ONTARIO

By Bruce Magnuson

eas year the province has
finally taken over the res-
tio Ponsibility for administra-
ee Of justice, which should
apkat have been a municipal res-
4 sibility in the first place.
* look at what happens.
, peiare legislation has made
ae transfer legal in a con-
e apna sense, an Order-
Feenncll is passed which or-
AL the jail guards, court
sa A and sundry employees to
Sent €r to the Ontario Civil
ae ice, The Ontario Civil Ser-
ai po criation is something
ih 0 a company union set-up,
i no bargaining rights, no in-
sence benefits, no overtime
pee no guaranteed working
ae Bons: Yet these people are
fa. Y organized in a bonafide
of So een, the Canadian Union
one lic Employees, with a col-
we ve agreement setting out
San hours and conditions of
‘a To enter the Civil Service
; © employees will be forced
ee up their union, apply for
thro Oyment as civil servants, go
ae ugh a probationary period
ae Probably suffer a 30 to 40
ie €nt cut in monetary earn-
or and fringe benefits.
oi n it be that Mr. Robarts is
eae to shift the cost of oper-
oe i jails and magistrates
ale S to the backs of the em-
i Yees involved? Certainly this
: Siok of the picture. But it does
ig ay there. The procedure
rights attack - on democratic
ae a violation of the Labor
right aed Act, and denial of the
Gnas ce) belong to a union of
babilite choice, and in all pro-
e ee it is the beginning of
ian Go to destroy the Cana-
= nion of Public Employees.
s 1S not far-fetched to assume
wig workers in other ser-
civil aed be transferred to the
reas €rvice as a means of low-
any ethos standards and to
Bean €gitimate unions, which
the 64 be a fanatical aim of
=e hae government. Key
DUETi n the administration of
oa & utilities such as hydro,
ane talks of this, as did
of One E. Gathercole, chairman
of ane Hydro at the Empire
» 40ronto, on January 4th.
€ question of social ser-
4 i Public utilities, and what
ities ened them in a situation
emnme 1g business and the gov-
ey are actively engaged in
eee to load the cost of such
and We onto - working people
bas "9 municipalities, is a mat-
Policy that challenges

both th
e : ca
status ieee and political

Vices

Ea new year brought tragedy
tise and Mrs. Archie Hiltz of
Flies en Township, eleven
ee Ay Bancroft, Ontario.
Fits ne small children died in
Se at destroyed their five-
ship ee house. The Town-
& aan no fire protection of
epartin » and the Bancroft fire
P ment refused to answer
emergency call for help.

are is by no means the first
Basic Tagedy to happen in On-
Bessie. Similar circumstances.
ae _ do unfortunately suc-
a in fires even where the
ee effort is made to
brite, it. But the situation
: for

| ‘tario
Si

GOVT EMPLOYEES
FIGHT FOR RIGHTS

point of view. How many more
little children and poor people
will die before something is
done to protect them from such
tragedies?

The Ontario Municipal Act
provides that fire fighting forces
and equipment shall be the res-
ponsibility of municipalities. But
most municipalities have no
financial resources for such a
protection. Like the people who
live in them, most municipal-
ities suffer extreme poverty.
“We must be reasonable and
look at' this in a commonsense
way,” said Attorney-General
Arthur Wishart. “How could we
compel a township like Dungan-
non to maintain a fire force?”

But what about the province?
Mr. Wishart knows that we
maintain a provincial police
force. In fact, Ontario spends a
great deal to protect our forests
from destruction by fire. But
when it comes to homes and
people, less than $45 million an-
nually are spent for fire protec-
tion in 613 municipalities, while
314, or one-third of our muni-
cipalities, have no fire fighting
organization or equipment what
ever. Some of these have agree-
ments with neighboring com-
munities to come to their assist-
ance in case of emergency. But
what a shameful situation to
exist in a province as rich as
Ontario.

Mr. Wishart insists that the
responsibility for providing fire
protection must continue to rest
with the municipalities. When
the much talked about regional
governmental set-up is estab-
lished in the province, Mr.
Wishart says, there might be
more justification for legal com-
pulsion on municipalities to pro-
vide fire protection. But even
then, he doubts if it can be done.

The fact is that this is not a

United Electrical workers
in Northern Electric plant in
Bramalea, north of Toronto:
-yoted 1223 to 676 in favor of
_accepting a new 3-year con-
tract. Basic features in the
contract include: poy in- |
creases of 42 to 70 cents for
women and 50 to 80 cents
for men; new minimum
rates, $2.40 for men and
$2.10 for women; new Gp-
prentice and trades training
scedule that establishes
rates from $2.40 for begin-
ners to $3.15 for final year
training; company will pay
full cost of PSI medical
plan; 5 weeks paid vacation
after 25 years; guarantees
of 75 percent of wages on
lay-off and other gains were
made.
e

Civic Employees in Thomp-
on, Manitoba, receive a 10
percent pay hike under
terms of a two-year agree- |
ment renewal between the
Corporation of Thompson
“and Local 6166, United
Steelworkers of America.
The settlement covers 30
workers, Se ees

a ok ae se

bats gee hep ge~ beatae hs

ha PL BR A

matter of legal compulsion. Nor
is it a matter of regional gov-
ernment, in the sense it is en-
visaged by the Robarts govern-
ment. It is simply a matter of
the province assuming more fin-
ancial responsibility for essen-
tial services, of which fire pro-
tection is surely one. To pay for
it, the province can impose taxa-
tion based on ability to pay.
e

A provincial bureaucracy tied
to big private monopolies in in-
dustry and business is being
built up. The much talked about
reorganization of the municipal
structures and regional admin-
istrations will only add to this
bureaucracy. Instead of taking
some of the tax load off muni-
cipalities, it will add to their
cost.

In the meantime the adminis-
tration is a costly muddle. While
we have an antiquated Muni-
cipal Act, the Fire Marshall’s of-
fice in the province operates
under the Attorney-General’s
department. The administration
of justice comes under Mr.
Wishart’s department, but the
operation of jails comes under
the Department of Reform Insti-
tutions, which is headed by Al-
lan Grossman, the MPP for Spa-
dina-St. Andrews.

Mr. Robarts claims that his
‘Design for Development” is
maving rapidly ahead on the
basis of regionalism. But with
each reorganization things get
more and more’ complicated in
structure without changing any-
thing in any real meaningful
way.

What started out some 25
years ago as a Department of
Planning and Development, has
become a Department of Econo-
mics and Development. The
word “planning” has disappear-
ed, and rightly so, because it
never did any planning. As for
“development”, this too is mere-
ly a matter of playing on words.

“To met the challenges of eco-
nomic guidance, taxation re-
form, and priority investment,
the Ontario Government is un-
dertaking a significant consolid-
ation of its finance and econo-
mics, revenue and expenditure
policies. This will ensure that
the full force of the govern-
ment’s fiscal power is directed
towards continued growth and
improved stability in the provin-
cial economy,” says Mr Robarts.

Sounds terrific, but what does
it mean?

In Robarts’ own words, the
consolidation involves the re-
structing of Treasury Depart-
ment into two components —
Finance and Economics on one
hand, and Provincial Revenue
on the other. Both will be asso-
ciated with the Treasury Board
(the nerve centre) and come
under the direction of Provincial
Treasurer, Charles McNaughton.
This “big deal’ will in all likeli-
hood from the cornestone of an-
other Speech from the , Throne,
once the Legislature convenes.

With all this political inepti-
tude, manoeuvering and empty
phrase mongering in the face of
real problems for millions of
people, is it not high time that
an opposition, representing 58
percent of the voters, begin to
fight for meaningful reforms and

_mobilize the people behind such
_ a campaign, | including the long
; Promised, universal, medicare?

By DAN HAMMOND

ITH a stroke of the pen,

the Ontario government

took over the administra-
tion of justice and took away
the rights of employees of jails,
magistrates courts and morgues
to belong to the union of their
choice. Members of CUPE locals
878, Don Jail guards and local
79 magistrates court employees,
in Toronto were both affected
under this action.

They have refused to sign on
with the Ontario government as
civil servants, losing their right
to have CUPE as their bargain-
ing agent by so doing, and suf-
fering losses of pay, holidays and
seniority. The Civil Service As-
sociation is the only recognized
agent for civil servants. .

Jail guards called a strike on
January 2, setting up pickets in
front of the Don Jail and at the
magistrates courts in the Old
City Hall. Most of the members
of local 79 respected the picket
line, and two men who refused
to. leave the line and return to
work when told, were fired.

The strike of court and mor-
gue employees was suspended
on January 8, with the two fired

General strik

call by CUPE

men taken back to work, a pro-
mise of no reprisals and permis-
sion for three men to sit in on
the negotiations with Ontario’s
Chief conciliation officer, Wil-
liam Dickie. The striking jail
workers will continue their
struggle on the picket line. ,

Meanwhile, the Executive
Board of CUPE has agreed to
ask their 250 locals in Ontario,
representing about 40,000 mem-
bers, to stage a series of one-
day walkouts to protest the On-
tario government actions.

The men on the picket line
felt the Ontario government was
making an “open attack on our
union (CUPE) ... and we won’t
put up with it.”

Percy Hugget, president of
CUPE’s Ontario division said:
“We regret that the Ontario gov-
ernment has stooped to the role
of dictatorship . . . to decide
who will represent them in the
matter of wages and working
conditions.

“Mr. Robarts has seen fit to
set himself and his cabinet up in
the role of deciding for these
employees, not what is best for
them, but what is to the advant-
age of the government.”

i

is founded. _

“Bill Paterson, Recordi

Seal pic aE mises

___U.E. support
The following letter was sent
_ Prime Minister of Ontario, Queet
the views of the Toronto Joint

lab the Den Joi
The UE/CGE Toronto Joint Boe
| workers in the Toronto based shop:

rent labor dispute regarding

_ We demand that you rectify your gi
immediately by reversing the Order in.
cease and desist from such act

Sec

ark,
Board (UE/

LE PANU ARYETD; 1.96842? ACIFIC-TRIBUNE—Page 3