By SEAN GRIFFIN When in March of this year, Canadian Pacific chalked upa Staggering profit of $113,000,000 for the period 1970 to 1973 it was Something of which several cor- porations could be quite envious — 1970’s-style profits with wages and conditions. that were in vogue during the 1930's. The practice is at its most apparentinCP ships (Bermuda) Where the ships are built in Japan, registered in the tax haven, Bermuda, manned by Cheap foreign labor — all to Carry away Canada’snaturalre- Sources for a quick and easy profit. Itis also reflected inanother CP operation, CP Hotels, which Cater to the very rich and employ, by virtue of the wages Paid, the working poor. On the airline and on therail- Toad, Canadian Pacific ad- amantly refuses to pay its Workers decent wages and benefits. accusing the unions Mstead of making inflationary Wage demands. Ol’ Bill Bennett writing in his labor history, Builders of British Columbia, commented that the Initials of the CPR should really be &SD ~ pounds, shilling and Pence—and while the currency as been updated somewhat Since that time, the CPR‘s 4Pproach to its workers has Changed little since the book peared in 1938. But the CPR is being forced ‘Into modern times, on the rail- Ways. ontheairlinesand, more recently at a place where profits are watched most carefully — the CP Data centre where the Working conditions are even More antiquated than the wages. erkerses: at « the <.:CP’s Ec contre on Vancouver's : aterfront can attest to the long- Standing labor practices of their “Mployer. Last week 64 of them walked off the job ina protest over intolerable conditions, and while their union— the Brother- hood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks — is one of those involved in the non-opera- ting rotating strikes, they did not return to work with the rest of the non-ops and will not return until the working conditions and the CPR are dragged into the 20th century. LOW WAGES The Datacentre is the hub of the CPR’s financial operations. Combined with other centres throughout the country, payroll is handled there, capital expendi- tures controlled there and all accounting maintained. Yetanemployee starting out in the Datacentre gets the princely sum of $79 per week— and 12% less’ if he has no previous experience in the field. After several years with the company he may work up a salary of $187 per week — by which time he will likely be doing the work of three or four people and be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, a common affliction in the centre. Fundamental in the company's approach to the Datacentre operations is the fact that, in company jargon, it is a ‘‘non- revenue operation.” It is a “necessary evil’. as one employee put it— it makes no money for the company butisre- . quired for accounting purposes. As such, the workers at the centre bear the brunt of any cost- cutting programs. So-called industrial engineers and efficiency experts virtually haunt the place, always search- ing for means to cut staff or reduce time spent on complex procedures. In 1966, some 101 men and women were employed at the centre. Now the staff has been reduced to 65— while the work- load has increased 50%. In the t Need t delega tes to Toronto. eq hel Office, Paul Bjarnason : ae Prov. Sec’y, YCL. Anniversary Convention : As members of the Young Communist League and their friends eturn home from Berlin and the World Youth Festival, they are Reakly being put to the test as the YCL prepares for its national iVention this October in Toronto. The YCLwillgointo this 50th "Niversary convention with an impressive list of achieve- Ments. Not least of these isthe World Youth Festival itself, which "ough the League's initiative became a reality for Canadian Youth. At the Festival, the Canadian delegation presented the pleqrmese with a cheque for $24,000 to complete Cakda’s edge for the building of a Children’s Hospital in Vietnam. aa re year’s convention will mark a new plateau for the j % pment of the League. But the convention itself is a major sk for the YCL. The British Columbia section is faced with the © raise some $2500 to cover the expenses of sending To meet our objectives we will need the assistance of the 9¥e’s supporters. We appeal toall friends of the League to Pus make this convention a success. Please send.as generous ‘nation as you find possible to the YCL at the Pacific Tribune YCL 50th’ machine room where telex and wire services are maintained, the staff has been reduced from 15 people in 1966 to the present three: Several of the striking Data- centre employees talked with other members of the non-opera- ting rail unions and the Tribune last week and grievances spilled out, pent up from years of worsening conditions. ‘‘Our people have finally taken enough,’ one worker said, ‘‘that point has finally come.” He had just returned from a three-week vacation and was confronted by a supervisor who informed him that he was expected to main- tain the normal heavy workload as well as complete the work that had gathered during his ab- sence — all within normal working hours. GRIEVANCES Vacation relief is one of the central grievances of the striking Datacentre workers. At present, no replacements are , hired to handle work normally done by those on vacation. Instead, ontheir return, regular employees are ordered to work overtime to catch up on the backlog. The orders are couched ina sort of diplomatic language, reminiscent of master-servant relationships in the last century. A letter one employee had received from a supervisor under the heading Internal Correspondence left no doubt as to the tone of the CPR’s labor relations. Since the work has not been completed, the letter stated, *-you are therefore ordered to work Saturday.’ The order con- cluded with a scarcely-veiled threat, ‘“‘your cooperation is therefore solicited to avoid drastic measures having to be taken.” Vancouver Island LABOUR PICNIC & CONCERT & SALON BAR-B-Q Parksville Community Centre (Rain or Shine) SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND 1- 7 P.M. Top musical entertainment Free Ice cream for the children ALL WELCOME 50th ANNIVERSARY BANQUET Sept. 15 Fishermen’s Hall 6:30 p.m. Tickets $4.00 Pens., High Sch., $3.00 at Co-Op Bookstore PT Office, from YCl’ers Hear Liz Hill General Secretary YCL Dance to Vision YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE While the contract negotiated by the union calls for a 37% hour week, most of the employees work an average of 50 hours under extreme pressure. But staff reductions and sub- sequent speed-up are at the heart of the walkout. With every wage increase has come another layoff. And withevery layoff has come an additional procedure to carry out, another statement to prepare to ensure an even greater measure of profit for the company. PROFIT WATCHDOG One of the recent innovations that has increased the workload one-and-a-half times is what the CPR calls ECS— expenditure control system. Under the system, employees are ex- pected to function not only as accountants but also financial analysis, checking up on other CPR operations and capital expenditures. And all of the pro- cedures are subject to complex regulations. “What it amounts to is they want to know why we're using more rubber bands than last year, one long-time employee commented wryly. ‘And they want me to be a watchdog for the company’s profits.” Several meetings have been held with the company in an attempt tostopthestaffreduc- tions and ensure that more staff will be hired to meet the increased workload— all to no avail. The company has coined the term ‘‘peaks and valleys” to denote seasonal levels in the amount of work coming into the Datacentre but the workers’ angry response tothatis, *‘the company wants us to work at peak capacity witha valley staff. Canadian Pacific has also stated that it has initiated several surveys supposedly to streamline procedures and ease the workload but continuing lay- offs prove that they areintended only for the purpose of cutting staff to an even greater extent. | Speed-up issue in CP Datacentre strike FULL SUPPORT In staging the strike, the Data- centre workers have the full support of the other railway unions, both operating and non- operating. Marshall Hill, Asso- ciated Non-Operating Railway Unions strike committee chair- man Said that ‘‘it’s tremendous how these workers walked out— with only one person refusing— over the issue of working conditions in general and speed- up in particular. It indicates the mood of railway workers who have just had enough.” Previously, the railway unions ‘have been divided fron one an- other partly, in the case of the Datacentre workers, asa result of a sense of professionalism. But the strike has beena major consolidating force for unity. ‘“The way we have to see it now,’ one young woman noted, “‘is to look at the workers from the other railway unions and say ‘he’s my brother’ or ‘she’s my sister’ and we're in this to gether.”’ Also, in previous strikes, the Datacentre staffers have con- tinued working in order to com- plete the payroll, one of their many functions. But this time they're holding another trump card. When they walked out last Wed- nesday, they left behind them the supervisors— who need the Datacentre workers for without them, there will be no paycheque. Beaver Transfer * Moving * Packing * Storage 790 Powell St. Phone 254-3711 Classified Advertising COMING EVENTS BUSINESS PERSONALS August 25th — SLIDE SHOW- ING from Roddy & Velda’s recent SOVIET TOUR, at 915 Chestnut St., New Westmin- ster Saturday, August 25th, 8:00 p.m. — ? Admission $1.50. Music, Eats and Re- freshments. New Westmin- ster CPC. For information phone 521-5847. August 25th — B.C. Commit- tee for World Congress of Peace Forces will hold an INTERNATIONAL BUFFET DINNER, Saturday, August 25th at 6 p.m. at Jonnie & Harry Rankins, 3570 Hull Street. Admission $3.00 per person — students, pens. $1.50. Entertainment and _ White Elephant Sale. Proceeds to send delegates to the World Congress in Moscow in Oc- tober. Enjoy a Progressive Vacation at LAKEVIEW TRAILER COURT on Beautiful Kootenay Lake, Kaslo, B.C. Camping, Trail- er Space, Boating Swimming & Fishing. Reasonable Rates. VINCE’S MOVING & STOR- AGE. Call anytime, rea- sonable rates. 688-7639 or 254-1472. WANTED Small 2 or 3 bdrm. house with _. some garden, to rent by young couple with 3 yr. old boy. Con- venient to Main & 49th. Ph. 228-9166. HALLS FOR RENT. UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CULTURAL CENTRE - 805 East Pender St.. Vancouver 4, Available for banquets. wed- dings, meetings. Phone 254- 3436. September 2 — PICNIC, SEPT- EMBER 2nd — 12 p.m. at SAMPO HALL, Websters Corners. Bus leaves 11 a.m. from 805 E. Pender St., (Uk- rainian Hall). Smorgasbord and Program. ALL WEL- COME. Ausp. F.O. Local 55. PACIFIC TRIBUNE— WEBSTER’S CORNER HALL — Available for banquets, meetings, weddings, etc. For rates, Ozzie 325-4171 or 685- 5836. RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME. Now available for rentals. For reservations phone 254-3430. FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 1973—PAGE 7