Hiatt The big beef HEIST igh meat prices —SPECIAL FEATURE, PAGE 12 FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1973 BEEF BOYCOTT PREADS IN B.C. The ‘‘Don’t buy beef’’ campaigninB.C. took aspurt forward this week asthe Vol. 34, No. 14 protest movement against rising food prices reached a new high. Meeting in the Fishermen’s Hall Wednesday night a confer- ence called by the United Fisher- men and Allied Workers women’s auxiliaries, attended by about 70 representatives, decided to back the beef boycott and sent a wire to the Federal government calling for the setting up of an independent Food Prices Review Board with teeth in it. The meeting also decided to organize public demonstrations against rising food prices and to set up a co-ordinating com- mittee to bring together con- Included among the organi- zations represented at the conference were the B.C. Federation of Labor, the Van- couver Labor Council, many women’s auxiliaries, the NDP women’s auxiliaries, tenants, groups, the Communist Party and low income groups. Opening the conference, Pat Anderson, chairman of the parley and representing the UFAWU auxiliaries, charged that the ‘‘real culprit is exces- sive profiteering by the food monopolies.” A representative of the Women Against Soaring Prices on the Lower Mainland said that the response to the boycott ‘‘has been tremendous’’. She said that 3,000 people have already signed a pledge to support the boycott, and that a survey of supermarkets showed that people are refusing to buy meat. It was reported by many speak- ers that the beef boycott is being extended across Canada and that the public is being urged not to buy beef on Tuesdays and Thursdays. farmer in RETAIL CUTS RETAIL PRICE PER LB. 1961 1973 85 - 2.79 Porterhouse T-bone 79 2.29 Win 9 or Club 79 2.25 Sirloin 79 2.47 ‘Sirloin H Bp 79 1.79 Rolled Rib iFo 1-75 Round . .69 1:35 Rump .69 BE Ao) h Ort (cross) rib : : .6 1.39 Then; villain’ big packinghouses and supermarkets are the main Chart ‘nthe big beef heist— not the farmer or worker. The Drieg, Ye Shows how prices have shot up. On the left are Prices oad in 1961 according to Safeway ads. On the right, by the pppril 2 according to an independent butcher checked On deo); P88e 12 we show that wages have actually been a 109 lb the farmers increase was only $1.00 live weight per from $42 to $43). During that same period the Sa bon touse increased the cost to the butcher from $64 to $74 S al 100 Ibs. dressed. cerned groups. NDP govt must act now on labor legislation EDITORIAL The NDP government should listen to demands from its own Provincial Council, NDP members, and the trade unions that the present anti-labor laws be repealed — and that changes in labor legislation be introduced at the current session of the Legislature. After all, these demands are not something new. Nor is the type of legislation needed a mystery. The NDP spelled out the changes needed in the election campaign. It was one of the major election promises made by the NDP which won it the overwhelming support of BGes working people. No other single factor played sucha big role in defeating the Socreds, and electing the NDP to office, than the massive outcry and struggle of labor against the very same labor legislation that Labor Minister Bill King now says cannot be changed until there has been months — and months— of study, and the views of the business community heard. ae The attitude of the big business community Is well known. They fathered the present hated legislation which put the labor movement in shackles. While the NDP cabinet ‘studies’, the anti-labor laws remain in force against organized labor. They are being used to break picket lines, drag unions into courts through anti-labor injunctions, and to block trade union organization. Despite almost unanimous demands from a large meeting of NDP members Friday night, and the Provincial Council of the NDP which met over the weekend, King and Premier Dave Barrett remain adamant in their stand not to change the obnoxious legislation. As a matter of fact, statements made by King over the weekend would indicate that the govern- ment has no intention of making any changes in labor legislation in the current session, and they might not be made at the fall session. Speaking at the 22nd annual Labor Institute on Human Rights parley last weekend, he said new labor legislation will probably be introduced during the fallsession, butadded, “‘thisisnota commitment.”’ So there we are. Is it any wonder that the Vancouver Province Tuesday ran an editorial backing Barrett and King’s position? Pacific Press after allis very mucha part of the big business set-up in B.C. and a leading participant on the Employers’ Council. By far the most meaningful and decisive issue facing the Barrett government is what it will do about labor legislation. Its refusal to actsofar in keeping with its election promises is a serious sign of surrender to big business. Atatime whenthe NDP governmentis under increasing pressure from right wing political forces, its stand on labor legislation is totally incomprehensible to working people. The NDP government and Labor Minister King should heed the voice of their own party and the trade union movement, and should proceed forth- with to repeal the anti-labor laws and get on with the job of enacting a modern, progressive labor relations act. .