Labour

GLC out of step

in stand on GST

By BRUCE YORKE

The 2%2-million strong Canadian Labour
Congress has so far not taken a strong lead-
ership role against the Tories’ nine per cent
Goods and Services Tax (GST) — a mas-
sive assault on the living standards of work-
ing people.

Moreover, they are considering adopting
an official position that, in effect, accepts
the tax in principle, and urges modification,
rather than issuing a ringing call for its out-
right rejection.

On Aug. 23, Shirley Carr, CLC presi-
dent, circulated to members of the CLC
executive council a draft of a brief to be
presented to the House of Commons Stand-
ing Committee on Finance.

The draft starts off on a sound basis, but
it ends by surrendering the pass.

Carr notes: “The tax system as a whole
should be made less dependent upon con-
sumption taxes as opposed to progressive
taxes on income and on wealth.” She adds
that we “need a strong and stable tax base in
order to support the continued provision of
high quality public services.”

And she makes a further important
point: “It is important that our opposition
to the GST proposal be presented within
this framework, since other opponents
would like to defeat the GST in order to lay
the ground for a renewed attack on public
spending.”

It sounds good, but then comes this basic
conclusion:

“Consistent with the view of the CLC
that we should reduce reliance on consump-
tion taxes, and consistent with our concern
over the inflationary consequences of the
GST proposal, a new federal sales tax
should be structured so as to collect no
more than $16 billion in revenue. If the
government’s proposal re the structure of
the GST were followed in full, this would in
itself mean a GST rate of six per cent or less
instead of nine per cent. Prices overall
would fall rather than increase.”

To be blunt: this is flagrantly inconsist-
ent. It doesn’t take into account the impact
that sales taxes have on working people and
the poor and it echoes the position of big
business analysts who are suggesting a
lower rate. It is saying — yes, we support
the GST, only cut it down a third from nine
per cent to six per cent!

Any conception that the GST will in fact
simply replace the old Manufacturers’ Sales
Tax and that prices will fall if the tax is
imposed at six per cent instead of nine per
cent, is economic day-dreaming.

When has it ever been that corporations
controlling most of the economy as they do,
will drop their prices? No, they will keep the
“savings” themselves and the ordinary
working person will now be billed directly

_for the Tories nine per cent tax grab.

The draft presentation goes on to make
various suggestions that would reduce the
effective rate to around five per cent and
they do call for a two per cent reduction in
interest rates on the accumulated public
debt, a measure which if implemented,
would save around $3 billion.

But there is also a clear statement of
support for a tax on services, since in the
view of the CLC, services are dispropor-
tionately consumed to a greater extent by
upper income groups.

The congress also favours the sales tax
approach because in its view, it is an effec-
tive way to prevent tax evasion by small
business, as if they were the problem, rather
than big business and the banks.

To sum up the CLC’s lack of position:

There is no ringing cry to scrap the GST,
only proposals to modify it.

There is no proposal to mount a massive
campaign to defeat it completely.

There is no call for implementation of the
1967 Carter Royal Commission on Taxa-
tion recommendations that would really
bring about progressive tax reform.

There is no demand that the government
force the corporations to pay up their $34
billion in deferred corporate income taxes.

There is no demand for significant cuts in
the so-called “defence” expenditures, which
are continuing to rise.

There is no demand for full, democratic
public hearings before the Commons
finance committee. There is not even a sug-
gestion of support for the petition campaign
of the New Democratic Party, whose main
demand is: “Reject the current proposal for
a Goods and Services Tax.”

Ordinary working people are bearing
more and more of the federal tax burden.
Just how much more? John Orr, a former
federal civil servant and a director of the
Council of Canadians has produced figures
from official Statistics Canada sources
which illustrate the extent of the shift. I have
restated his figures. (see table)

As the figures show, there has been a °

massive shift away from corporate taxes to
individuals, both with regard to income and
regressive consumption taxes.

The nine per cent GST would carry this
process even further.

The GST is supported by the Canadian
Manufacturers Association, the Business
Council on National Issues (the two main
pushes behind the free trade deal), the Busi-
ness Council of B.C., the Canadian
Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian
Exporters and the Fraser Institute.

The opposition so far is being taken by
eight out of the nine premiers, who want to
protect their own regressive sales taxes and

= want to see cuts in federal services.
Real estate groups, restaurant owners, -

tourist operators and the Canadian Federa-
tion of Independent Business also oppose
the GST, but many of them want to see
federal government services slashed.

The CLC is not doing what it is supposed
to do — defend the interests of working
people. It is not too late for the CLC to take
an unambiguous position in opposition to
the GST.

Working people and their allies can bring
pressure on the CLC to switch into high
gear to really lead a mass campaign to com-
pletely defeat, not modify, this massive
attack on the living standards of Canadians.

taxes

Percentage of the Federal Tax Burden

Borne by corporate income and direct taxes

Borne by indiviual income and direct taxes

Borne by indirect, consumption and regressive

1950 1988 Change
34% 8% 26% drop
35% 47% 12% increase
31% 45% 16% increase

12 e Pacific Tribune, September 18, 1989

gms os a:

NDP MP Jim Karpoff gives support to striking UFCW members, Sept. 9.

‘Stepped-up
action seen

at Pharmasave

Province wide actions outside all
outlets of Pharmasave may be consi-
dered if the year-old strike at the drug
store chain’s branch in the Newton
Town. Centre in Surrey is not soon
settled, a rally of some 150 people was
told Sept. 9.

Newly-elected B.C. Federation of
Labour secretary-treasurer Angela Schira
pledged greater action by labour at the
noon gathering in the mall, while New
Democrat MP Jim Karpoff and NDP
MLA Joan Smallwood also gave their
support to the 11 women strikers seeking
a first contract.

United Food and Commercial Work-
ers Local 1518 president Brooke Sundin
said later that “these people are a tragedy
of Bill 19.” Talks broke off last January
when management, who took over the
outlet in 1987 and reduced wages and
cancelled long-standing benefits, refused
to consider the union’s demand for a
‘contract in line with those at other drug
stores organized by the UFCW.

Noting that the picket line has reduced
business at the store, Karpoff said the
main business at the outlet comes from
its postal franchise. He called it a shame
that Canada Post was being used to
break strikes.

Schira new B.C.
Fed secretary

The B.C. Federation of Labour’s
executive council last week named vice-
president Angela Schira as federation
secretary-treasurer, one of two full-time
officers’ posts in the 275,000-member
labour central.

Schira, the 36-year-old president of
the Provincial Council of Machinists,
replaces Cliff Andstein who stepped
down from the post in the summer to
take up the newly-established position of

contract and resources services manager
for the B.C. Government Employees
Union, the union from which he had
originally come. Andstein was first
elected secretary of the federation in
1984.

B.C. Fed president Ken Georgetti said
Schira was the first woman to hold full-
time office in the federation. He noted
that she “already has a wealth of expe-
rience within the labour movement.” —

Schira has been a federation officer for
the past five years and has been involved
nationally through the Canadian Labour
Congress.

Privatization
filling jails

The Social Credit government’s con-
tinuing efforts to privatize alcohol and
drug treatment programs will only create
more crises like the one in Victoria where
a judge sent a 16-year-old girl to jail for
lack of alternative facilities, the B.C.
Government Employees Union charged
this week. d

Victoria Youth Court Judge Loretta
Chaperon sent a 16-year-old cocaine
addict to jail, stating that it was the only
safe place she could find for the teenager.
She-stated that she was appalled by the
government’s unwillingness to provide
programs for young addicts.

“Teens in trouble need help, not jail,”
said BCGEU president John Shields. “But
at a time when there is growing recogni-
tion of the drug abuse crisis and an urgent
need for treatment programs, the
government is trying to sell off its alcohol
and drug treatment programs.”

Shields said the problem stems from
the restraint program in 1983 when the
government eliminated 600 child care

counsellors, youth workers, family sup- _

port and child abuse workers and con-
tracted out services they had formerly —
provided to private agencies whose fund-

ing has steadily been cut over the years. |

Once the centres are privatized, the
government reduces funding and finally
forces the centre to close or cut back
services, Shields warned.

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