Puen,

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

THE WESTERN CANADIAN

LUMBER

WORKER

38,000 copies
printed in this issue.

Published twice monthly as the official publication of the INTERNATIONAL WOQDWORKERS OF AMERICA

Western Canadian Regional Council No. 1

Affiliated with AFL-CIO-CLC

2859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, B.C. Phone 874-5261

Editor — Pat Kerr Business Manager — Fred Fieber

Advertising Representatives — Elizabeth Spencer Associates

Forwarded to every member of the IWA in Westérn Canada in accordance with convention decisions.
Subscription rate for non-members $2.00 per year.

Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post.Office Department, and for payment of postage in cash.

eS

Season's, Greetings

N behalf of the officers and members

of IWA Regional Council No. 1, the
Western Canadian Lumber Worker -con-
veys warm Christmas Greetings to the
members of the Union and their families.

The members of the Editorial Board,
and the staff join in the earnest wish that
happiness and joy may abound in every
lumber worker's home during the Yule-

tide Season. May Christmas, 1968, be
the merriest ever for all who work in the
lumber industry.

Fraternal greetings appropriate to the
season are also extended to the members
of affiliated unions within the Canadian
Labour Congress. The IWA wishes for
them a merry and bright festive season,
with the full realization of their desires
for happy living.

GUEST EDITORIAL

DUBIOUS VALUE

pustic OPINION polls have a dubious

value. Their accuracy is open to
question, because their findings are
based on such a small sampling. Never-
theless, because every effort is made to
reach a representative cross-section of
the population, some attention must be
given to the poll results.

Three Gallup Polls on labour matters
in recent months are both puzzling and
disturbing. One of them indicates that
62% of Canadians now believe unions
are getting too strong, a jump of 22% in
the past 16 years. What is most disquiet-
ing about this figure, from a union view-
point, is that this opinion is shared by
almost half the nation’s unionists—46%.

Another poll revealed that “the Ca-
nadian public places greatest blame for
the current labour unrest on the high cost
of living, the high cost of housing, and
taxes.” Among the causes listed, in ad-
dition to the high living costs (27%), were
insufficient wages (11%), too big a gap
between the upper and lower incomes
(9%), and inefficient government (9%).

Only 15% cited excessive labour
~ strength as a cause of labour strife, al-
though another 9% charged that unions
were “too money-hungry.”

A third poll produced even more
startling results. It posed the question:
“Do you think labour unions are entitled
or not to the higher wages they are de-
manding?” A whopping 42% answered
“Yes,’ and another 37% said, “Yes, some
unions are entitled to higher wages.”
Only 16% answered “No.”

Now, there is obviously a sharp con-
tradiction between these various polls.
If most Canadians believe that living
costs are too high, and that unions are
entitled to push for higher wages to meet
those living costs, then how can they pos-
sibly believe at the same time that unions
are too strong? It just doesn’t make sense.

The main reason wages are too low
is because unions are not strong enough.
There is a distinct correlation between the
size and strength of a union and the level
of wages it is able to win for its members.
Can it be that this elementary fact has
escaped the notice of most Canadians?

We don’t think so. But we do think

that, in a time when the incidence of.

strikes is high, people are more con-
cerned about the inconvenience caused to
them than they are about whether the
strikes are justified. They resent being
discommoded by .a strike, so they put
the blame on the union rather than on the
employer whose refusal to raise wages
precipitated the strike.

This attitude reflects the general ig-
norance of the public — unionists as well
as non-unionists — about the hard reali-
ties of collective bargaining. In the last
analysis, unions have no method of ob-
taining higher wages other than use of
the strike, or strike threat. When this
fact becomes more generally understood,
the ambivalence of the public toward
unions as disclosed in the polls may

disappear.
—Canadian Transport

LEADER CLAIMS BRIBES OFFERED

Martin Pederson, the re-
cently resigned leader of the
Saskatchewan Progres-
sive Conservative Party has

erson said:

_ In an interview with The
Regina Leader Post, Mr. Ped-

Mr. Pederson did not spec-
ify at this time who had made
the offers, but in the context
of a Saskatchewan election

made a public charge that
bribes not to run candidates
in certain constituencies in
Saskatchewan had been of-

fered to the Progressive Con-
servative Party in provincial
elections.

“T haven’t been through
four provincial elections with-
out proposals being made to
me to accept deals — run a
candidate here and not there,
be willing to accept the dic-
tates of where to run a can-
didate and where not to.”

the Liberal party would be
the only one that could bene-
fit by such deals.

Mr. Pederson went on to
say, “If I had been prepared
to be accommodating, I would
not personally be a poor man
today.”

WHALEN

NOW DON’T THAT BEAT PUTTIN’ A TAIL HOLT TO
TH’ WALL?

UNITED APPEAL THANKS

The Editor:

On behalf of the many
thousands of Greater Vancou-
ver citizens who will benefit
because the United Appeal
“hit the target,” we would
like to thank your readers
who gave so generously of
their time, effort, and money.
’ When all pledges-and dona-
tions are in, it is expected the
drive will realize $3,651,884,
just $1,884 over goal.

This represents a 9.4 per-
cent increase in giving over
1967 figures, and is truly a

standard of which the entire
community can be very
proud.

And our grateful thanks al-
so to the Lumber Worker for
telling the United Appeal
story in such an effective
manner. Without your help
this great volunteer effort
could not have been brought
to its successful conclusion.

Yours sincerely,
NOREEN M.

FAIRWEATHER,
Public Relations Asst.

GREATLY PLEASED

The Editor:

I’m greatly pleased with
the use and play you give
my “Memo from Mather.”

In case any readers’ con-
sider that my picture occupies

ooo )

too much valuable space, I
send you another.

Yours sincerely,

BARRY MATHER, MLP.,
Surrey, B.C.

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