THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER ¢ For seven straight years, GM's profits have exceeded $3 billion. =~ ~— © GM's yearly profit is 28 times greater than the UN's annual budget ‘MOST PROFITABLE CORPORATION: | G.M.'s PROFITS IN 1969 WERE $9,463,014 EVERY DAY While the politicians and press holler economic ruin if workers call a strike to get a share of their productivity, not much is said or printed about the exorbitant profits collected by the giant corporations and conglomerates. The United Auto Workers, on_ strike against General Motors, in their publication, Solidarity, proposed a formula to measure GM’s $3 billion-a-year profit as follows: You say you've got a 25-year $20,000 mortgage on your home —and you still have 19 years to 2 At the rate General Motors piled up profits last year, GM can pay off a $20,000 mortgage every three minutes! Put another way, with just last year’s profits, GM could build 172,700 of those $20,000 homes — enough to house the population of any city with around’ 700,000 inhabitants. If you want to play a new, interesting parlor game, all you need is “imagination, a pencil, a lot of paper and this figure: $3,454,000,000. That’s three billion plus 454 million — . all dollars. That was GM’s profit before taxes in 1969 — a “not-so-good”’ year. It works out to $66,423,077 a week or $9,463,014 a day — including Sundays. There’s your new $400 refrigerator which you may want to use in your game. GM earns $6,571 each minute so it can buy 16 of those refrigerators every minute or pay yours off in under four seconds. Get the idea? You say you’ve gone into hock to send your youngster to college? Tuition, books and everything comes to $2,500 a year? GM’s profit would finance 1,381,600 students — and who knows, one of the youngsters might discover a cure for cancer. GM chalks up in profits every 14 days what the United Nations is budgeted to spend ($128 million) in a year to wage mankind’s crusades against war, against poverty and hunger around the world. Every 35 minutes, GM can meet President Nixon’s $200,000 a year salary. Long before a single day is out, GM’s profit exceeds the total salaries paid to all US. presidents going back to George Washington. Edge to edge, its profits in $1 bills would stretch 327,000 miles — more than enough to encircle the earth 13 times at the equator. GM’s yearly profit is more than triple the value of all gold produced yearly by all U.S. mines. GM, the world’s largest and most profitable corporation, is swelling by the second. Since its net worth at the beginning of 1969 was “‘only”’ $10 billion — give or take a few million — at its $3.4 billion a year profit rate, GM can double in size every three years by plowing all profits back into the business. ae We IN YEAR Last year, GM sold 5,761,000 cars and trucks from its plants in the U.S. and Canada. If it had cut the wholesale price of each unit by $200 (the equivalent of a retail price cut of more than $250), GM still could have ended the year with a profit of more than $1 billion. Instead GM continues its profit binge with each year. James Roche, GM board chairman, last year received $790,000 in slary and bonus — an average hourly com- pensation of $379.78, based on’a 40-hour week. The average GM worker, fully employed, would have earned $9,599, including overtime. Quick? how many hours does Roche have to work to match the full-year earnings of the average GM worker? Answer: 25 hours. Now you’re into the game. Incidentally, in the five minutes it took to read this, GM’s profits rose another $32,855. U.A.W., TEAMSTERS REJOINING A.F.L.-C.1.O.? There is strong speculation that the United Auto Workers Union and the Teamsters will rejoin the AFL-CIO in the near future. These two organizations are the largest unions in North America. The Auto Workers left the AFL-CIO two years ago when its leader, Walter Reuther, pulled them out over violent disagreement of AFL-CIO president George Meany’s right-wing policies. The Teamsters were kicked out in 1957 on corruption charges. HANEY HANEY BUSINESS ESQUIRE MEN’S WEAR (Graham Mowatt) Complete Stock of Work and Dress Clothing “THE STORE WITH THE POPULAR BRANDS” While there is nothing of- ficial on their rejoining, in- formed. labour sources point out that both unions have been meeting with Meany. These sources also state that labour is anxious for complete labour unity at this time to offset a hostile Republican ad- ministration. If the AFL-CIO can entice them back into the fold, labour could present a massive organization of 17 million united workers to challenge any anti-union legislation. GUIDE BRITISH COLUMBIA REPORT CALLS FOR ABOLITION OF MOND By BARRY MATHER, M.P. Seemingly the work of a long-forgotten Royal Com- mission appointed by some previous administration, a Report has been discovered among the files of national documents at Ottawa. It calls for the abolition of Monday and February. (News Item.) Excerpts from the Report: “Your commissioners, have during the past three and one half years, conducted public hearings in all principal centres of the Dominion, in- cluding two one-month sittings at Banff and Jasper, and having invited briefs from every interested organization and individual (of which no less than 18,649 were filed with us), now beg to report our findings on the issue to which we were instructed to direct our attention — that is, the abolition of Monday and February. ‘‘Although necessarily limited by the shortness of the time at our disposal the work of the commission has produced proof of the support, in all sections of Canada, for the abolition of Monday and February. To this your com- missioners now add their voices. “Tt is argued, against Monday, that it has always been the worst! day for t people and that, by ab it, the government will great good to great numb “Among the serious char brought against Monday is # it is the furthest from the following Friday (Friday is the most popular day of the we being the eve of the wee Thus by abolishing Monday our population will not only be p of a poor day but 3 closer to a good one. We recommend. “In respect to the abolition of — February two representations — were made favoring February (by lawyers representing the greeting-card and con- fectionery industries). On the other hand 14,639 briefs were received calling for the abolition of February for- thwith. “It was named by all as the worst month of the year being neither winter nor spring, but a nuisance. The fact that it is brief cannot atone for its manifest shortcomings. We urge the abolition of February, next February. “With respect to deter- mining method of abolishing Monday and February your commissioners propose that they be reappointed for a further term, not to exceed five years.” oS po CLC WINTER SCHOOL SLATED FOR JANUARY } The Canadian Labour Con- gress and B.C. Federation of Labour’s joint Annual Winter School will be held January 31 to February 5, 1971, in the Island Hall Hotel, Parksville, Vancouver Island. Recognizing the importance of the shop steward, this year’s School will provide two courses on Shop Stewards’ Training with IWA Director of Research & Education Oliver McMillan and Pulp, Sulphite Vice- President Pat O’Neal, the course instructors. Parliamentary procedure and public speaking, union administration, industrial relations and the law today, and unionism in the public sec- b BROADWAY PRINTERS LIMITED printers and Lithographers Since 1911 “eae 115 EAST 8th AVENUE VANCOUVER 10, B.C. Telephone 876-210) tor, are the other courses provided. Heading up the School is Ron Tweedie, CLC Regional Director of Education who will be assisted by Jack Radford, CLC Representative. eee LIGHTER SIDE | Sam the machinery salesman says that marriage is like a hot bath. When you get used to it it’s not so hot. —_ GLOVE PROBLEMS?| _ , SOLVE THEM WITH THESE WATSON GLOVES AND MITTS ‘MILL-RITE! ‘GREEN CHAIN’| ‘LUMBER LOADER’ So See JOHN WATSON LTD.