“WINTER BENEFITS FOR JOBLESS’. That was the main demand of unemployed members of the Vancouver local of the Carpenters Union (above) who picketed the Unemployment Insurance Commission office Dec. 21. That same week jobless members of Local 217 IWA protested unemployment at the Vancouver Manpower centre on West Pender. Wil BEN, WINTE § f BENEFI 4 All Unemp| —Grant Richards photo City bus drivers issue January 4 strike date Hydro bus drivers are fed up. In the second two-week extension of mediator Gus Leonidas’ time, there was but one short discussion with Hydro bosses. ATU spokesmen say the talks have been totally unproductive. On January 4 the ATU drivers in Vancouver and Victoria will take strike action unless something concrete comes up within the week. The B.C. Federation of Labor, through secretary Ray Haynes, said last week the federation would back the ATU drivers all the way, for they were the victims of a frustrating situation brought about by continued extensions of mediation which lead nowhere. Haynes said, “The continuing tactic by the mediation com- mission to extend mediation officer appointments where such extensions are not mutually agreeable is intolerable. “Tt puts the union in a no- man’s land. They can’t strike, they can’t put any pressure on their employer to get him to bargain. They are pushed into an illegal position. “In the last 16-day extension, Mr. Parker, chairman of the mediation commission, stated that he was issuing an extension because a strike would affect public interest. “This is entirely beyond Mr. Parker’s jurisdiction. Public interest, as defined by the Mediation Commission Act, is solely the responsibility of the cabinet . . . Such actions by the commission are destroying any usefulness that could be provided by the mediation officer service.” In the meantime Premier Bennett, who will not return to Victoria until January 19, said he would not hesitate to order the bus drivers back to work if the strike proves to be against the ‘‘public interest.” Mr. Bennett’s government has had since August, when contract negotiations opened, to settle with the bus drivers. 1971 will see at least 130 contracts come up for renewal in B:C., involving some 75,000 workers. Among the unions re- negotiating contracts are the UFAWU for tendermen and shoreworkers; B.C. Hydro, for office and electrical workers, the Meatcutters’ Union for supermarket meat department employees, and the oil refinery workers. Hospital employees and nurses, grain handlers, bakers and maintenance workers will also be negotiating, as well as city hall employees. *** B.C. Government Employees are demanding pay increases ranging from 5 to 25 percent. Following a survey, BCGEU secretary John Fryer said pay increases averaging 12 percent were necessary to bring provin- cial workers wages in line with federal and municipal employees pay. Fryer blasted Premier Bennett for ‘‘posing as Santa Claus’’ every time he announces wage increases or benefits for government employees. He said any benefits the Premier extends have been long fought for the BCGEU. “B.C. has the most repressive labor legislation in Canada and is the only province in the country which has yet to enact collective bargaining rights for its own employees’, he said. * * * From Kelowna Premier Bennett is reported to have made complimentary remarks about the dentists and doctors who have stated they will not raise their fees this year, and suggests that bus drivers should’ be just as “‘unselfish’’. As reports from the B.C. Medical Plan showed that doctors have incomes ranging from $20,000 to $35,000 a year, with dentists following not too far behind, it is understandable they do not need an increase. Bus drivers on the other hand have a take-home pay ranging in the $6,000 bracket. | || Winter henefits now demanded by jobless Facing a cold wind, some 25 unemployed carpenters from Local 452 marched in front of the Unemployment Insurance office on Robson Street. They carried signs demanding ‘‘Winter*Benefits for the Unemployed.” Inside the warm lobby of the building two of the lucky UIC stenos were gossiping: “‘I don’t see why they are demonstrating out there. We give winter insurance benefits!’’ (Which reveals how very out of touch government employees can be, and usually are, with what is going on in the world around them. ) The unemployed carpenters do not get unemployment benefits for the reason they do not have enough stamps in their books to qualify. Although all of them have worked for years at their trade, contributing hundreds of dollars to the fund, this year they are victims of the CLRA summer lockout and Trudeau’s deliberate policy of creating unemployment. Under the Act, as it now’ stands, they do not qualify. In this they are representative of many hundreds of members of the building trades, from carpenters to pipe-fitters to plumbers and electricians to cement mixers. It is to draw the attention of the public and the government to this situation that Local 452 Carpenters marched. Following the demonstration, a delegation of five interviewed the local UIC officials and urged that any person who is or has been a member of the labor force within the last 104 weeks shall receive benefits for the entire period of unemployment, regardless of qualifications. The officials informed them they would call their demands to the attention of Ottawa, and stated they hoped that Labor Mackasey’s White .Paper on Unemployment may bring some relaxation of qualifications. In the meantime, the unemployed carpenters of Local 452 have opened the way for further action of all building trades, and other workers who are being discriminated against by the UIC. Unemployed woodworkers confronted Manpower officials on Wednesday of the same week, and the resentment that has been simmering for months over the so-called ‘‘retraining’’ program came to the surface when the officials tried to put their delegation off with the usual excuses. Resource policy change can spur jobs, growth Cont'd. from pg. 1 A massive housing program would use more lumber and wood products and provide jobs for construction workers while at the same time meeting one of Canada’s major social problems — the lack of adequate housing. But since there is more instant profit to be made by the monopolies in exporting raw logs, the people are expected to continue to suffer unemploy- ment and inadequate housing. Another example of how the present resource giveaway policy of the Socred government harms B.C. is to be seen in the LINEUPS AT UIC. The lines at the Unemployment Insurance Commission offices on Robson Street in Vancouver get longer and longer as winter wears on. Photo shows one such line just before Christmas. PACIFIC TRIBUNE— THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1970—PAGE 12 large scale export of the pro- vince’s minerals, particularly copper. Last year we exported 110,000 tons of raw copper to Japan ata value of $128 million. Recently a mining engineer in B.C. said that if copper was smelted and processed here it would add ten times its value to the province’s economy — or $1,280,000,000 — including thousands of new jobs. It is now estimated that by 1975 we will be exporting 420,000 tons at a value of about $500 million. That same quantity of copper processed in B.C. would add about $5 billion to the economy with all the jobs and economic activity that will entail Yet despite the fact that the least session of the Legislature adopted legislation providing for the setting up of a copper smelter in B.C. we are no nearer to it than we have ever been. Instead there are negotiations now going on with Japanese monopolies to build a smelter for limited processing, the profits of which will also go to Japanese and U.S. big business, who are engaged in joint enterprises in the copper industry. With the B.C. Legislature due to open at the end of January the issue of the government’s resource policy must be made a central one. The giveaways must stop. Processing of raw materials must take place in B.C. Jobs for our growing labor force and the future of B.C. are closely bound up with ending the present disastrous policy, and replacing it by a policy which puts the people’s interests before profits for the monopolies.