietnam’s jails. They have no legal rights, are being mis-
treated and tortured. A world-wide emergency committee is
working to focus attention on their plight. Every indication
shows that mass public opinion can help relieve their suffer-
ing and, in some cases, force their release.

In Canada there are now 10 committees working to make
the public aware by circulating documentation about the
prisoners. Lists are available about individuals now in jail.
YOUR CONCERN FOR THEIR WELFARE CAN BE EFFEC-

The Tribune will publish names, serial numbers and the
prison camp name. The campaign to adopt a prisoner could
save his or her life. Write letters to the prisoners directly.
This will show the Saigon authorities that you are concerned.
Letters should also be sent, asking about the charges, treat-
ment and physical condition of these prisoners addressed to:
your own MP; Michel Gauvin, Commander, MCCD-ICCS,
CFPO 5005; Mitchell Sharp, Minister for External Affairs;
Canadian Red Cross, 95 Wellesley St. E., Toronto; The Inter-

Switzerland; ‘President of ‘the Senate, Republic of South
Vietnam, Saigon (AIRMAIL TO S.E. ASIA); Kurt Waldheim,
Secretary General, United Nations, New York, N.Y.

It is important to let us know if you get any response. We
will pass it along to the committees. _

CAMP 1, SALLE 3F1, BATIMENT FG,
CHI HOA, SOUTH VIETNAM

de La Paix, CH 1211, Geneva,

1. Nguyen Van Hien 9386
2. Nguyen Hien 0228
3. Lam Ha Tich 0229
4. Le The Phan 0230
5. Cong Van Tho 0206
6. Dyau 0195
7. Le Phuoc Dao 0204
8. Le Van Luong 0208
9. Nguyen Van Quen 0209
10. Tran Van Bon 0210
11. Nguyen Van Dat 0211
12. Nguyen Huu Toan 0262
13. Nguyen Huu Cam 0263
14. Pham Trung 0264
15. Truong Duc Dieu 0265
16. Tran Que 0266
17. Pham Van Thong 0267
18. Nguyen Cu 0268
19. Le Nha 0269
20. Ghim 0194
21. Pham Xo 2617
22. Tran Hoanh 0240
23. Tran Van Dung 3335
24. Lam Van Hai 4081
Lay-off Threat Vote for Strike

In concrete figures, this would
mean a salary increase of be-
tween 12 and 16%. The union
bargaining committee of the
John Deere—Lanz Co. of Man-
heim, has pointed out that a
wage increase of 15% means a
real net increase of 2%.

To resist the pressure of the
trade unions, management has
resorted to a song that is hardly
new: the spectre of lay-offs and .
lock-outs.

Parallel to this, management
is extending itself, with the com-
plicity of the federal govern-
ment, to neutralize the “social
partnership” by a “pact of sta-
bility.”

Government and monopolist
sectors have pulled out the old
“infernal wage-price cycle”. But
in the steel industry, for ex-
ample, wages do not account for
more than 20% of prices. Fur-
thermore, as prices are not de-
termined only by wages, but
also contain a large constantly
rising profit margin (profits up
26.1% for the Bayer trust; up
34.4% for BASF in the first three
quarters of 1972), a salary in-
crease in the order of 15% is
possible without endangering
the West German economy.

In face of this simple reality,

the action of the metallurgists’ .

union leadership in the bargain-
ing now on at IG Metall which
effects 4,000 steelworkers is
hardly understandable. From an
initial proposition of 11%, well
within that asked for by the
workers, the IG Metall union
leadership has accepted a com-
promise calling for 8.5%. The
workers, who are already on re-
cord in favor of strike action,
voted 25.9% in favor of the pact
proposed by, their union nego-
tiating committee, and 52.2% in
favor of an immediate strike.
But up to the present, the union
leadership at IG Metall has re-
fused to mobilize the workers.

This figure of 8.5% seems to
be the mean rate of salary in-
creases On which collective bar-
gaining in various sectors have
ended. It was on this 8.5% that
contracts for West Germany’s
1,400,000 public service workers
were negotiated. The situation of
West German workers can only
worsen, and rapidly risk posing
to the new Brandt-Scheel govern-
ment the same problems that
worried them before the elec-
tion.

—l’Humanité

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1973—-PAGE 9

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