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 | | ' |