LABOR ROUNDUP: ~ - : < B Office workers strike solid; Union here to stay, Co. told a between Local 15, Office ¥ “a International Union “ en, Bloedel & Powell the nee aimed at resolving Port Gi, s four week strike in ee pene tave broken. down € giant monopoly stub- Otfiog. Tefuses to recognize the - e ers are organized and © remain that way, Union ‘Security is the main loa issue in the strike (al- ee are also a con- ing th n) with MB & PRearry- este © Oa for monopoly inter- lempting geo’ desperately at- tide of 0 stem the inevitable Organizatio t i ry m on the white lar industry, some 80 office workers in Pt, - have tied up the com- sh oT Operation, as Long- Sulphite n, the IWA, Pulp and tinue 3 and other unions con- F on ea their picket line, in the Support for allworkers in fron, berni valley is pouring 1 organized labor, A folg e°Kesman from the OEIU the “at PT that, as a result of ling darity shown onthe picket high. /Xers’ morale is running tle “nd the union intends to set- 0 ; a * Nothing less than full Security ; ais, - Bieyeq §, Of the PT will be Reimer to hear that Dick Column. who contributed many : ae farm problems to Ues es » Passed away suddenly {ihena) Night, At press time MOU. Bovis had not yet been CITY SHOULD Dep euver should own and nq th its own transit system Make thi *C, government should . ih, S Possible by wholesal- to the ity who could \ a Consumers, much as Ip Minster does now, to "Nee the transit system, ,, This Vanoo 28 the proposal of the Ou ‘Ontained” Communist Party, day : in a broadcast last Y secretary William art Ver radio station CKLG, , Poin t 4 tp, NE Out that the city faces is Bra Epcnise deadline nears te City . °Wart said that unless wat thers out such arrange- {up § -C. government intends Ptation © money-losing transit ree os the municipalities . €m to run and finance 1 ‘ transportation can never het, Solely on the basis of nett, a hot it realizes a the Which Must be run in aman- te COmmy Ves. the needs of etsit ity. The Vancouver tees pate needs radical ta Neege Pring it into line with of the people, It will ty Set ¢ ist oy : Teatment from Vic- © ; ly Perience proves that Wicipally-owned and deeds Tansit is sensitive to Of the community and Crisis as the 1966 BOs In an attempt to win public support away from the union, the company last week published a large sized poster in which it claims office workers are being paid of the following basis: Senior Clerks—$500 to $635 a month; Intermediate Clerks—$405 to $450; Junior Clerks—$315 to $335; Stenos and Typists—$275 to $355, The union promptly contacted the provincial\department of la- bor and indicated it would be prepared to bargain on the basis ‘of the above figures, The com- pany replied this was not prac- tical because the figures quoted were ‘‘too unreliable’! Last Saturday a huge rally of over 2,000 workers, jointly chaired by Port Alberni Mayor Hammer and Alberni Mayor Bi- shop, pledged continued support: for the office workers, Speakers at the rally included Jack Moore, regional president of the IWA, Bob Strachan, provincial NDP leader, Jack Whittall, Alberni Valley Labor Emergency Com- mittee, Walter Allen, president of IWA Local 1-85, William Dodge, executive vice-president of the CLC, and many others, Every speaker indicated con- tinued support for the strikers, with the most powerful arguments probably made by Allen, who said: ‘There is nobody at this meeting to defend the company ‘position because its position is indefensible , , . The plant is closed down because neither pro- fits nor assets can make a mill “run - it takes people!’’ RUN TRANSIT © HYDRO, SAYS STEWART serves it properly,” said Stew- art, He pointed out that as a result of past practice, the Street Rail- waymen’s Union estimates that it would take a minimum of $16 million to bring existing equip- ment into proper shape and much more than that amount to provide the additional equipment for an adequate rapid transit system, Stewart said previous prac- tises by the B,C, Electric in - cutting runs which were not profitable, and reducing the fre- quency of existing runs while raising fares has led to a de- crease in the number of people riding the bus, and the end re- sult of this process is a “hope- lessly inadequate bus service and terrible congestion,” By taking over power distribu- tion in Vancouver the city would realize a profit of $8,250,000 a year on a similar arrangement now existing with New Westmin- ster, and could help subsidize a vastly improved public transit system out of such revenue, Stewart pointed out, The alternative to an effective rapid transit system would be a costly freeway system, now be- fore council, which would cost $400 million, by 1976 and on which interest dlone would be $20 million a year, said Stewart, There is no indication of when talks will reopen, Meanwhile, the entire B.C, Labor movement, with help from the CLC, is dig- ging in for a battle which it is ~ confident will be won in the final analysis, : @ A tremendous victory has been MACMILLAN BLOEDEL won by 4,200 carpenters inB.C,- - Backed by a solid 97 percent union conducted strike vote and an 83 percent government super- vised vote, the men won a total package increase amounting to 574¢ an hour, spread over two years, : In a militant display of con- sciousness, the union bargaining “committee beat back employers’ demands for a five year contract, The gains included wage hikes of 20¢ an hour effective June 1/64 -and a further 15¢ on April 1/65; nine statutory holidays with pay; “a health and welfare scheme amounting to 10¢ an hour; union hiring; room and board through- out the province, greatly improv- ed working conditions on the job, and other fringe benefits, Still negotiating are another 1,800 carpenters, mainly in Vic- toria, the Kootenays and the Ok- anagan, Inferior conditions pre- vail in all these areas, 3 e Members of eight coast locals of the IWA have voted to accept the Fisher proposals for the woodworking industry, which provide for a 28¢ an hour wage boost during a two year contract, The vote was: 12,889 ‘*Yes’’ and 8,607 ‘‘No’’, It would appear from the total ballots cast that some 5,000 woodworkers did not vote, Picket line of office workers at M-B and Powell River in Port Alberni. Their struggle is gaining national support as it enters its fourth week. ‘Bring oll monopolies under public control’ Adding its voice to the growing public concern over recurrent price squeezes charged by the big oil monopolies for petroleum products, and the unjustifiable price differentials set by these oil magnates on up-country and interior consumers of gas and oil, Nigel Morgan, provincial leader of the Communist party, this week forwarded a Brief to’ the Royal Commission on Gaso- line Price Structures, presently conducting hearings in Victoria, Pointing out that these oil ‘monopolies are profiteering at the public expense and rolling up enormous profits, while at the same time ruthlessly exploiting service station operators, the Communist brjef submits these basic proposals designed to safe- guard the interests of the gaso- line and oil consumer: branded as Premier W. A. C. Ben- nett this week gave sup- port to the plan of Sask- atchewan’s new Liberal government to force un- employed to work for welfare. He joined Pre- mier Ross Thatcher in pressuring Ottawa to approve the idea. . Meanwhile, the Cana- dian Labor Congress charged Monday that the Work-for-welfare plan forced labor work-for-welfare plan is a flagrant contradiction of the universal declara- tion of human rights, and that work for relief is no better than forced ' labor. The CLC supports a policy of creating jobs for the unemployed. There are reported to be 9,300 employable job- less on social assistance in B.C. Earl Robinson a One of America’s foremost artists will be featured at the PT Victory Celebration this com- ing Saturday, in Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Playhouse, in the person of Earl Robinson, Composer, singer, conductor, teacher and folklorist, Robin- son’s name is to be found in books on American composers, But, more than that, he has the rare quality of a true balladier which has enabled him to bring the warmth, the charm and the strength of his and other folk music to concert, theatre, union, school and community groups all over the continent, And, whether he is conducting the New York Philharmonic (as EARL ROBINSON * A roll-back in the price’ structure of gasoline and oil products, * Elimination of all existing inequalities and discriminatory price differentials in the petro- leum industry of B,C, * Bring the sale and distribu- tion of oil and gasoline under the control of the Public Utilities Commission immediately, and the preferring of charges under the Federal Combines Act, which forbids conspiracy and collusion to fix prices, * Enact legislation to place all oil resources, refineries and wholesale distributive agencies of the oil and petroleum industry in B,C, under public ownership, Providing a wealth. of factual data on the tight monopoly char- acter of the petroleum industry in B,C,, plus the fact that recent oil discoveries should redoundto the benefit of the consumer, the price fixing by the oil monopoly is apparently firmly based upon “milking the consumer for what- ever the traffic will bear,” The obvious conclusion drawn by the Party brief points up the need to change our “giveaway, policies” and, in “the interests of every British Columbian, the profiteering and price-fixing of the B,C, petroleum industry must be challenged , . and brought un- der public regulation immedi- ately.” t PT windup he did in 1948) or singing to the smallest home gathering, this natural and heartwarming quality is always apparent,: One of the amazing things about Earl Robinson is the way he re- creates for his audiences the full spirit of his folk operas andcan- tatas—as if, in the words of a Los Angeles music critic, {he carries the complete production around in his guitar case,’’ Included among his volufhinous original works are such favorites as Balland For Americans, Free And Equal Blues, Joe Hill, The House I Live In, The Lonesome Train, others, June 12, 1964—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 3. The Sandhog and many.