-Mine-Mill expands

Canadian autonomy

When Canadian sections of international unions are dominated by their U.S, leadership
they have been reduced to the position of “mere colonies of the U.S. unions,” said the officers’
report to the 12th annual B.C. district convention of Mine- Mill, held in Pender eke ag laces

here this week.

Autonomous rights of the Canadian membership were discussed in the report, which
outlined plans for further strengthening the autonomy of the Canadian section of the union.

“The membership of Mine-Mill, in both the U.S. and

Clark addresses B

.C. meet

No attempt to dictate
from top in Mine-Mill

“Mine-Mill isn’t an organization| the reactionary laws of the United|
which attempts to dictate from the|

top, like one union I’ve seen head-
lined in the papers here,” inter-
national president John Clark told
delegates attending the 12th dis-
trict convention of the Internation-
al Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers
Union here Monday this week.

“When I look at the actions of
some bureaucratic U.S. leaders
who come into Canada, | feel
proud of Mine-Mill,” Clark con-
tinued. “God knows we have
dictatorship enough under some.
of our binding U.S. laws, with-
out any dictatorship in our own
ranks.”

(Last Saturday Alfred Terry, In-
ternational Brotherhood of Elec-
trical Workers representative from
Washington, suspended IBEW. busi-
ness agent George Gee as the first
act in a witch hunt against alleged
Communists and leftists in the
union here.)

Cooperation, not domination, is

the policy of Mine-Mill, said Clark. |.

“We want to see Canadian Mine-
Mill achieve autonomy — not to
cleave us apart, but to strengthen
our international, and enable our
Canadian members to escape from

States,” he explained.

Use of “red-baiting” to weaken
unions and break the morale of
workers is an old tactic, said Clark,
recalling the Palmer Raids of 35
years ago.

“Workers were arrested, impris-
oned, exported from the country
without trial in those days. The
American Federation of Labor was
greatly weakened. Mine-Mill was

decimated to three locals in Mon-
tana.

“We survived that attack, and
we will survive the attacks being
made against Mine-Mill today. Last
year the employers tried to ‘take
on’ our union but we made great
gains just the same, both in the
U.S. and Canada.

“We expect to be cited by the
committee administering the me-
chanics of the Brownell-Butler Bill.
Tll be rather disappointed if we’re
not cited first, because our union
has been in the forefront of the
battle which workers are waging
for better living conditions.

“Any workers taking a _ stand
for peace, world trade, better edu-
cational facilities or any progres-
sive measure can be ‘hooked in’
by the mechanics of the Brownell-
Butler Bill.”

U.S. Supreme Court
-won’t hear appeals

WASHINGTON

Twelve US. Communist leaders, conviatea under the notorious
Smith Act and denied a hearing by the Supreme Court; oe ie serving

their prison terms last week.

A thirteenth defendant, Louis Weinstock, was not immediately
taken into custody because he is standing trial in Washington on charges

of making false statements to the
Subversive Activities Control
Board.

The 12 made a brief fight to re-
gain bail pending a petition for re-
hearing in the Supreme Court, but
their bail appeal was turned down.

Normally about a month elapses
between a Supreme Court ruling
and imprisonment, but the USS.
Justice Department acted in this
instance with unprecedented speed.
The same day that. the Supreme
Court ruled, the department secur-
ed an order revoking bail from
Federal Judge Irving R. Kaufman.

Defense attorney Harry Sacher
argued in court that Kaufman had
no right to revoke bail, that only
the judge who set the bail or the
U.S. Cirsuit Court of Appeals could
revoke it. |

Kaufman promptly passed the

issue to Federal Judge Edward J.
Dimock, who presided at the Smith
Act trial and set the bail after con-
viction. Dimock just as promptly
revoked bail.

The three women involved were
taken to the New York City Wo-
men’s House of Detention. They

are Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Claud-
ia Jones and Betty Gannett.

The nine men were lodged at
the Federal House of Detention.
They are Pettis Perry, Alexander
Trachtenberg, Alexander Bittel-
man, V. J. Jerome, Albert Lannon,

George Blake Charney, William W.

Weinstone, Jacob Mindel and Ar-
nold Johnson.

From these prisons the defend-
ants will be sent to federal peni-
tentiaries to serve their sentences,
ranging from one to three years.

et ia

Canada, will not tolerate the
importation into Canada of any of
the effects of the Taft-Hartley and
Brownell-Butler anti-labor legisla-

tion of the United States,” said the
report.

“We are confident that the peo-
ple of the U.S. will eventually de-
feat this legislation and that the
trend to fascism in that country
will be reversed.

“At the same time, every ef-
fort must be exerted to guaran-
tee that democratic privileges
and the right to evolve policies
in their own national interests,
be secured to the Canadian mem-
bership, free from any effects of
this legislation and consequent
‘domination by the U.S. govern-

ment. :

“We have seen too many ex-
amples in Canada where the U.S.
domination of our trade unions,
enforced by Taft-Hartleyite union
officers who have become instru-
ments of U.S. government policies,
has restricted the rights of Cana-
dian unionists and enforced poli-
cies detrimental to the Canadian
workers and their national inter-
ests.

“The internationalism of our
union has been strengthened be-
cause the national rights of the
Canadian membership have always
been recognized by the interna-
tional officers, who have never
sought to dominate the Canadian
section of our union.

“Because of this and the histori-
cal traditions of our’ union, the
Canadian membership are deter-
mined to preserve the international
and to even strengthen further
the ties with their brothers in the
US s

Discussions between B.C. district
Mine-Mill officers and those of the
Canadian Council and the inter-
national union resulted in a pro-
posal which would strengthen Can-
adian autonomy. :

“It is agreed that it would be
desirable and beneficial to estab-
lish bne elected executive body in
Canada, with responsibility defin-
ed in a Canadian constitution,”
said the report. “This body, which
would replace all existing forms of
organizational structure in Can-
ada, is imperative to the growth
and strengthening of our union in
Canada.

“The discussions to date have
been exploratory and they will be
developed further, bearing in mind
both the interests of our member-
ship in Canada and the United
States, and the strengthening of
our. international union. :

“However, it should be empha-
sized that there is complete agree-

ment on the princples of the right

of the Canadian membership to
control and run their own af-
fairs in Canada, the strengthen-
ing of the bond of solidarity
within ‘the international union,
and the need for one elected gov-
ernmental body in Canada and

a Canadian constitution. © .

“Results -of the discussions to
date and further discussions by
the Canadian Mine-Mill * council
and the international executive
board will be placed before the
coming international convention
for consideration by the member-
ship as a whole.”

» The officers’ report was signed
by district: president Ken Smith,
secretary-treasurer Les Walker
and board members G. W. Ander-
son, W. A. Booth and R. R. Black.

Memo fo parliament

“Don’t Rearm the Nazis.”

This was the slogan tramped out in

the snow covering the lawn of the Parliament Buildings at Ottawa —
by members of the National Deputation Against the Revival of

German Militarism last week.

Fur-Leather to merge
with AFL Meat Cutters

MONTREAL

The International Fur and Leather Workers Union (in-

dependent) has entered into an agreement to merge with’ the

AFL Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen,
according to an announcement made here by Robert Haddow,

Canadian director of the union’s
Meat Cutters is a powerful union;
of some 260,000 members.

In a statement issued January
10, Haddow said a special conven-
tion was being held in Atlantic
City this week “to consider and
act upon the proposed merger.” In
Canada it will affect Fur and
Leather locals in Montreal, Toron-
to, Winnipeg and Vancouver em-
bracing more than 4,000 workers.
(There are 75,000 im the U.S. sec-
tion.)

The move, Haddow declared,
“was in line with the general move-
ment towards the organic unity of
the trade union centres in the
USA and Canada. We would wel-
come the merger as a step in that
direction.”

Once ratified, he added, it would
open up new opportunities for or-
ganizing unorganized Canadian
workers within the combined
union’s jurisdiction.

“It should make it possible,” he
said, “to unite all Fur and Leather
workers in this country in one
strong and solid organization.”

Divisions and raiding-in the past
had brought great harm and one
of the results of the merger would
be “the commencement of a wide-
spread organizational ‘drive which
will raise living standards and
eliminate unfair competition.” It
would help to “improve and guard
the working conditions of our
membership.”

* Explaining the details of the
merger Haddow continued:

“According to the articles of
the agreement on the proposed

merger, our international with its
districts, joint boards and locals

District 10. The Amalgamated

will join the Amalgamated as one
whole unit and function as a new
department of the Amalgamated
(AFL).
omous rights to conduct their own
affairs;
tain their funds and function in
accordance withythe constitution of
the Amalgamated (AFL).

“The Canadian District will op-
erate as a constituent body of the
Fur and Leather Division ofthe
Amalgamated (AFL). It will be
particularly gratifying to the Can-
adian membership that in. promul-
gating the declaration of principles
upon which the merger is found-
ed, that both unions are mindful
of, and recognize the national in-
terests of their Canadian brothers
and affiliates, and their allegiance
to their country and to its consti-
tutional form of government.

“The objectives of the proposed
merger I feel, will be welcomed
and applauded, not only by mem-
bers of our union, but by Cana-
dian workers everywhere. The
opposition to it expressed by a
number of leaders of the AFL ex-
ecutive council will not stop the
merger. Both unions are going
ahead with the preparations for
the merger in the interests of labor
unity and the welfare of our mem-
bership.

“T urge all locals of the Cana-
dian district and the entire mem-
bership, to support the proposed
merger. In unity there is strength.
Let us build a large, strong and
united union to promote the eco-
nomic and social welfare of the

workers.”

Banquet

CELEBRATE
Fourth’

Russian People’s Home
600 Campbell Ave. |
Admission $1.25

Birthday
and Dance

p.m.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JANUARY 21, 1955 ee PAGE 2

They will retain the auton- °

negotiate agreements; re- '

amanens