legislature

Must meet

wagBOR DAY, 1971, finds the
With tt People of B.C. faced
Masgiy © grim prospects of
Monthe Unemployment in the
Nixon’ ahead as a result of
. STecent measures.
Views yrocern with which labor
Of th © Serious consequences
traq ae action is voiced by
by the en leaders interviewed

We al thinking that because
We will Taw material province
bey ie Set off lightly will not
*onom € fact is that in every
its IC crisis B.C., because of
always Material economy, has
hit, ~~" €en among the hardest

S economic aggression
omy “t iMproving the U.S.
Tage Y at the expense of the
Meludee “© World — and that
hit by th US. Not only will we be
Weak, in Surtax, but also by the
“Ountriec® of Japan and other
tieg of S Who buy large quanti-
XS ang whe Taw materials from
Dalek ei © will be forced to cut

th Ways, €conomy. We’ll get it
fop cts ur:

5 fently needed now is

ada’s Parliament and

Mt are v Offensive. What we
Last “&W economic policies.
uhist pecek the B.C. Com-
cia) uty urged that the pro-
Mito im e'Slature be called
veasur a Session to adopt
m © stem risin
ire moyment, and to make :
wustrieg Stablishing processing
“elter. ~ Such as a copper

leaat’S Ww
inter ack NDP provincial
tery; w ©, Barrett in a TV
Sion 9 Called for a special
the Sider ne Legislature to
Cffe Sures to counter
deal Cts A
e
ent,

ieoPle she
Md now

5 Brae

EO Hm

With quee U-S: action and jogs AND GUARANTEED INCOME
Problem of mass . the Communist Party booth a
Nigel Morgan, provincia

d all progressive party policy. Centre photo
uld take up this handing o !
Nixon’s economic blitz

ut literature exp

LABOR DAY, 1971

JOBS, LABOR RIGHTS TOP
ISSUES SAY B.C. UNIONS ©

Fs

uarante
noone?

SO! dnniveibily CENTURY

of COMMUNIST
PARTV

af Canady

- 8) ‘

t the PNE. Photos sh

der (top photo right
eves Fraser Valley

laining what labor
on Canada.

50: ue L
" GMMUNIST — ., STRUGGLE
aRTY BCLa

wnesey , CENTURY

“B.CLabor

oa
. y

FOR ALL’’ That is the message of

ow the busy booth as
and below) explains
organizer Rod Doran
must do to counter

Rising unemployment, attacks on labor’s rights, the
impact of Nixon’s economic war on Canada, and the
need for new federal and provincial policies to put the
country back to work. These are the main concern of
trade unionists in B.C. as we mark Labor Day, 1971.

In interviews with a number of
prominent trade unionists the
PT received the following
replies to the question: What do
you believe are the main
problems facing labor this Labor
Day::

Paddy Neale, secretary of the
Vancouver Labor Council: ‘‘Our
main problem is the 7.1 percent
unemployment in the province
and I believe it is going to climb
again— Id predict as high as 8%
to 9 percent this winter.

“This problem can’t be

handled by the provincial
government alone. We need a
crash program in the public
sector to create employment
and purchasing power; a crash
program for low cost housing,
hospitals, schools.

‘‘The $2 billion which the
federal government is going to
spend for defence is a waste. It
has no value except perhaps to
demonstrate our sovereignty in
Arctic. It should be cut in half,
and the money spent in produc-
tive uses.

“Secondly, I believe the pro-
vincial government is going to
make use of Section 18 of Bill 33
and attempt to stop legitimate
strikes. All the major industries
will be in negotiations next year
— the IWA, Steel, Construction.
The government ordered Hydro
workers back on the job not
because it was affecting the
public, but allegedly because it
was affecting the economy. So
that means they’Il use the excuse
to bring down compulsory
arbitration which could lead to
the most serious confronta-tions
the province has ever seen.

“The Nixon surtax is going to
have a heavy effect on manu-
factured goods. I really don’t
think they can afford to keep the
surcharge on lumber, nickel and
pulp; they need our raw
resources too much. But it is
going to affect the manu-
factured goods, and that will
create still more unemployment
and hardship in Canada.”

Jack Nichol, secretary of the
United Fishermen and Allied
Workers Union: ‘‘The economic
situation in Canada today is so
influenced by the U.S. that it is

threatening us with the loss of
jobs and loss of income. All
working people will feel the
profound impact of the Nixon
moves because we are so tied to
the U.S. economy.

“The answers labor must seek
should lie first of all in meetings
with bodies such as the CLC to
appraise the workek with what is
going on and work out a program
to fight for, by lobbying and
pressures on Ottawa and pro-
vincial capitals:

“‘We have to press the govern-
ments to provide more rational
use for our raw materials
through secondary industry
using a high labor content.
Secondly, we have to press for
trade with all countries of the
world.

“As an example, the Fisheries
Minister has indicated we will
be going into the herring indus-
try providing it is used as food.
He has said up to 105,000 tons can
be caught and processed. This is
a big opportunity for disposing
of it to countries such as China
which should be given long term
credits to buy it from us. All the
nations of Asia, India and small
nations need protein foods. We
do not have to depend on the U.S.
for our markets.”

William Stewart, secretary of

the Marine Workers’ and Boiler-

makers’ Union: ‘‘The basic ~

problem is the question of fight-
back against the attacks that will
be made on wages and conditions
by the employers, who will
rationalize their attacks by
blaming it on U.S. policies.
These attacks will be made on all

See JOBS; pg. 12

100

years of B.C.
labor struggle

—See pg. 3