14 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER THE INFLATION FIGHT WAGES versus PROFITS By RON JOHNSON VERYONE can agree that the cost of living is climbing at an unac- ceptably high rate, but when it comes to accepting the responsibility for inflation, the agreement quickly turns to argument. Corporations spend a great deal of time and energy telling us that wage increases are the chief cause of inflation. Facts just don’t back up their charges. Arecent report in the Toronto Globe and Mail noted that the profits of Canadian corporations, after taxes, rose by the inflationary rate of more than 35 per cent in the first three months of 1973 compared to the first three months of 1972. The report said the biggest profit increases were made in the real estate, paper and forest, construction of materials, golds, base metals and in- dustrial categories. Total profits for the companies sampled in each of these categories more than trebled, according to the report. Collectively bargained wage set- tlements in the first three months of 1973, on the other hand, produced average annual increases in base rates of 7.5 per cent, according to the Canada Department of Labour. Food prices are one of the biggest concerns. The Consumer Price Index lists food prices 2.6 percent higher in April than they were in March. At that rate food prices would rise almost 37 percent by next March. The Globe and Mail survey shows food processors making increased profits of 65.4 percent in the first quarter of this year. And in Ottawa, meanwhile, one food chain spokesman appearing before the Special Commons Committee on Food Prices even had the nerve to ask MPs to believe that the reason for the high increase in profits is because food prices are so low! Clearly, wage increases are following rather than leading increased prices. Facts, figures and studies prove that: — Collective bargaining in Canada is not sufficiently widespread so that its effects are felt nationally. — Sizeable wage increases have not been restricted to the union sector of the economy. — Collective bargaining does not determine the course of the business cycle. — Corporation profits and workers’ productivity have led wage increases by an approximate four-year spread. — Unions have no influence on what happens to interest rates or the cost of land. — Prices and profits have continued to soar in the U.S. despite a wage freeze. Similar price increases have been ap- parent in Canada. This last point is perhaps the most significant. Many politicians and businessmen are calling for a wage freeze to control the cost of living. The American example proves that a wage freeze will not solve the problem. In- flation in the United States, even now, during a period of wage and price con- trol, is worse than it has been at any other time in the last twenty years. As the statistics above indicate, profits are climbing at much higher rates than wages. In fact they are rising almost five times faster than wages, while wages are keeping just slightly ahead of the overall cost of living increases. To suggest that the wages of average work- ing people in this country are causing inflation is absurd. If politicians were serious about controlling inflation they would talk about profit, not wage con- trols. NEW PLYWOOD PLANT ANNOUNCED BY N.D.P. disqualified simply bec and responsibilities un Act. 1. 2. 3. _ Don’t wait for your separation or termination slip before DO 1. CU CN . Attend any interview requested by a U.I.C. Officer, 8. _ you are a union member with respect to any U.I.C. pro- 9. ULC. NOTICE — for Unemployment Insurance id ena teeny aust they do not know their righ der the Unemployment Insu: Don’t insist on working in a small local area. ia Don’t restrict yourself to working a certain number of tance. applying for unemployment insurance. \ Go to the Unemployment Insurance Office nearest your § | residence immediately you become unemployed and i apply for unemployment insurance. & Register for a job immediately with Manpower. Make a reasonable effort regularly to find a job. Keep a list of all the places you went to for a job. Follow any instructions given to you by a U.I.C. Officer or Manpower Officer concerning finding a job. State that you are capable and available for any suitable employment. Benefit Control Officer or Manpower Officer. Keep in touch with your union office or business agent if blems. If you feel you are disqualified unjustly appeal and attend any hearings with an advisor-if possible. Issued by B.C. Federation of Labour. F DEMOCRACY sett eh a INDUSTRIAL | REGINA (CPA) — Premier Allan Blakeney has announced the provincial government will build a $6 million plywood plant at Hudson Bay, Saskat- chewan. : The new plywood mill will employ 150 persons when oper- ational and will have an annual payroll of $1.2 million, the pre- mier said. It will use an esti- mated 60,000 cords of wood each year, and net value of the plywood produced will be approximately $6.5 million annually. “A prime objective of the government in developing the new operation is to provide a better utilization of Saskatche- wan’s forest resources,” Pre- mier Blakeney said, adding that the new plant will allow a more effective use of larger logs. : ° In conjunction with this, the Legislature also passed legis- lation, over opposition objec- tions, which will allow the gov- ernment to set new regulations for forest use, and which will allow the government to with- draw from all existing agree- ments with forest producers if it is deemed necessary. The explanation for these - amendments to the Saskatche- wan Forest Act was provided in a statement issued by the government, which read in part: “In order for Saskatchewan to effect a new deal for its for- est resources, to assure a pro- per reforestation and manage- ment approach and to provide for the better utilization of large logs, it is necessary to provide for changing the terms and conditions in all manage- ment licenses, timber permits, timber sales, and timber agreements authorizing the harvesting of crown timber.” The new legislation allows the cabinet to regulate the size and type of trees which may be used for different types of wood products, and to require refor- estation by private companies. FOR B.C.?_ PREY we ee The New Democratic government of British Colum- bia is considering the intro- duction of industrial demo- cracy by legislation, according to Attorney-General Alex Macdonald. But there are no @ immediate plans to draft the legislation, which would require “‘the backing and supp- ort of the community,” he said. Industrial democracy — worker participation in management decisions — has always been an ultimate goal of the trade union movement. Mr. Macdonald told the Canadian Managing Editors Conference, meeting in Van- couver, that journalists ought to have more say in the management of the-~news- papers which employ them. Citing the need for ‘‘a bush fire of public opinion,” he said he wasn’t worried that his government was proceeding too quickly. : ar ous coastal aroma, SKILLED Centre de Main-doeuvr du Canada Canada Manpower Centre Manpower and Main-d'a Immigration e Robert Andras. Minister