a Lee I dee at Jian Lao eh ln 7 LOOKS LIKE THEY MEAN BUSINESS / me \ < .' £ Nya ce ty Lg S [ntow HALL LZ : Bp ‘ 7 UNION JEMAMDS Bs Myths vs. facts... WHO’S ON WELFARE Who is on welfare? Lazy, good for nothing bums and loafers that wouldn’t work if they had a chance? Don’t you believe it, because government statistics prove just the opposite. The following figures published in the United Electrical News are based on data compiled for the Senate Poverty Committee: e 41 percent are permanently disabled. e 26 percent are mothers single-handedly caring for dependent children. e 9 percent are the aged. e 8 percent are temporarily disabled. e 3 percent are working poor getting income supplements. Only 13 percent of those receiv- ing welfare are designated as employable and of these the majority have been laid off due to Canada’s faltering economy. The fifth annual review of the Economic Council of Canada points out that three-quarters of: all poor families have one or more wage earners, and second, two-thirds of all poor families obtain most of their income from wages, salaries and self-employ- ment. This clearly shows, the UE News says, that the poor are poor despite their willingness to work and not because they don’t want to work. In another survey, of those on welfare and able to work, over 70 percent said they would be willing to move if neces- sary in order to obtain employ- ment. Other astonishing figures: In 1933, governments spent 14 percent of total expenditures on social welfare schemes; in 1946, 12.4 percent, and in 1960, 14.1 percent. So much for the Bennetts, Gaglardis et all who pretend welfare is breaking the provincial budget. The UE News gives names of some other beneficiaries who get welfare and government handouts of one kind or another: e Mining companies in Canada which get about $300 million a DON’T MISS year in tax rebates and grants. @ Douglas Aircraft, which got a tax refund of $400,000 last year. _@ Scores of multi-national and Canadian corporations have been benefitted by hundreds of millions of dollars through provincial and federal govern- ment forgiveable loans. And so it goes, in B.C. as well as every other province in the Dominion. Particularly B.C., it can be said, for here we have the second lowest welfare rates in Canada. This is in large measure due to the man who last week, under Bill 49, was handed the mantle of virtual dictator over the food, health and shelter requirements of thousands of our citizens. Phil Gaglardi, the man so ap- pointed, reacted to ‘his mighty position with this statement: ‘Who am I? I’m a rather insigni- ficant individual trying by the grace of God to help other people.” Get back to bargaining © table say civic unions Saas : + thal “Our objective is a negotiated settlement and we would prefer to obtall t settlement without a strike. No matter what happens, the dispute must eventiaig settled in negotiations. Therefore we respectfully suggest that the sooner we get to the bargaining table the better.”’ This was the stand put forward by the joint negotiating com: mittee of the Canadian Union of Public Employees in a letter to all elected officials in the municipalities in the Lower Mainland by Jack Phillips, national CUPE representative. Pointing out that Vancouver CUPE Local 1004 (Outside Workers) and the Municipal and Regional Employees Union (Inside Workers) have already served strike notice and there is the possibility of a strike in Vancouver, and that other CUPE locals involved in the current negotiations are proceeding to take strike votes, the letter charges that elected officials have not been properly in- formed as to what took place in negotiations. The letter by Phillips points out that negotiations with the Municipal Labor Relations Bur- eau (MLRB) have collapsed and that the situation is critical. It outlines three major areas in which the union puts the record ae . straight as to where it stands. These are’ (1) That the union’s wage demand of 20 percent in a one year agreement was negotiable from the beginning, and that MLRB representative Graham Leslie was not correct when he told civic officials that if the union was given 10 guaranteed statutory holidays they would drastically reduce their wage demands. The letter says that Leslie was informed that “‘unless the settlement package included 10 guaranteed statutory holi- days it would not be by accep- table.’’ Most other munici- palities in B.C. already conceded 10 guaranteed statutory holi- days. (2) The union has a good case for a 20 percent increase based on its relative position today to other civic employees, such as the policemen and firemen, who received superior increases during 1970 and 1971. However, the letter points out, two counter qurile proposals were made sot negotiations in which the U lowered its wage demands; #8 last one on March 7 when broke off negotiations. (3) The letter strongly reli Leslie’s claim that the unio? ; not give the full picture @ i membership before they ¥° i on the February 17 offer. quotes in length a union circl ; distribated to every one ? a 3,500 CUPE members inv0™ in the negotiations outlining detail the points at issue. The letter concludes by that the union is ready to!” to the bargaining table at), time. “We are requesting 9° at do everything you can t0 oe ‘ a speedy resumption of on! tiations without a strike: il members are respons. y, citizens and they do not be cause any inconvenience ~ | public by a work stoppag™ ied can possibly be av? However, we can’t do it alon : takes two sides to bargain. Anti-Socred common front urged by Labor Council In approving a $5,000 political education fund designed to help defeat the Social Credit govern- ment, Vancouver Labor Council delegates specified the most vital point in political ‘‘educa- tion” is maintaining a strong common front of teachers, indus- trial unionists and others in trade unions, the economically depressed section of the people, and all others who have become disillusioned with the Bennett government. Clergy and laymen call for end to Vietnam war Three hundred people from both sides of the border gathered on Good Friday at the Peace Arch at Blaine. The rally was sponsored by Clergy and Laymen Concerned. The rally was addressed by Father James Roberts of St. Joseph’s parish, Port Moody; Joel Connelly; director of peace education, Campus Christian Ministry, Bellingham, and by Nguyen Thai-Binh, a Vietna- mese: student at the university of Washington. Father Roberts said he was heartened by the numbers of people who are beginning to oppose violence in all its forms, mental, social or racial. He called upon the church to demili- tarise their chaplains by stripping them of salaries, rank and decoration so they can be PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 1972—PAGE 12 free to give real counsel unen-. cumbered by trappings of violence. The plight of the students in South Vietnam was movingly expressed by Nguyen Thai-Binh. Joel Connelly described the gathering as a jolt to the conscience of the people, whom he said, cannot escape guilt any more than could the German people. He paid tribute to those who uphold the honor of their country by resisting all the Indochinese war stands for. ' A telegram was sent to Prime Minister Trudeau urging him to exercise Christian compassion and concern to stop the export of arms and weapon components to the U.S. as long as the tragic war in Indochina continues. WILLIAM KASHTAN Several delegates stressed the need to maintain the unity that has prevailed in recent weeks and which forced the with- drawal of Bill 88 because, as one delegate put it, ‘‘the govern- ment realized they were building a common front of people opposed to their reactionary legislation.”’ Political action at the grass roots was stressed. ‘‘Get the job stewards in and explain the dangers of government legis- lation to the rank and file. Many still do not realize what the legis- lation is all about,’ said CUPE delegate Harry Greene. “Set up a co-ordinating com- mittee with the teachers,”’ urged an ATU delegate. ‘It takes a long time to build the solid base we need to defeat reaction.” “It was the strength of the labor movement that caused the Social Credit government to make a tactical retreat on Bill 88,” said Jack Phillips, CUPE. “If we build a genuine common front, uniformity of effort, we can elect a responsible people’s government in this province.” Several other delegates spoke in the same vein. A representa- tive of the plumber’s union added that the reasons for a mass rally of people opposed to the government’s reactionary legislation is still with us, and should not be put aside. John Beeching of the IBEW reported on the Paris Peace Conference which he attended in February. He said there were 1200 delegates representing 84 “WHY NIXON IS COMING TO CANADA? SUN. APRIL 9 — 8 P.M. TEMPLETON SECONDARY SCHOOL AUD: i nations at the conference ey had been almost compl i blacked out by the press | and TV coverage in Canada: pot He detailed the mass 9° tion in Vietnam, Laos ane. os bodia, giving appalling ‘Pi on death and deprivation ion! is the result of U.S. aggres® Indochina. ons? In the report of un rob representative of the Bev oil! Dispensers urged the cou® pel | press for entertainment ott parlors and the right 0" draft beer in restauran™ og charged B.C.’s liquor a outmoded and discriminal® ¢ Reporting on the cur” situation involving CUPE: © | 1004, Jack Phillips said the” possibility of strike in “ect period of time. ~ a) aldermen appear to hi oh conception of what is gon ofl for the appointed Murs Labor Relations Bureau ( 3 0! a year men,” he said) 8 kept them informed. oft He reminded delegat® ia if were a number of aldef ig the Greater Vancouvel ‘iit, where negotiations wit ing | employees have been BO" acl | for months, who were we mainly by labor and prog? voters. op “Tt is not enough to tell {0 to get off your butts and V ect” us, if such people, once © oul refuse to stand up and be© where the welfare of the pe } are concerned.”’ The ee brought a round of applaus