CALL EMERGENCY CONVENTION

Canadian fur workers
Spurn AFL dictation

eA.
hand and
Started

Cat and a mouse game is now being played out ‘between the AFL Council on the one
the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and its Fur and Leather department on the other. It
Some time ago when the Amalgamated and Fur and Leather agreed to merge. While

‘Some doubtfi] elements were included in the merger terms, nevertheless, on the whole it gave
the autonomous and democratic character of Fur and Leather

oe assurance of maintaining
the reve the merger was not to
sional Ing of reaction, the profes-
i labor-haters and McCarthy-
re Neither was it to the liking of
AFT, Might-wing within both the

. 1 and CIO, including the right-
"ng here in ‘Canada.

finn Dubinsky of the Interna-
Upon ties Garment Workers
the em €d by Max Federman of
in Te all AFL Fur Workers Union
ee began a pressure cam-

a, aimed at either destroying
anythin eet 8S such or eliminating
While -" Progressive and worth-

' ith. ich might come out of it.
Set for this in mind the stage was
an Aw, {2 uPture of the merger at

AFL,

Council meeting about six
Sago.

mate, tat meeting, the Amalga-

expy)s2> Informed that, to avoid
mug from the AFL, they
Dine to “decommunize” Fur
Nes er, Meany presented the
me Bed with a list of of-
‘10 Were to be ousted.

inet Wishing to be expelled from
he Amalgamated began
With some of the offic-
Fur and Leather, urging
accommodate the AFL.
Well-known and widely-
Officers of Fur and Lea-
anada, Robert Haddow
ee Ferguson did resign.
28 bit €rnational’s pressure-play
adian erly resented by the Can-
‘€mbership.
Satisfeg ee Council still was dis-
e
offic, demanded that another
Us. aia be ousted, 13 from the
th a four from Canada, before
if Ser would be endorsed and
tye of expulsion of the
Again ee Temoved. :
ae le Amalgamated stepped
er ees on Fur and Leath-
~nding either that the

disey cr”
en USsions
them to

Whole including the Canadian membership.

BOB HADDOW

merger be annulled or the 17 of-
ficers resign.

In the midst of this ‘“condition-
ing process” all 17 officers receiv-
ed telegrams from the ‘Amalgamat-
ed, three days prior to the AFL
Council meeting, instructing them
to resign. The wires sent to the
four Canadian officers informed
them that if they did not resign
the Canadian locals would be sus-
pended. Orally they were inform-
ed that if their resignations were
not forthcoming by the deadline
set they would all be fired. In fact,
one of the officers was fired a day
later — by telegram.

But what has come of all this?
The Amalgamated again reported
progress to the AFL Council meet-
ing — eight resignations, all from
the U.S.; three fired, the placing in
receivership of the New York Joint
Council, and the suspension of the

Canadian locals. All these highly

undemocratic measures still did
not placate the AFL Council.

It again, in the words of Meany,
expressed pleasure at the progress
made but nevertheless considered
it unsatisfactory and called for a
continued effort at “decommuniza-
tion.”

What of the Fur and Leather
workers themselves? It is clear
that there is growing perturbation
among |U.S. Fur and Leather work-
ers and many of the officers with
the way the merger is going. It is
to the honor of Canadian officers
and the Canadian membership that
they have for some time resisted
these attacks on their autonomous
and democratic rights.

Meetings of the 10 Fur and
Leather Ontario locals are in pro-
gress to consider whether’ with-
drawal of Canadian members will
take place.

In Winnipeg three new unions
have been established of furriers,
dressers and dyers and leather
workers. They resolved to seek
affiliation to a union of Canadian
fur, leather and allied workers, as
soon as possible.

In light of this situation an
emergency Canadian convention
has been called to examine the
entire situation.

It is obvious that the rupture of
the merger by the AFL council
which places the cold war ahead
of unity based on democratic prin-
ciples and the real interests of the
workers makes new decisions ne-
cessary.

The Canadian fur and leather
workers are in favor of unity,
want unity and will fight for
unity. But they want, unity bas-
ed’on the maintenance of de-
mocracy, autonomy and the guar-

antee of Canadian rights.

City woman describes advances

Made b

. Vhe i
ting villesmme Holyk left her na-
(then Oter; it Western Ukraine
to Canagar ied by Poland) to come
‘Aecing Sed 26 years ago, she was
Women j, w 2 system which kept
nts t 1 SUbjection, forced peas-
nttup 4, VOrK in the fields from
“age 2 matown, and made mar-
10st impossible for a
Stl unless she was for-

te
“Rough to own a piece of

lang.
Whe
ten
at th. a oe returned to
‘on, Mem Ct Ukraine recently
Sation nad of a Canadian dele-
me Change? She found every-
® yy, €d, with peasant wo-
an equal footing with
tyone enjoying a full

dy dgotten
0

for Miles around, and

remember

iy
Ow,
wa simi our delegation visit-
; ype of village in the

I found a modern

doctors,

ANNE HOLYK

“In the old days, because the
women had to work all day in the
fields, peasant’ children grew up
like little animals... Now nothing
is too good for the children; the

Soviet kindergartens brought joy

to our mothers’ hearts.”

In two weeks the Canadian wo-

y Soviet Ukraine women

men visited Leningrad, Moscow
and Kiev, and their rigid travel
schedule made it impossible for
those who were Ukrainian-born to
visit the scenes of their childhood.
But telegrams to relatives resulted.
in some kinfolk making the long
journey to Kiev for several happy
reunions.

“There is still a shortage of
luxury goods in the Soviet Union,
but the people have all the neces-
sities of life, including plenty of
food, and they are confident that,
given peace, they will soon pro-
duce all the luxury items they now
lack,” said Mrs. Holyk.

“Peace is the word that is on|-

every person’s lips. ‘Tell the Can-
adian people we want no more
wars; we want peace and friend-
ship,’ was the message they all
gave to me.” ‘

Going by train from Helsinki
to Leningrad, the first Soviet stop
was at Viborg, and Mrs. Holyk got
talking with a Red Army soldier
on the platform. “We hadn’t been
talking more than a few minutes
when he brought up the subject of
peace, and said it was the dearest.
desire of all the Soviet people,”
she recalls.

Canadian delegation marching in the Youth Festival parade at Warsaw.

B.C. totem pole wins
Youth Festival prize

By MARGARET O’KELL
For the first time, Canada has carried off honors in the Interna-
tional Arts and Handicrafts Competition at the Fifth World Youth
Festival, held this month in Warsaw. Competing with entries from 15
-countries, a miniature totem pole carved by a representative of Can-
ada’s oldest citizens, the Indians, was awarded second prize.

Jimmy John, totem carver of
tthe B,C. Nootka Indians and his 22-
year-old daughter Edna were hap-
py to send their work to ‘Warsaw.
“Tm glad to know there are people
in Warsaw. interested in totem
poles from British Columbia,” said
John.

In many similar ways, the Fes-
tival cemented friendship among
youth of the world. Thus Canadian
youth met with young people from
India. Glittering caris and silken
costumes of India mingled with
the green and white Canadian cos-
tumes, decorated with maple
leaves. Handclasps and _ kisses,
eagerly shared experiences and the
bond of friendship is established.

An audience of 3,000 thronged
around an open-air stage, as Cana-
dian delegates presented their
first concert. Square dances and
folk songs depicted Canada’s geo-
graphy, tradition and heritage.
Eager bursts of applause greeted
songs such as Vive la Canadienne.
When the singers swung into This
Land is My Land, they really touch-
ed the hearts of the crowd.

‘ At the finals, bouquets of flowers
were showered on the performers
by Polish children.

At the concert of the Chinese
youth, the Palace of Culture and
Science was filled to capacity for
the program. A 70-voice choir, a
symphony orchestra and a folk-
instrument orchestra, participated.
But the most thrilling portions of
the program were the folk dances
and pantomime performed with
almost unbelievable grace.

The Second International Friend-
ly Sports Meet has been a thrilling
contest of champions. A crowd of
30,000 saw Emile Zatopek win the
10,000 metres race. Deafening
roars of applause greeted the set-
ting of many world records at the
games.

The most popular of all arts —
the cinema — was well in the fore-
front of activity at the Festival.
Fans had a chance to see some of
the finest films ever produced, old
masterpieces from more than twen-
ty countries. :

Canada, too, showed her films in
Warsaw. The programs were ar-
ranged by the Canadian Legation

‘in Poland, and held with the co-

operation of the entire staff. Such
fine films as Canada Dances, Ro-
mance of Transportation, Neigh-

bors, West Wind and Introduction
to Gaspe, were shown.

Soviet group
in Canada

The group of agriculturists from
the Soviet Union which has been
touring the United States was due
to arrive in Montreal Thursday
this week and receive an official
welcome.

The visiting party includes:

Vladimir Vladimirovich Matske-
vich; First Deputy Minister of Ag-
riculture of the USSR; Deputy, Su-
preme Soviet USSR; agronomist,
Chief of the Delegation.

Boris Vasilevich Savelev; Deputy
Chairman of the State of Planning
Commission of the USSR; agron-
omist;

Nikolai Mikhailovich Gureev;
Deputy Chairman, Council of Min-
isters, Ukrainian SSR; Deputy, Su-
preme Soviet Ukrainian SSR;
agronomist;

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Ez-
heviski; Deputy Minister of Auto-
mobile Tractor and Agricultural
Machine Building, USSR; engineer;

Yuri Fedorovich Golubash; De-
puty Minister of State Farms,
RSFSR; zoological technician;

Aleksandr Vanovich Tulupnikov;
member, Collegium of the Min-
istry of Agriculture, USSR; Direct-
or, All-Union Scientific Research
Institute of Agricultural Econom-
ics;

Andrei Stepanovich Shevchenka;
counselor, Ministry of Agriculture,
USSR; master, agricultural sci-
ences; agronomist;

Petr Konstantinovich Babmind-
ra; director, Soviet Kolkhoz “Gig-
ant,” Rostovski Oblast; Deputy, Su-
preme Soviet RSFSR; zoological
technician;

Petr Nikolaevich Svechnikov;
chairman, Kolkhoz “Kuban,” Ust-
Labinski Raion, Krasnokarski Krai;
Deputy, Supreme Soviet USSR;

Anatoli Kaksimovich  Sirotin;
Chief Editor, newspaper Agricul-
ture (Selskoe KhozyaiStvo); agron-
omist;

Nikolai Fedorovich Bogach; Di-
rector, Kotovski MTS, Odesski Ob-
last; engineer;

Boris Pavlovich Sokolov; chief
of laboratory for selection of corn,
Ukrainian ‘Scientific Research In-
stitute of Grain Agriculture; doc-
tor, agricultural sciences.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — AUGUST 26, 1955 — PAGE 2

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