Crown Zellerbach Canada Ltd. reported 1968 net income of $12.8 million, with $9.3 milli-~ HERE'S WHY PRICES UP. Above are reproduced clippi Pt from s Vancouver newspapers during the last few days. They sbaie tea rapid rise in profits which nearly all monopolies are enjoying. The overall rise in corporate profits in 1968 was 15 percent. It's no accident that during this same period prices climbed to an all time high. Last Thursday the Dominion Bureau of Statistics reported another jump in January to 158.4 based on 1949 prices equalling 100. The rise in the cost of living, says Ottawa, show a rise in all categories, food, housing, etc., except clothing. Fraser Valley hears Murphy peace report The Fraser Valley Peace Com- mittee was the sponsor of a public meeting last Thursday night in the Dell Hotel, Whalley, where veteran trade unionist, Harvey Murphy reported on his impressions as a delegate at the Hemispheric Conference in Montreal late last year. Attending this conference were 1,800 delegates from all parts of the Western Hemisphere. This conference with many shades of opinion, embodied black Americans, church and peace groups, trade unions and political . parties, had met to deal with one single issue, the war in Vietnam. On this question there was a unanimity of spirit that ‘‘The war must end and the Americans must withdraw.’ It was a profound reflection of peoples concern and their desire for peace. Murphy pointed out that the central position of the North and the National Liberation Front at the Paris talks is that free elections be held in their country and that all viable parties participate and let the people decide their own destiny. Significant in this struggle, said Murphy, is that never in history have a people fought to a standstill an elite military with such advanced superior weapons PUBLIC MEETING “WITHDRAW FROM NATO” Hear NIGEL MORGAN, Provincial Leader CPC Document The Case For Canada’s Withdrawal from NATO, THURSDAY-FEBRUARY 27th-8 PM DELL HOTEL in WHALLEY Everyone Welcome including gasses, napalm and chemical defoliants, and testifies to their determination to win their independance from foreign domination, Also significant is that the war has had a tre- mendous effect on the peoples of America, with the poor and the Negro people bearing the brunt of a horendous war budget. The black people have found a common front with the people of Vietnam. Murphy described the much publicized disruption at the conference where a group of “‘anti-imperialists’’ attempted to take over the platform and split the unity of the gathering by intro- ducing ultra-revolutionary questions unrelated to the whole meaning for the conference being held. The scuffle was brief and the delegates showed their under- standing and determination by defending the solidarity which had been achieved. The meeting unanimously agreed to send a message to the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam congratulating it on the 8th anniversary of the formation of the People’s Libera- tion Armed Forces. ‘‘We know your fight is just and you have our sincere best wishes in your endeavors,’ said the message. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEBRUARY 21, 1969—Page 12 7 LABOR SCENE: VLC voices full support for IWA export ban At this week’s session of the Vancouver and District Labor Council (VLC), Syd Thompson, . president of the Vancouver IWA Local 1-217 and VLC president informed delegates that the IWA has asked the federal govern- ment to place a six-month ban on the export of logs in order that required supplies for B.C. mills could be built up. The IWA wire to federal forrestry minister Jack Davis demanding the six-month export ban on logs drew the minister's attention to the fact that ‘‘many lumber manufacturing plants in B.C. are being closed down or about to close due to a shortage of logs, thereby threatening the livelihood of workers in the industry.” President Thompson told VLC delgates that if this situation continues and lumber prices continue to rise, the IWA “will have no choice but to demand a re-opening of the coast forest industry wage contact. We are in a situation that is almost unbelievable and nothing short of scandalous, with lumber prices increasing at a rate of $10, $12 and $15 per thousand board feet per week. Two-by-fours which sold two years ago at $70 per thousand, now cost $150 and still going up, with all other classes of lumber showing corresponding price increases,” Delegate N. Podvinnikov (Carpenters) stressed the fact that ‘‘no lumber yard can supply its customers with a price list today, simply because these are going up almost daily.’’ Another building trades delegate, quoting from a report of the giant U.S. lumber Weyerhauser corporation, showed the company’s net profit for the fiscal year of $l-billion — a 75 percent jump over the company’s previous profit take. These exhorbitant lumber prices cited by Thompson, plus the chronic log shortage forcing the closing down of B.C. mills, while cargoes of logs go out weekly to Japan, has contributed largely to anywhere from seven to eight thousand loggers being unemployed — all of which indicate the urgent need of prompt government action. In conjunction with its appeal to Ottawa for a ban on the export of logs, the IWA has also appealed to the provincial government's Lands and Forest and Labor ministers, calling for a halt to the issuance of overtime permits requested by big coast Call off W. Berlin vote, says letter The B.C. Peace Council has written to the Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany, at 325 Howe Street, Vancouver, urging that the scheduled presidential election in West Berlin be held in West Germany. Pointing out that West Berlin is not part of the territory of the FRG, the letter calls for special status for West Berlin; the normalization of relations between the two German states and recognition of the GDR. crews overtime, logging operators, allegedly to “meet log requirements’’, but primarily for export rather than B.C. mills. In the view of lumberworkers and others granting permits to operators to work their logging while six or eight thousand loggers are without jobs, just doesn’t make sense, not even with the ‘‘deep snow’ alibi thrown in as the prime cause of the log shortage. Following Thompson's report to the VLC, on which the discussion ranged far and wide on the expert of B.C.’s natural resources to Japan, including logs, the VLC unanimously endorsed IWA proposals for a six- month ban of B.C. log exports, A tentative proposal for an early all- in labor conference on the massive export of B.C.’s raw resources abroad (and incidently jobs) was also mooted. A letter to the VLC from the B.C. Federation of Labor (BCFL) advised that beginning next week the BCFL planned to launch a massive campaign in support of a government- operated system of auto insurance, The letter appealed to VLC affiliates to assist in the mass distribution of tens of thousands of leaflets at all motor vehicle licensing stations during the final weekend (February) rush for new license plates. It was pointed out that the B.C. government itself insures its own motor vehicles with full: coverage at $26.00 per unit, so why not extend such economies to the public? Unlike the Bennett government which selects its Bill 33 ‘‘labor mediators’’ via the backroom high-salary technique, the federal government, also in the market for concilators and suchlike, in a letter to VLC secretary Paddy Neale “‘invites’’ B.C. labor to forward (if it cares to) the names of possible labor RASMINSKY ON INFLATION On February 3 the Overseas Bankers Club in London, England, with many notables in the realm of usury and banking present, threw a banquet in honor of visiting Lovis Rasminsky, governor of the Bank of Canada. In response to his fellow- bankers Rasminsky spoke long and feelingly on the causes and dangers of inflation — especially that “danger” trade unionists in Canada hear so much about when they go after a justifiable hike in wages and salaries — “without a corresponding increase in production,” etc., etc. Ten days later, on February 14 the same Louis Rasminsky received a modest salary increase of $25,000, without so much as a peep about “inflation”, “holding the line”, etc. and ad infinitum. With this boost in salary Rasminsky will now pocket $75,000 annually, without any “inflationary” hangovers rending the Canadian air. That, it would seem, is reserved exclusively for those Oliver Twists of Canadian labor who “ask for more.” candidates, qualified to hold such a position. Delegates voted the federal department letter be ‘received and filed'’, but not before delegate Dave Worlin (CUPE) injected a note of humor into the subject by posing a question: ‘‘Is this supposed to be a consolation prize for those who didn’t make it?’ (in reference to applicants as Bill 33 mediators). President Thompson added to the humor sparked by Worlin’s question by observing, ‘I don’t see anybody rushing for the door.”’ MINING. Cont'd from pg. 1 through surface mining, Rush said. “At the same time,” he added, “we should not lose sight of the fact that even with the most effective controls over surface mining we will still be faced with the problem of stopping the wholesale giveaway of our mineral resources to foreign monopolies.”’ Commenting on the proposed legislation, Rush, whose articles in the PT helped expose the wide- spread devastation threatening the province, said that the Socred government has turned a blind eye to surface mining in various parts of the province for some years. “They only took up the problem of drafting regulations when public opinion forced the government to act. That's why many British Columbians wil! be seriously concerned by these regulations which leave their enforcement largely up to the discretion of the minister. “The mining companies have great political pull in Victoria Can we depend on the present Socred government to enforce these regulations? Obviously,” he said, ‘with the present open- ended legislation the govern- ment will only enforce the regula- tions as public pressure demands. Under this set-up penalties or bonds written into the legislation could become meaningless. “What is meant by the regu- lations which will require companies to post a performance bond of up to $500 per acre? Anything from fifty cents to $500 could be included in that,”’ said Rush. *“** The new proposed regulations also came under sharp fire from Howard Paish, president of the B.C. Wildlife Federation, at a rally in Victoria Monday night. He told an audience of 300 people that the new law on strip mining will be a paper tiger in the hands of mines minister. He said the new regulations will be open to political pressure because arbi- tration is at the discretion of the minister of mines. Paish also voiced strong criticism of the Socred govern- ment for having excluded conservationists and other inter- ‘ested groups from participation in the committee set up to draft the regulations. The committee included three top officials from the Kaiser Corp., CM&S and the B.C. Mining Federation.