Food...

i |

FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1958
orised as second class mail by

VANCOUVER, B.C. lO¢

oe Sot Office Department, Ottawa

=

k ten}; ated 10,000 people turned out to greet this modern
Tho, °f the SS. Commodore when it sailed into Victoria
. “St Saturday in one of the most colorful Centennial
ag teed. The Commodore was the ship that carried

Se 450 Sold seekers from California to Victoria in 1858.
ree replica was created by reconverting HMCS

phone... electricity

POLIES READY —
NEW PROFIT GOUGE

The price gouge is on and the sky is the limit, as far as the big monopolies are
concerned. B.C. Telephone seeks a hefty rate boost, although its rates are among the highest
in Canada\ (see story on back page). B.C. Eleciric wants to raise its electricity rates, and has
circularized all its customers with the claim thai it isn’t making the profits it should (see story
on this page). Food costs (beef, vegetables, other basic foodstuffs) are zooming upward as

PUC tries to rush

BCE rate

hearing

Effic Jones, Civic Reform Association president, this week
protested the date set by the Public Utilities Commission for
a public hearing on a B.C. Electric application to boost
electric rates. Date announced by the PUC for Vancouver

hearings is May 21.

In her le‘ter to the PUC
(and in a second letter to
Vancouver City Council ask-
ing support for her position)
Mrs. Jones drew attention to
the fact that the telephone
hearing by the Board of
Transport Commissioners,
which opens here May 20,
would be running concurrent-
ly. This would make it im-
possible for organizations
such as the Civic Reform,
trade unions, ratepayers and
others to attend both hear-
ings.

Time being allowed by the
PUC for organizations to
study the BCE applications
and prepare opposing briefs
is far too short, Mrs. Jones
charged. Pressure must be

exerted by public bodies to
have the hearing postponed.

Public ownership of the
B.C. Electric was proposed
Monday by Reeve Alan Em-
mott of Burnaby. He made
the suggestion after BCE vice-
president Dr. H. L. Purdy had
failed to convince the munici-
pal council that his company’s
proposed boost in rates was
necessary.

Burnaby council finally de-
cided. to consult the Union of
B.C, Municipalities for joint
action in bucking the BCE
bid. Council also agreed to
spend up to $800 as Burnaby’s
share in preparing a_ brief
against the proposed rate in-

(Continued on back page)

See BCE

the big chain’ stores and

supermarkets — but not the
farmers -— rake in super-
profits.

Who’s to blame for all this?
Not labor, which fights for
wage increases in a desperate
effort to main‘ain its living
standards in the face of rising
cost of living.

A glance at the annual
reports of the big corpora-
tions and monopolies supplies
the answer. These gigantic
ou'fits are still making mil-
lions, ina period of wide-
spread unemployment whch
has hit the working class in
the pocketbook.

The answer? Public pres-
sure to halt the price-gouging
of the B.C. Telephone, B.C.
Electric and the food profit-
eers. And labor unity and
militant struggle to win wage
increases in the coming
months.

DRY DOCK PROFIT UP—

But job prospects gloomy

Heavy layoffs at Burrard
Dry Dock over the past six
months didn’t prevent the
company from making a net
profit of $1,026,972 last year
(as compared to $985,210 in
1856) but outlook for increas-
ed employment this summer
is gloomy, and further lay-
offs are anticipated.

“A sharp decline in ship
charter rates and the lack of
a long-term policy by the
federal government in con-
nection with a Canadian mer-

at this time,”

chant marine, protection of
the Canadian coasting trade
and naval building require-
ments are factors which pre-
clude an optimistic viewpoint
said company
president Clarence Wallace in
his annual report.

The firm has a surplus bal-
ance of $11,573,557, and work-
ing capital is placed at $8,-
720,996,-up from $8,034,595 in
1956.

Burrard Dry Dock is now
constructing two destroyer

escorts — the Kootenay and
Columbia — and expects to
get a contract for a_ third
ship this summer. Two small
steel barges are also current-
ly under construction.

The company has contracts
to build a federal government
icebreaker, supply and buoy
vessel and a supply, buoy,
search and rescue ship. That,
plus a few repair jobs, is all
the work in sight.

It looks like a grim summer
for shipyard workers.