PAGE 6, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1987 fe w' jr Publlshed ovory Wednesday By 677209 Ontario Imc. Phone: 668-6111 e VOUCE 0F THE COUNTY TOWN 'ie ou 'i WIî tb iem spitper i ut cI<lfl m ittiti nd co;wraur<l h Nliii h r.% t~ for' W Il il t b-, leII Ihe.free-Press Building 131 Brock Street North PI.O. Box 206, Whltby, Ont. DOUG ANDERSON Publisher MAURICE PIFHER Editor PETER IRVINE Advertlslng Manager Safety eyer stops IMore talk between employees on safety and equipment repair made Up the recent recommen- dations by a coroner's jury of an inquest involving the death of an employee at Lake Ontario Stee' Co. Ltd. i n Wh i tby al most two years ago. Repairs were being carried out on a furnace to fix a leak in a water-cooling ring when an ex- plosion occurred. William Puddister, a foreman at the Lasco miii, was killed when struck in the neck by apiece of steel slag. Since the accident, Lasco has updated repair procedures and added safety features, actions commended by the jury. But the jury further recommended more employee education on safety and maintenance procedure. A good safety record is not only Ãhe goal, but the norm, in most plants. It is unfortunate that bad Durham Regional Police executive staff are conducting an internai investigation of the recent weekend raid at an after-hours club in Oshawa. We hope that a satisfactory-explanation can be given for the use of shotguns to shoot open the door to the club, a method which police should accidents, which may resuit in death, have to oc- cur to remind that safety is alsô a job that may be weil performed, but never completed. prove to have been necessary beypnd any other' means. It is a dangerous practice and, as such, resulted'" in injury. We await with interest the report of staff as Watchdog of the activities of their officers. Activists imposing pay equity on priivate sector To the editor: Ontarians are being seriously misled by left-wing activists who want to impose "pay equity" on the province's private sector. In setting wages, these activists want to sub- stitute government central plan- ning for the free markçet, which operates on the law of supply of demand. Haven't they learned anything from the rent control fiasco? The activists' central promise to "ipay equity" is that the free market isn't operating fairly - that it discriminates against women in Tax complaint To the editor: .Copy of letter to Ross Batten, Counilor, Town of Whitby. I wish to complain about the predicted inflationary 8 per cent in- crease in Whitby taxes. While storm sewers must be repaired, I cannot sce increasing the parks and recreation budget. I believe that when you have serious damages to pay for, you hold back on the playtime expenditures, at least until you can afford them. Yours truly, William H. Murphy LETTERS The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the Editor on any subjeet of in- terest to our readers. Let- ters should be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. Ail letters must be accompanied by the name, address, and phone number of the writer; however, on request, your name may be withheld from publication if we agree that there is a valid reason. The paper reserves the right to reject or edit ail letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whit-, by, Ont. LiN 5S1 or drop through our letter siot at 131 Brock St.N. setting wages. However, these activists refuse to face the fact that there are very powerful market factors associated with, the family, the most fun- damental unit in our society. These neutral market factors include in- terruption of work and aversion to overtime, shift work, travel, etc. These factors affect ail workers. However, because of the way Canadians have chosen to structure their families, women are more af- fected by these market factors than men. If the market discrîminates against women, one would expect it to discriminate against neyer- married women as weIl as married women. What do independent studies show? A 1979 Statscan study of 1971 Cen- sus data showed that neyer- married women earned 99.2 per cent of what never-married men make. A 1984 Statscan study showed that never-married women aged 45- 54 years earned 13 percent more than never-married men in the same age bracket. A 1985 Statscan study, showed that never-married women aged over 55 earned 18 per cent more than never-married men in the same age bracket. It's simply impossible to have these resuits and at the same time maintain that the market discriminates. ý Finally, the 1985 Statscan studè.. showed that al never-married med earned only 42 per cent 0fwhat ait, mnarried men earned. > Are these left-wing activists' going to push for "pay equity" for never-married men as well? Yours sincerely, David Somerville, President, National Citizens' Coalition N~$ ITB Y Congratulations. Were the shotguns needed?9