oe vi rat Conferen _ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1974 | WANT COST-OF-LIVING CLAUSE _ IWA demands $1 an hour In a one year. agreement — Sean Griffin photo iS expecta, 1° Poll back prices called for this Saturday, 10:00 a.m. in the Vancouver Public Library Auditorium i ang to spearhead a new offensive against rising prices. Many more demonstrations like this one out- 20% j dward’s in Vancouver are going to be needed in view of predictions that food prices will rise another S coal miners j itai ners in Britain P ee to strike after register- dele ee to one vote in favor, ~ “Bates to the Vancouver and Istri F night wor ter council Tuesday ti eee ett Struggle for decent ages pe ing conditions. Motion, Wikoe » presented to. a there ue of nearly 200 delegates x ae at annual elections, pass- Ba Ser aously. A telegram is to the to the miners pledging : aeucils Support. , protege *t*s also voiced their oy Over the imminent par- -C. gymnasts in oe trampoline cham- 7 ee wcheduled to be held in Marek . urg, South Africa Postal Giesbrecht Sports ¢ Ment las Pointed out that, anada issued a state- nt on record as suppor- — Workers delegate Bill t December stating that: ‘“fabsolutely no federal assistance will be forethcoming for any Canadian athlete con- templating participation in inter- national events hosted by South Africa. Despite this ruling, Giesbrecht noted, the Canadian Gymnastic Federation — which will be sen- ding athletes to the trampoline championships — received some $63,519 from Sports Canada last year. * * Several mechanics at Woodward’s in downtown Van- couver, recently organized by Local 213, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, issued strike notice to the store Tuesday and are ex- pected to be setting up picket lines Friday. ‘ Reporting to Tuesday’s council Labor pledges full support for British miners’ strike meeting, IBEW business agent Cliff Rundgren told delegates that the local had been four months trying unsuccessfully to negotiate an agreement for the mechanics. A subsequent strike vote was unanimous. The meatcutters comprise the only other organized group in the anti-union store. _ In annual council elections held Tuesday night, all the in- cumbent executive officers were returned, all but one of them by acclamation. In the only contest, incumbent secretary — the only full time post — Jack Lawrence narrowly defeated Postal Workers delegate Bob Hamilton by a vote of 106 to 83. Hamilton was subsequently returned as education committee chairman, a post he has held for some years. Tribune VOL. 35, No. 6 Se CTS maEG ID S ris 15° A one dollar an hour increase across the board in a one year agreement and a cost of living escalator clause highlighted the demands of B.C.’s coast woodworkers last weekend as delegates representing nearly 30,000 IWA members met at the coast wages and contract con- ference. Listing more than 50 demands which the IWA wants written into the 1974 coast agreement, the delegates showed a high degree of unity on the major demands. These demands for- mulated by the conference summed up the 349 resolutions submitted by coast locals: As the PT said in its front page story last week, the erosion of woodworkers living standards since the last agreement two years ago would result in demands by woodworkers for substantial wage increases and protection against inflation. An IWA district officer told the PT this week that as of January this year woodworkers’. wages have fallen 24 cents an hour behind in purchasing power, which amounts to a loss of about: $500 a year. Press reports of the IWA con- tract parley in the daily media have made it appear that.a cost- of-living escalator clause is the major one the woodworkers are after. However, reports given to the meeting warned that ‘‘cost of living allowances should always See IWA DEMANDS, pg. 12 NDP council backs fight of tenants The New Democratic Party’ - provincial council, meeting in Nanaimo last weekend, endorsed changes in the Landlord and Tenants Act and urged that they be written into legislation by the government. Attending the meeting were Premier Dave Barrett and members of the cabinet. Resolutions were passed by delgates attending the meeting calling for two major changes , which have been urged by the tenants organization in B.C. The first demand was for landlords to be compelled to show just cause for eviction before rental grievance boards with binding powers. It said that reasons for eviction should be un- reasonable damage to rented premises, rent in arrears 60 days, premises needed by the landlord or family, or scheduled demolishment of the building. The second demand was for legislation providing for rental grievance boards and collective bargaining rights for tenants. The speech from the throne last week indicated the NDR government is bringing down amendments to the Landlord and Tenants Act. So far it has failed to reveal what amendments it has in mind. The tenants organization is meeting this week and is expected to discuss plans to step up their campaign ~ for tenants rights and to curb the rent gouge by landlords. Meanwhile, the PT has learned that tenants in some areas are withholding rents in a rent strike. Residents of Maplewood Apartments in North Vancouver announced their action last week and compelled the landlord to ‘agree to a meeting this Tuesday to iron out disagreement on rent and upkeep.