OF HYDRO \) (ant : area tas CU JO23 (Fede totisy Phone MUtual 5-5288 3 Eizo Authorised as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa 0 Vol. 18 No. 24 . VANCOUVER, B.C. FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 1959 Pulp, Sulphite seeks 10 percent wage hike Pulp and Sulphite Workers February resulted in a7%% per- ion is seeking a 10 percent cent hike in the first year of ge boost over the base rate ® two-year contract. of $1.89 an hour in current ee ee SEINE D8 ee sents the vast majority of negotiations. some 17,300 workers in pulp “The Papermakers’ Union is mills throughout the province. conducting joint negotiations Pulp and paper constitutes > ba Pulp and Sulphite, as the third largest industry in ey did last year. A three- B.C., and it is also one of the nonth strike which ended last fastest-growing industries, Tim Buck to address aight public meetings » _ im Buck, LPP national leader, will address eight - meetings in B.C. after returning from Alberta, where he } is taking part in the election campaign, it was announced _ this week by the provincial office of the Labor-Progressive Party. : _ Buck will speak in Trail (IOOF Hall) June 19 at 8 p.-m.; Vernon (Elks Hall) June 21 at 2 p.m.; Kamloops, June 21 at 8 p.m.; Cloverdale (Elks Hall) June 22 at 8 p.m.; Haney (Agricultural Hall) June 23 at 8 p.m.; Court- enay, June 24 at 8 p.m.; Burnaby (Valleyview Community Hall) June 25 at 8 p.m.; and Nanaimo, June 26-at 8 p.m. _LPP provincial leader Nigel Morgan, who will ac- _ company Buck on his tour, will also speak at two earlier meetings: at Port Alberni (Eric Graff Hall) Sunday, June 14 at 8 p.m.; and at Chilliwack; where a new LPP. club has just been established, on Thursday, June 18. IUBLIC OWNERSHIF DEMANDED “Power on both the Peace and the Columbia rivers must be devel- oped under public ownership,” the Labor-Progressive Party declared this week in a political resolution unanimously endorsed by 101 delegates at- tending the party’s 13th B.C. convention here. Public power plays the ma- jor role in all provinces except B.C. and the LPP will campaign in the coming months for harnessing the Peace and Columbia for the greatest number, rather than for the profit of a few monopolists. “While the Wenner-Gren development of the Peace would provide jobts at the time of construction, its long- range effect would retard the industrial growth of the prov- ince,” said the LPP resolution. “ThiS is so because private control over power resources will be utilized primarily for the extraction of profit for the Wenner-Gren corporation and its partners, rather than for the maximum develop- ment of the industrial econ- omy of B.C. “Private control will block the full development of a provincial power grid, which would be of benefit to the en- tire provincial economy. “Public ownership of power resources would provide sur- plus funds for further expan- sion of power and for needed public works, rather than huge profits for expansion of the Wenner-Gren empire. “Secondary industries would be encouraged by lower rates and provision of power at the most suitable locations. “Consumer prices for power would be lower and tax bur- dens eased through public ownership. “Cheaper power depends primarily upon public owner- ship, and cannot be realized through private ownership.” $e xt xt An article by Bill Fletcher and Jack Brooks in The Sun Wednesday said “there can be little successful | argument with the statement that pub- lic ownership is cheaper than private power. Government agencies borrow money at a lower rate of interest than private utilities. They pay no income tax — often get other tax concessions, They pay no stock dividends. Promoters and investors get no opportunity for long-term capital gains. These add up to dividends in lower rates for industrial, commercial and domestic con- sumers.” A logging scene in B.C. IWA gets ready for possible strike action Conciliation board hearings ended Tuesday- this week and IWA locals began preparing for possible strike action if no settlement is reached with Forest Iridustrial Relations, representing the coast employers. The three-man board may not hand down its findings for two or -three weeks, and ir any case they are not bind- ing. Members of the ~board are chairman George Curtis of UBC, Jim Bury represent- ing the IWA and Terry Watts the operators. Full support to the IWA was pledged Sunday by the provincial convention of the Labor - Progressive Party, which passed a_ resolution which -read: “Whereas the wage stand- ards of the workers in B.C.’s largest industry have during the past years fallen behind those paid in other like in- dustries, “And whereas the key to success in the coming negotia- tions depends upon the unity around the wage demands, “Therefore be it resolved that this 18th annual conven- tion of the LPP pledge full support for the 20 percent Wage increase demanded by the International Woodwork- ers of America.” The IWA is demanding a 20 percent hike for 27,000 coast woodworkers over the Present base rate of $1.72 an hour, Last year union leaders settled for nothing. This year the industry offered 12 cents Over two years. The union recently held an emergency convention and - shoved back its June 16 “No contract, no work” deadline, but decided that if negotiations are not completed by June 22 a delegate conference will be called to take place no later than June 28. The IWA contends that the operators, raking in healthy profits, are well able to grant a substantial wage increase this year. ' eee ee eee