by Eleanor Brown and Michelle Lalonde
HALIFAX (CUP) - A free trade deal will leave thousands of Canadian women jobless and could allow American companies to dictate the fu- ture of day-care services in this country according to a Toronto-based economist. dis- proportionately affected by it has to
"Women will be
free trade, and do with the areas in which they work. In the manu- facturing sector they work in industries which are ex- tremely vulnerable. And most women are concen- trated in just a few indus- tries, like textiles and cloth- ing. These industries are going to take a real beat- ing with free trade,” said Marjorie Cohen, a profes- sor at thé Ontario Insti- tute for Studies in Educa-
tion (OISE).
Canadian and Ameri- can negotiators came to an agreement last week which would lift many tariff and non-tariff barriers between the two countries. The pact must be accepted by legisla- tures in both countries and would come into effect Jan- uary 1, 1989.
Cohen said the Octo- ber 3 deal was’ worse than anybody expected in their wildest imaginations. The
ARIES SECRETARIAL
e Book reports e Term papers
All your typing needs
Call ARIES SECRETARIAL
892-7625
24 2nd Street Parkdale
Wendy Morrison
= Page 8
| |
FREE
TRADE
May HURT
WOMEN MOST
disputes settlement mecha- nism is just absurd.”
Cohen added that there have been no convincing signs that the Mulroney government will introduce adequate job adjustment programmes to address the the retraining needs of dis- placed workers.
Women make up 75 per cent of the labour force in the already-ailing tex- tiles industry, Cohen said. Many of the workers are fe- male immigrants, have less education than the Cana- dian average, or are older women with children.
”"Women are not at all well-served by the training programmes which exist. They are designed for male- type jobs. Most women who will lose their jobs will not have the educa- tion or the experience they will need to get into re- training programmes. In- migrant women and poor women cannot be retrained easily for these high tech jobs which (free-trade ad-
vocates) say will become available. It just won’t hap- pen.”
Cohen
said an agreement between the two countries will jeop- ardize the delivery of social services. Even decisions on day care will be taken out of Canadian hands, she charged.
American firms, includ- ing large, private day-care companies, are eager to set up shop in this coun- try, Cohen said. But they are upset over what they perceive to be un- fair subsidies to Canadian
Since Cana- dian non-profit child care centres are given govern- ment subsidies, the Amer- ican firms will want. money too.
businesses.
"So this whole issue,” said Cohen, “which is a great debate now in Canada — over whether you should have profit or non-profit day care ~ will be com- pletely out of our hands. It will be decided by trade
”
law.
And a free-trade deal could have a devastating impact on jobs in the ser- vice sector, which has pro-
“vided the majority of new employment prospects for women in this century, Co- hen said.
The service sector em- ploys nearly 83 per cent of all women in the labour force, so changes resulting from free trade will have a stronger impact on women than on men. That in- cludes jobs in banks, insur- ance companies, in the data processing field, and cleri- cal jobs.
~These are very impor- tant jobs for women — and they are very seriously un- der threat.” said Cohen.
Cohen and three other women were commissioned by the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women to produce three
working papers on Free Trade and its effect on women. While Cohen's
paper points to the dan- gers and disadvantages for women, economist Katie MacMillan says that a free
trade deal would be bene- ficial to women as workers and consumers.
MacMillan’s re- port concludes, “the most important accomplishment of a free trade agreement would be to give Cana- dian women the opportu- nity to leave poor jobs in industries already seriously threatened by world com- petitive pressures and find new employment and bet- ter prospects in growing industries elswhere in the economy.”
“The jobs that these women have and that they don’t want to lose seem to be the most horrible jobs...,” said MacMillan.
MacMillan claims by Cohen and oth- ‘ers that women face greater barriers than men in reloca- tion and retraining.
refutes
"Recent studies of dis- placed workers_ show that women adjust better than men to shifts in the job market,” said MacMillan. “They are unemployed for shorter periods of time be- tween jobs and they tend to move into higher pay- ing jobs than their previous jobs, whereas men tend to
get jobs that pay the same
or less.”
But MacMillan added that since women usually have such lower paying jobs in the first place, “they have nowhere to go but
”
up.
“MacMillan also _ said that the removal of tariffs on basic necessities (food, shelter and clothing) which
eee
account for a greater pro. ‘portion of women’s expen. ‘ditures
programmes,” said Gold
(than men’s), would improve eco.| nomic prospects for Cana. dian women. Cohen disagreed.
“There is no evidence to support the claim that free trade will help con, sumers, at all,” she argued “When tariffs and quota on children’s and men‘ shoes were lifted, not only were 1500 jobs lost in tha industry but the price of children’s shoes by 26 per cent.”
“When the domestic market is gone, importers can charge whatever prices they like. People are prett sophisticated; they kno that prices don’t fall,” said Cohen.
Sylvia Gold, president of the Canadian Advi sory Council on the Sta tus of Women (CACSW said that the government appointed Council does not take an official stand for oy against free trade. —
increased
“One point that draws them (Cohen and MacMil lan) together is the need fo} gradual labour adjustmen
adding that the CACS will continue to lobby fof a ten year phase-out pe riod of trade barriers fof the least competitive an¢ most labour-intensive trad’ areas which tend to emplo a disproportionate numbej of women.
Newsome Photography
Paddington Bear an ds ,
This Halloween Support
unicef @
Thursday, October 22 198
tbat: