acne A ES,

It is nine years since compul-
sory arbitration for hospital
workers was imposed by- this
Tory government. It is five years
ago since budgetary controls
were imposed on hospital boards
by the same government. A
most rigid form of wage freeze
coupled. with a strike ban for
good measure. :

Presently a plumber in a To-
ronto hospital earns $4.60 per
hour. The rate for a comparable
job in industry is $9.40 per hour.
The current rate for cleaners or
porters at Queensway hospital
is $2.96 per hour. Toronto Board
of Education cleaners under
contract with the Canadian
Union of Public Employees are
paid $4.14 per hour. Since 1965
hospital workers have fallen a
long way behind other service
workers and those in industry
generally.

The Davis government at
Queen’s Park is fully aware of
this. Abundant evidence has
been provided by the union, in-
cluding a brief on June 14, 1973

urging government ceilings be.

lifted to allow decent wages for
low-paid hospital workers. Labor
Minister Fern Guindon has avail-
able ample government statis-
tics on the real situation.
Nevertheless he has chosen
this particular time when CUPE
is negotiating with seven out of

11 Toronto area hospitals and-

the first case has reached the
conciliation stage, to announce
the appointment of a Commis-

sion to study hospital wages-

and negotiation structures. At
the same instant, Health Minis-
ter Richard Potter set up his
own Commission to ascertain
whether Government ceilings on
hospital board spending are
working hardships on their em-
ployees. If hospital workers are
found to be underpaid, the
health ministry, says Potter,
will consider allocating funds
to hospital boards specifically
to raise wages. His Commission
is to report by June.

The fact is that this is a poli-
tical maneouvre aimed to con-

fuse and mislead the workers ~

and the public at large. It is
buck-passing and _ interference

CALGARY — A campaign has
started here to win higher wages
for close to 2,000 of Alberta’s
working poor — employees of
nursing homes. Art Roberts, na-
tional representative of the
Canadian Union of Public Em-
ployees, has demanded that Al-
berta Health Minister Neil Craw-
ford add $5 to his present $7.75
per bed per day subsidy to nurs-
ing homes.

Roberts’ reason is that nearly
all Alberta nursing home work-
ers earn the minimum wage or
only slightly more. The provin-
cial minimum is now $1.90 per
hour, and will rise .to $2 on
April 1. :

“Most of these people are
earning around $80 per week,”
Robert says. “Two years, ago,
$100 per week was considered
the poverty line by the Canadian

2,000 workers seek pay boost.

Senate” in its report on poverty.

These men and women are the
working poor. They would do
better on welfare.”

Most of the nursing homes

PAGIEIC TRIBUNEz FRIDAY, FEBRUARY: .1974 PAGE 40.2 eee Sei LST SS ERTL TAPES SLAW SSE eg lw
2 SOAS AOE 1 VRAUAUTY, VADII-—-BAVEST IAT

‘ BY BRUCE MAGNUSON

LABOR SCENE (ue hospital workers victims
of political buck passing

with the process of negotia-
tions now under way, and,
above all, a desperate attempt
to prevent hospital workers
from joining teachers and tens
of thousands of other workers
from taking job actions that
could be most embarrassing for
the Tories who have been in
power for 30 years.

The situation at one Conval-
escent Hospital outside of Met-
ro is that the current union con-
tract expired in March 1973.
Arbitration hearings were held
last Dec. 17.. An award is not
expected until late , February,
nearly a year after the contract
expired. Wage rates in this case
are 30% below those at the To-
ronto hospitals. In the mean-
time, a Nursing and Convales-
cence Centre at Cornwall is
challenging a majority award of
an arbitration board in court.
The court hearing for an order
quashing the majority award is
set for Divisional Court in To-
ronto January 28.

While the brunt of the pro-
vincial government’s economy
drive ,is loaded on the backs of
hospital workers, nurses, and
other public employees, the
municipalities are being sad--
dled with the cost of supple-
menting the income from wages
of the working poor to bring
them up to welfare level and to
give them extra help to pay for
needed drugs, dentures, eye-
glasses and other necessities.
Under the Canada Assistance
Plan the federal government
shares such costs on a 50-50
basis with municipalities, fun-
nelling its contribution through
the provincial treasury. To the

“extent that such subsidies of

low -wage. employees is neces-
sary, the money should come
from senior governments and
the province should assume the
share now to be carried by Met-
ro and other local ratepayers at
the municipal level.

But the real answer would be
to lift the minimum wage from
$2 to $3 an hour. In B.C. the
minimum wage is now $2.25 per
hour and going to $2.50.

Ontario is falling behind in
other respects too. A maximum
work-week of 44-hours in place

are privately owned. That means
the owners are looking to make
their profits from the provincial
subsidy, plus the $3 per day
patients pay. The easiest place
for them to skimp is on their
employees’ wages — which in
turn leads to a high worker turn-
over, and often to poor care for
the patients.

“It’s high time some pressure
was put on this (Alberta) gov-
ernment for more money,” Ro-
berts says. “If the government
doesn’t come across with the
money, they should take over
the nursing homes, so the work-
ers at least get a decent living
out of it.”

The health minister has ac-
knowledged receipt of Roberts’

latest letter demanding more

money, but has not indicated
how: much, if any, he will shell
out. While CUPE negotiates for
only one of the province’s 200
nursing homes, Roberts is hop-
ing that more money across the
board will bring at least some
relief to workers in all of them.

of the present 48 hours, before
requiring overtime pay, will not
be fully implemented in Ontario
until 1975. B.C. and Saskatche-
wan have a 40 hour week now.

While the Tory government at
Queen’s Park is the instrument
used to squeeze the working
people, backed by the power of
a growing police force and judi-
ciary, the real power resides the
profiteering monopolies. This is
illustrated by the mining moguls
attack on unemployment insur-
ance, welfare and the “‘public’s
new found affiuence” blamed for
producing “national laziness,”
and a shortage of mine labor
for Alfred Powiss, of Noranda
Mines Ltd., and his ilk to ex-
ploit. (See Globe and Mail Jan.
23, 1974)

It is high time that organized
labor mount an offensive against
such arrogance and high-hand-
edness, and to realize that the
whole rotten system is to blame
and has to be challenged. To
smash Bills 41, 274 and 275, to
regain the right to strike with-
cut any strings attached and
collective bargaining can be car-
ried on, the battle must be
joined now, with all-out solidar-
ity including, if need be, “money
and bodies on the illegal picket
line,” as the teachers pledged to
hospital workers.

Waiting for the next election
to defeat this government is not
enough. That could mean an-
other defeat. The time for action
is now, and it has to be more
than lip-service ‘and resolutions.
Those elected to lead must show
some leadership, particularly in
the trade union movement, and
among the politicians on the left
spectrum of politics, where
unity for common objectives
was never more urgent than it
is at this hour. : i

The only way workers can
regain and protect their buying
power is to struggle for more
wages at the expense of profits.
This coupled with a sustained
and tenacious fight against ris-
ing monopoly-rigged prices and
taxes, is the only way the work-
ing class can combat inflation
and move forward to a better
life with guaranteed jobs and
decent incomes.

44

Most nursing home employees
in Alberta are earning around
$80 a week when two years ago
$100 a week was considered by
the Senate Report on Poverty as
being on the poverty line.

Labor

for a strike vote.

~ WORKERS STRIKE
MARITIME PAPERMILL

NEW GLASGOW, N.S. — Pa-
permill workers at the Scott
Maritimes Ltd. pulp mill have
overwhelmingly rejected the
latest company offer. A total of
173 of the 214 plant- workers,
members of Local 1402 of the
United Paperworkers Interna-
_ tional Union turned out for the
vote. Wages are not the primary
issue, adjustments in the work-
week schedules, hours and over-
time are the major areas of in-
terest.

STUDY SESSIONS
AT SASK-TEL

REGINA — The more than
500 employees of the Sas-
katchewan Telecommunications
Corp., took a day off last week
for a study session, protesting
the pace of contract negotia-
tions. The study session involv-
ed workers from Regina, York-
ton, Moosomin, Esterhazy and
Melville. Al Heselton, vice-pres-
ident of Local 1 of the Com-
munications Workers of Canada,
said the local members, not the
union executive, organized the
study sessions.

Mr. Heselton said the union

members are protesting what

they believe is slowness on the
company’s part in negotiating a
new contract, plus what they
feel is an inadequate contract
offer by the company.

Mr. Heselton said the union is
seeking a 30% wage increase
over a two-year period, while

the government-owned company:

is offering 17 to 18% increases.

Sask Tel craftsmen operators
get $72 to $113 a week while
Sask Tel craftsmen get $93 to
$210.

NEGOTIATIONS RESUME
AT B.C. NEWSPAPERS

VICTORIA, B.C. — Negotia-—

tions resumed between Victoria
Press Ltd. and the Joint Council
of Newspaper Unions in hopes
of settling a dispute which has
halted publication of the city’s
two daily newspapers, the Morn-
ing Colonist and Evening Times,
for more than seven weeks.

BLASTS B.C. EMPLOYERS

VANCOUVER, B.C. — British
Columbia employers were ac-
cused last week of “having done
little or nothing” to alleviate a
shortage in skilled abor.

Pat O’Neal, vice-president of
the United Paperworkers Inter-
national Union said that ‘indus-

Mick McGahey, vice-president of Britain’s National Union
_ Mineworkers, going into a national executive meeting of the uni
through ranks of ‘demonstrators from the coalfields who were
enthusiastic for’ further action. After the meeting the executive”
announced a decision to go ahead with a balloting of the members

‘Union Gas Ltd. in Southwestert

-gotiations are 110 key issues

‘studios and received permissio™ —

~ nique which will put end to dis:

' particularly the word “arbitra —

‘he said. -

CRETE LASSE 2S SPRL CSRS DEA GBRR ERS FE

IN BRIEF |

sn

try in B.C., has failed miserably
in promoting and encouraging
apprentiship or training pro-
grams” to train skilled workers
O’Neal’s comments were prompt
ed by a statement made las
week by the B.C. Employers
Council that “there was a lack
of skilled labor in the province
and that this was one of the
reasons for a gloomy outlook
for industry in the province.”

UNIONS VOTE TO STRIKE

LONDON, ONT. — TW?
unions, the International Chen
ical Workers Union and the Oil
Chemical and Atomic Workers
conducted a strike vote against ”

Ontario. The seven OcAW
locals voted for a strike with
97.5%. At stake in the joint n

with the major emphasis being
wages. There has been specula- —
tion that the Union Gas work
ers will be trying to achievé
parity with the gas workers if
Western Canada where wages
were increased by 25% one yeat
ago.

RADIO QUEBEC
SETTLEMENT

QUEBEC — The 150 produc:
tion employees of Radio Que —
bec have ended their fou!
month strike against the sta
tion. Details of the agreement
have not been released. The sta _
tion’s official programs were —
suspended when the strike be
gan Sept. 10, but the employees; —
affiliated with the CNTU, 0¢ —
cupied the National Cablevisio® —

to broadcast their own pro" |
grams three hours a day.

DEPUTY MINISTER
SOUNDS OFF

ARIZONA — The acting fed
eral deputy minister of labot
William P. Kelly, told a labor —
management coriference last
week that “I know of no tech —

putes and strikes, nor to the
adversary system.”
Mr. Kelly said that in Canad@

tion” can hardly be used with:
out the word “comoulsory” pre —
fixing it. a

“In the industrial relation’
setting of today, with big bus!
ness and big unions fully ef
trenched in the production and _
service industries, the effects 0
- .. ‘tests of economic s
go well beyond the combatants,