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