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what recent studies show |

By S. SARKIN
echanical advances have
been. responsible for
methods in production in in-
dustry throughout the land.
New machines introduced in-
to sections. as well as whole
industrial complexes. are
leading to greater and. ever-

increasing automation.

These changes in the evalu-
ation of the forms of produc-
tion have been. going on for
some. time. Dating from the
second’ world’swar. this..pro-
cess has*in recent “years; been
tremendously — accelerated.
New machines are perform-
img a multitude of functions
which were formerly the do-
main of workers. The result
has been that growing num-
bers of workers are now find-
ing themselves in the ranks of
the unemployed.

_ Thus the general econornic
‘situation has been compound-
_€d_by..automation which be-

comes yet another factor in
the. growth of*the ranks. of
- the..jobless. This new: devel-
opment brings to the fore
new. problems as well-as new
-Tesponsibilities. for the work-
- Mg class iand. the’ trade-union
Movement :in:our country.
NEW TRENDS IN
INDUSTRY: AND’ BIG
BUSINESS —

Simultaneous: with the new
i developntent: noted’above; we
2 ADE also-“seeing ‘mergers’ in-
> volving huge! industrial en-

» sterprises ‘and financial = “inter-

* .estsx: There: ‘is, of course, “no-

~ thing new in’ thefact® that

huge enterprises have con-
tinued - to» swallow » up small
businesses-of all’ types” and
kinds... Lately, however, “we
are observing a new: Shoe
omena — the*merging of the
‘big’. This is: to be seen’ in
lumber, ‘pulp: and paper, in
‘Mining. banking,.. steel and
Tailroads.

Economics “experts” would
have us believe that the am-
algamation: of these “giants”
is based on the concept of
reducing overhead, cutting
Production costs, etc. What

THE DIESEL ‘ENGINE. In its wake it turned many

Syd Sarkin, a veteran
Canadian trade unionist,
who has lived in Vaxcou-
ver for the past few years,
recently concluded a study
of important problems af-
fecting Canadian labor.

- We present here a por-
tion of that study dealing
with the growing effects
of automation, and _ the
changes it is bringing to
the labor movement. —
Editors.

they conveniently forget to
say is that these mergers,
coupled with automation, re-
duces the working force thus
ensuring great profits.

THE RESULTS OF
AUTOMATION

The effects of automation
in plants have already been
discussed in the working
class press in general terms.
The time is ripe for a very
practical discussion in the
trade unions ‘and among
workers about the results of
automation in terms of jobs.
Examples a-plenty. are before
us now.

A pipe- -producing plant was
recently automized. This plant
now produces four times as
many pipes with one third
of the number: of «workers.
Two or three workers now
operate an entire oil refinery.
which is controlled by an el-
ectrical brain. The task of
these workers is confined to
the pushing of buttons. Com:
plters, operated by a very
few workers now produce
tools, automobile parts, aero-
planes, etc.

Needless to say the cost of
production has been substan-
tially reduced. C.M.&.S., the
great smelting firm in Trail,
B.C., is now building a huge
plant at a cost of five to six
million dollars. This plant
will employ about eight (8)
workers instead of two to
three hundred formerly need-
ed for such an operation.

Sixty-five per-cent more
cars. are being produced by

railway communities

|
the same number of workers |
1947. |
Auto |

as were employed in
In recent years. the
Workers Union lost 350
thousand workers. A modern
steel ‘plant now.» needs 12
workers per hour in order
to produce a ton of steel
whereas 20 were | required
before. At the same time au-
tomation has increased pro-
duction per worker. Between
the years 1947 to 1960 indus-
trial production has risen
56% while .the number. of
workers has risen 11%. The
average workweek per hour
has simultaneously dropped
by 7%

WHAT RECENT
STUDIES SHOW

Professor William Head,
economist of the University
of Toronto, has recently made

-a study of secondary indust-

ry ‘in: Canada. He: points out
that in the first. six. months
of 1960 production stood at
20% higher than that in
1955. while the
employed had risen by one (1)
per cent!

The Financial Post: of Tor-
onto writes: “Few Canadians
grasp: the character and the
seriousness of the present un-
employed situation.” - While

b autoynobile production has ‘in- |

creased by! 50% employment

‘rose by’ 11%’. Increase’ in el-

ectrical sappliances: 54%*em*
ployment 19%. “Certainly,”

| writes the Post;“‘this:is good’

in terms of-costs; but it caus=
es great hardship on both
young and older workers who
are confronted with layoffs.”

L. P. Kennedy, manager of |

the engineering division of
General Electric; places the
question without frills. He
states simply “it pays, it is
cheaper to use. machines: ra-
ther than men.” Other experts
are quick to inform us that
we are only at the beginning
of our automation’ process.
Every possibility exists for
the complete automation of
every phase of industry. and
manufacturing. Big firms are
now spending millions in an

into ghost

~ towns: ‘and’-brought unemployment to thousands of Canadian workers. This.is the trend

‘@verywhere unless labor develops a united fight for a program which will reine the

‘Worker: and” bring “him ‘some of the benefits from automation.

number “of

ST ee ae ne ae See nee STS

|

Magazine Section

mee

An example of new production methods introduced in B.C.’s
wood indusiry some time ago. This. giant lathe
the-big fir log into a strip of veneer that may be as long as
one mile without a break, all of uniform thickness. From the
lathe the eight foot wide veneer passes into cutting machines
and dry kilns before being glued inio laminated panels. ----.

“unwinds”

YEAR
1. White Collar workers
2.. Industrial Workers
3. Service. Workers
4. Farm Workers

DISTRIBUTION OF CHIEF FORMS OF
OCCUPATION BY PERCENT*

* Figures issued by the U.S.’ Department of Labor.
A similar trend is evident in Canada.

1900 1930 1950 1959
17.6 29.4 36.6 424
35.8 °.896 ..41.1.... 39.9
9.0 98. <105. =123
366: BIZ 11.8 8.5

effort to achieve this end.
World News and: Report,.in
special issue says, ‘The ques-
tion which remains.is.— how
far and ‘how: fast to.go.”’

“AMIDST GROWING
UNEMPLOYMENT

The aforementioned is tak-
ing place-at a time when the
mass of. jobless workers are
being joined by the second
world war babies. These “‘ba-
bies’, both in the United
States and Canada are now
coming of working age. The
ranks of the unemployed are
being augmented. To the
general problem of unem-
ployment is now added a new
phase: chronic unemployment
as a result of these new de-
velopments in industry.

New developments in in-
dustry constitute only a por-
‘tion of the:problems confron-
ting the working class and the
organized trade union move-
ment today. In reeent years
the ranks. of the working
class, both in Canada and. the
United. States, . have. under-
gone some important changes.
These must receive our most

| serious attention.

-Let us for: example, exam-
ine the relationship ‘between

and the “white collar .work:
ers.” For years it was anac-
cepted fact that . industrial
workers représented the over-
whelming majority. between

“the
“white collar -workers’’)con+
,Stitute. a_ relatively unimport-
ant factor in the working
class movement.

the industrial .working class:

these: two. categories. “Phus: ait
‘l-was considered ‘that —

}this important | and

. This fallacy is still preve-
lant. today. Many trade un-
ionists.and trade union offic-
ials. are unaware of. the great
changes in this-regard. Yet an
appreciation 6f) these chang-
es are important ‘to the pro-
per estirAation with respect
to such problems as the or-
ganization of the unorganiz-
ed, as well as the whole mat-
ter of unity of the working

class in order to be able to

withstand the onslaught. of
the bosses.

The Department of Labor
in the United States provid-
es us. with some very reveal-
ing figures reprinted on this
page. While these are U.S.
figures they are nevertheless
very close approximations of
our own situation. in Canada.

The number of industrial
workers continued: to rise up
to 1950 even though the in-
erease was slight. In 1959> the
number of industrial workers
had fallen below. the. figures
in the hungry. thirty’s. On the
other -hand, we note a con-
tinual. upward climb among:
white collar workers, and’
this sector has in fact sur‘

passed the figure of industrial‘
workers.
-process: of automation on the

The effect of. the’

growth of the white collar’
worker has yet to. be-proper-.
ly: assessed in order to be able
to»appreciate it’s full impact.

-and to: take’ ‘the’ steps” neces-!

‘sary to mobilize the full re-)
‘sources of the Canadian trade:
union: movement: to organize
rapidly.
growing section of our work-
ing population.

February 16, 1962—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 5

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