~ ABOR DAY, 1950, Canada:\-a - Canada threat of atomic war. their voices heard against the threats of big business govern- ment spokesmen who are utiliz- ing the rail strike to further their war plans, by using it as an ex- euse for the passage of anti-labor legislation, Had the St. Laurent government ‘been anxious to effect a satisfac- tory settlement of the railway workers’ demands, it could have done so long ago during the long months of negotiations. It is now clear that such a settlement was not desired. A government that is committed to policies leading directly to war does not seek ami- with labor. On the contrary. To serve as a cover-up for its step-by-step poli- cies towards war, in keeping with the dictates of dollar imperialism, ed “an emergency”. What better than the strike of 125,000 workers on a vital national transport uti- lity ? Back in 1886 an embryonic Can- adian labor movement pledged it- self to fight for the 8-hour day, “when a capitalist government en- acted Labor Day as “a recognition of the dignity and worth” of labor, the fight for the 40-hour week had top priority in the overall demands of organized labor. Yet in the year 1950, 64 years after Canadian labor determined to win a 40-hour week, the gov- ernment, as the boss of “our” CNR together with the “free enterpris- ers” of the CPR, tells labor that it is not prepared to grant @ 40-hour week — except at the “appropriate time”, assigning to itself the sole (and provocative) prerogative of Saying when the “appropriate time” may be. For 14 months representatives of the railways have been both evasive, stalling on the demands of the railway workers. So much So that Dr. W. A. Mackintosh, vice principal of Queen’s university and federal mediator in the railway negotiations, felt compelled to is- ior” of the CNR’s Donald Gordon and the CPR’s W. A. Mather. One opinion holds that Dr. Mac- kintosh, sincere in his efforts to effect a satisfactory settlement, had not been advised by the St. Laurent cabinet that “an emer- 8ency” situation was highly de- Sirable to advance the govern- ment’s made-in-the-U.S.A. war po- bosses’ deliberate stalling for bull- headed stupidity! Subsequent events certainly pro- Vide enough grounds for this opin- » strongly supplemented by & breaks whose seek peace and progress, but who, as a result of Liberal government policies dictated by reaction- ary Yankee imperialism, live under the growing This Labor Day is marked by a strike without parallel in Canadian labor history, the greatest single strike on record—125,000 railway workers demanding implementation of the 40-hour week on the railroads and a long overdue wage increase. Supporting the rail workers in this historic struggle are tens of thousands of Canadian trade unionists, CCF, LPP and others, already making able settlement of its relations. the St. Laurent government need-_ 40-hour week. On July 23, 1894 sue a scathing indictment of the “childish and bull-headed behav- licies, and so mistook the railway — upon a_ troubled people earnestly Vancouver Daily Province front- page editorial of August 22, calling for a government war on all labor —an essential fascist preliminary to full-scale aggressive warfare against other peoples. (The Pro- vince editorial was hastily with- drawn from all later editions of the same day). In this year 1950, Canadian labor counts its organized trade union membership well over the million mark. Among its many achieve- ments in the legislative field is a statutory (provincial) 40-hour week, unemployment compensation, and other protect- ive measures. While far from adequate in their overall results, these represent gains that could ‘only be achieved by a growing. (ideologically and organization- ally) labor movement, Despite the disruptive union splitting, raiding and hysterical red-baiting carried on by a num- ber of trade-union bureaucrats in leading positions, the great rank- and-file of Canadian labor shows a steady progress towards labor solidarity, a growing consciousness of their identity of interests, a desire for greater labor unity at home and international trade un- ion unity with their brothers and sisters abroad. The ready response of Canadian labor in solidarity with the striking railway work- ers, and a unanimous opposition among all of labor’s ranks against any suggestions or threats of re- strictive undemocratic labor legis- lation, is one of the finest mani- festations that Canadian labor is not ready to be Taft-Hartleyized into support of policies which — squander the nation’s wealth in war budgets, and cut deep into the wages and social standards of Can- adian labor. Every unionist in the country, motivated by a sense of decency and solidarity, must feel shocked and disgusted with the Labor Day “messages” of TLC president Per- ey Bengough and CCL president A, R. Mosher. In these bureaucratic anti-So- viet harangues One can only hear the voice of reaction, echoing hat- red and calling for war against the Soviet Union. What inspira- tion to working men and women is there in these Messages which offer labor the perspective of de- stroying the unity and solidarity it has taken long years of strug- gle to build up; of promoting the insurance,. Labor Day 1950 Ey TOM McEWEN scab “international” against world trade union unity; of inviting all the splitters, raiders and disrup- tors in the trade unions at home to intensify their efforts. In place of a call rallying labor in a nation-wide struggle for high- er wages to meet rising living costs, there is an appeal to the capitalists to “make capitalism work” for the workers — in return for which Bengough, Mosher and associates pledge their unremit- ting support to deal with “com-"' munism”. The most reactionary propagan- dists of the Chamber of Commerce would be hard put to it to equal the hysterical yelps of Bengough and Mosher in their Labor Day “messages”. 3S The average unionist, man or woman, reasons very directly. He figures that if corporate profits are soaring, as in the case of the CPR, 203 percent over 1939, or Inter- national Nickel, 45 percent above a four-month period last year, then wages too can be substanti- ally increased to meet living costs. Pyramided nrofits indieate the ability of industry to pay higher wages without adding to the price of commodities. Reports of big corporations like Massey-Harris, Textiles, Interna- tional Paper, Aluminum Company of Canada,:the packing trusts, steel and other concerns,.as well ,; as rail and transport indicate ex- cessive profits through price hi- jacking, parallel with a concert- ed attempt to lower wages, length- en hours of work and depress living standards. * This is big business’ pattern for war, spearheaded by government policies, and directed against the peace and security of labor and the nation, Out of this mountain _ of corporate profits there is plenty of “pay dirt” for big wage in- crease, without costing the pub- lic one cent in extra living costs. - e Canadian labor is not yet pull- _ing its full weight for peace. This is not due to any lack of desire for peace on the part of Canadian working men and women, but in the largest measure due to the fact that the top bureaucracy of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada and the Canadian Con- gress of Labor, having gone over to the war’camp of dollar imperial- ‘ism and its pliant dollar-hungry “yes men” in Ottawa, have help- ed to confuse and stifle the real voice of Canadian labor in its de- . mand for government policies up- on which security and peace can be built. Hence there is nothing to dis- tinguish between the “red-bogey” UU ULE tn tn tirades of a Bengough or a Pear- son, a Mosher or an Acheson, a Millard or a Truman. Each has full access and entry to all the powerful mediums of war propa- ganada to fulminate against all who work consistently for peace. Each resorts to the cheap sneer and the Big Lie against the World Peace Congress and its Stock- holm Peace Petition, already sign- ed by nearly 300 millions of the world’s peoples, branding it as “a Communist plot”—but offering nothing better for the preserva- tion of peace! But history has a way of catch- ing up with its traducers, and the full significance of the pres- ent railway strike, in which the demands of 125,000 Canadian rail workers are being seized upon by big business and its government to further atomic war plans, will produce, among other things, new hundreds of workers for peace, as they now fight for the con- ditions of peace. On this Labor Day Canadian labor has every reason to be proud. It has long established its “dignity and worth” without the noisy plaudits of Chamber of Com- merce propagandists. On a picket line from coast to coast it is now establishing its determina- tion to win a 40-hour week in a basic industry, to bring wages on a near level with living costs, to unite against any and all at- tempts to impose anti-labor “dog- colar” legislation. In fighting for these things 125,000 railroad work- ers, with Canadian labor solidly behind them, are also paving the way for a Canadian people’s vic- tory in the struggle for peace. Labor Day 1950 is an historic milestone on the road to peace, security and socialism. TEE Te tt er (SEE EERE PARADISE LABOR DAY GREETINGS JOHN IRELAND ag : RETURN OF JESSE JAMES ALSO East Side Kids — Lucky Losers nn rr | a THEATRE Shiono nvnnn ny ncnnav ney nin) aft | ‘LABOR DAY GREETINGS ODEON HASTINGS THEATRE “STARTS SUNDAY MIDNIGHT” Action - Drama in NORTH PATROL : : ALSO COWBOY AND THE PRIZEFIGHTER - oo io i GREETINGS, LABOR DAY, 1950 LATA. THEATRE GRANVILLE AT SMYTHE LABOR DAY CONCERT Sunday, September 3, 1950 - 7:30 p.m. REFRESHMENTS SERVED . PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 1, 1950—PAGE