Who gains from price hikes? being 8 profits on food are tts, Thowemned in many quart- tee letter, which and Toronto Globe tight May 2, puts the-record Tee tiga ON® ASPect_ of food ‘Noo tea 1), Geran to an article (April Cana ae Nix, president to the Cation ; 0od Processors’ Asso- ‘Sion ae of York Farms. divi- the Can anada Packers Ltd., told tors 2dian public to expect 20 Cegsaq yecrease in prices of pro- cates “eetables by fall. He in- ct the main factor be- ‘the igh retail price increases is ‘Bowe ae Prices negotiated by Vety poo Tt. Nix either has .a “Or ig a Source of information &Xtra pp mpting to protect. some thin gens the others in the ave attempting to obtain. Rtableg 2° @ 14-0z. tin of ve- 85 op, Contains approximately dye >, Of drained weight pro- Bowers -.mcreased prices to ent have added about one Which © Price of a 14-oz. tin Crease a out to 3-3.5% in- Pricgg this Price. Therefore, if fall increase by more LABOR SCENE 8Y BRUCE MAGNUSON r m sghstess. The conven- a time of great to ie _trade len » 8TOwWing monopol ttl Wages prration cuts cen AS ate > ile prices and pro- Tuite a °oming upward. The Nate hei, 'echnological change { Mofteent absorbed by monopoly i Sop seune and price gouging Melon is undermined and Ke inate’ : expands along Canis won: the sa i a an list State is bein ages batting istrument to deprive ate righte re of their demo- Mental pic} NCluding the fun: ta iMlation t to strike. li Produce? Unemployment hs a Cts of monopoly capi- that A Sur economic sys- se SSute on OPS the increasing Tefits, * Wages and social ticg) : 1S the economic and ’ ystem that robs the the sePle. At the same a ee of economic 8 to th the new techno- © employers. The Drggt thy Corporations and ake | \) a Ut of iting. nanza of Bop an the Maiority 4 My, UB moh Ment wa Militant strike meme. eynover, that strike 0 to) ae &@ powerful ex- Dog Major; € needs and aims Minn’: It ig Of the Canadian Wh tity See the result of a 1. ‘ ‘trouble-makers,” Hf Paganda Organs of i inh, *POSsible it to be. It is D congas. © Separate the Nditions of individu- Enterprises from - Orkers in society Soc} Tom the econo- ty ta _ Policy of pote: oe ueele for eco- ajo an 90 lal reform by Y pan, Of an exploited 4 Oea))) | The Ploitin «less th The Pisiting aia 10% Oh, Sst Unions ay ping; “Most j a ae # foge An S of niluential / re to» Slackeni © working j iye'sive b Ing in their ef- | . € monopol i y Wi ang on the standards, <8 Be add one Union rights’ € Penny to the ; than one cent per 14 oz. tin, the additional money is not going to growers but to others in the chain. In other words, if prices do increase by 20 to 30%, then 16.5 to 26.5% of the increase is due to non-grower sources. _ Gordon Hill, President, * Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Toronto on his return to Lisbon:. Guinea-Bissau. its expression in for the Portuguese people, for the people. Greeting Portugal's Communists TORONTO — Greeting the legal participation of the Com- munist Party of Portugal in the country’s political activities _after a ban of almost half a century, William Kashtan, Can- adian Communist leader, sent the following telegram, on be- half of the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, to Portuguese Communist leader, Alvaro Cunhal, “Through you we greet all Portuguese Communists, call democratic’ and anti-fascist forces, who for years held high the banner of struggle against fascism, for the restoration of democratic rights, for the achievement of profound econo- mic and social transformation i basic rights of the people o n Portugal and support to the f Angola, Mozambique and “The overthrow of the fascist regime has opened the door to winning these aims. We are f patriotic and internationalist position of your Party will find this new stage of development opening up and will result in new advances “The democratic forces of Canada are with you and all democratic forces in Portugal. Yours in solidarity...” confident that the persistent Main questions facing the CLC convention incomes of the unorganized and the poor. On the contrary, such an approach would only serve to split and weaken the struggle to ensure the redistribution of the national income in favor of the working people at the expense of the multi-national corpora- tions and the wealthy. The delegates to the Canadian Labor Congress Convention. in Vancouver will be called upon to set policies that will prevent the fragmentation of the labor move- ment in Canada. The retirement ~of Donald MacDonald as president along with others on the Congress leadership, means that a con- frontation for leadership will be tied in with the struggle for policy. The future of the ‘Con- gress and the road its new leadership will take will depend upon the good judgment and the direction given by the delegates to this convention. A united trade union move- ment and a united ‘working class can deféat the monopoly offen- sive and go forward to make im- portant gains. Consolidation of such gains will depend on curb- ing monopoly power and a change in the balance of forces in favor of the working class, and the democratic majority. To Curb Monopoly Working class and democra- tic unity in both economic and political action hinges upon the extent of cooperation achieved between those who seek econo- mic and social reform and those who combine the struggle for such reforms with the struggle for more basic social transfor- mation and socialism. In the long run the basic question re- mains one of cooperation be- tween the NDP and the Com- munist Party. The direction must be “to curb monopoly by nationalization of natural re- sources, energy and the multi- national corporations, as the path toward achievement of the political aims of the working class. Developments in Britain, France, Italy, Portugal and else- where, clearly indicate the road we must travel to achieve peace, ‘independence and a future. To bring Canadian labor more socialist fully into conformity with pre- sent-day . developments towards irreversible detente, an end to the costly arms race, for per- manent peace and international brotherhood of all working peo- ple, international solidarity: is essential. International Solidarity In the same vein and for the same. reasons an independent, sovereign and united trade union movement must become a real- ity in Canada. To win such an independent, sovereign and united trade union movement we must extend the basis of friendship with the world trade union movement. We must insist that Canada con- tributes to, and works for ir- reversible detente on .a world- wide scale. The AFL-CIO leader- ship have done the opposite and have isolated themselves from the world movement. International solidarity of the working people and unity of the Canadian trade union movement based on the right of Canadian workers to conduct their own affairs in their own interests are two sides of the.same coin. — Working people in our society today are awakening to the ex- istence of a credibility gap be- tween the reality they face and the loudly propagated so-called “harmony and social partnership between capital and labor.” The reality of a broadening social pase of a: growing strike move- ment cannot be obliterated. by propaganda, or defeated by strike-breaking and repressions. The struggle will continue to grow against ) to divide the working class by sex, racial prejudice, discrimina- tion against immigr, and native peoples as 4 means to obtain cheap labor and gain . the 10th | super-profits. The delegates to Biennial Gonvention of the CLC have a great responsibility and an excellent opportunity to bring ian organized labor in step cela 3 d future needs of all working people, both here at home and abroad. To the extent they succeed in doing this, they will advance Canadian labor to new heights of influence and success. monopoly efforts. ant workers | CONTROLLERS GET NEW WAGE PACT OTTAWA — Air traffic con- trollers . accepted the govern- ment’s contract offer in a na- tion-wide vote last week. The 2,000 controllers will get a 24% increase. in wages over the two- year life of the new contract. The controllers currently earn $5,750 as trainees and up to $22,232 as top grade controllers. BETTER INSURANCE DEMANDED BY UAW TORONTO — The insurance industry must work to improve insurance programs for workers and. end shortcomings in health and disability benefits, president “Leonad Woodcock of the Unit- ed Auto Workers (UAW) said. Speaking to a conference of the American Society of -Insur- ance Management, Woodcock said fringe benefits are becom- ing almost as important as wag- es in labor negotiations. In 1972 more than $2.3-billion was spent under UAW-negotia- ted agreements for pensions, health and hospital insurance and survivor benefits. ‘ What is needed in Canada, he said, is legislation to provide pensions plan termination in- surance and disclosure require- ments for plan, beneficiaries. es B.C. CONSTRUCTION CLOSED BY STRIKE VANCOUVER — A major portion of the B.C. construction industry was shut down as strik- ing -electrical workers set up picket lines. from Vancouver to the Okanagan Valley. The pickets went up at work sites where electrical contrac- ters were on the job. Workers from other construction unions were reported to have honored the lines and returned home. Neither the electrical contrac- tors nor the striking inside wire- men’s union would estimate the extent of the shutdown. BRANDON HOSPITAL WORKERS VOTE TO STRIKE... BRANDON — Service work- ers at Brandon General Hospital voted last week to go on strike over contract demands. Eugene Kostyra, chief nego- tiator for Local 756, Canadian Union of Public Employees, said the 300 service employees will go on strike sometime after May 17. He said 220 of. the 300 in- volved voted :75% in favor of strike action The service workers rejected the hospital’s latest offer of monthly wage increases total- ling $109 over two years, retro- active to May 1. ..- SO DO NURSES IN REGINA REGINA .— —-Saskatchewan nurses voted overwhelmingly in favor of strike action at 84 of the province’s 130 hospitals and 15 other institutions, the Sas- kachewan Union of Nurses. an- nounced. A statement by the nurse’s union said 91.56% of the nurses polled during a three-week strike ballot favor strike action to back demands for reinstatement of a 25% differential between registered nurses and certified. nursing assistants. WHILE IN LONDON... LONDON, Ont. — A threat- ened strike by 2,600 non-medical hospital workers in 10 south- western Ontario hospitals ‘may be averted due to recent deve- lopments in negotiations, a union official said. John Askin, president of the London and District Building Services Workers Union, a branch of the Service Workers International Union, says he is optimistic settlements can be reached. The union is demanding that jts 2,800 workers in 13 hospitals be granted parity with their To- ronto counterparts who were awarded a two-year contract last week, calling for a $1.50 hourly increase. —_—~>—_—_ RAIL WORKERS JAILED IN INDIA | NEW DELHI — The Indian government arrested more than 100 leaders of railway unions threatening to go on strike. It said the walkout, scheduled for May 8, would cripple the country as much “as a defeat in war.” . One of those arrested, V. R. Mhalgi, a Bombay labor leader, died soon after being taken into custody and some railwaymen _ in that city walked off their jobs in protest. The key issues blocking a set- tlement have been the unions’ demands for wage increases of about 70%—some unskilled la- bers now earn the equivalent of $77 a month — and payment of annual bonuses equal to one menth’s salary. The government which runs the railway system, says it lacks funds to meet the demands. Soviet trade unionists visited the Hamilton Westinghouse plant last week. Shown discussing working conditions are (from the left) J. J. Hudson, manufacturing mafager, G. Korznikov of the Soviet Seamens’ Union, C. S. Jackson, president of the United Electrical. Workers, and Valentin Perepeljuk, Soviet Power and Electrical Work- ers Union. The Soviet trade unionists were in Canada for the United Electrical Workers convention in Toronto last week. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1974—PAGE 9