ee THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER 7 ll IN CHARGE OF THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR WAGE CONFERENCE were, left, Bill Schumaker, President of Local 1-423 and Negotiating Committee Secretary; Regional President Jack Moore; Regional 2nd Vice-President Wy- man Trineer, the Negotiating Committee Spokesman; and Regional Secretary-Treasurer LOCAL 1-417 Salmon Arm delegation from left, Henry Fred Fieber. Christianson; Kevin Kelly; Jack Kerssen; Bill Hobbs; Art Kelly; Sonny Alexander. LOCAL 1-405 delegation front row left, Wayne Nowlin, He ge Craig; Bud Beauchamps; Carl Johnson. Back row ft, Art Damstrom; John Paluck; Elmer Atwood. TALKS IN DECISIVE STAGE Talks are nearing a decisive point for Canada’s 26,000 post- al workers. Treasury Board negotiators gad bargaining teams for the postal ons have eleared a bundle of items. The are to money, Contracts with the govern- ment for the Canadian Union Many items of “contract language” must be agreed to, niority are tough issues this year, The monetary proposals of e unions are secret but are understood to centre on short- er work weeks (35 hours in- stead of 40) and more money via double time for overtime and $1l-an-hour wage increas- es. Carriers make $3 an hour and clerks $3.14. ROLEY, MOORE URGE "YES" VOTE ON TAX INCREASE IWA International Presi- dent Ron Roley in a special message to the Union has urged the membership to give full support to the 25-cent per capita tax increase sought by the International. Ballots for the union-wide referendum were mailed to the Local Unions March 16. Roley in stressing the im- portance of the International getting additional money stated: “The need for additional financing for the International _ Union cannot be over-empha- sized. The financial condition of your union is critical — each month of deficit spend- ing which the International has experienced during the past two years sends the IWA closer to bankruptcy.” Officers of all Regional Councils are calling on their members to support the per capita increase, Regional President Jack Moore, in urging an over- whelming “yes” vote of the members, pointed out that the International has not received a per capita increase in the last 21 years. It has continued to operate through the years on the same 75-cent per capita tax structure while the Local Unions in a much better fi- nancial position still found it necessary to seek dues in- creases every three and four years, He went on to say that it was vitally important for the future progress of the IWA to have adequate financing not only at the International level but also at the Local Union and Regional Council levels as well. Moore concluded by saying that the dues paid by trade union members was cheap in- surance for the benefits re- ceived and the dues paid by A members are among the lowest paid in the labour movement. SEAT BELTS ON CARS FLUNK TESTS Car seat belts from 10 of the 12 biggest manufacturers in the United States are be- ing investigated by the fed- eral government there be- cause they seem to flunk safety standards laid down in Washington. National Highway Safety Bureau of the US. has released lab test facts which reveal that at least one of 17 federal safety stand- ards simply isn’t being met. The belts are supplied both as original equipment and as “after-market” purchases, The tests cover such stand- ards as breaking strength (ability to withstand 6,000 pounds of pressure) to colour-fastness. RANKIN HITS OUT AT CAR INSURANCE RACKET By Vancouver Alderman RANKIN Car insurance in B.C. has. become a racket. A more ac- curate description would be an extortion racket or a pro- tection racket. We have compulsory car insurance. But we have to buy that insurance from privately owned insurance companies. They set their own rates and their own rules. No limita- tions have been placed on their powers. They can do as they like. If you refuse to pay their exorbitant rates, you get no insurance. And if you drive without a pink slip, the police arrest you. You pay a heavy fine or go to jail or both. If this isn’t an extortion racket, I don’t know what is. Organized Mobs This isn’t so very different from organized mobs which offer “protection” to individ- uals and business in US. cities, and some Canadian too. If you don’t pay up for this kind of “protection”, they send out their strong arm boys to work you over, wreck your business and teach you a lesson. é Here in B.C. the insurance companies don’t need to send -out their strong arm boys as collection squads, They have the law on their side in Pre- mier Bennett’s “dynamic so- ciety”. No Competition No: real competition exists among the insurance com- panies when it comes to rates. They get together and set rates. They compete among _ themselves for your business —but they don’t undersell each other. On one thing they are agreed — and that is that you must pay through the nose. That’s why B.C. insur- ance rates are among the highest in Canada. That’s why the profits of insurance com- panies in B.C. — now that we have compulsory insurance— will be the highest in North America. The greed of the insurance companies knows no limits. Now they’ve made a~- new ruling that anyone convicted of a speeding offence will have his insurance rates increased by 25 per cent. Each addition- al conviction will bring a fur- ther boost of 15 per cent. Straight Extortion This also is straight extor- tion. It means that now you will be fined twice for a speed- ing offence — once by the traffic court and a second time by the insurance company. One reason given by insur- ance companies for this new increase ‘in rates is that it will cut down on speeding and therefore on accidents. | My. reply is that enforce- ment of the law is not the re- sponsibility of insurance com- panies. If fines need to be in- creased, that’s a matter for our legislatures. It can’t be used as an excuse by insur- ance companies to fill their own pockets. Principle of Law But that isn’t all. This rul- ing of the insurance compan- ies that rates will be increased every time there is a speeding conviction was made only a couvle of weeks ago. It is a princivle of law that it can’t be made retroactive. If a law ‘is passed making a certain act a crime, you. can’t convict a person for committing this act before the law was passed. But that is exactly what some insurance companies are do- ing. They are making their ruling retroactive to any speeding convictions incurred in the last three vears. This is clearly illegal. But the gov- ernment is doing nothing to stop them. Isn’t this further proof that in B.C. car insur- ance has become an extortion racket. HANEY BUSINESS GUIDE ESQUIRE MEN’S WEAR. (Graham Mowatt) Complete Stock of Work and Dress Clothing “THE STORE WITH THE POPULAR BRANDS” HANEY BRITISH COLUMBIA.