gs

TENANTS LOBBY. Members of the tenants lobby which converged on Victoria Monday to demand a fair deal for tenants are shown here presenting their demands to Waldo Skillings, Industrial Development

Minister in the Socred government.

LABOR SCENE

Kamloops labor supports teachers against controls

Delegates to the Kamloops and District Labor Council voted unanimously this week to

_ Support the struggle by B.C. teachers against wage controls imposed by the provincial government.

The move came as the Kam- loops District Teachers Associa- tion laid plans for the second phase of their action against the

. government. The first phase included a march by more than 700 people through city streets last week. :

Secretary of the labor council Harley Horne told the delegates that ‘‘organized labor has always protested any form of wage control .. . Fixed prices and wages leave the bugbear of the system — profits — to run hogwild.

“This government is now trying to control wages, and they hope they can get away with it,” he said. He invited local teacher association representatives to sit in on future meetings of the labor council.

* OK OK

Striking electronic techni- cians at Vancouver airport have withdrawn some of the emer- gency crew they had left on duty, while Ottawa still refuses to. negotiate seriously with them, and with CBC employees, members of NABET, who have also been trying to settle a contract which has been in nego- tiations since last May. bast week the B.C. Fed- eration of Labor warned that the air traffic controllers. (who were anything but satisfied with their treatment at the hands of the Ottawa bureaucrats) are being required to take unneces- sary risks because of faulty and out-of-service equipment at the Vancouver airport.

At the regular méeting of the Vancouver Labor Council Tues- day, a representative of the CBC technicians outlined some

of the problems they face in their dealings with the local CBC brass, as well as on a national scale with top management. The delegates to the council pledged their support in assisting the NABET~ members to achieve a just settlement.

Regarding the airport sit- uation, the B.C. Federation of Labor said ‘‘the situation is most critical and we deplore the failure of the airlines and the treasury board to present the true picture to the travelling public.”

* * *

George Meany of the AFL in

‘the United States does not speak

for the working class; he speaks for big business, said a delegate to the VLC in speaking to a motion which condemned Meany’s stand supporting compulsory wage controls.

Paddy Neale, secretary, said Meany’s stand and that of offi- cialdom of the labor unions in the U.S: who “jumped on the Nixon bandwagon’’ must be con- demned in the strongest terms. He said B.C. labor supports the stand of the Canadian Congress of Labor which this week criticized Meany’s position in a sharp reprimand.

* OK

An executive recommen- dation of the VLC urged that representatives from all labor councils in the province. and delegates from the B.C. Federa- tion of Labor lobby members of the legislature before the end of the session on the pressing problem of unemployment.

In the meantime, labor delegates are stepping up their campaign for government

action on the problem: by means of the distribution of leaflets. postcards to M.P.’s. and other programs. February 26 will see a mass distribution of the cards from shopping centres in the Van- couver area.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1972—PAGE 12

The fight for Canadian independence will be at the heart of the Communist election cam- paign said Bruce Magnuson, federal election campaign manager, at a public rally Tuesday night at the AUUC Hall in Vancouver. :

Speaking in support of the two Communist candidates nominated to date in Van- couver: Maurice Rush in Van- couver East, and William Turner in Kingsway, Magnuson said “Canadian national policies must take a 180 degree turn from what they are-now.”

Magnison told the meeting that Canadian policies have been tied to the U.S. drive for world domination since the end of World War 2. ‘*We have been on the wrong track ever since.”’ These policies must be changed. He said the future of the country is at stake and the lives of our

people and particularly the lives

of the young generation.

He said. the Communist campaign will direct its main fire against U.S. and Canadian monopolies who are the main enemies of the Canadian people. Lashing out at the sellout of Canadian resources to US. monopolies, Magnuson said ‘Canadian monopoly capital was responsible in the first place for selling out Canada for their own maximum profits.”

“Canadian and U.S. monopoly are inseparably bound up, they are two sides of one coin,”’ said Magnuson, adding that the power of these monopolies must be broken and this must include nationalization of some key sectors of the Canadian economy.

Pointing to the great changes that had taken place in the world since World War 2, Magnuson said the imperialist system had outlived its usefulness and that the struggle between im- perialism and socialism had reached the point where the forces for peace and democracy are stronger than the forces for war and reaction. :

Turning to the crisis of Con- federation, Magnuson said the Communist Party is against separatism but warned that unity of Canada’s two peoples — French and English-speaking — can only be maintained on the basis of a new confederal pact guaranteeing equal rights and self-determination. Debunking the claim that higher wages are the cause of inflation, Magnuson said it was impossible for wages to be the cause of inflation because the workers produce goods several times over what they get in wages. The real cause of infla- tion is to be found in the fact that accumulated wealth is not in the hands of the people but in the hands of a small group who invest in their own interests even where that conflicts with the national interest.

He urged reduction of the work week to 32 hours and increased purchasing power for the people as means to reduce unemploy- ment and_ stimulate the economy

Vancouver East Communist candidate Maurice Rush said Canada needs a new economic policy which would end U.S. control of our resources. and

<r] ©) — ©) — » =). me) a — | — Fe 2. cD “” — i 7g) ame io orenege > .

called for the launching of a major national effort to promote manufacturing and processing. “As long as we remain a raw material base for the U.S. we will continue to suffer mass unemployment.’ He pointed to the large number of jobs which could be created in B.C. if raw

materials now exported were-

processed in B.C.

“The only difference between Oftawa and Victoria over the giveaway of our resources has been one of degrees,” Rush said.

Both governments have shared .

in. the policy of resource giveaways, only B.C.’s Socred government wanted to press ahead more quickly towards complete integration with the US.

William Turner, candidate in Vancouver-Kingsway, said the future of Canada, will be deter- mined by the issues being fought out in the election campaign.

sae Ss —

Hitting out at the Bennett ment’s sellout of reso Turner called for ing expansion Daseg on pro industries 8nd pointed great expansion Possible couver’s port as gq result expansion and worjq trade

Turner also Pointed. responsibility of senior # ment’s to help municipalil overcome the Crisis now p

meeting in New Royal Towers Hote day. A capaCity erg and Communist ¢ Doran. Magnuson : a nominating meg, Ke ville last Sunday we Fe P

ated prominent tranel

and community leaden Mosher as Communist

date for CoMOX-Albernj

l last Wd heart

Island labor prote

Campbell River Courtenay and District Labor Council have submitted a brief on unemploy- ment insurance hangups to Bryce Mackasey, the federal minister. -

The labor council said the com- mittee it set up to deal with unemployment insurance prob- lems served well over 200 persons in a two month period, and the brief summarizes the main difficulties and set forth alternatives.

They take issue with the inexcusable delays in collecting benefits (sometimes 8 weeks) and suggest there is inefficient administration, and a need for more local unemployment insurance offices. Recom- mended is one in every com- munity with a population of 10,000 and over. ‘

The brief recommends that statutory holiday pay not be con- sidered as income for unemploy- ment purposes, unless it is actually collected during the layoff period. They list several reasons why adding holiday pay is unfair.

The UIC Act provides that a claimant may be disqualified because there is a stoppage of work due to a labor. dispute. This section is biased in favor of the employer because it fails to dis- tinguish between strike and lockout. the Labor Council says.

for benefits not Uld have t

They recOmme references to labo deleted, the Act » claimants May qualified When : strike, ie. stop wor, a a

Employers who ,.0l8 contributiOns + th to responsible fop eu

disqualification "&" ca! council contends Ss reason why the 7 er have to suffer fo, ,,Povee receive benefit, but authorities Conce while deal with tp. ed fin employer. recalcitl Taxing Une

surance benefits ;p!oymen lous, the brj Otally rid “recommends States discontinued, fo). ;, the t confusion. Only le

A claimant sho

week, and ap Spgs than are difficult wy, S Of deci must travel dig a claim their case. It j, (S&S to

that cost of tray hearings be borp travelling appeal be set up Whig representativeg Finally, the brief recOm | method of e nes that Y entitlement 4, “Ulating ! simplified. Clay;

principle of Neeg :

Fishermen call for New Pacific fisheries treaty

_ The United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Unig Canada to take the initiative towards a new triPartj North Pacific fisheries which would be broadeneg

USSR and other countries.

At a meeting last Friday with federal envirOnm Davis, a 29-man union delegation pointed out th halibut catches in the North Pacific again indicate the Plumm Fisheries Treaty is no more than a “‘farce.”’

The union said that a new treaty is esseDtia} ig meaningful control of marine resources in the Nort urged Canada to take a much stronger position enforcing territorial rights and oyer recipr®ca)

rights. °

The UFAWU convention opens in Vancouver March —~ 13.

Maintainel

Minister Ji! orth Pa

there is 0 - 8 Cifie, It ao the US "lmon_ fis