4)ctober 13, 1942

SI ere nee

AMIEEI (1 @) DI

Page Five

ff oce hundred and eighty-
six ships have been sunk
n the Atlantic since Decem-
oer 7 last. This terrific toll of
nerchantmen, carrying preci-
juS cargoes of food and muni-
ons to the fighting fronts of
furope is a challenge to the
‘:sbipbuilders of the United Na-
ions. The tremendous production
sf War supplies, the record-break-
ng grain harvest of the prairie
srovinces, all the accomplishments
1 war production, are practically
iseless, unless the means are pro-
rided to carry them to the battle-
Wronts. This means ships —ships
‘hat will slide down the ways faster
‘han enemy submarines can sink
hem and warships to convoy them
mm their perilous journeys.

Canada’s contribution to the war
ffort has been considerable. Tanks,
lanes, munitions are pouring in an
Ver-increasing stream from the

reduction lines and not the least
@i Canada’s contributions are the
aerchantmen and warships, pro-
#uced in shipyards from coast to
gf oast, the “bridge to victory” built
#\y Canadian hands.
) We on the Pacific Coast have
pratchedt and aided the growth of
his industry, seen it overcome ob-
etacle after obstacle, and now, as
en thousand ton freighters are
aunched, on schedule, and in many
ases ahead of schedule, may feel

justifiable pride in its accom-
Jishments.

Thirty-six freighters have been
suilt in Vancouver so far. This is
. good record, but the increased
fficiency of labor, the added ex-
yerience of management, and the
,OSSibility of using plant facilities
md machinery to the fullest ad-
fantage should now enable the
hipbuilding industry to make huge
trides in production.

One of the major factors leading
© inereased efficiency in the ship-
rards has been the developine co-
peration between labor and man-
igement on production problems.
\s the yards expanded and added
housands of workers, the value of
he experience of seasoned workers
»9eCame more and more evident.
4abor’s problems and difficulties
stew with the industry. Thirteen
inions, affiliated to three different
rade union centres, complicated
he problem. Thousands of new

with organized labor and had to be
rained and grounded in the prin-
siples of unionism.

Wew categories of workers came
/hto being, categories not adequately
zovered by agreements, and dis-
Satisfaction with wages became a
‘Droblem.
| e
i Bese government's policy toward

labor complicated the Situation.
Order-in-council followed order-in-

council, passed without consultation
with labor.

The government’s order-in-coun-
cil PC 8253 was perhaps the most
controversial. This order, setting
as it did an arbitrary ceiline over
Wages, failed to take into account
all of the factors involved, and left
no reom for improvement of inade-
quate wage scales.

THUS semi-skilled occupations still
receive unskilled wages, while cate—
fories that should be classed as
skilled still remain in the semi-
skilled class, proving a source of
constant grievance and a conse-
guent drag on production. These
are some of the problems facing

trade union leaders in the ship-
yards.
Meanwhile, Managements have

had their difficulties too. The build-
ing of staffs capable of dealing with
the greatly increased personnel, the
planning and coordination of large
scale production, organization of
shifts and planning of work en-
tailed by a continuous production
presram have taxed the ability and
mgenuity of managements.

workers. made their first contact |

hips For The Second Fro

nt

Charles

Saunders

Greater cooperation with labor
will help to solve many of their
problems, and if they will admit
labor into their confidence on an
equal footing in properly estab-
lished labor-management com-
mittees, the results will be of tre-
mendous benefit to the whole in-
dustry.

The men working in the ship-
yards soon found that most of their
problems cut across lines of trade
union affiliation, were problems in-
herent in the industry and that
some medium of collective action
by all shipyard workers was neces-

Sary to deal with problems common
to all.

Unity began to develop first
through the medium of joint shop
stewards meetings called to con-
sider such problems as safety con-
ditions: When the cost-of-living
bonus order-in-council PC 7740 was
passed, a co-ordinating committee,
representative of all major unions
in the shipyards, met to consider a
common course of action. This
unity continued to develop and
reached its peak when the question
of continuous production was first
raised. Then a representative body,
embracing all unions in the ship-
yards was formed, the Joint Ship-
yard Union Conference. r

e@
FERRE has never been a prob-
lem more controversial than the

continuous production program
first initiated in Canada in the Pa-

.cifie Coast shipyards.

The principle of woring, a plant

to its fullest capacity, 168 hours per |

wee, in order to attain the maxi-
mum production, cannot be refuted
now, when production is of such
Vital importance.

Initial meetings of the union com-
mittee with the managements were
harmonious and proceedings towards
a satisfactory, and mutually agree-
able arrangement of working condi-
tions. But here again the fovern-
ment stepped in to enforce by
order-in-council the seven - day
week under conditions unacceptable
to the men.

The maximum production pro-
Sram for the shipyards as a result,
got off to a bad start. A general
lack of planning added to the con-

fusion and this, added to the lack

of enthusiasm on the part of certain
Shipyard operators,
difficult situation.
Men who at the outset had ac-
cepted the seven-day staggered
week, aS a necessary contribution
to the war effort, became increas-
ingly dissatisfied as they viewed
the inefficieney anu disorganization
evident in carrying the plan into
operation. They felt that they had
not been sufficiently consulted and

that they had been forced to accept
unfair and unnecessary conditions.

The conference continued to meet,
and when it became evident that
drastic action was needed to avoid
@ serious situation, worked out a
plan which many hoped would pro-
vide a breathing space, during
which major differences could be
overcome, the bottlenecks ironed
out and @ sound basis laid for a
maximum production program. A
delegation from the conference flew
to Ottawa to present its plan be-
fore Labor Minister Humphrey Mit-
chell. ~

This plan, calling for a six-day
week, was presented in the form
of a brief which drew attention to
all of the bottlenecks existing in the
shipyards and pointed out how all
these obstacles combined to lower
the morale of the men and form a
serious obstacle to all-out produc-

tion.

AS A consequence of this trip to
Ottawa, the government real-
ized the seriousness of the situation
existing on the Pacific Coast and
set up a Royal Commission to in-
vestigate This commission was
composed of two representatives of
labor, and two employers, under the
chairmanship of Justice S. E. Rich-
ards of Winnipeg. It sat in Vancou-
ver for three weeks, hearing evi-

dence from all parties concerned.
All the major unions presented
briefs and while evidence of ship-
yard workers brought to light
much inefficiency, lack of plan-
ning and lack of vision in the im-
plementation of the plan, it was

aggravated a

Significant that none of the eyi-
dénce submitted proved that the
obstacles to continue production
were insuperable. Furthermore, it
was evident that the objections of
the men to the plan arose mainly
from the arbitrary manner in
which it was introduced and from
Wage grievances.

When the commission handed
down its report it was in three
parts, a majority report and two
minority reports submitted by the
two labor representatives, and the
majority report, favoring the seven-
day continuous production plan,
made a series of recommendations
calculated to ensure its successful
operation.

Most important of these was es-
tablishment of functioning labor-
Management production commit-
tees, for it is generally admitted
that had such committees been or-
ganized before the plan was first
introduced, many of the problems
would never have arisen, or could
have been speedily eliminated.

Secondly, the report recommends
an “equalization of pay and reclas-
sification of labor,” a recommenda-
tion that will remove many of the
Just grievances of the men if ade-
quately carried out.

C)

USTICE S. E. RICHARDS is due
J in Vancouver this week to meet
with the unions and discuss the
whole question with the view of im-
plementing the commission’s report.

In the meantime, conditions have
considerably improved as a result
of evidence submitted before
commission and many of the major
bottlenecks have been removed.
Labor-management committees are
being set up, and although they are
not as yet functioning as they must,
nevertheless some improvement is
evident.

The need for maximum produc-
tion behind a total war effort has
never been more urgent than now.
As Hitler flings the concentrated
might of his armies against Stalin-
grad, as he desperately attempts
to consolidate the gains of his sum-

che |

mer campaign by gaining control of
the Caucusus and dividing the Rus-
sian armies, so it becomes more and
more evident that offensive action,
a second front in Europe is all that
can save the United Wations from
disaster and defeat.

Canadian labor must answer
the challenge on the production
lines. The strongest answer it can
give to those who claim that a2
second front cannot be opened
now because the United Nations
are not ready is to increase pro-
duction as the proof of readiness.
At the same time, labor should
exert its concerted pressure for
action now, before the opportun-
ity for offensive action in Europe
becomes the tragedy of enemy in-
itlative that may see a new front
established on our own Pacific
Coast.

The seven day continuous produc-
tion plan, which, fully implemented,
will enable production of the maxi-
mum number of ships, can be made
to work. Organized labor must see
that it is made to work.

There must be no repetition of
the arbitrary methods that aroused
antagonism to the plan where it
was first enforced. Departments
having special problems that make
operation of the plan difficult
should have these problems fully
discussed by the labor-management
production committees, and the
recommendations of these commit-
tees should be given every consid-
eration. But labor too, must be pre-
pared, as I believe it is prepared, to
give its utmost in cooperation, with-
out which the plan cannot succeed.

Happily remote as they are
from the battlefronts of world
conflict, the shipyards cannot be
separated from the fighting
fronts. Success of the fight for
maximum production of ships,
and that means success of the
continuous production plan, may
well be a major factor in ensur-
ing that victory is won on the
battlefields while they are still
remote.

—Vancouver Sun Photo.