KE J A | : a Ltt Phone MUtual 5-5288 Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa. 10° FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1959 Vol 18, No. 31 VANCOUVER, B.C. “Death threat letter work of provocateur’ ; ‘An anonymous “death threat” letter received by Mr. Justice A. M. Manson and signed “steel worker” was “obviously the work of a provocateur,” union counsel Tom Berger told the Supreme Court judge Tuesday this week, during contempt of court proceedings against Ironworkers Union Local 97 and three of its top officials. “Any self-respecting iron- Worker would never sign him- Self ‘steel worker’,” Berger Said. Turning to the real issue at stake—the alleged non-co-oper- ation of union officials in obey- ing a court order to order their Members back to work on the Second Narrows bridge — the union lawyer said that business agents Norman Eddison and Thomas McGrath did not sim-| Ply advise the men of the order, they actually ordered them back. The men refused individu- ally, on the grounds they gave in court earlier — that they felt the bridge was unsafe. The reason the men did not 80 back was not the result of _€vasion or an attempt to defy ‘the court,’ said Berger. “It Was because they had good and legitimate reasons for not go- ing back. They were apprehen- sive about the condition of the bridge.” Mr. Justice Manson adjourn- éd the case until Thursday, saying it would take him some | time to hand down his decision. There was no major change ti the Ironworkers strike ‘sit- Wation this week, although the Wnion signed agreements with five Small firms giving their men a 38-cent wage hike retro- active to January 1. The union is also supplying men to six other firms on a verbal agreement basis which stiuplates they will meet the union’s terms when a settle- ment is reached. IWA holds | strike rally Local 1-217 of the Interna- tional Woodworkers of Amer- ica called a mass strike rally for Thursday this week at Kerrisdale Arena, IWA international president Al Hartung and district presi- dent Joe Morris were sched- uled to address the meeting. Wives and families of strik- ing IWA members were invit- ed to attend the meeting and hear a report on the strike situation. “The entire coastal forest area has been successfully shut down and picket lines are 100 percent effective,’ said the union letter announcing the rally. Delegates are expected to hammer out a program de- signed to ensure victory on the strike front, and to dis- cuss Bill 48, which gave birth to the spate of employ- er injunctions currently plaguing the striking unions. The “waterfront formula” which played a vital role in winning the strike at North- land Navigation Company and introduced “observer” or “’spec- tator’’ lines onto the labor scene, will undoubtedly be ex- amined at length by the dele- gates. (“It was not the striking en- gineers who won the victory at Northland,” Dick Greaves of the Marine Engineers told Van- couver Labor Council last week. “It was the B:C. Feder- ation of Labor welding. unity behind our struggle. It was the longshoremen who formed the hard core of ‘observers’ and the hundreds: of other - unionists who marched with them. Vic- tory was achieved through unity — and if this unity con- tinues the IWA strikers, and all other strikers, will also win their battles.”’) On strike in B.C. at the pre- sent time are 27,000 coast woodworkers, 5,000 fishermen, 3,000 shoreworkers, 750 tender men, 500 ironworkers, 100 printers, and 60 mechanics at Bowell McLean Motors. Strike of 500 auto mechanics was settled last week, with the exception of Bowell McLean. (See story on back page). Some 500 lower mainland plumbers are expected to take a strike vote, following a ma- jority conciliation board find- ing which rejected a union de- mand for the seven-hour day with no reduction in take-home pay. : In the past few weeks more than 60 employer injunctions have been obtained restraining union picketing, and there have been many contempt cita- tions against union leaders and members. ee Pat O’Neal, secretary of the B.C. Federation of Labor, said that “major policy decisions” relating to the present strike situation are expected to come out of the special federation | parley Saturday, KE SOLIDARITY ‘KEY’ BCFL CONVENTION Solidarity of the entire trade union movement in B.C. to win big strikes now in progress and others that may be called this summer will be the key issue facing the special emergency confer- ence of the B.C. Federation of Labor this Saturday, August 1, at Mount Pleasant Legion Hail on Main Street. All along the coast the fishing fleet is tied up. t B.C. fishing industry shut down The entire B.C. fishing by strike industry was shut down at 11 a.m. Wednesday this week when shoreworkers left the canneries to join the ranks of salmon fishermen who struck last Saturday. With no holdover of canrted salmon from last year, the companies are under considerable compulsion to seek an early reopening of negotiations with the union. Picket lines went on at all plants along the B.C.. coast minutes after workers walk- ed off the job. Decision to strike Wednes- day was taken last-Sunday at a special meeting of the central). strike and policy committee of the Native Brotherhood of B.C- and the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, follow- ing review of the government- supervised vote results togeth- er with the votes of regular workers disfranchised in the ballot. ; Union - Brotherhood votes among plant workers and pack- er crews had rejected earlier company: offers by. 87 to 92 percent. The Fisheries Association conducted a high-pressure, laste minute campaign prior to the government-supervised vote in an. attempt to confuse and in timidate the workers. It did not succeed with the majority, Particularly the senior ems ployees; but. some newcomers: - in the seasonal industry were influenced. < “Operation Strike Relief,’ @ sale of fresh Fraser River salmon by fishermen direct te the public (at prices five cents a pound more than the prices for which fishermen have been compelled to strike) was a huge success Wednesday. All fish were sold in a few hours.