, STOP PROFITEERING! The Communist Party's boothat the PNE withits striking message. Thedisplay has provoked muchdis- cussion and hundreds of passers-by have stopped to sign petitions against high prices. Here members of the Young Communist League discuss the prices issue. —Sean Griffin photo ALDERMAN RANKIN Start on rapid transit Even the Establishment, or at least a part -of it, is coming around to the idea that we need rapid transit in Vancouver. That’s shown by recent edi- torials in both daily papers favor- ing action on the issue. It’s afar cry from theirstandacoupleof years ago when I[inCounciland Bruce Yorke of the Citizens Committee for Public Transit outside Council were fighting the Third Crossing and urging rapid transit. Then the Estab- lishment was all for freeways. But City Council is still far be- hind the times. Thenew TEAM Council has been long on plati- tudes but short on action, on rapid transit as well as many other issues. COPE launches campaign on ward plebiscite With the public hearings into electoral reform in Vancouver completed, the Committee of Progressive Electors an- nounced this week that COPE alderman Harry Rankin would place a motion before City Council calling for a simple three-question ballot on elec- toral reform to be used for the October 24 plebiscite. The three questions proposed for the plebiscite are: (1) Are you in favor of an at-large sys- tem ora ward system? (2) Ifa ward system, are you in favor of a full ward system ora partial mounting hourly. as Frank Hall and his breed. ward system? (3) Are you in favor of the election of the mayor at large or by a majority of Council? Former aldermanic candidate Bruce Yorke, who spearheaded COPE’s campaign for a full ward system consisting of 21 area aldermen, said that ‘‘we are concerned that the voters get a clear choice on the main question, namely retention or abolition of the at-large sys- tem. “The first question on our pro- posed ballot is designed to settle this main question,”’ he said, “‘whereas the second is: de- signed to determine the form of a possible change.”’ The wording on the proposed ballot was the result of a joint meeting of a committee con- sisting of executive members of COPE and the. Vancouver Area council of the N.D.P. Several other points of agree- ment onelectoralreform were reached during the joint meet- ing including two-year alder- manicterms, arearepresenta- tion for school and park boards, party affiliations onthe ballot, one-member wards, no finan- cial deposits for candidates and a late October election date. COPE has also launched plans for the convening of a public conference of all groups in the city which support the full ward system, fer the purpose of con- ducting a vigorous campaign leading up to the October 24 plebiscite. Details of the public confer- ence on the ward system are to be announced later. he rotating strikes of non-operating rail workers have been escalated into a general strike, and theclamor for extra-legal or parliamentary action to end the tie-up is Some lessons have been learned, some have yet tobe. Since . the early 20’s and before, the non-ops, running trades and back-shop rail workers were considered, and considered themselves, as the haute elite of Canadian unionism. In their, struggles with the rail magnates, they spurned unity withany “outside elements,’’ decided to go - it - alone, and generally took a beating at the hands of such sell-out union negotiators In their regional and provincial stoppages, the railroaders have already well demonstrated a magnificant discipline and unity, the dual ingredients for union victory. Away back in the mid-20’s the late Communist leader Tim ‘land to the city at greatly ® ton per man than ever before, with the process still escala- ing. Aside from having an open door to the public purse when- ever they felt likeit, the rail barons had another well- worked - out gimmick for scalping the longtime rail. worker— howto deprive him of his long-service pension, or most of it at least. The CPR computed its pension schemes ona ‘‘continuous’’ basis. If a rail worker went on Strike, or joined ina sympa- thetic strike, such as the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, his service, in the language of the rail baron, became ‘‘cumula- tive.’’ Moreover, he had to signa ‘‘Yellow Dog”’ contract affirming he would never go on strike again, before he got his job back. The CPR mail clerk Duncan McLean, veteran Com- munist and P.T. mailer, had his job and his pension cancelled out in this CPR style, while the late William Hope of North Vancouver was robbed of most of his pension after a “‘cumulative”’ service of close to 50 years. Bill had also joined in the 1919 strike. Many thousands of rail telegraphers, mail clerks, linemen and non-ops generally suffered the same fate. The unity of to- day would have brought a happier ending to many, and blocked CPR robbery! : Meantime, the rail tycoons have never beenbackward inde- manding multi-million dollar subsidies, lands and other pro- perties to facilitate their so-called public service. For this service, the public has had to pay, and pay, and pay... A one-time Tory prime minister of Canada, seeking to beat down arising parliamentary opposition to this bare-faced Buck published his first pamphlet entitled ‘‘Amalgamation— The Railroaders’ First Step,”’ in which the urgency of unity be- tween the rail workers on Canada’s twomajorrailsystems was the paramount issue. Largely it fell on deaf ears and the exploitation mounted step by step. The railway worker, what- ever his category or classification, unable to achieve the CPR robbery, made the comment that “‘the day when the CPR goes down, the government of Canada will go down with it.”’ Prophetic indeed— from a rail monopoly angle! And don’t think that the Canadian National Railway, ‘‘our as the old CCF right-wing spokesmen were wont to ’ railway’ the USA. unity attained today, was aneasy victim for the rail barons and the trade union sell-out bureaucratsin both Canada and The inevitable result followed. An elaborate grievance machinery was perfected, not to settle grievances but to by- pass or forget them. In Division Four, covering 17 backshop unions, grievance after grievance went the rounds of local, re- gional and national committees, only to be lost in transit. The late Tom Bain fought year after year in Division Four conventions to have these grievances adjusted, but littleor nothing ever happened. To take smoke and carbon monoxide out of back shops required expenditure, and the rail barons were not spending money on such trifles. Better to spend it on technological advance which, in essence, meant more pro- fits in upping the haulage tariff and getting more mileage per extol as a fine sample of ‘‘democratic socialism,’’ has missed a chance to rook the public treasury. Not on your life. They had afine start in the old daysin the railway “free enter- prising’’ of MacKenzie and Mann, and they haven’t forgotten the techniques. ‘ Today of course theserail “patriots” arehighly alarmed about the economy, etc. It’s a wonder they didn’t think of that before and pay the railroad workers a comparatively decent wage to assure that the ‘‘economy”’ survived. Perhaps they were hoping that anew Frank Hall would showupto sell-out the non-ops, or a’ bevy of judges would climb out of bed at3 a.m. (fast time) to signa sheaf of injunctions, or M. Trudeau would follow the precedent of an earlier P.M. and fork over Now with the kind of unity the railroaders have forged they can afford to wait— and make it work both ways “cumulative and continuous’’— for victory! oe : os needed It isn’t that Council lacks st dies on rapid transit. We havé probably more of them on file in City Hallthan you couldread in a lifetime. We have all the plans we need, all the informa” tion we need. The report on R@) gional Transportation pre pared by the Greater Vancol ver Regional District in Oct; ber 1971 included detailed plan) for improved bus service, fast bus (express bus) services all lightrapid transit covering tey whole Lower Mainland. The? city’s planning department ha} prepared a 47-page report pr” posing a subway system cost ing between $100 million af $270 million. : But Council refuses so far@) take-any action. All we get ® talk. UF I’m more than a little susp! | cious that this studied inact”! is not just due to inertia. be could be happening is this. Re estate interests could now” getting information on Pp posed rapid transit routes. Th will then buy up lands in thes" areas at current prices. The | when the city publicly dec! \ on these routes, they willsell’ | flated prices and make milli® in profit through this no-risk § culation. qo What City Council should now is to quickly decide if the routes, buy up the necessa’ land and in this way decide and control the cours development — the apartm projects and business ce? that are bound to grow uparoy” rapid transit stops. me And building should st nts one or more rapid transit aa right away with the aimof tt ing them in operation inele 10 years. It will take thatl0y but it need not take any lo? aad we get on with the job now ifr not allow the real estate ig terests to lead us by the while robbing our pockets: i Responsibility for the es transit system for the © apy Mainland could be assur ofl a regional transit 4”. representative of them lities involved. Operating ot could be shared betwee? ine gion and the province, over! provincial and federal ® | art Ot ae ments should be press ve end therather large capita tures involved. ne The precedent for fedet™ ail nies is clear. otter pt | through Winter WP. qv | grams substantial sums” psp! ronto’s subways. ° "fy was used as the basis fo) a ty ing the Montreal subi nee we show real leadership we can get monies fOr © vel tal costs from senior — | ments. : el Beaver Transt | * Moving * Packing * . Storage fer PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1973—PAGE 2 | 790 Powell 2 Phone 254-30