ONE MAN'S OPINION WE'VE BEEN WARNED Let's make a start now By JACK HOLST Regional 2nd Vice-President HE man who coined the word “automa- tion,” Dr. John Diebold, reports that the head of a large international union at a White House conference said, “Half of my mem- bers are worried about los- ing their jobs to machines. Can’t you hold off this auto- mation ‘business until the unemployment problem is solved.” He replied, “Progress in automation isn’t a matter of choice. It’s inevitable.” He pointed out the dan- gers of trade unions drag- ging their feet while the in- dustrial revolution sweeps ahead. He ex- pressed the view that automation is an eco- nomic necessity: a matter of national survival. In stressing the urgent need for adjust- ments to the new machines to prevent “the workers from really being hurt,” he said: “As the techniques of automation have been applied, many people have been re- placed by the machines and suffered before finding new work. Some have had to take inferior or lower-paying jobs. Some, especially older workers, have not been able to find work of any kind. | have seen the frustration of these displaced workers. They are human beings, not statistics, and we cannot ignore the immediate problems of getting these peo- ple back into productive and satisfying em- ployment.” These are the words of one of the fore- most authorities on automation; a member of the Secretary of Labour’s Advisory Com- mittee on Automation and Manpower. He predicted that in the foreseeable future, liter- ally millions of workers on this continent will be required to change occupations. 1-417 presses suit against Frolek We can no longer afford to ignore such warnings. We have already been warned by the displacements in the lumber industry which are increasing. Like a thief in the night, mechanization has been quietly but steadily uprooting senior workers and cast- ing them adrift. We can profit by the experi- ence of trade unions in other countries where automation is more advanced than in Canada. We must of course have a program de- signed to meet immediate problems as well as those which will loom up in the future. Each step we take now should fit into this program so that all sections of the lumber industry and all categories will be protected as far as negotiations allow. Our most urgent problem is to get action on steps that are now possible and that will cushion many of our members against technological unem- ployment. Unions elsewhere in automated industries are making progress with on-the-job train- ing programs. We have the opportunity to make a start now with advantage to the mill- wrights and other mechanics. This training must be extended to meet the needs of other categories. We know of sawmills that have closed down temporarily because of a short- age of skilled workers on the headrigs. Such training must precede and not follow the in- troduction of new machines. There’s little value in a mopping-up operation after the damage has been done in the displacement of senior men. There are several other practical steps that we can plan now including some form of industry-financed automation benefit fund for purposes similar to. those of such funds already negotiated in the United States in a number of large industries. Let’s agree to make a start now! The Rich Enriched “Toronto millionaire and horse breeder E. P. Taylor provincial The Labour Relations Board has given Local 1-417, IWA, Salmon Arm, consent to prosecute Frolek Sawmills Ltd., North Kamloops, B.C. The consent was given pur- suant to Section 85 of the Labour Relations Act of B.C. to prosecute a charge by the Union that Frolek Sawmills Ltd. did unlawfully increase the rate of pay for its employ- ees for the period from the 16th of August to the 5th of September, 1964, and for the period from the 5th of Sep- MEMBERS OF or ‘tember, 1964, to the 15th of October, 1964, contrary to the form of statute in such case made and provided. Cliff Michael, Financial Secretary of the Local Union, stated that court action will be taken against the firm im- mediately. “Hiking wages during nego- tiations is a violation of the Labour Relations Act,” Mich- ael concluded, ‘“‘because of its obvious intention to discour- age Union support.” LOCAL 1-357 1.W.A. MEMBERS RESIDING IN THE NEW WESTMINSTER AREA The I.W.A. (New Westminster) Credit Union 764 Columbia St., New Westminster, B.C. Have funds available for low cost insured loans. OPEN SIX DAYS PER WEEK grants in the last two years ... part of an annual grant to encourage horse breed- ers in the province.”—News item from Queen’s Park, | I J 1 I | | collected nearly $40,000 in l l I | I 1 April 28, 1964. | 1 I l | I I government I | 1 I | i succeeds Jenoves William Ladyman of Toron- to has been appointed a gen- eral vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Mr. Ladyman, who is vice- president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, succeeds the late William Jenoves of Toronto. Claude Jodoin, president of the CLC, in making the an- nouncement, said action to fill the vacancy on the Execu- tive Council caused by the more recent death of Roger Provost, Montreal, was de- ferred until a later meeting of the Executive Council. The gravediggers of Mem- phis, Tenn., have organized, taking out cards with the CIO Canners’ and Packers’ Union. THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER Prelate states views on UNIONS By MSGR. GEORGE G. HIGGINS* “Obviously, of course, crit- icism of today’s labour move- ment ought to be as construc- tive as possible and should be aimed at strengthening rather than weakening the cause of organized labor. In other words, if it is necessary to remind organized labor of its duties and responsibilities, it is also necessary to remind employers, editors, and whom- ever else it may concern that unions are not only legitimate but necessary and indeed ab- solutely indispensable in our type of industrial society. Even at this late date — Pork Choppers Excel Members of Local 1-417 are displaying keen interest in the Salmon Arm mixed bowl- ing league which completed its first quarter of competi- tion November 1. The two top teams of each quarter are eligible to com- pete in the play-offs held at the end of the league season. Top teams in this quarter were the Pork Choppers with 129 points and the Nutty Pines with 106 points. High individual scorers for single games were Ahti Taka- maki with 202 points for the men and Joan Pouncy with 198 points for the women. Women’s high single and triple winner was Joan Pouncy with 291 and 706. Men’s high single winner was Don Favell with 348. Men’s high triple winner was Ahti Takamako with 763. The Pork Choppers won the team high single and triple score with 1163 and 3134 points. “Act now’ urges Congress The Canadian Labour Con- gress has urged the Federal government to act quickly in implementing its new labour legislation. a‘ “The principles contained in this legislation are unani- mously endorsed by the mem- bers of our Executive Coun- cil,” said Claude Jodoin, CLC president. “For many years the labour movement has urged the adoption of this type of legis- lation. One of its greatest val- ues will be as an incentive to the establishment of uni- form standards by the prov- inces. The provincial legisla- a as soon be in session and we feel it is im that the legislation oe fore the House of Commons be adopted without delay so that it will be available for consideration by the pro- vinces. almost 30 years after the pas- sage of the Wagner Act — this principle still needs to be re-emphasized from time to time. To be sure, many, if not most, of the more influen- tial American employers are today willing to admit that unions are probably here to stay. But too few Americans in all walks of life are willing to go the whole way and to take the unconditional and un- qualified position that secure and stable unions are an es- sential and indispensable pre- requisite of a sound social order. Until this principle is more or less universally taken for granted as a_ self-evident truth, labor and management will spend too much time and energy sparring with one an- other — time and energy which they ought to devote to carrying out the demands which social justice makes on both of them. Social justice demands, among other things, that the two groups forget their petty differences and jointly try to figure out how they can best serve the wel- fare, not only of their own members and their own stockholders, but of their fel- low citizens.” *Monsignor George G. Higgins is di- rector of the Social Action Depart- ment of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Washington, D.C., and the author of the nationally syndi- cated newspaper column ‘‘The Yard- stick.” He is a veteran observer of the labor scene and a frequent lec- turer and writer on the subject. 22 | Percent live in poverty NORTH BAY (CPA) — Almost 2,500,000 Canadians, more than 13 percent of the population, are living in a state of actual destitution, ac- cording to a study presented at the Ontario Federation of Labour convention held here last month. Another 1,600,- 000, the study claimed, are existing at the poverty level. The first group is made up of those living in families hav- ing a total income of $2,000 a year or less and single per- sons with incomes of $1,000 or less. All told, the two groups make up more than 22 percent of the population. The 58-page study, pre- pared by the OFL research department under Director John Eleen, stressed that the numbers of the poor are con- stantly growing in an age of plenty and at a time when the problem of poverty can be solved. : Adopting an eight - point program aimed at mounting an attack on the problem, the convention challe both the provincial and fed- eral governments to tackle the problem in earnest. When the librarian ques; tioned the little boy’s boe y choice, Advice to Youn ed Mothers, he explained, collecting moths.”