By RICHARD ORLANDINI

| TORONTO — at their 1975
Policy Conference,

ers from throughout.

a tackled a problem that
them.

Under the slogan, “Stop the
t in Industry” the more
400 delegates heard the re-
of experts, the reports of
da nmates and together
ebated and passed resolu-
Seared to the elimination
“Gustrial diseases.

‘5 int delegates heard Dr. Irving
» @ professor at the

Unt Sinai School of Medicine -

ai York City and its direc-
€nvironmental science la-

Tanz Nes tell of the horrors and
a 8€ of industrial diseases. In
43 ae Dr. Selikoff talked in
; ae terms about asbestosis,
Tike “Ine and _ tongue-twisters
Which Sotheliona — diseases
ae Only a few years ago
Something only to doctors

TORONTO — William Kash-
oy eeneral secretary of the
ae Party of Canada
ime sc. 2 letter April 24 to
Tice Minister Trudeau, Fin-
Temp, inister Turner and all
§ ay of Parliament on the
lige" of a new federal
idget,
The fact that Finance Minis-
“eae has finally come
by 4 to the viewpoint that a
eae is needed is wel-
| the quwever, this comes late
BS te. ay, after unemployment
tre. “ached 7.2% of the labor
en ne may double this year,
Peaation continues at the
‘o,_ 12% and will continue
toe if the Government’s
Ody Taise the price of energy
‘a er goes through,’ the
Says. < =

a
WOW is: what kind of bud-
tliam Mr. Turner present to
Mary Aas Will it be an expan-
Nt o udget to create employ-
Bhten. will it be geared to
Rints belts’ by wage re-
4 while permitting unem-

YMent <
t ?
‘The OLTISC2- ~ ¢

Hest declares: We need a
4 oo CANADA BACK
: 4, expand the econo-
Curb inflation and raise liv-
as, Ndards.” s

-licie tan-says that three major
; achi are necessary in order
bya Weve the objects stated

Ve:
© an all Canadian develop-

© question which presents.

Communist Party . of:

Steelworkers Policy Conference

and medical researchers. But last
week, the steelworkers listened
attentively as the doctor rattled
off the names. They listened be-
cause they already knew — the
names were familiar to them, the
diseases were killing many of
them and their workmates.
Wives and Children
The statistics were grisly.. In-
vestigations were conducted
among workers who were once

Killer diseases in industry

employed at the New Jersey
Naval Shipyards where asbestos
was handled. The researchers
found 933 workers who handled
the products. According to the
percentages, on a nation-wide,
“normal” sampling there should
have. been 13 deaths from lung
cancer. But among the shipyard
workers there were 84 deaths
from lung cancer.

But the story didn’t stop with

Steelworkers demand
Vietnam recognition

TORONTO — The 1975 Policy
Conference of the United Steel-
workers of America passed a re-
solution greeting the new gov-
ernments in Vietnam and Cam-

bodia.

‘The resolution read:

“That this union expresses its
sense of relief and happiness
that after more than a quarter
century of violence, the wars of
the Indochina Peninsula appear
to have ended. During that
period the ordinary people of
Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
have been dominated by corrupt
governments, have had their
homes and crops destroyed by
warfare and have seen their fa-
milies maimed and killed. We
express our sincere wish that

the new governments of these
countries will find the means to
create lasting peace and econo-
mic well-being through democ-
ratic majority government, free
from outside interference by

-any other country, but aided by

all members of the world com-
munity; and that we call upon
the Government of Canada to
render all possible assistance to-
ward the accomplishment of

‘these ends.”

The resolution was also
amended: to make the demand
that the Canadian Government
recognize the new governments
in Indochina and afford them of-
ficial recognition. :

Both the resolution and the
amendment passed overwhelm-

ingly.

the workers who handled the
products. There were more sta-
tistics to come. The delegates
were told of asbestos killing the
wives and children of the work-
ers. One out of three children
or wives of the cancer victims
later developed some form of
cancer.

These included the children
who regularly went to the naval
depot to deliver their father’s
lunches. It also included the
child of the chief engineer of the
plant. He brought the child sam-
ples of the asbestos products
produced in the plant to play
with. The child is dead. Cancer.
Or more specifically, mesothelio-
na, a rare cancer of the liver
associated with asbestos.

Added Faces

The statistics were impersonal
but the doctor brought life to
the numbers. He used a slide
presentation that added faces to
the numbers. is

A retired miner sits at the side
of his bed. His face is emaciated.
There is no muscle in his arms.
He is wearing blue striped pa-
jamas that are open at the front.
And protruding from the paja-
mas is an incredibly swollen ab-
domen. The miner had mesothe-
liona. It killed him. He had once
mined asbestos.

Then came the slide of the
post-mortem. The man’s liver
was shown but it was unlike
healthy livers. It was covered
with white, ugly nodules. The
liver was diseased, rotten and
deadly.

Communists urge fiscal policies to

ment program of public invest-
ment; a redistribution of the na-
tional income in favor of the
working people of Canada; and
strengthening of Canadian con-
trol and ownership over the
economy.
_ Emphasizing that the respon-
sibility for inflation and unem-
ployment in Canada lies in gov-
ernment policies and profiteer-
ing by monopoly and multi-na-
tionals, not with the working
people, as wage restraint pro-
grams suggest, the Communist
Party puts forth the following
points in a public development
program that would create jobs:
1. A crash program of 400,000

housing units annually for low

and medium incomes.

2. The creation of a Govern-
ment operated Canadian Mer-
chant Marine.

3. If necessary, the transfer-
ence of part of the auto industry
over to the production of rapid
transit equipment, engines and
passenger rail cars and passen-
ger busses. Nationalization of
the CPR-CPI and all its opera-
tions and the creation of a fully
integrated all Canadian, publicly
owned transportation system.

4, Processing of natural re-
sources in Canada and the build-
ing of secondary industry based
on public ownership, including
public ownership of all sources
of energy.

5. Guaranteed markets and
stable prices for farm products.

UT CANADA BACK T0

6. The extension of trade
with the socialist and develop-
ing. countries on a vast scale
including provisions for long
term, low interest credits.

“The Budget must have as its
aim a redistribution of the na-
tional income in favor of the
working people of Canada, thus
correcting a situation in, which
the rich become richer and the
poor become poorer,” the letter
states. °

“1, Such a redistribution
should include the elimination
of taxes on incomes of $10,000
and less.

2.-A guaranteed annual in-
come for working people in city
and countryside.

"3. Further increases in pen--

sion. payments with earlier re-
tirement and increased family
allowances, these to be tied not
only to increases in living costs
but to increased productivity and
rising living standards. Unem-
ployment insurance payments to
be raised to 80% of basic wages
and continued for the duration

oi unemployment.

_ 4, Implementation of a pro-

gram of denticare and pharma-
care.

5. Special measures to ensure
adequate training, income and
jobs for young people leaving

_school and seeking work, and
for the unemployed.

6. Raising the purchasing
power of the working people

through substantial wage in-
creases.

7. The institution of price and
profit controls including rent

~ controls. The establishment of a

two price system on oil and na-
tural gas, roll’ back on prices of
basic foodstuffs, rent; housing,
clothing and fuel to January
1973 levels.

“The Budget must strengthen
Canadian control and ownership
over the economy. This should
be done through:

1. All companies crerating in

“e

io

LE
MASSACRE

AU TRAVAIL

More statistics about poly-
vinyl-chloride killing workers in
the rubber industry — benyl
killing roofers with lung and-
skin cancer — and silica killing
miners. : : ;

The doctor told of the safety
factors for silica in the mines. A
recent study of silica dust at El-
liot Lake uranium mines shows
that of the 1,000 samples taken
of silica dust in the air, 960 sam-
ples exceeded the recommend-
ed guidelines for silica dust.

Air Can Be Clean

“I hardly consider a 96% il-
legal dust count as satisfactory
prevention to protect the health
of workers,” Selikoff said. The
steelworkers agreed and the
miners among them were the
first to their feet to applaud the

. doctor’s speech.

“The solution,” he said, “does
not lie with the miners being
forced to wear’ masks. Even the
masks don’t help when the air
is filthy. No one needs a mask
when the air is clean and the
air can be made clean.” But that
would cut into corporate profits.

Next week, thousands of stick-
ers will appear in mines and in-
dustrial shops throughout Can-
ada. The stickers are octagon
shaped and they are red — like
a stop sign. In French they read:
“Fini le massacre au travail.” In
English: “Stop the slaughter in
Industry.”

(ORK

Canada must be
Canadian law. .

2. Plants which close down
should be taken over and oper-
ated in the public interest.

subject to

“The Communist Party of

Canada maintains such a budget
based on new economic and
social policies could put Canada
back to work, raise living stand-
ards and curb inflation,’ the
letter states.

“We ask the Government to
give this its careful considera-
tion.” -

domestic market.

tion. m4

Such an increase would have a negative effect on the Can-
adian economy and stimulate both unemployment and infla-

A gradual increase as proposed by Energy Minister Donald
MacDonald is merely a subterfuge directed to satisfy the pro-
_fit hungry corporations while pretending the interests of con-
sumers and all sectors of the economy are being protected.

The Government should be told in plain and simple terms:
You now have the power to fix as well as to roll back prices.
Use that power including nationalization of all sources of en-—
ergy to protect the people not the multi-national corporations.

Central Executive Committee
Communist Party of Canada,
W. Kashtan, leader.

Communists call on Ottawa |
to stop energy price hikes

The Communist Party of Canada calls upon the Trudeau
Government to use the power it now has to fix prices of petro-
leum products, to prevent a price increase of natural gas in the

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1975—Page 7

pene: san ramesnetatterman