Toronto council .
backs demands
of railroaders

TORONTO

The rail strike is over, but it’s
far from being settled. How labor
feels was reflected at the regular
meeting of the Toronto Trades and
Labor Council. when the AFL or-
ganization went unanimously on
record demanding that the govern-
ment grant the full demands of
the railroaders.

The TLC, which represents 65,-
000 unionists, also made it clear
that labor would not accept the
compulsory arbitration bill because
it was aimed, not just at the rail

unions, but at the entire move-

ment.

“To have this bill brought down
and applied, then have it ex-
plained to us that this will only
affect the railroad workers is
something we refuse to accept or
believe,” said the TLC’s legislative
committee report.

A glance at the labor
shows there is no reason for the
railroaders getting any less than
the modest seven and 10 cents an
hour increase originally demanded

along with the 40-hour, five-day
week,

Canadian auto workers are on
the move on the wage front and
5,000 Chrysler workers have already
received pay boosts ranging be-
tween eight and eleven cents. The
United: Auto Workers Union leader-
ship, compelled to take action be-
cause of the profiteering rise in
the cost of living, is swinging into
action against other auto corpor-
ations with Ford first on the list.
If auto can get it, why not the
railroaders, is a quesion rank and
filers are asking.

The 40-hour, five-day week, 4
real issue with the railroaders,
can also be won this year, not in
1951. So widely accepted is the
idea that the 40-hour week should
become universal that even a
government - appointed concilia-
tion board recommended that it
should apply to Nova Scotia’s
Steel industry with no reduction
in take-home pay.

scene

Wage movements are springing
up all across the country. More and
More unions are demanding that
contracts even recently negotiated
be reopened around the wage issue.

Steleo steelworkers have de-
Manded of the union’s leadership
that their contract be reopened on
the wage question.

In the majority of cases the wage
demands are higher than the mod-
est increases the railroaders asked
for and there is no question of the
fact that the rail unions can win
their full demands now if the lead-

Trade unions in British Columbia
are fighting back against Ottawa’s
“suns before butter” policy by de-
manding higher wages to offset
soaring living costs, and prepar-
ing for strike action in cases where
negotiations fail to win their eco-
nomic demands.

Marine workers, fur workers,
longshoremer and seamen are all
negotiating for wage boosts. Street
railwaymen in New Westminster
and Victoria have passed resolu-
tions asking that their union locals
reopen the wage question. Coal
miners and hardrock miners are
discussing the wage issue.

How necessary this movement
for pay hikes has become is illus-
trated by the Dominion Bureau of
Statistics index for Canada, which
in August stood at an all time high
of 168.5 points (1935-39 equalling
100). For Vancouver the July in-
dex was 169—and it has undoubted-
ly advanced since then.

Some pertinent facts on zooming
living costs were produced by Ma-
rine Workers and_ Boilermakers
Union in a brief presented to a
conciliation board which met in
private sessions to hear arguments
in a wage -dispute between the
union and Burrard and Pacific steel
yards. The board’s findings have
not yet been handed down.

“Our wage request represents an
effort merely to maintain real
wages or purchasing power,” the
brief’s preamble said. “While we
might well be justified in seeking
to improve our standard of living,
a sober examination of the facts
indicates that the full implementa-
tion of our wage request for an in-
crease of 20 cents an hour across
the board will do little more than
enable our members to hold their
own in the struggle against sky-
rocketing living costs.”

Among the facts presented in the

ership really fights for the rank
and file’s rights.

brief were these:

In 1939 you could buy the groceries shown above for $4.87.

Unions fight high living costs
with drive for wage increases ©

At present no items of chil-
dren’s clothing and shoes are
priced for the cost-of-living in-
dex. Additional taxes on tobac-
co products are not included. Add
to this the lack of system for
measuring changes in owner-
occupied shelter costs, and it is
seen that the DBS index fails to
present an adequate picture.

Confirmation of this is shown
when one examines the one-time
cost-of-living index of the Bureau
of Economics and Statistics in
British Columbia. The B.C. index
shows that from September, 1940,
to August, 1947—-when for some un-
explained reason it was discontin-
ued—the cost of living rose from
an index of 100 at September, 1940,
to 141 at August, 1947. During the
same period the official DBS index
rose from an index of 100 in Sep-
| tember, 1940, to 128 at August, 1947.
| Thus the B.C. index had advanced
by 13.4 more than the federal in-
dex: .
{ The official DBS index states
that food prices shown on the index
have risen by 1143 points since
1939. Direct investigation. shows
that food prices have risen far
more than this.

The average imcreases’ since
1939 for 19 key meat foods is the
shockingly high figure of 455 per-
cent. This means that a worker
who spent $7 a week for meat for
his family in 1939 would, today,
have to pay $38.85 for the same
amount of meat. (See table on
this page.)

Grocery prices have also soared.
The average increase for 21 staples
since 1939 has been 115% percent.

In recent months butter, coffee,
pop and dozens of other items have
increased drastically in _ price.
Bread and milk prices may jump
soon.

Prices of other commodities are
increasing daily, and contribute to

IUCN ATVB UTTL TTL Lt U1 1 a

;a further lowering of the living
|standards of workers’ families.

| Since 1939, street car fares have
| risen from four tickets for a quar-
|ter to a dime straight, an increase
!of 60 percent. Weekly passes have
been abolished so that today a man
making 25 trips per week pays 100
percent more than he did three
years ago, when he could have
bought a pass for $1.25.

Automobiles, both new and used,
as well as auto accessories have
increased by about 100 percent
since 1939. Here in British Col-
umbia the most recent increase in
gasoline prices—1% cents per gal-
lon—makes the fourth increase in
two years.

Lumber and housing prices have
increased to a fantastic and quite
unreasonable extent. Houses from
10 to 30 years old now cost approx-
imately three times what they did

Now they would cost you $10.06.

in 1939. A new house which cost
$3,000 in 1939, today costs $10,680.

The official DBS index shows
|clothing prices as having risen by
| 80.7 percent since 1939. This figure
cannot be accepted. For one thing,
working clothes have risen by
more than 100 percent, and quality
has also deteriorated.

The brief concludes: “Our re-
quest for a 20-cent per hour in-
crease across the board is based
upon a careful and objective eval-
uation of al] the revelant factors.
It is not presented with a view to
bargaining downward. The men
We represent need the full amount
of their wage request to maintain
themselves in relative decency. The
present steady decline in the pur-
chasing power position of our mem-
bers must be arrested at once.”

“We'll hae nae meat that ye can
eat” could well be the slogan for
the mew Vancouver school lunch-
room menus, Not that the meals
to be provided hungry youngsters
from now on will be inedible. Far
from it. But all roast meats and
hams have been scratched off the
menu, to be replaced by hamburger,

meat loaf, shepherd’s pie.

High cost of living, hitting at
school as well as home budgets,
foreed school board trustees to re-
vise cost of meals upward and
quality downward,

The new menus cross out last

stew, meat pie, sausages, wieners, ,

Higher food costs hit
school lunch menus

tyear’s 12-cent and 25-cent meat
| plates and replace them with one
hot dish at 20 cents, consisting of
the above-mentioned cheaper meat
or meat dish, plus spuds, gravy
and another vegetable.

Cost of sandwiches doubles, from
a nickel to a dime, and a glass of
tomato juice will be boosted from
five to ten cents also.
| “If milk and lard prices continue
|to increase, other upward revisions
|of prices may be necessary,” warns
Miss M. J. Wynes, director of
school lunchrooms.

So the kids are saying: “So long
roast beef—hello meat pie; so long
,ham—hello hamburger.”

H t prices have risen How grocery pri i
ow meat prices h prices have risen
15 July 11 INCREASE ITEM Aug. 25, 1939* J ag
a ge Rd aes heres SINCE 1939 SINCE 1948 Butter—Ist Gr. Alberta—Ib. .......... . 25e pay meg oe sae ee tad
Sirloin or T-Bone Roast—lb. .. 16¢ 69c¢ 84e 68c or 425% e«ldc or 21% Sockeye Salmon—% Ib. can ........ 16c 39e@ 23e or 148%
Sinoit or Se ear ae ae $80 we or 517% 29e or 49% beset yea ee tea < e . 13.7¢ 85e or 163%
Roas : : Canada ‘ jis Shop abate Bee Ac 4.6¢ 228%
ssa segue Ya gg jae PS isc 65¢ 86¢c 7c or 561% 21lc or 33% Onions—Ib. .....-- +++. eee eee cere ee ee ee 3c 6e nas oe 00%
Bone An a ee Bee, TIO oor Me ISSO 80% Hatineeahe os geass ees 123¢ 18i¢ 6c or 48%
ee he coe Rites isc Bic 76¢ 64c or 533% #80 or 33% Peaches—Cans 20 ozs, .............. lbe 26.7¢ IL%e Or 78%
Thick Rib- Roast, Grade A—Ib. Ye 49¢ Wc G4c or 914% = 2e2eor 44% an eee a, ee 3Be se ize or 51x
pana Bome na eh) Roast 390 590 Sle or 687% 20c or 51% Sugar—Yellow—Ib._ ................... 6.6¢ Bred ee oa oan
Plate nya es age Fae : : : : Be 18¢ 48c —-88c or 706% 25ce or 138% Eggs—Grade A Pullet—doz. ..... a. 20c 5le 3le or 155%
Je. , pert Ot cater Sion y0c or 368% 30c or 50% a anti Corn—can ............ 2.5 2. we (l70z.)  12hke (15 02.) te or 80%
keg Lar Roas cee on San 550 46c or 511% 19¢ or 52% ‘lour—Robin Hood—7 ar -2635;; 20c¢ 47¢ 27e or 135%
Fillets, smoked cod—Ib. “130 850:C«C«RC:Cs«C OF BH —«_ To or WF Clams — Cloverleaf Whole No. I—can_ 13¢ 25e We or 92%
smoke {Cee “8 60 104C 66c or 178% 18c or 20% Tomato Juice—Libby Be PAIT Sn kw bap 43c (1050z.) 8&3e (10 0z.) 3.8¢ or 84%
Ham, "Bolled—Ib so. BE BEE Mo SEC or S50% — 90 OF 254% Toilet Paper—Westminster—rol} 3.3¢ 7.2¢ 3.9¢ or 118%
ree See aes es ae Soc 73 67¢ or 1116% 34c or 87% Pears (20 On) cam SS em BC 25.1c ile or 214%
Neathiagene ee pie ise cS HC: CBAC OT 2BB% NIL Aylmer’s Veg. Soup (10% oz.)—can... 6c ic 3c er 46%
. Ss C Co | eo Sic. BRO. 860 56c or 164% 8c or §=9% Sandwich Spreads (Heldund’s)—can .. 7c 13h¢ ie or 121%,
Bac on, back —th neha IRS ga, ae 280 OF 95% 8c oF 2% Shortening (Jewel)—Ib, -..- ss... Tle 25e 17ie or 288%
Cote Dok aD sees Ming, (apo-ar Blames > ee 0% Cheese (Chateau)—Ib. ............... 25e 54c 29¢ or 116%
Weiners, Burns—Ib. «:----++ ++ 180." i, SRO ARS), SEOF, CMH mest § ar av y

s, sa ; . tok shes ources: Newspaper advertisements—Vancouver newspapers, Aug. 25, 1939
* Source: As advertised in Vancouver newspapers ces pats Vancouver *% Direct investigatio 7 7 ‘¢ oe ;

*% Source: Prices obtaimed by direct investigation: W ward’s, : Bis nt Woodwart's, Vancouver,

es

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 15, 1950—PAGE 7