PAG;E 4, WINiESDAY. MAY 13. 19)81, WIIITBY FREF± PRESS w hitby ("T blihedI>hotrv phdneme and Photography Inc. Phone 669-6111 The Free Press BuiIdiný Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher- Managing Editor 1:11 Broek Street North. 'Tbe only whitby newspaper independently owned and operated hy Whitby residents for Whitby residents. 1>.0. Box 206, Whîtby, Michael J. Knell Community Editor Marjorie A. Burgess Production Manager Karen Thompson Advertising Manager Mallîng Permit No 460 Member of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce ig. Police and outside workers aren't alike It was interesting to note that the presently striking outside workers employed by the Region of Durham are comparing their plight to that of the mernbers of the Durham Regional Police Force. Last week, Russ Whitney, a representative of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the body negotiating for the Workers said that the offer made to them by Durham Regional Council of 20 per cent over two years was poor con- sidering the 27 per cent over two years won by the Durham Regional Police Association. Whitney was also quoted as saying that this situation led the local to take its strike action. We find this to be curious indeed. Is Whitney saying that the outside workers per- form essentially the same job as the cop-on-the- beat? Durham Regional Chairman Gary Herrema probably best summed up this publication's position when he said that, "there's a substantial difference in jobs.... I can't compare the police and the outside workers." It is acknowledged that the outside workers perform some much needed services such as the maintenance of our roads and to ensure a high standard of water and sewer services. However, this does not compare the job under- ANCHORMAN FOR GLOBAL NEWS1 THE BFST OF, PETER A weekly news commentary from one of Canada's outstanding news personalities There is a lot more discrimination in this country than our traditionally fat, small "F" liberal, and essentially hypocritical hierarchy has ever been prepared to admit. Some of the worst discrimination is racial and cultural, and some of it is sexual, and all of it is vicious. But it seems to me that we're endangering our ability to recognize the real thing if we holler discrimination every time we don't get our own way. The Canadian Human Rights Commiss- ion has just made an astonishing decision in favor of a young lady who was denied air time on an open line radio prograni in Hamilton because she wanted to talk about male strippers. She was eleven years of age at the time the alleged infringement of her human rights took place. The Human Rights Commission ordered the radio station to apologize. It seems to me that the station was well within its rights in refusing the young lady airtime, on the grounds of taste alone. I see that a recent Gallup poll has found that one Canadian in every five feels he or she has been discriminated against because of age, sex, religion, racial origin or some other identifiable characteristic. Quite frankly, I take that particular poll with a grain of salt. Twenty-eight per cent of those who claimed they'd been discriminated against said it was because of age. There is age discrimination, of course, particularly against older people. But is it reaily discrimination in the sense that a Jamaican understands it, for instance, if vou can't get a job because vou're too voung and inexperienced? I mean I can't get a job as a waitress or a priest either. Does that mean I've been di-riminated against on the grounds of sex and religion? W we're at it, I can't sit comfort- ably in theatre seats, or e(conomy airplane seats, and I can't sleep in hotel beds with raised footboards either. That's because I'm six foot five. Tail people's needs are overlooked, by and large, but that isn't discrimination. It's called living. Let's save the word discrimination for people who really need it. That's not news, but that too is reality. taken by the average police constable. Comparing the outside workers tu the police is like comparing apples and oranges, it can't really be done because they are two separate, distinct things. Similarly the police and the outside workers perform different tasks. Secondly, it seems to us that Whitney is somewhat envious of the pay scale enjoyed by police officers. Police officers are highly trained professionals who continue, as a general rule, to upgrade their education throughout their career. Can this be said of the outside workers? Police officers are also in a much more danger- ous profession having to deai with the ever enlarging criminal element in our society. These men, who take the job voluntarily, continually ex- pose themselves to life threatening situations whether it be dealing with a man with a gun or other weapon or rescuing a small child from a river Bloch Parents say thank-you Dear Sir: The Whitby and Brooklin Block Parents would like to thank you for the write-up in your newspaper about our rummage and bake sale. We would also like to thank all the Block Parents who con- tributed baked items and rummage and the people that attended this sale. This was a very suc- cessful fund raising event and will enable the Block Parents to continue in their wor- thwhile projects. Yours truly, Gail Jenkins Public Relations Officer Whitby Block Parents with a strong current. The men in blue are also in one of the most stressful vocations in North America and find themselves in emotionally overpowering situations almost every day. The outside workers, as said previously, per- form much needed jobs, jobs that are essential to the life of the community. Almost every known industry makes use of water and sewer services for something. We have come to rely on the jobs that these 260 men undertake, but to compare their contract negotiations to those of the police is somewhere out in left field. Whitney and his organization would have received more sympathy if he had compared his people's situation to those of other outside workers in the Province of Ontario working for similar size municipalities. It is not our intent to address the merits of CUPE's or the region's respective claims in this dispute, however, we feel it is our responsibility to point out that the offer does not seem to be unreasonable. The two sides in this dispute should also be reminded that water and sewer user rates went up by a staggering average of 20.5 per cent last year and will go up who knows how much next year. In 1981, property taxpayers in the Region of Durham saw an increase in their tax bill of 14.9 per cent. CUPE's members are paid from the property tax dollar and the water and sewer rates for the most part and it should be well to remind them that the taxpayer is already overburdened with no relief in sight. It is hoped that the negotiations that will even- tually resume are conducted with these simple facts in mind. If they are a reasonable settlement and position will be reached to the satisfaction of ail. according to Durham Region's commissioner of social services, Doug Johns, it is a problem throughout the urban parts of the region. Johns summed up the feelings of many when he said that "peo IP shouldn't live like docs " NEWS ITEM I 'i