be ne Mk Sit kh Hh ts 1 Wie) nit et ae, \ Hard | Thy ba 1; et he thy ' , ' Eo a PO Hae Vea) "he arene errr te Vol. 7, No. 29 tira tt jie er eee Vancouver, B.C., Friday, July 16, 1948 Price Five Cents IWA VOTES ON STRIKE Wismer tries to hinder _as deadlock forces ballot : : HTT TT A strike vote throughout Coast lumber operations has been ordered by the District Policy Committee of the LWA in a swift move to get authorization from union members CPR plans to soak public for profits for showdown action necessitated by negotiations deadlock. — SEE BACK PAGE MINERS VOTE TO STRIKE | “Most exploited workers,’ charges union — SEE BACK PAGE NTT HL Labor Minister Gordon Wismer lumbered to the defence of the operators with a wire to the union, headlined by all big business dailies, warning that any strike following such a vote would be illegal. District President Ernie Dalskog had a curt commient: “The government made the same statement prior to our 1946 strike, but the fact is the lumberworkers successfully struck and won fifteen. cents. It was to be expected that Wismer wotld make a statement like that. -After all he’s interested in seeing that employer profits are protected.” HULA That Wismer’s. maneuver hasn't the chance of the pro- verbial snowball in hell is evident from the flood of messages pouring into union headquarters from camps and mills while operator spokesman R. V. Stuart stalled through eight meet- ing in less than 10 days after two months of failure to settle. : : ane Stet = Demand is overwhelming for refusal to back down on wages TUT ori ums0n “sho p Taking of strike vote had been asked by such locals as the 5,000 strong Vancouver sawmill local 1-217, which proposed the District Policy Committee set the date for district-wide “stop work” meetings where strike votes could be taken by the full crew on the job. Local job stewards will meet in special session July 19 to work out the full plan. Strike vote had also been demanded by Victoria. Deadlock came after IWA got no significant response to compromise proposals of 274 cents and a “rock bottom” figure of 25 cents. Stuart only came up one cent to 11 cents an hour or 8 percent, finally agreeing to apply the boost to all Coast woodworkers including cook and bunkhouse and contract workers. Stuart has also agreed to the 1947 hours. of work clause but the union insists on strict 40-hour week. The militant IWA union is backbone of B.C. labor and is backed by a record membership in the industry that pro- duces half the province’s payroll—a payroll restricted by the ‘lumber barons’ attempts to hoard swollen profits at expense of the living standards of a whole province. The monopolists have significantly not even attempted to claim inability to pay. Companies like H. R. MacMillan Export and Can- adian Western Lumber (Fraser Mills) show 1947 profit increases ranging from 208 to 350 percent over 1946. MacMillion employees made an average of $3,113 profit each for the company over earnings last year, and profits are still going up. The people of B.C. can use a chunk Seamen to picket Liberal national convention of thee esl Se catch oe, ee These manacled pickets.express the fighting spirit of the CSU as danger mounts of murder on the Interior operators facing parallel demands aie ee Lakes. Three pickets are in hospital wounded by Shots fired by an officer of Canada Steamship Lines. of industry retaiming worst wages and conditions, have ‘These boys are the type who will picket the national Liberal convention. offered only 54 cents but negotiations are continuing.