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The Cadre, Feb. 3, I976, Page 6

Extreme Hardship and

‘ Human Suffering '

Corporations RestingonReoord Profits _ «While workers Attempt Survival'yon $20/weak

OTTAWA (CUP) ———— Two NDP members of parliament and one NDP member of the Ontar- io Legislature who recently toured northern Ontario com- munities affected by the se— ven—month strike in the.eas— tern Canadian pulp and paper industry say the picture they encountered of human suffering was "profoundly / disturbing".

MP's Cyril Symes and Arn— old Peters, and MP Bill Fer- rier also charged in their interim report that the four major pulp and paper compan-

ies have engaged in collusion [tactics to break the union

and the strike.- They backed up their charge by supplying the press with copies of a 1973 agrrment signed by the presidents of E.B. Eddy, Domtar, and Rolland Paper

Company. For the most part, the

commercial press_ignored the:

document, which outlines a Scheme for using the output of producing mills to cover

orders placed by customers of

struck mills and sets out

secretive billing and deliv— ery arrangements. The media also failed to cover the th—

ree member's report-of the hardships being faced by the 20 thousand striking workers and their families.

The hardships they descr— ibe are severe: the workers in the northern Ontario com; munities of Kapuskasing, Sm-

ooth Rock Falls and Iroquois ‘

Falls have been on strike for over seven months, rece— iving only $15 to $20 per week in stike pay.

Many families\have used up their life savings; or, have had to take out second mortgages on their homes; and some have lost their ho- mes due to mortgage default. Most families have been for— ced to go into debt, with finance companies charging interest rates as high as 24 percent.

Welfare has been denied because the needy are invol- ved in a labour dispute, many

‘families are now without tr-. ransportation in these isola—

ted areas because they can't pay auto insurance rates or licensing fees, and local merchants report_that busin— ess is down by over 30 per— cent, forcing them to lay off staff and borrow money

to restock shelves.‘ ‘ . The local doctor in Smoo th Rock Falls told the NDP members that he has seen a general deterioration in the health of the townspeople, and that ulcers, high blood— pressure problems and heart

‘ attacks are growing in freq—

uency.l

Abitibi paper in Smooth Rock has even refused to pr— vide separation certificates

r to strikers whose retirement ‘date fell during the strike,r

cutting them off from their retirement benefits, and ma— ny have depleted their reti- rement savings trying to ma- ke ends meet.

Ontario hydro cut off the power to some homes in the dead of winter, and resumed service later, while furnace repairman have refused to make repairs to household heating systems unless paid in cash.

AdditiOnally, there are 90 thousand cords of wood laying unprocessed in the

river near SmOoth Rock Falls'

which will pose a major pol— '1ution problem if they sink’ and rot in the river.

What ' ‘ Will _ Be

First

To Sink

" ._:.,

The Anti-Inflation Board? The Canadian Paperworkers Union? Probably the logs.

._ ,a

' ' Result/«of

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‘ fé'fi'RiKE

In short, the human eff- ect of the strike in the th— ree communities visited by

the NDP members, communities in which 90-cents out of ev— ery dollar spent flows from the employment and activit- ies of the paper companies,

is nothing short of disast—

.roust_ Abitibi's.plants were shut

down by the Canadian Paper— workers Union in mid—July, while Spruce Falls Power and Paper company was cloSed ea- rly in December. These shu— tdoWns followed the industr— y's outright rejection, at every available opportunity, of union demands. The comp—

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-an es have not even made a counter-offer bid_which cou- ld end the strike. ' In 1973 the industy had made a tidy profit of $320 milliOn compared with $89" million the previous year. This trend in increasing in— dustry prosperity continued in 1974 as net profits dou- bled to $685 million. Und— erlying this increased pro—

-fitability of the companies

were price increases ranging from 52 percent for newspr- int and 118 percent for ,pulp. , _ ‘ ' While'prices and profits were climbing for the indus stry as a whole, the worker was locked into a two year contract signed in the spr— ing of 1973. In 1973 the average wage in the indus- try was $192.35, rising 13 percent to $218.43 in 1974- By January 1975 it went UP