THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER THE IMPERFECT BOSS OWN IN THE U.S.A. where they’ve even researched the sex life of the tadpole, a group of inquiring people have been asking the working male and female of America, what they think about their bosses. The results have not been unexpected. The average American wage-earner has a pretty poor opinion of his boss. Many of his remarks on the subject were not printable. Taking into account the normal amount of hostility every- one has towards people in authority, the researchers came up with seme facts and figures which seem to suggest that business, industry and government, show something less than good judgment in the calibre of people they select to boss other people. The classes of bosses under criticism were not at the high management level. They were largely in those groups which have close contact with employees: foremen, office managers, sugervisors, petty administrators, officials a grade or two below the big boss. The survey came up with some frankly-stated opinions which would chill the conceit of a brass-plated egotist. The over-inflated ego, in fact, was the target of some acid thrusts by the the boss-loathing rank and file. Some of the comment was pungent but picturesque: “Wind puffs up empty bladders —opinionated fools. That’s the sort of slob I work for—much show, little substance.” The knife cut deep with this riposte: “His tongue has discovered the secret of perpetual motion, but his brain went into retirement years ago.” This harsh biography was applied to many of the boss- types: “The crumb I work for dotes on being the centre of the stage—he’d run a mile to get his name in the paper, or his cultivated sneer on television. The sweetest music to him is the sound of his own voice and he plays this composition endlessly to a captive audience of nauseated staff members.” The survey showed that American workers have a pretty low opinion of bosses who play office politics — the type who extend favors in return for servility and flattery; who manipulate the craven and self-seeking, and use them as office informers and _ tattle-tales. The boss’ interfering wife came in for some attention from the censorious wage earners, and they were far from gallant in the choice of epithets used to air their opinions of the “sour-faced crone, who sticks her big snout into the affairs of the office.” Behind many an ineffectual boss, it seems, there is a female busy-body who pries into, and meddles in matters that are not her concern. The lady boss, in fact, is a much more unloved specimen than her male counterpart. Her critics came largely from the ranks of female workers, and they threw some hard punches at the austere jaw of petticoat tyranny. As one work- ’ ing gal put it: “Give me a man boss any day. He may be a complete fool but at least he won’t think he’s the reincarna- tion of the Queen of Sheba, ordering the whip for the galley ‘slaves. That’s the dame I work for.” _ The lot of a boss, it would seem, is not a happy one. The workers of America, in addition to pointing the finger of scorn and contempt, also listed the qualities they admire but seldom seem to find in the person who constitutes auth- ority. The embodiment of all thesé admirable qualities would be a man of good temper, good humor, no affection, a doer not a talker, swift in making decisions, firm but courteous in his dealings with others, impartial in judgment, efficient, modest, tolerant, and a man who knows when to shut his mouth and give attentive hearing to the opinion of others. _ Somewhere in America there may be such a boss. Along with its annual selection of beauty queen and football hero, the U.S. might also name a “Boss of the Year.” The workers of America could supply the candidates. The field would not be crowded. Trade and Commerce THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER @ WORKER Published twice monthly as the official publication of the SS? INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA, Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1. Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC 2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261 Jee eye oes ee een -.-------- Pat Kerr Business Manager .... _.._ Fred Fieber Advertising Representative __.. G. A. Spencer Forwarded to every member of the IWA in Western Canada in accoraance with convention decisions. Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash, 27,500 copies printed in this issue. Bus thought it would be handier around the house than an electric carving knife! ISRAEL TRAINING PROGRAM The editor: On a recent tour of modern ‘Israel, I had the good fortune to be shown around one of the up-to-date vocational and training centres for young people operated by the Hist- adrut (Israel Labor Federa- tion) in the old established city of Petach Tikva. Israel is tackling the uni- versal problem of how to train employees in the inevit- able development of auto- mated industrial processes in a very progressive manner, instead of waiting till masses of its workers are thrown onto the labor market because they have skills. which are fast becoming obsolete. YOUTH The Histadrut is training the youth to master the new techniques now being adopted in advanced industrial coun- tries. The school I visited had 70-80 teenagers who were busy learning to assemble small electronic devices, which I was informed were part of a computer system. In another building, stu- dents seated at desks were absorbing some mathematical formulae to do with elec- tronics. In yet another sec- tion, trainee draughtsmen were being taught to draw blueprints. AFRICA I was invited to lunch with the teachers and trainees; we received an excellent full- course lunch while seated at benches outside in the spaci- ous yard. Most of these students come from homes of new im- migrants from North Africa or Asian homes, where large families are fairly common and where a full midday meal is the exception rather than the rule; yet in every trade school these meals are provid- ed free of cost to the students. NEED I was informed that some 20 of these schools have been built by Histadrut through- out the country, usually in parts where there are con- centrations of new immigrant families. A new one being built in Tel Aviv, will house some 2,500 students and will be, in fact, a higher form of technical institute than the others. Students graduating from this college with high marks will receive stipends enabling them to go to the Hebrew University or Technion in Haifa for engineering diplo- mas or degrees. What impressed me most, perhaps, was the fact that every one of these children were selected on the basis of need and not of scholarship. Children from the poorest homes were the first to be awarded scholarships to go through the schools. BEN LAPIDUS, Vancouver. FLAVELLE COLLECTION Members of Local 1-357 IWA employed at Flavelle Cedar, demonstrated their sympathy for fellow trade un- ionists on the picket line dur- ing the festive season when they voluntarily took up a col- lection for the striking refin- ery workers at Port Moody. The substantial collection raised was handed over to the striking Port Moody refinery workers by the plant chair- man, Frank Whitehead, in time for them to buy a few extra luxuries for their fam- ilies which otherwise they would have done without. The officers of Local 1-357 are proud of the Flavelle members and take this oppor- tunity to commend them for their generous action. bcaly ‘FLY B.C. AIR LINES’ ~ = .