Please help me, Mr. Young Dr. John Young, Chairman, Prices and Incomes Commission, Ottawa, Ont. Dear Sir: You have appealed to the trade union movement to co- operate in making your 6%/g guideline work. As a patriotic citizen, and as economic advisor to trade unions, naturally | want to help the government fight inflation. But you are going to have to help me. Specifically, you will have to help me devise an intelligible explanation of the policy. | fully realize—from having been told by yourself, Louis Rasminsky, Bruce Hutchison and my milkman—that the cause of our troubles is wagé-push inflation. From constant repetition, | know the sequence of things off by heart: unions push up wages, wages push up costs, costs push up prices, high prices destroy our export markets, reduce in- vestments and impoverish pensioners. Both Hutchison and the milkman assure me that only the meanest intellect could fail to see that irresponsible labor leaders are responsible for the whole stinking mess. Another thing that | have learned like the catechism— from your constant assurances—is that the only cure is to limit wage increases to 6%p. ——— What puzzles me, and here is where | desperately need your help, is this abstruse business of the unpegging of the dollar. | have tried hard to master the routine on this one too, but somehow the pieces just don’t seem to fit. Let's say it over slowly, and you correct me when | go wrong. At the end of May, the international demand for Canadian dollars reached such a level that the government was forced either to start printing great inflationary gobs of money to meet that demand, or revalue the dollar upward. This large demand for Canadian dollars, in turn, was the result of a rapidly growing foreign trade surplus. D.B.S. tells us that the excess of our exports over our imports was $115 million in the third quarter of 1969, $239 million in the fourth quarter and $672 million in the first quarter of this year, and that in the month of May alone, our net gain in foreign exchange was $622,000,000. Now this mushrooming of exports was, of course, caused by the priges of our products being so much lower than those of competing nations. And these low competitive prices would be due to costs, primarily wage costs, being so much lower than elsewhere. Whoops! Obviously my reasoning has gone off the track somewhere. Let’s try again. Wages are pushing up costs, costs are pricing us out of the market, therefore foreigners are buy- ing so much of our exports that the government can’t meet the demand for Canadian dollars?-This way madness lies. You'll have to help me out on this. And while you're about it, maybe you wouldn't mind ex- plaining to me how the 6% guideline is going to solve the problem. Let's see. If only the unions will act responsibly and be satisfied with 6/9, our costs will come down. Then we can sell our exports for less money. Then since the poor foreigners won't have to pay so much for what they buy from us, they will buy less of it and the Canadian govern- ment can stop printing money to meet the demand for it. ls that how it works? : Or could it be, just possibly, that the wage-push doctrine is a piece of ideologically-motivated intellectual garbage? Yours very truly, EMIL BJARNASON Trade Union Research Bureau, Vancouver, B.C. YOUTH NEED REAL JOBS, NOT ARMY TRAINING “The Federal Government’s plan to spend $27.9 million to create an estimated 36,000 new jobs for students fully bears out the contention of the Young Communist League that the gov- ernment has the money and can create jobs,” the YCL central executive points out in a press release. ee ’ “What is deplorable about the government scheme is that it is being used as a gimmick to mili- tarize the youth. In order to pay for university tuition, the gov- ernment is forcing young peo- ple into a form of military train- ing to qualify for what amounts to $700 in student assistance. This at a time when education should be a right of every young Canadian regardless of ability to pay. “The Federal Government’s policy of. militarization of the youth is completely out of step with the aspirations of young Canadians who want jobs and opportunities in a world of peace. The government has the money to create real jobs that will involve the youth in peace- ful building up of the country. Instead of turning manpower offices into recruiting centres, the Federal Government should cut the arms budget and begin the construction of the Olym- pic facilities that will be re- quired for Montreal in 1976. Here is a réal project of ‘peace that would capture the imasi- nation of the youth and really add to the general welfare of the country. “The Government should im- mediately begin the construc- tion of a publicly operated east- west integrated power grid. to lay the power base for economic growth. This is a nation-build- ing project which would be greeted by the youth as a genuinely patriotic project to strengthen our indenendence and build for the future of Canada.” GM not too big to tackle—UAW By WILLIAM ALLAN: DETROIT — When General Motors president James Roche, whose annual income is about $1 million a year, tells several thousand stockholders that ‘“‘the most important consideration in the labor negotiations this summer is productivity and work practises,” then the Unit- ed Auto Workers can get ready to mobilize their rank and file for a battle. : Roche as always repeats the lie that wage increases cause in- flation, thus laying the ground- work for a new price increase on the 1971 cars and trucks. GM figures to get it both ways —by a price increase to cover any monetary concessions the union might get, and by in- creased exploitation of the workers. “Production” means. that. the assembly line workers will be faced with a demand for in- creased production, despite rac- cing lines now. “Work practis- es,” of course, means stiffer penalties for not making in- creased production, and pos- sibly a weakening of the pre- sent deplorably weak and griev- ance-killing procedure. Hardest hit with this GM line will be the production workers, whose grievances clog up the grievance trap by the thousands. With’ this challenge the door is wide open for new UAW leader Leonard Woodcock to win his spurs. The workers in the auto shops, in aircraft, want money. Forty percent of the union’s 1,800,000 active and retired members have less than five years senior- ity. They are working short work weeks, thousands are laid off until next fall, while war in- flation gobbles: up their small - unemployment checks. He does not agree. with the Nixon: administration that wage | increases are causes of inflation, instead, declares that the war PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1970—Page 10 is fuelling up inflation and that ending the war could be the biggest curb on inflation. He is unalterably opposed to wage and price controls. Under his leadership the union will continue as an affili- ate of the Alliance for Labor. Action (ALA). He sees the per- spective of ALA growing by the addition of some new interna- tional unions, including the postal employees. The UAW intends to be tough in winning back the original cost of living clauses (placing a cap of 8 cents an hour on COL raises) meaning the COL will be estimated quarterly with no cap. Asked if he was pessimistic about negotiations (growing de- pression, 114 million. 1970 cars in the stockpile unsold), he re- plied ~he wasn’t, “‘because I think we have a case.” ~ He said three years ago he strongly~ advocated taking on GM “because: it is not too big for us.” SUUPEEEEEELUUEUUELOUEOLCLE UU POSTAL WORKERS FIGHT IS CAUSE OF ALL WORKERS ; The trade union movement is choosing the right poli fight the hypocritical stance of the Trudeau government 4 its Prices and Incomes Commission The postal employees are in the front and woman in this countly: 3 concerns every working man $1,500,000 and more. Canadian economy has pockets. 1960 to 59%, in 1969. employment. QU UA0UNAUEEAUEOUOGUEOUEEUUEOAUODEELUNAUEAUOAUUAAUEOUSOUEAAEEOUOAUEOOEAUEEGUEGUEGUEOOUEGEOGUEUOOUALEEOUOGUEOUCEODEAOEOUEEGEEOECOEOLEEOUOUAEEU EEO UEUEEUELUEU TEER EEO EEUU LEER EH Their fight is everybody's fight. i A dollar per member, or even a day's pay is not too es at this time for this battle and this cause. Roll up been brought to a precarious position as a result of the Trudeau administration’s supPO for the war aims of United States imperialism. This policy ! dictated by the big monopolies which make juicy profits ov of human misery. At the same time it increases dependence upon foreign capital, particularly U.S. The instability which flows from inflationary pressures, rising monopoly-administered P and serious distortions of our economy. It is precisely the cost of this and the Trudeau Government seek to unload on the bac of Canadian working people. They seek to put a ceiling labor income. They seek to force the farmers off their They seek to restrict social expenditures, services, medicare and post-secondary education. liberately create mass unemployment to increase la petition for jobs in order to force down wages. Th those who produce all the wealth of their rightful share the benefits of higher productivity in order to fill their ow The result of this is that the share ean tion in the gross national product dropped from 65/0 © 3 The issue facing the people of this country today to roll back our living standards. The issue is to rol monopoly profits and monopoly power. Let Mr. Young, Mr. Benson and their friends in business know where you stand in relation to, the fa the everyday situation you are faced with. The alternative to present policies is full full steam ahead with economic development of 4 and rising living standards for the people. What Ca and Canadians need is a million new jobs, not mass bl . . H Ss. on wage guideline line of a battle that That struggle must be won. Canada $ capital. this is expressed in growing Z rices 3 crisis which big busine’ 2 ong land such as hospit? They 9¢ i bor col ¢ of personal é 3 4 g g A 7 gs consump 3 g g g Z A A g g is not Mr. Be, big busine { oe employment 4, 4 nad Labor Secretary, Communist Party of Ca" i! ™ snevenynayeeneneeeeeenevecendeauuuuccuuaceunavenensucccceceeceneeneegunengnennenest ; French CP expels Garaudy : NEW YORK — The Daily World reports from Paris that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of France has confirmed the expulsion from the Party of Roger Garaudy by the primary Party unit to which Garaudy belonged. The central committee’s plen- ary session cited Garaudy’s an- ti-Party, anti-Communist views and writings. The French CP newspaper, L.Humanite, called Garaudy a “renegade,” and wrote that he “went over to the bourgeoisie together with his methods and his ideological baggage.” Garaudy was expelled by the Communist Party of France, be- cause he “slid into the quag- mire of rightwing opportunism and revisionism,” said an art- icle in Pravda, the Soviet news- paper. _ Garaudy, said the article, bor- rowed from everywhere to put together his views, and _ this caused him to drop his class po- sition. “He began propagating incor- rect views, contradicting Marx- ist-Leninist theory and deci- sions of the CPF.” r After> the recent 19th Con- gress of the CPF, Garaudy “took to the road of direct strug- gle against the Party,” Pravda writes. 53 - In that. congress, held last. February, Garaudy was. sharply criticized for his book, Le Grand Tournant» du. Socialism — (The Great Turning-Point of Social- ism), in which'he attacked the CPF and the international Com- : e -and decided that th inued ; nt munist and workers move! if He refused to accept or eat and delivered a Prov gest speech at the Congress: of © its unanimous rejection ideas. at As a result, French Coat nists lost confidence 1° if dy and refused to re-eleC to the party’s Central mittee. atl After the congress, G published a second boo™ he called The Whole Tt; which he directly attack, CPF, the Soviet Union 9% socialist countries, 4% 69 the decisions of the 19 cow Conference of CO” 5 and Workers’ Parties. “9s was picked up and us anti - Communist bourgeois forces in Ff many. other countries. fl Under these circWl™ the CPF club to which belonged reviewed oa compatible with continU bership in the Commun of The club expelled mine vote of 17-5. Among wile s analyzed by two SOV™. .