By WILLIAM KASHTAN ri.
_: the. railworkers are again in danger of being taken

Pough the wringer.

ra rouehout the entire post-
; Period they were faced
for the problem of voting
like Settlement they did not
bi. want in face of com-
thea Opposition. They were
Hein: in that position by the
mi: Uesotiating committee
' ae made it appear. that, un-
ho. . °Y Voted for it;:the al-
ae would be strike.
_ the companies this was
~ eet operation. In general
sag not lose because the
teight Ment, .by . increasing
tse shies, more than. reim-
: hem.
& hos reers are again on
/ as of a dilemma.
Bich: peaority report, to
the Se David Lewis
Ose 2 Fis a party, has. pro-
Sbreag 14-cent wage increase
is over two years.
hich 1 type . of settlement
Mo, .S become all too com-
ithe feat : negotiations, masks
Wont hat the rail-workers
Anti) art the full 14 cents
oe 1961, i.e. for ap-
fore the ely six months be-
Ahoy .: Contract expires. All
Me Will get now is a two-
‘to ae increase retroactive
jong a anuary. and an addit-
Thin. “YE Cents for the next
®tember starting ‘this

has f vould assume that the
as 3 IS could have done
Wa , the 14 cents
ae being made retroactive.
ere a failed to do. From
Pexiong es as if he was so
Dore. ° Sign a majority re-
Flo, t he willingly went
ye Vth this “instalment”
Thi _ Ward.

\ Ose, “bad enough. What is
at the OWever, is the fact
Sigg. - durable good yard:
Nes the 15 ,unions in
ttmitted ne trades were
Vag emboaic. get and which
hay a led in the demand
Xe Ae an hour increase,
t 5 have ‘been _thrown

Window,

ef pe alist press creates
Mary €ssion that the con-
Y not go € case. This is simp-

t
thang 'S Most the majority
Moon wees the gap be-
ata = 88es of railworkers
Oe ©-In durable goods. It
¥. oe it by one pen-
Mts j each Once the work-
thin Urable goods get into

be ne hegotiations, as
wo will © ease next year, the
le © widened and the

i, be bere sers will continue

‘k ven ae the eight ball,

, re so

ih: 2 Ot .

y mac Words, the major-

hie’ the at thrown over-

re Just 2 Continuing, painful
°hieve ort of railworkers

i Parity with rates

y

NOs

arg

: of Frank Halt that ‘“‘Come ‘hell

in durable goods. So has the
joint railway negotiating and
policy committee, notwith-
withstanding the brave words

or high water, railworkers are
not going to aecept anything
less than durable goods:’

What happened to. these
brave words?.. Why.did. Hall
and all: the other: members. of
the negotiating . committee
drop the proposal like a hot
potato? And who gave them
the authority to accept the re-
port.without so much as tak-
ing it. to. the’ membership?
Why was the demand that the
companies pay the entire. shot
of the health and welfare
plan dropped?

Again the workers. are be-
ing placed in the position, not
of accepting or rejecting the
award, but of fighting for
something they don’t particu-
larly like in the event the
companies refuse to settle.

Notwithstanding the posit-
ion of the negotiating com-
mittee, the case for wage par-
ity with durable goods still
remains valid.

The railworkers would
therefore be within their
rights to insist that the nego-
tiating committee stand by the
original 25. cents.an hour in-
crease. And they ought to de-
velop manysided pressures to
make their position known to
the committee, the railway
companies and the govern-
ment,

No less important than the
question of wage parity is the

LABOR FRONT U.N. actions against Congo
Govt. strongly protested

“T understand they’re now
working. on the lamp post
problem.” :

British Daily Worker

OBITUARY

problem of job security, in-
cluding the reduction of the
work week. These were com- |
pletely sidestepped by the ne |
gotiating committee despite
the fact that thousands of |
workers have been eee
ently displaced from the in-
dustry.

Dieselization and other
technological. im provement
have taken a heavy
jobs. A number of railway
towns have become a ghost;
town, A number of trades j
have disappeared. And speed-
up has taken on a widespread
character.

If union leadership is aware
of this situation it has done
very little if anything to ad-
vance an effective program to
meet it. In fact, one gets the
impression that as far as some
of them are concerned, the
workers laid off are expend-
able and the less said the
better. ‘

Yet the changes taking
place in transportation and
their effects on the workers
both with regard to jobs and
standards, require a basic re-

; | of Mrs. Martha Benekritis who,
toll of | With her three children ‘was

view and overhauling of un-
ion policies.

Albert: (Bert) Samson

Remembered: by oldtimers
in Burnaby and New. West-
minster for his leadership in
the struggles of the Hungry
Thirties, Albert (Bert) Samson
of Prince George, passed
away recently in his 56th
year. He had been ill for some
time with lung cancer.

During the ’30’s Bert was
New Westminster and Burna-
by organizer of the Commun-
ist Party and played an active
role in the organization of the
unemployed. He was also one
of the pioneer builders of the
IWA, and an active worker
for the labor press.

Bert Samson is survived by
his wife Rita and a family of
seven. Funeral services and
interment were held at Prince }
George.

Labor will fight
family eviction

The Vancouver Labor Coun-
cil last week took up the case

evicted. from their home re-
cently.

The case, ‘which was dis-
closed in the Pacific Tribune,
was referred to the Human
Rights and Welfare Service

The Soviet Union this week
| formally requested a meeting
| of the Security Council te con<
Sider “colonialist complicity”

in the. Congo..The Soviet Une
ion and otler African’ states
have been very ‘critical of re-
Imports of U.S. |-cent UN. action ‘in seizing con-
Apricot Concentrate trol of Congo radio stations

The B.C. tree fruit industry | and airports.
lost a sale of 2000 tons of pro-| This action by the UN was
cessed apricots this year be-|Seen as direct intervention in
cause the U.S.-owned baby; Congo affairs aimed at over-
food manufacturers in Canada| throwing the Lumumba goy-
are now using their California| ernment. It now appears that
plants as their main source of| attempts to overthrow Lum-
supply. Significantly enough} umba have failed: Under pres-
the Canadian duty on U.S,|Sure the UN Tuesday relin-
apricot concentrate is only 10] 4uished control of the radio
percent while the US. tariff on | Stations and re-opened the air-
Canadian apricot concentrate | ports. :
is 1714 percent. This is just one| it was learned this week that
more result of the-U.S. dom- | both the Government of Ghana
ination of our country, carried | 2nd the United Arab Republic
out with the connivance of|had threatened to withdraw
| troops from the Congo if Lum-
'umba was refused access to
| the radio station.

FARM

Ottawa and Victoria.

Teamsters Organize
Farm Workers
Country Life (Sept. 1960),| .

official organ of the B.C. Fed-| ‘5 2 task: thab could: wel be
eration of Agriculture, reports | Udertaken by the B.C. Feder-

that the Teamsters’ Union js | ation of Labor and is one that
|merits the support of the en<

organizing farm workers inj... :
California and the state of | tire union movement.

Washington. It asks: “Is the | B-C-F-A. Worried
next step in B.C.?” and goes: #bout Farm Union
An editorial in the Sept.

on to say: “That is a question | :
which is worrying many farm! 1960 issue of “Country Life”
employers in this province.”. also expressed concern over

(The B.C.F.A. represents ana | the  SRGDEE SOR See
part of the Farmers’ Union.”

speaks for the big rich farmers,
of B.C., many of whom employ ; ee Pare Vain a Be.
wage labor.) | represents the small and mid<«
|dle farmers, while the B.C,
Farm workers are about the Federation of Agriculture rep-
worst exploited workers in the; resents the rich farmers). The
province. They are unorgan-| editorial regarded this increas-
ized, not covered by unem-|ed activity by the FUBC as an
ployment insurance or com-| attempt “to bypass this organ<
pensation laws, and have none | ized voice of British Columbia
of the gains won by organized | farmers,” meaning, of course,
labor. Their wages are low and | the B.C.F.A.
their hours are long. It’s about} The Farm Union must be

. * Ware 5
time they were organized. This! growing. More power to it!

Committee of the VLC. Sam| ss

Jenkins of the Marine Workers
Union said his union stepped
into the picture when it be-
came aware that there is liter-
ally no provision for assistance
to such people.

The council was told a story

of callousness that almost de- |*

fied belief. The whole family

was moved onto the streets|

furniture and all, in the midst
of a driving rain.

The committee will take ap-
propriate action and report
back to the next council meet-

ing.

& NS SN : = : %

This is a partial view of the new sports
Pyongyang, North Korea. It will seat 70,000 people.

September 16, 1960—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 7