ie ® y* 4 i 2nd Issue June, 1968 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER EVEN UNIONS GUILTY CLAIMS WRITER NO EQUALITY FOR FEMALE WORKERS By JEAN MOHART “Dear Jean” writes a friend of mine who has earned her keep and brought up her family by the sweat of her brow, “My daughter - spent half an hour carefully filling in an application for draughts- man at Vancouver City Hall only to be informed that Van- couver city does not hire fe- male draughtsmen because they couldn’t go out on site.” She made her point loud and clear when she added, “Fe- male architects and female draughtsmen in other locali- ties don jeans and go out on site, so why this unjust dis- crimination here against fe- males?” Nutty Things It would be easy to shrug that incident off as just one more item on the list of nutty things that go on at City Hall, where wealthy aldermen out- quip Marie Antoinette; but this is much more than just a local ailment. It’s a pervad- ing astigmatism that has re- sisted correction — particu- larly in North America — be- cause men and women in the majority prefer not to see the mew, clearer delineation of woman as an individual. In an attempt to nudge our apathetic attitudes United Na- tions General Assembly last year passed a special Declar- ation on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Wo- men. They said “that discrim- ination against women is in- compatible with human dig- nity, and with the welfare of the family and of society; prevents their participation, on equal terms with men in the political, social, economic and cultural life of their coun- tries, and is an obstacle to the full development of the poten- tialities of women in the ser- vice of their countries and of humanity.” Let your mind dwell’on the full meaning of that for a few moments, then, using that as a platform to reach another level, scrutinize this quote from the terms of reference given the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, “to inquire into and report upon the status of wo- men in Canada and to recom- mend what steps might be taken by the federal govern- ment to insure for women equal opportunities with men in all aspects of Canadian society ... .” “So what!” retorts my friend who wrote the letter, and “Yeah, what else is new?” asks the capable little female working right through her lunch hour at the dry cleaning establishment, or the shoe clerk who does exactly the same work as a male clerk and knows she’ll never have the same opportunity for advancement. And so on, and so on. I’ve got a list that would reach from here to the UN Assembly. Cynical Comment Does anyone have an an- swer? Is there any reply to the cynical comment I get every time I inquire about “status”? By now it’s well known that there is discrimination. The wide reportage of the sittings of the Royal Commis- sion on Status has ripped off the veil of chiffon whose lay- ers obscured but never com- pletely hid all the inequities practised against women. The a DON'T ADVERTISE FOR YOUNG. SECRETARY A board of inquiry has ruled that to advertise for a young secretary discriminates against an older woman. - Another board has recom- mended that a Toronto land- lady be prosecuted for dis- crimination against a Negro Woman. The two board reports were made public in Toronto June 19th. Herbert Sohn, assistant di- rector of the Human Rights Commission, told reporters that a prosecution had been recommended only once be- ore since the provincial com- Mission was created during 1962. Yet it had since investi- 8ated about 5,000 complaints and appointed 30 to 40 boards of inquiry. R St. John Macdonald, dean of the University of Toronto j eon School, who e first inquiry, said ‘Mrs, Bessie Papadropoulos re- ciliation, refused the assist- ance of counsel and exhibited an attitude of casualness and disinterest in most of the board’s proceedings.” W. E. Tarnapolsky, an Os- goode Hall law professor and chairman of the second board, said the newspaper ad for a young secretary was “prima facie evidence of a discrimin- atory intention.” “It is no different from an advertisement which states ‘white girl preferred’,” he said. Professor Tarnapolsky’s re- port adds: “The age of a secretary is only a matter of preference and not a matter crucial to suitability and compatability. There is no evidence that the age of a secretary deter- mines her skills, initiative, personality, reliability or con- scientiousness.” The ad was placed in a Tor- onto newspaper by Brent Per- sonnel] Placement Services, an employment agency. Agency officials refused to disclose who the employer was. Commission has proved to be the fable of the Emperor’s Clothes in reverse. You re- member how everyone agreed the Emperor looked smashing in his new clothes, and so the Emperor allowed himself to be persuaded it was true, un- til one day a little child cried out, “But the Emperor has no clothes on!” In our time it has been the Canadian public — male and female — who have said, “Women’s status! A lot of piffle. She’s got too much now!” And then the harsh truth became visible. Not only visible, but unattrac- tive to the eye and uncom- fortable to the conscience of reasonably sensitive citizens. 117 Occupations Canada’s Labour Depart- ment said* out of 117 occu- pations they selected, 45 con- tain less than 100 women, leaving the bulk of Canada’s female workers toiling away in a few manual categories such as typists, sales clerks, waitresses, nurses, ete., and leaving our country the poor- er for a great waste of talent and intelligence. *Occupational Trends in Canada, 1931-1961. As of October 1966 female wage earners in the manufac- turing industry earned only 55% of male earnings. Briefs presented by the women’s section of the United Fisher- men’s & Allied Workers’ Un- ion showed men and women working alongside one an- © other in that industry with a noticeable dollar discrepancy in their pay cheques. Two guesses who’s was_ lowest! You didn’t need two guesses, did you? Among salaried workers femmes pick up only 51% of what a man earns — at the same job. Those are hard, in- disputable facts. Easy to ab- sorb. Cruel Subtleties On the other hand there are the cruel subtleties, so very easily masked and so very difficult to deal with. How would you legislate to ‘give equal consideration to the divorcee who has found a home for herself and couple ‘of children but is forced to stand back and see a young married man with no depend- ents get that house because he can more readily obtain a backer — or co-signer — for a mortgage than she? I was there and heard him gloating over it. And if you were a part of the hierarchy of the Canadian Broadcasting Cor- poration would you have some never - fail method to break the stranglehold that men have right from top to bottom — yet this is a gov- ernment agency! Can you think of any — just any old way at all — to promote the idea that a woman can be a darn fine school principal? Do you wonder when the la- bour movement will change its stuck-needle salutation on correspondence from “Dear Sir and Brother” to perhaps “Dear Fellow Member”? Or when political parties, pro- claiming “equality” as part of their philosophy, will rec- ognize it in fact and in deed? In spite of the above it is possible to provoke action through legislation. The Can- adian Labour Congress, through the Committee estab- lished to present a_ strong brief. to the Royal Commis- sion on the Status of Women, will press hard for federal legislation. The Committee will demand that whatever legislation is considered there must be enforcement clauses, with stiff penalties for trans- gressors. Fhe Women’s Bu- reau of the Department of Labour ought to have om- budsman—or ombudswoman, if you like, service. A govern- ment must recognize its duty in toto, that is, it must serve all citizens in every area of need. Some of these are: equal pay, education and re- training, raising of minimum wages, better provisions for maternity leave, adequate day care centres, an enlightened program regarding part-time work, education in regard to family planning, a fresh look at working women’s income tax and social justice for the unmarried mother. Human Worth Smothered by commercials deifying breakfast foods for baubles, even our better in- stincts are becoming blunted. It is possible, however, that the trade union movement can still find itself reacting to a demand for recognition on the basis of human worth. In terms of money, yes, of course, but much more ‘to the point, in terms of human values. And from the remainder of the community there must de- velop a new sense of respon- sibility which will hasten the day when the improvement in women’s status means higher standards in our local- ity, in the nation and even- tually, we hope, universally. But wishing won’t make it so! “MOST PEOPLE VOTE NOT SO MUCH FOR ISSUES AS FOR IMAGE" and PR Advisor to former British Prime Minister @ 36th Couchiching Conference, Summer 1967. th UNIONS MUST MERGE TO PLAY PROPER ROLE In the U.S. union mergers are important; in Canada they are “a dire necessity” William Dodge, secretary- treasurer of the Canadian Labor Congress, said in an address in Washington, D.C. Dodge, who spoke to dele- gates at the June 4-6 conven- tion of the Textile Workers Union of America, said that 25 affiliates of the CLC have fewer than 1,000 members in Canada, 49 have under 3,000, 60 are below 5,000 and 78 have fewer than 10,000. The fact that most were international unions and got help from the U.S. “makes it possible to survive.” “But it doesn’t enable them to play a proper role in the economic and political life of Canada. “We need mergers of these unions and such mergers must, in most cases, be initi- ated and negotiated in the US.” He was confident “that Canadian members of the in- ternational unions will sup- port almost 100 per cent any constructive move” towards merger. Dodge said membership in CLC affiliates was growing in ee and exceeded 1,500,- 0. . former editor, London Daily Herald, Attlee, at LIGHTER SIDE A lady was looking through an old cook book and came across a story about a traveler who told a fellow down in Virginia that he had a great recipe for baking a ham “What you do,” he Said, “is you put the ham in a deep pan and for one whole day you soak it in rye whiskey. On the second day you add a bottle of Jamaica rum and you cook it a while, On the third day, you add a bottle of port wine. On the fourth day, a bottle of bourbon and then you finish cooking it. How does it sound?” “Well,” said the Virginian, “I don’t know about the ham —but it sounds like the mak- ings of a mighty good gravy.”