| Price cuts face

ae A NAVA

EE: he, ae: HRY Fee, See

eid

'
[
t
eat rarmers
ie prairie harvest comes a wide range of other goods i .
heye, Wheat farmers face should be also.” i
;

Ven bigger and eri -
, grimmer eco
= Problem than a year ago,
: i So that some farmers
oe Ss not seed next spring.
A @ Trudeau administra-
an to pressures
Vente S.A. is vividly re-
Hig at the Washington meet-
ae where the result
agreed an Canada __— willingly
Was i ta ct hands tied,
h rot a ile, and then got
Do ve principal wheat ex-
met Met in Washington —
Commun: European Economic
The Use was also_ involved.
Metin, “A. “did obtain at that
ERC a assurances from the
Would ve, Australia that they
inim not Sell below the IGA
Us ha in Asian markets. The
€n proceeded to lower its

) ace by between 8 and
destined Per bushel for wheat

stern A ‘South America and
€d to aes Canada was oblig-
Was to + Suit. The intention
Wheat nec U.S. and Canadian
sition a more competitive
hile * With French exports,
* ing rey, © same time maintain-
can shue from South Ameri-
Never Asian sales. This was
US ra °Complished’ because the
and pao its South American
Rast lan prices into line with
ne Oast Prices.”
} Unite d cas in August the
Competit tates set off another
‘Tt ig d Ive round of price cuts.
to the cubtful whether an end
in ioe war is yet in sight,
Conditio Of present marketing
detling Which more than
fi aie the need for the
ate Ree ROvernment to elabor-
Policies,

ng a wheat crop esti-
than a? be 4 percent higher
| Sent req cat despite a 15 per-
Yielg, (ction in wheat acreage.
els an are 8veraging 27.2 bush-
Ina total which should result
\ wheat of 878.099,000 bushels
tal Whee? bringing Canada’s to-
Precedent Stocks up to an. un-
bushel, 4 high of 1.5 billion
Prime Pha slightly more than
hs oe Trudeau claimed
frst’, ctment would sell in its
Far <° Years in office.
and ies receipts in Alberta
iy More ewan have dropped
he first han 50 percent during
reagent’: months of 1969.
ate of Y farm machinery sales
ereent anywhere from 7 to 13
tthe” although price increases
leave retail selling price will
Sales aj, dollar. value of total
ay the same.
With an international
Ment i the Canadian govern:
SLosy, °ved to place a floor of
Lome Under wheat used for
Will eae consumption, which
ne Ve about one bushel in
he oe 5. The main bulk of
’ dricg ct 18 selling officially at
Failing Now below the price pre-
1, ani the end of World War
ped porte it is being ex-
IS, ite ¢ B00ds on a barter
Presigg dollar wheat.
Mery at of the National Far-
it Pre 'on, Roy Atkinson, said,
this emer Thatcher can pull
Why the Off, there is no reason
‘q Cons; idea cannot be expand-
{res aay. Japan manufac-
*oogs kinds of industrial
Renter t We require. If their
Ug, oh are good enough for
“Uipmer, eavy construction

e

Latin a markets outside '

harvest wheat farmers are -

- would have

“nt, road machinery and

A Conservative Party think-
ers’ conference was held in Re-
gina for the purpose of develop-
ing a policy to meet the crisis in

the West, and no doubt to poli-

tically win the West.

Ex-Agricultural Minister Alvin
Hamilton said he thought farm-
ers should continue to grow
wheat, because a crop failure,
somewhere, would quickly eli-
minate surpluses — a statement
that reveals a complete lack of
policy.

Now we are told a deal has
been concluded with the Chinese
People’s Republic for 86.2 mil-
lion bushels, which is 6 pércent
of the 1.5 billion bushels we
have on hand. No long-term
agreements have been signed,
and-farm leaders warn the farm-
ers not: to be overly optimistic.

The press tells us that the
three Prairie premiers, each with

a different political coat, all _

think alike on the present. crisis,
and are sounding the alarm. All
of them, regardless of where
they stand, aré asking for a pol-
icy from Ottawa to meet the
serious situation on the Prairies.
The following are a few quota-
tions from their statements:

“We ought to get a piece of
the Montreal market for oil.”

“You talk about stresses in
Confederation — certainly out
here there is alienation.”

’ “But I think there is a fester-
ing sore because. we do buy
everything in a protected mar-
ket from eastern interests.”

“Westerners feel they now
have rather grave economic
problems which the federal gov-
ernment: does not seem to be
concerned about.”

“The price of wheat is lower
than it was at. the end of the
war, yet the price of everything
the farmer has to buy has gone
up three times.” :

‘The cry against giving “relief”
out West is that it would be in-
flationary. The charge is that

‘the farmers have simply grown

too much, contradicted by a still
hungry world. The slogan ad-
vanced by the senior govern-
ment is, in essence, “Get off the
land, you are superfluous.”

Inflation, which cuts wages
and pensions, wipes out savings,
and makes the life of the
poverty-stricken even more mis-
erable, exists. It feeds mainly on
war spending, and we are told
that the Canadian government
does not intend to cut its arma-
ments spending at all.

The need for exports — the
very fact that peaceful trade is
based on friendly relations with
all countries — is in direct con-
tradiction to the expenditure of
nearly $2 billions yearly on war.
It is from this source that the
money can be found to finance
exports and open up new trad-
ing relations with other coun-
tries.

It is an interesting fact that
one half of the defense budget
would have enabled Canada to
give away 400 million bushels
of wheat each year, and pay the
farmer $2.25 a bushel for it. Ob-
viously, to propose giving it
away is ridiculous, but low-
interest-bearing, long-term loans
could have been made.

Such trade developments
generated vast
amounts. of work in terms of
transportation, shipping and
handling, in the demand for ma-
chinery, parts, and chemicals.

Eh be ee ae

Public pressure for substantial

increases in the minimum wage’

is arising across the country, in
these days of soaring prices and
taxes. On Sept. 25, William C.
Ross on behalf of the Manitoba
Committee of the Communist
Party presented a submission to
the Minimum Wage Board of

‘that province.

Below is an abridged text of
this brief:

The time has come to once
and for all rectify the injustice
suffered by the lowest paid
workers of this province, those
compelled to exist on the mini-
mum wage rate. The current
rate of $1.25 per hour, which has
only been in existence since De-
cember 1, 1968, is shamefully
inadequate to provide even a
minimum of basic necessities
under present conditions of soar-
ing prices and high taxes. In a
number of cases the earnings of

CLC president |
condemns gov't

President of the Canadian
Labor Congress, Donald Mac-
Donald, said: “The federal gov-
ernment’s action in firing civil
servants is one of.the most bru-
tal and callous decisions ever
taken by a government. These
‘civil servants and their families
are being needlessly sacrificed to
satisfy a government policy of
austerity, a policy which at best
is highly questionable: at. this
time:

“We already has a high un-
employment rate in Canada,” he
said, ‘and this latest move by the
government will only serve to
aggravate our unemployment
problem . . . The long establish-
ed principle of security of ten-
ure has been destroyed .. . The
government, in adopting this
policy, has in effect warned pub-
lic servants that they cannot re-
ceive salary increases without
an offsetting reduction in depart-
mental staff.”

In what was otherwise a hard-
hitting statement, the Congress
president weakened his position
by suggesting that the govern-
ment “could, for example, have
depended entirely on the normal

attrition process of not filling,

positions as they become va-
cant.” This is hardly an employ-
ment policy, and in essence it
calls for a higher intensity of
labor and sacrifice by the civil
service. There is no reason why
a rich, highly developed country
like Canada cannot have full
employment and adequate leis-
ure provided for by a shorter
working day and work week.

CZECH MINING

Many years of experience in
the field of projecting open-
cast mines, has enabled the
Banske projekty (Mine Project-
Design Institute) of Teplice
(North Bohemia) to expand its
activities to a number. of Euro-
pean countries and lately also
to Canada. At the request of
one of the Canadian mining
enterprises, the Institute ela-
borated a study for coal min.
ing on the Salmon River, where
there is a deposit of more
than 300 million tons of ‘coal
below a layer of 1,800,000 mil-
lion cubic metres of subsoil.

the head of a family existing on
the minimum wage, have had to
be supplemented by welfare pay-
ments in order to provide
minimum standard of health and
decency to the family.

A study conducted by the
Technical Committee on Income
Maintenance as part of the re-
cent Social Service Audit in con-
junction with the School of
Home Economics, University of
Manitoba shows that the gross
amount required by an average
family of 4 in the Greater Win-
nipeg area to maintain even a
subsistence standard of living is
$3,806 per year. This amount is
based on prices as of June 1967
and according to the Dominion
Bureau of Statistics figures, the
cost of living index has risen b
10.2 points since. i

In terms of today’s prices and
taxes the amount required would
be over $4,000 per year. The
equivalent figure for a single
person would be close to $3,000.
But these figures, it must be
noted, are based on a mere sub-
sistence standard of living which
dooms the individuals concerned
to a life of privation and want.

‘ ‘Then, what can be said about

those who are compelled to exist
on the present minimum wage
of $1.25 per hour which, on the
batis of an average 40-hour
week, provides only $2,600 per
year? :

Much has been heard lately
about the battle to end poverty.
Well, here is where this battle
can begin—by raising the mini-
mum wage rate . . . It cannot
be a matter of pride‘to us that
Manitoba bears the stigma of
being a low wage area. Accord-
ing to the Dominion Bureau of
Statistics figures for June of
1969, the average wage in manu-
facturing in this province was
$109 per week. This compared
to $114 in Quebec, $122 in On-
tario and $129 in B.C. Only the

- Atlantic Region had a lower av-

erage. The latest figures released
by the Department of National
Revenue lists 89 Canadian cities
in order of average incomes and
taxes paid. Winnipeg is 53rd on
the list; Brandon 79th; and Por-
tage la Prairie 89th... .

To retain the young and the
skilled, to provide them with a
standard of living and a quality

- of life second to none in Canada

demands that an end be put to
the policy of keeping Manitoba
as a depressed wage area. And
a start can be made by raising
the minimum wage rate. This

‘ will have a chain reaction on

general wage levels in the pro-
vince. Instead of keeping so
many of our citizens below the
poverty level it will infuse addi-
tional purchasing power into the
economy and benefit all concern-
ed. At a time when the guaran-
teed annual wage is being pro-
jected as sound economics, it
makes no sense to keep the mini-
mum wage rate below the pover-
ty level.

The 40-hour week has become
general in industry and business,
yet the Minimum Wage Act still
stipulates 48 hours for male
employees and 44 hours for fe-
male employees. This hang-over
from the past, which once again
penalizes the lowest paid work-
ers, should be finally eliminated.
We strongly urge that the 40-
hour working week for male and

female employees alike be writ-
ten into the Act and that the
payment of overtime rates be
based on one and a half times
the minimum rate after eight
hours a day and 40 hours a week
for both men and women. ~

We have noted with some
surprise that even before this
Board met to consider revisions
in the minimum wage rate that
the figure of $1.50 per hour as
the new rate has been projected
in various circles. . .

The Toronto Star of August
14, 1969 in an article by their
staff writer, Jack Cahill, had
this to say: “The minimum wage
issue was one of the main points
of contention in Schreyer’s meet-
ing with the province’s business
leaders, but he is reported to
have assured them that it would
not be increased above $1.50, an
amount most of the businessmen
agreed was reasonable and ac-
ceptable.” .. .

It would appear, Mr. Chair-
man, that an attempt’is being
made to pre-determine the deci-
sion of your Board and render
futile the public hearings pre-
ently held. We hope that the
members of this Board will ig-
nore these attempts to set such
a low increase in the minimum
wage rate. The working people
expect more from the new gov-
ernment whose members have
on numerous occasions express-
ed. sympathy and understanding
of the workingman’s plight. .. .

Various sections of the’ trade
union movement of Manitoba
have gone on record for the
minimum wage rate to be in-
creased to $1.75 and $2.00 per
hour. We support the figure of
$2. It is not out of line with
recent wage settlements won by
organized labor. And those who
have been compelled to exist on
the low rates which’ have pre-
vailed over the many years have
a lot of catching up to do. Only
the other day it was reported.
that the cost of living has jump-
ed again to a new high—despite
Prime Minister Trudeau’s at-
tempt to make Canadians believe
that voluntary restraints on
prices are workable .

The door should not be left
open under the new regulations
for exceptions to be made for
specific industries which, we are
told, will not be able to exist if
they had to pay more than the
prevailing minimum wage rate.
This is the same cry heard years
ago from employers who resist-
ed the abolition of‘ child labor,
the reduction of the 12-hour-day
and the: recognition of the right
of their employees to collective
bargaining. We reject the idea
that workers should subsidize
their employers at the cost of
decent’ standards of living. A
sound and a healthy society are
incompatible with sub-standard
wages.

The people of Manitoba voted
for change on June 25. We be-
lieve this change can be signalled
by meeting the needs of the low-
est-paid categories of our work-
ing force and putting an end to
their present status as second
class citizens. Your Board can
do this by raising the minimum
wage rate to $2 per hour and
setting the standard hours for
male and female employees at
8 in one day and 40 in a week.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 3, 1969—Page 7

aoe Se