ae het en ae oe Sgr iia OF in brief... Union Housing Co-op J os 8roup of Vancouver unions have leased a 300 acre parcel of ; ee 0n Buntzen Lake near Burrard Inlet and organized a non-profit | Using co-operative named the Anmore Builders’ Co-operative. ; seqembership fee in the Co-op is $100 and lots are expected to Ey ; between $2,500 and $3,000. Homes are expected to cost between tee and $16,000 with a $1,500 down payment, significantly less 1 the prevailing area price. yunions involved are Retail, Wholesale and Department Store tion, Marine Workers and Boilermakers Union, Pulp and Paper Benes of Canada, Amalgamated Transit Workers Union, United *ctrical Workers Union and the Brewery and Soft Drink Workers. -Hawker-Siddley challenged ane York University Club of the Communist Party flooded cam- J.) With a leaflet challenging the right of Hawker Siddley to use © facilities of the university for recruiting students for war duction, ae Club accused the company of complicity in genocide and wpe them to stand before the students of York campus and “nd their role in the Vietnam war. New medical centre FS Medical Centre supported mainly by Local 199 of the United pn eobile Workers and the St. Catharines and District Labor Uncil is scheduled to open its doors in January or February 1969. an € Centre under the direction of the St. Catharines and District thks munity Group Health Foundation. The UAW has made an } tio, Night gift to the Foundation of $25,000 and loaned it an addi- nal $200,000. medic Centre will provide comprehensive pre-paid group practice Cy ical care. Chairman of the Board of Directors will be James Mell, President of Local 199 U.A.W. Reduce drug prices ywvhite welcoming the announcement of Ontario Health Minister mae Dymond that he expects to announce agreement with ie drug companies that will provide for a reduction in price of den Prescription drugs of about 15 percent, David Archer, Presi- hor cf the Ontario Federation of Labor criticized the proposal as 80ing far enough. : aggtcher called for the implementation of the three point program °cated in his address to the OFL convention this year. buy quality controlled drugs in wholesale quantities wherever . are available. Sell them at cost price to pharmacists. they to the public at controlled prices. David McDonald comeback? ae are rumors that former United Steelworker piesigee ac L. McDonald may return to haunt the American labor : Vigp ment in the guise of Richard Nixon’s Secretary of tahoe | Vie °nald endorsed Nixon during the election and when a a |Youlg On the subject of the appointment said he hoped Nixo 8g ive him the job. Is there “Actually, I'm only booked as far as Boulogne. any chance of our being hi-jacked as far as the South of France?” ? Hotness pun agree? aus Al ond pen up hospital dispensaries for the sale of prescription drugs” La The Labor Council of Metro- politan Toronto last week agreed to assist and encourage the formation of tenants asso- ciations to enable tenants to bargain with their landlords. The Council heard John Gault, president of the 33 Eastmount Avenue Tenants Association, de- scribe a rent strike against a landlord who had ignored legit- imate grievances. Gault had first seen the strike as an effective weapon when he worked at the Oshawa Times and as a member of the News- | paper Guild participated in their ~ historic strike. The Council delegates adopt- ed a statement on Landlords and Tenants which said in part: “On Tuesday, Nov. 19th, the word “strike” was heard in a new context—Rent Strike. “The tenants at 33 Eastmount Avenue had endured enough from their landlords who for months had been ignoring their legitimate ~ complaints and grievances, “These tenants were being charged full rent (over $200 per month) but had to live with exposed live wires; some apart- ments and the basement were flooded; mud in the hall ways; elevators not working properly (one couple were trapped in one for over 1/2 hour); plugged gar- bage chutes, and no _ storage lockers. “Calls and letters to the land- lord, along with a petition, signed by most of the occu- pants, brought no positive re- sponse. Finally, in desperation, the tenants withheld their rent. The landlord’s reaction was to have a Bailiff lock three of the ringleaders out of their apart- ments in an effort to intimidate the tenants. However, the ten- ants are standing firm, they have formed an Association and they intend to continue the fight. Council agreed to the follow- ing proposals for action: @ “That the Community Ac- tion Committee be instructed to assist and encourage the forma- tion of a Tenants Association, STOP THOMSON Nancy O'Higgins of the Peterboro Newspaper 6 & Guild and George the Newfoundland take their turn on the picket line. The Thompson chain is still set on its course to break the union and has not backed down from its insulting contract offer. Union demands By DON CURRIE “How do you house a 17,000 population in only 1,657 houses, 750 apartments and 120 house trailers? It is simple; you ignore zoning regulations . . . and pack in six or a dozens boarders, you rent basements of these houses to desperate husbands’ seeking accommodation for their fami- lies, you ignore health stand- ards and you give up privacy and dignity.” This bitter comment is from the United Steelworkers Local -6166 brief to the Federal Gov- ernment Housing Task Force which visited Thompson, Manito- ba recently. Other briefs de- manding action - to — provide houses for a population that is expected to grow to 30,000 in the near future came from the as a $6). LAW 8s Chambers of Commerce, local women’s groups and a Housing Co-op formed by the Steel Union, and a recently organized The Steel brief pointed out that the federal government aided the International Nickel Company to develop its Thomp- son site with a Federal Govern- ment subsidy but fails to prov- ide funds to house the workers The price of land since 1964 has risen from $500 per lot to the present going price of $2,000 per lot. CMHC minimum re- quirements are that a prospec- tive house buyer must earn $7,500 per year or more. Most Thompson INCO workers do not earn this on a straight time basis and therefore are not eligible. The Housing Co-op complained that they were . PACIFIC T! t nts fa iit Sha it 9B Yate X39 Yul | | bor supports tenants to enable tenants to bargain collectively with their landlords. e “That this Labor Council request the City Council agres- sively enforce legislation as it relates to fire, health, and all aspects of the welfare of ten- ants, and that stronger penalties be enacted to discourage viola- tion of these laws. e “That this Labor Council call upon the Ontario Federation of Labor to urge the Provincial government to enact legislation which will protect tenants from unscrupulous landlords and that this legislation provide for a Review Board where tenants can receive a hearing and which has the authority to protect the tenants from exorbitant rents and compel landlords to meet decent standards of accommoda- tions.” Tax demo The Metro Toronto Tax Re- form Council is organizing a representative deputation of community organizations to Queen’s Park to meet with the Government, and leaders and members of the Opposition Par- ties on Tuesday, December 3rd between 11 and 1 p.m. Mr. Archie Chisholm, Chair- man of the Council, in announ- cing the deputation, stated “that the fact that Premier Robarts has announced that there will be no extension of the sales tax to food and children’s clothing shows what can be done by the people of Ontario when they speak out against higher taxes.” Mr. Chisholm pointed out that in the Brief the Metro Toronto Tax Reform Council is present- ing to the Government, “we will oppose the proposal made by the Select Committee of the Legis- lature on Taxation for an exten- sion of the Sales Tax to drugs and all services, and any sug- gestion of a Provincial income tax that Ontario would levy on its own.” “Rather,” said Mr. Chisholm, “we will propose that the Pro- vincial Government should im- plement a capital gains tax “We are hopeful of gaining support and representation from many organizations in our depu- tation.” Mr. Chisholm urged any organizations and_ individuals interested in participating in the deputation to phone him at 536-0573. housing turned down by the federal gov- ernment for a loan under the Limited Dividend financing pro- visions of the CMHC which is supposed to encourage the building of homes for lower in- come families. The Co-op was turned down by the Limited Dividend Corporation on the grounds that the shareholders of the LD Corporation could not at the same time be tenants of the LD Housing project. This kind of hair splitting and red tape is preventing at least 225 families from developing a workers Co-op project. The Thompson Tenants Asso- ciation demanded a review of the Landlord’s Tenants Act to compel landlords to give notice and justify rent increases be- fore a government body. RIBUNE—NOVEMBER 29, 1968—Page 5 J bey 1162 9 Sarid S9igié ali Aguoisid 4169 SniggGcrea ret