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Continued from page 1

which is conducting the central
hearing in Vancouver. .

Lawyer Don Rosenbloom,
representing the TWU, the In-
ternational Woodworkers of
America and the B.C. Fed, had
put forward a motion calling for
both expanded regional hear-
ings and the upgraded status for
those hearings but it was denied
Oct. 1 in a ruling from CRTC
panel chairman, Paul Klinge.

will be challenged in federal
court in a writ filed by counsel
for the TWU, IWA and the
B.C. Fed. y

At the regional hearing in
Vancouver Monday, three
organizations, the TWU, the
B.C. Fed and the Communist
Party, declared that they would

‘present their submissions but
would do so “‘under’ protest”
because of Klingle’s ruling de-
nying full status to the regional
hearings.

In voicing the CP’s opposi-
tion to the B.C. Tel rate increase
Communist Party’ provincial
leader Maurice Rush told the
hearing, ‘‘Any increase would
be totally unwarranted, un-
justified and unnecessary and

burden on the public which is
already suffering the increased
burden of inflation.”’

_ The brief dismissed as a
‘‘blatant fallacy’’ the
company’s arguments that it
needed to demonstrate ‘‘con-
tinued progress towards a fair
rate of return,’”’ pointing out
that B.C. Tel’s shares were
already trading at a rate con-
siderably higher than their book
value.

“Under these conditions, to
speak of the need ‘demonstrate
. . . progress towards a fair rate
of return’ is to insult the intelli-
gence of the reader,”’ the brief
stated.

The CP submission also
pointed to thetiming of the B.C.
Tel rate increase application —
which was presented at a time of
high interest rates — suggesting
that it was part of a company
strategy to generate even greater
profits in the future.

“Since utility prices move on-
ly upward,” it warned, ‘‘if B.C.
Tel can win rate increases based
on capital requirements in the

present extraordinary market,
the higher rates will remain and

However, Klingle’s ruling»

would impose an additional’

generate excess profits far into
the future after cost conditions
have settled down to more
reasonable levels.”

It cited figures to
demonstrate that the average
share earnings, per phone, had
already risen 59.2 percent from
1975 to 1979 — higher than the
percentage increase in revenue,
operating expense, or capital in-
vestment per phone over the
same period.

At the same time, the brief
noted, a study conducted by
Concordia University in the
U.S. showed that the telephone
companies ‘‘tend to over invest
in capital goods in order to in-
flate the capital base on which it

’ can claim a large rate of return

and thus inflate their profits.
‘There are strong indications
that B.C. Tel has been doing this
for many years at the expense of
the phone-using public,’’ it
charged. A major argument

presented by B.C. Tel in seeking

the rate increase is its need for
new capital expenditure to in-
troduce new electronic equip-
ment.

The CP’ brief declared that
the rate increase ‘‘is not war-
ranted’? emphasizing to the
CRTC that it is ‘‘useless to lec-
ture the public about inflation if
government itself routinely
authorizes inflationary in-
creases in price.”

Rush also reiterated the
Communist Party’s stand for
public ownership of B.C. Tel,
adding that the call for na-
tionalization has also been voic-

‘ed by other organizations in-

cluding the B.C. Federation of
Labor.

B.C. Fed president Jim Kin- -

naird condemned the rate in-
crease application, charging
that the rate hikes, coupled with

the deterioration in telephone

service of the ‘‘abuses by this
U.S. corporate subsidiary.”’

Kinnaird warned that B.C.
Tel was “‘using the CRTC as a
bargaining lever’? and would
move immediately to lock out its
employees once the rate in-
creases were granted.

“The terrible labor relations
climate is a deliberate act of the

company,’’ Kinnaird charged. ~

He said that employees were
being used as “‘scapegoats for
the poor service,” citing com-
ments by B.C. Tel president
Gordon MacFarlane who told
the central hearing earlier that

TWU MEMBERS AT HEARING .. .‘tired of being blamed for the poor service.’

B.C. Tel is using CRTC
‘as a bargaining lever’

the poor service was because of
‘low worker productivity” and
job action by the TWU.

The Federation president
noted that B.C. Tel had not kept
its promises, made in 1977, to
improve service. He said the
CRTC ‘has a mandate to
protect the public from the
abuses of this U.S.-owned sub-
sidiary.

“Unless the company prom-
ises to improve service — and no,
improvement will be made
unless there are substantial’
changes in management and
labor relations — the rate in-
creases should not be granted,”’
he said.

Three TWU members
presented testimony before the
hearing, giving added substance
to the charge that the poor ser-
vice was entirely the respon-
sibility of B.C. Tel management
although they were being blam-
ed for it.

Operator Linda Roloffs told

the hearing that she was ‘‘fed up
with being blamed for poor ser-

vice we are forced to give

customers.

She said that there are not
enough operators to handle the
volume of calls and what
operators there are under
““remendous pressure.””

‘*And we're constantly mon-
itored so’ we can’t spend any
time with customers,”’ she add-
ed.
James MacKeigan, mayor of
the huge northern municipality
of Hudson Hope gave graphic
example of the low level of ser-
vice given outlying communities
by B.C. Tel.

He pointed out that there is
only one serviceman for the
whole municipality which is the
largest in the province.

“About 50 percent of the
calls in my municipality are not
completed and it’s almost im-
possible to dial long distance
calls directly,”’ he said.

“We're against any increase
until such time as we can get
some service.”’

Although regional hearings
were to wind up this week after
hearings in Victoria and
Dawson Creek, opponents to
the rate increase can still send
letters to the CRTC registering

their opposition to the rate in-.

crease. They should be sent to
the CRTC, 701 West Georgia

St., Vancouver, B.C. V7Y 1C6. =

TRIBUNE PHOTO— SEAN GRIFFIN

BCTF sets action
plan on pensions

An overwhelming vote approv-
ing an action plan to pressure the
provincial government indexing of
retired teachers’ pensions was the
highlight of the B.C. Teachers’
Federation fall representative
assernbly held.in Vancouver, Oct. 2
to 4.

The action plan, which includes
lobbying and letter writing the pro-
vin¢ial government as the first
stagé, and serious preparations for
a strike vote before the next session
of the legislature begins if those tac-
tics fail, was adopted by a vote of
466 to 31.

(The representative assembly br-
ings together teachers from 79 local
associations representing 28,000
teachers.)

“Representatives of the teaching
profession have agreed that we
must demand that the government
restore our pension rights,’ BCTF
Al Blakey told a news conference
Friday.

“We are determined to make
this government realize that it can-
not cavalierly destroy the protec-
tion of teachers’ pensions, while
the same time treating its own
employees — and MLA’s — more
generously,” he declared.

Standing behind the teachers’
vote was the successful series of
protest rallies organized by the
B.C. Government Employees

Union reversing Bill 29, introduced
by the government in May.

Bill 29 imposed an eight per cent
ceiling on public sector workers,
teachers and MLAs’ pensions, and
as a consequence of BCGEU’s ac-
tions the government was forced to
back down on imposing the ceiling
of BCGEU members and MLAs.
Teachers have been smarting under
the legislation since then.

Blakey said the action plan will
see a gradual escalation of pressure
on the government, culminating in
job actions such as in-school strike
study sessions, early dismissal of
classes and province-wide one day
strike.

“Our local associations will be
actively preparing for this strike
vote before the next session of the
legislature begins, with a view to
recommending a one-day strike
during the session,’’ Blakey said.

A mass lobby of the legislature
by teachers when it opens is also
slated, as are on-going local actions
until the January RA convenes
Jan. 29-31.

Another campaign action en-
thusiastically endorsed by the fall
RA was Blakey’s challenge to pro-
vincial secretary Evan Wolfe, the
minister responsible for teachers’
pensions, to debate the pensions
issue at a public forum to be held at
the Orpheum Theatre this fall.

Referendum would be
‘loaded dice’ — NDP

Continued from page 1
earlier this year. The federal
Liberals played a major role in the
debate promising that a ‘‘No”’ vote
in the referendum. would mean a
new deal for Quebec.

But Trudeau’s unilateral patria-
tion ‘‘in the name of Canadianiza-
tion’’ will only maintain the present
inequalities of the BNA Act in
respect to the national aspirations

_ Of Quebec, said Kashtan.

“Nothing will have changed.
That is why there is such vehement
and unanimous rejection of

Trudeau’s plan in Quebec. Even ~

the Liberals are forced to oppose
Trudeau.”

Trudeau’s charter of rights at-
tempts to appease Quebec by in-
cluding linguistic equality. ‘“But it
doesn’t include economic, political
or cultural equality between
English and French Canada. As
before, bilingualism is offered as a
substitute for a bi-national state,”’
he added.

Kashtan said that he hoped that
the New Democratic Party would
not go along with Trudeau’s
unilateral action. ‘‘They shouldn’t
assist the Liberals to ram this
through. Working peole must enter
this debate quickly.”

The Communist Party has in the
past raised the possibility of con-
vening a people’s constitutional
assembly to place popular
demands for constitutional
change, and that may still be possi-
ble, said the CP leader. ‘“We are
busy exploring all avenues still
open at this time.”’

In Parliament, the Conservative
Party stated its opposition to
patriation of the constitution and
parroted the position of the provin-
cial premiers that any change be
conditional on their approval anda

decentralization of power to the
provinces.

The provincial premiers want to
remove all central control over
economic or resource questions to
allow provincial governments to
sell out resources to any foreign or
domestic buyer at any price.

While Broadbent and the NDP
originally endorsed the Trudeau
package, they also veered towards
the position of the provincial
premiers with the demand that
‘‘provincial ownership’’ of
resources be included in the
package.

Tuesday the NDP raised its first
major objection to the Trudeau
proposals when it demanded that a
section of the proposed bill to
patriate the constitution which
listed the option of a country wide
referendum to make further
amendments to the constitution
removed.

NDP constitutional spokesman
Lorne Nystrom said that the
referendum would be ‘‘loaded
dice’’ with the federal government
setting the rules, wording the ques-
tion and determining the finances
of the referendum.

The NDP’s objection remained
within the orbit of the provincial
position, however, citing the rights
of provincial governments to have
a say in constitutional changes, but
not the rights of labor, Native In-
dians, women, and other popular
movements.

December 9 has been set as a
deadline to bring the BNA Act to
Canada. Parliament and the coun-
try appear to have a wrenching,
divisive debate ahead to meet that
mark. At the end of it,
Parliament’s Christmas gift to the
country will be the old BNA Act
with a new name, but all of its old

inadequacies and inequalities.

> ‘PACIFIC’ TRIBUNE* OCT. 10, 1980-- Page 3

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