Ten children’s books
on IYC ’79 principles

UNICEFP’s catalogue of items
useful for Intemational Year of
the Child lists a series of 10 books,
written for children. The books
were first published in Spain in
1978 and now are published in
Britain, Australia and Canada.
Each book deals with one of the
principles in the UN Declaration
of the Rights of the Child.

The stories are touching and
humorous, each written by a dif-
ferent author. They are all beauti-
fully illustrated by different ar-
tists.

My favorite story deals with the
universal right of all children to a
free education. Two silly kings
rule their countnes and are con-
stantly trying to outdo one an-
other.

The people of both countries
get tired of the endless wars and
want the kings to think about their
needs for a change. The children

> a

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 9, 1979—Page 6

of each country go to their king
and ask: ‘*‘Why don’t you build a
school and make yourself more
famous than the other king?’’

_ Motivated by their desire to be
the greatest, the kings build beaut-
iful schools and education be-
comes available to all children.
After the children are.educated,
they go back to the kings and tell
them that the people don’t need
them anymore. ‘*We think we can
run the country so well there will
no longer be poverty and wars’’,
they say.

As for the kings — the-get sent
to school.

Children respond enthusiasti-
cally to these books which invite
discussion about very serious
matters. Five-year-olds, in a To-
ronto day care centre, who hear
some of the stories, were indig-
nant over the unfair treatment
some children in the stories re-
ceived. |

Friendly giants, robots, green
and blue children, people from
outer space, all play a part in the
stories to illustrate a principle in
the Declaration of Children’s
Rights, in ways which a child can
sympathize with.

The books are published in
Canada by John Wiley and Son
Ltd., and can be ordered through
most bookstores at $5.95 for a
hardcover book, or $55 for the en-

tire set.
_  — Virginia Thomson

Women in Canada

Women — the main victims
of government funding cuts

By KERRY McCUAIG

Restrictions and elimination of
government funding for social
services have serious affected
women’s ability to take their full
part in the workforce. It is a situa-
tion which has not been ignored
by working people and a growing
movement is demanding that
funding for these services not
only be restored but increased.

Women in Canada make up
51% of the population and 40% of
its labor market: More than one
government agency has labelled
them ‘‘secondary earners’’, the
reserved labor force, accepted
when their manpower is needed
and forced back into the home
when jobs become scarce. But
despite labels given by govern-
ment ministries and employers,
women work for the same reasons
as men, to support themselves
and their families.

Over 40% of women workers
are self supporting. Almost 53%
of the husbands of married
women workers have incomes
under $8,000 a year.

When women enter the job
market they often face unfair
employment practices. Personnel
department attitudes characterize
women as unreliable and unsta-
ble; they may marry, or “‘worse,””
become pregnant; mothers have
too many distractions, i.e., their
children. Openings are limited to
a preponderance of dead-end cler-
ical and service jobs and at con-
siderably lower wage scales than
such employment offers men.
Women on average earn 55% of
wages earned by men, this diffe-
rential applies to all fields of
employment: industrial, techni-
cal, clerical, professional.

Attempts by women to achieve
equal pay for their work will be
seriously undermined by the fed-
eral government’s Bill C-22 which
will amend the Public Service
Staff Relations Act. Its provisions
will tie the wages of clerical and
secretarial workers to their
primarily unorganized, under-
paid counterparts in the private
sector.

Although equal pay for work of
equal value legislation has been
passed, recent guidelines have al-
lowed so many exceptions as to
almost render the law useless.

But any discussion of women in
the work force must examine the
Canadian economy which does
not provide employment for all
who want to work. Women in par-
ticular would benefit from an
industrial strategy which would
allow Canada to develop a secon-
dary manufacturing industry,
nationalize and utilize its own

natural resources, earmark funds ~

to develop science and technol-
ogy for Canadian industry-and to
prevent plant closures and job
exports.

The lack of this kind of indust-
rial strategy has resulted in over
1,000,000 Canadians being with-

out work; including 10% of the
female work force.

Government cutbacks in health
care, education, the public and
social services have added.-a tre-
mendous number of women
workers to the unemployed.

Cuts in unemployment insur-
ance payments, longer quali-
fication periods, restrictions on
those who re-apply and on those
who have been out of the work

force for over a year, and the

disqualification of many part time
workers will make it difficult for
women, particularly mothers to

collect UI benefits.
Provincial labor relation acts

make no provisions for guarantee-
ing women job security after ab-
sences for child birth. With legal
blessing a woman’s employment
may be terminated at any time
during her pregnancy because of
company regulations. There is no
protection against denying
employment, promotion, train-
ing, etc. to a pregnant woman.

Any demands for women’s
equality in the labor force must
include the demand or good qual-
ity, affordable daycare.

There are 2,099,000 children
under five in Canada. In 1974
there were 11,351 spaces for chil-
dren under three and 38,952
spaces for children three to five.
This number has declined sub-
stantially in the last five years.
Country-wide figures at present
are not available, but take, for
example, Metropolitan Toronto
which eliminated all its city-run
infant care centres this year.

Education cutbacks have seri-
ously affected the number of
supervised lunch period and after
four programs for primary grade
pupils. In-1974 there were fewer
than 5,000 spaces for 2,338,000

children between six and 11.
Summer brings additional prob-
lems that can amount to a crisis

for women who need child care. ~

With schools, nursery schools
and even some daycare centres
closed, many thousands of
women face the sometimes insol-
vable problem of finding some
type of alternative reliable care
for their children.

Few employers are sympathe-
tic to a woman who must take
time off to. care for a sick child,
not infrequently it can cost her her
job.

Both parents and children are
victims of vicious government
policy ‘which has cut back on
funding for child care. Most work-
ing parents are forced to make do
with inadeuate arrangements and
are left with the frustration and
knowledge that if anything should
happen to their children they as _
parents would be held responsi-
ble. :

Government funding cuts have

also denied women access to —

necessary educational, clinical
and counselling facilities. The
slashing of the $2-million family
planning program by 50% has
further prevented the utilization
of this badly needed service.

Cutbacks have also resulted in
the closing or reduction of’ ser-
vices in women’s shelters, half
way houses, rape crisis centres
and abortion facilities.

The fight for women’s equality
can only begin from equal access
to economic life. Despite the
Royal Commission on the Status
of Women, women haven’t come
a long way in these first four years
of the International Decade for
Women. The Canadian Govern-
ment has im fact ensured that

Many gains have been eroded.

easier.

leave to care for sick children.

seniority.
marriage breakup.
in the country.

less of income.

cost of living.

To enable women to participate fully in the work force the
following must be demanded and implemented as a minimum:

e a $4.50 per hour minimum wage, and effective government
action to ensure equal pay for work of equal value.

e changes in the Labor Act to make unionization of all workers

e affirmative action programs to train more women for skilled
labor, and legislation to force employers to install the necessary
facilities for both male and female workers.

e publicly-owned, low cost, 24-hour child care centres.

e the Human Rights Commission to investigate and prosecute
employers and training programs for discriminatory practices.

e minimum sick leave provisions in the Labor Act, including

__ @ three months government-paid maternity leave, and the right
to return to the job after up to a year’s absence, with no loss of

e equal sharing of all property acquired during marriage upon
@ women’s shelter and other such facilities in every large centre
e equal access to abortion and family planning services regard-
e elimination of all laws which deny women equal rights o
special constructive consideration because of their role as mothers.
e doubling of the family allowance programs and tying it to the

e a new made-in-Canada constitution which would provide
equal rights to both men and women.