fH agreements arrived at by the Richards Commission
im {| tegarding wage equalizations and reclassifications have
its ally been approved by the National War Labor Board.
ehagese Wage increases, which in the main affect workers in
Soiver paid brackets, will do much to establish harmony in
shipbuilding industry.

| These raises, result of months of negotiations, are long
prdue, and although many grievances have been removed
would be wrong to suppose that “the decision disposes
all wage questions in the industry at present.”

|The absolutely inadequate fifty-cents-an-hour rate is still
famed as the basic wage for laborers and wage problems
I never be fully disposed of until this is altered.

) The recent request of the steel workers in the east for a
aimum rate of 55¢c an hour is a part of the struggle of all
rkers whose wages are actually at lower than subsistence
els to obtain remuneration in conformity with the present
jt of living and demands made upon them by wartime
S)duction.

-) FAR there is no word regarding the other recommen-
dations of the Richards Commission concerning clauses
eed upon by most unions and operators as an equitable
sis for continuous production.
Meanwhile, all workers in the yards continue to work
# the seven-day stagger plan under the terms of the first
ned supplementary agreement, which proved unsatisfac-
\'y to all concerned. Two unions have not as yet agreed to
§> conditions suggested by the Royal Commission which in-
fide extra bonus payments and the weeks holiday with
y clauses. :
| Stepping up of the Axis U-boat campaign which is a di-
*f answer to offensive actions taken and contemplated by
#> Wnited Nations places greater responsibility upon the
pbuilding industry. Employees, government and labor
Il be called upon to match the strenuous efforts of our
@hting forces to bring about the victory which appears
ssible in 1943.
4 Amicable settlement of the continuous production con-
wversy would clear away a lot of resentment of the past
d establish the possibility of a new deal in which all
irties can cooperate to build ships. = 2
; @
A7HLDERS AND BURNERS: sub-local of the Boilermak-
Y ers is impatient at the delay in establishing ventilation
= partments and equipment in the shipyards, recommended
i the Richards report.
Wot long ago several workers in Victoria were nearly
i phyxiated by poisonous fumes from burning paint. Pre-
@ mably, if they had all died, something would have been
done by now, but the Welders and Burners are not yet
i lling for volunteers for martyrdom in the interest of making
'e yards safe for their workers.
7 Men on Monday night graveyard shift No. 3 of Burrard
# orth were “locked out,” and had to stand in the rain from
1:19 until 12:40. Sixty of them were so soaked they refused
go to work when the gates were opened.
\ Wot a bad idea for some enterprising lad to go into an
mbrella-rental business, while the rains last.
Did anyone notice how all the girls at the Dock and Ship-
atfiard Workers’ ball were uniformly pretty? Ill bet you all
iid, including even old Ed Leary, who, at his age, should be
mtent to do nothing else but sit by the fire in his slippers.
e@

pue Joint Shop Stewards’ Committee in North -Van Ship

Repairs is negotiating with the management for the
joening of a canteen at which hot meals would be procur-
slnle during the Junch hour. With the present rationing regu-
Jitions making it more difficult for a man to carry an ade-
uate lunch or to provide himself with hot tea or coffee,
specially considering the kind of weather we have been
kK kperiencing in the last month, some such provision becomes
udicreasingly necessary.

Kaiser shipbuilding companies have long since made pro-
ision for the comfort of their employees on the job, realizing
lat maintenance of workers’ health and efficiency is of
iajor importance to production. Where four to five thou-
e4and meh are employed in an important war industry the
aWompanies and the rationing authorities should be able to
_jet together to provide adequate facilities.

IN REVIEW

= | s0SEPH STALIN—A Short Biog-

raphy—Marx-Pngels-Lenin Insti-
tute, Moscow—20 cents.
FPSHIS very short story of Stalin's
life is also the story of the
struggles of the Russian people
in Transcaucasia as they took their
place in the gigantic battle to over-
throw tsarism. : :

Reading it, one has no difficulty
in understanding the magnificent
fight now being put up by the Rus-
sian people under the leadership
of such a ‘man of steel’ schooled
in the hardships of life, who spent
nearly sixteen years in periods of
exile and imprisonment, and who
declared: “My first teachers were
the workers of Tiflis.”

In this little pamphlet once again
is evident the clarity and simplic-
ity which typifies Stalin’s speech
and writings, his ability to make
formulations so clear that no mis-
taken conception is possible. It is
no Gause for wonder that Lenin
praised his work, that he was elect-
ed to carry on Lenin's work after
his death, when one reads his de-
seription of the working class
party — built by Lenin — under
whose leadership the Soviet people
have built and defended the free-
dom of their homeland—‘we must
be extremely vigilant and must nev-
er forget that our Party is a fort-
ress, whose gates are opened only
to the worthy.”

Again, addressing a meeting of
workers before the 1905 revolution
which was defeated, Stalin's sim-
plicity of speech was evident.
“What do we need in order to really
win?’ he said. ‘We need three
things: first, arms; second, arms;
third, arms; and arms again.”

Although Stalin had been in com-
munication with Lenin through
correspondence since i903, these
two great leaders did not meet in
person until December, 1905, when
Stalin attended the first All-Rus-
sian Bolshevik Conference in Fin-
Jand as a delegate from the Trans-
eaucasian Bolsheviks. From then
on, the two worked closely togeth-
er, although more often than not

separated physically by exile or
pressing duties , until Lenin’s
death.

Wews of the first uprisings in
February, 1917, reached Stalin dur-
ing one of his periodic exiles, and
he immediately returned to Petro-
erad—then revolutionary capital of
Russia, wiring a message of greet-
ing to Lenin in exile in Switzer-
land.

“T recall the year 1917,” says
Stalin, “when, after my wander-
ings from one prison and place of
exile to another, I was transferred
by the will of the party to Lenin-
erad. There, in the society of Rus-
sian workers, and in contact with
Comrade Ienin, the great teacher
of the proletarians of all countries,
in the midst of the storm of mighty
conflicts between the proletariat
and the bourgeoisie, in the midst
of the imperialist war, I first
learnt what it meant to be one
of the leaders of the great party
of the working class: There, in the
society of Russian workers ... 1
received my third revolutionary
baptism of fire .. .~”’

A tribute to Stalin’s personal
bravery, which might well apply
today, was paid by the Soviet peo-
ple in 1919 for “his personal exam-
ple in the fighting line, under the
fire of the enemy, he lent inspira-
tion to the ranks of the defenders

lof the Soviet Republic.”

‘Tn recognition of his services
in the defense of Petrograd, as well
as of his subsequent self-sacrificing
work on the southern front, the
All-Russian Central Executive
Committee hereby resolves to con-
fer on J. V. Djugashvili (Stalin)
the Order of the Red Banner.”

The results of the last few
months’ victories of the Red Army
uphold Stalin’s vow to “consolidate

and extend the Union of Repub-
lies.”

“Time and again did Lenin point
out to us that the strengthening
of the Red Army and the improve-
ment of its conaition is one of the
most important tasks of our Party

. Let us vow then, comrades,
that we will spare no effort to
strengthen our Red Army and our
Red Navy .- -”

Throughout his life, Stalin has
taken a yast interest in everything
which concerned his people; no
problem was too small, no task too
large for him to tackle. Today his
energy is still amazing. Questions
with which he personally deals
range from problems of Marxist-
Leninist theory to school text-
books, from problems of Soviet
foreign policy to Moscow municipal
affairs, from development of a
Great Northern Sea Route to recla-
mation of marshes, from develop-
ment of Soviet literature and art
to editing Rules for Collective
Farms!

INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE
— Jan-Feb., March-April — 35
cents.

HESE two copies of Interna-

tional Literature, now obtain-
able at the People Bookshop, con-
tain articles and stories from all
parts of the world on different
topics.

In the first issue are several very
good short stories, some by well-
known writers, other not so well-
kmown but just as capable. Three
articles on ‘Topics of the Day,’
many book reviews, including an
article on ‘Dickens in Russia’ and
commentaries on art and culture
make up the contents.

The second issue is even better,
In this are two articles by that
famous Soviet writer, Ilya Ehren-
burg, and the famous story of the
Soviet girl ‘Tanya.’ In addition to
the usual stories of heroism is one,
entitled ““A Mother,” which, to my
mind, is alone worth the purchase
of “the magazine. Another article,
“Humor and satire at the front,”
shows the triumph of MRussian
humor over the tragedies that have
oceurred in occupied Soviet terri-
tory.

Letters

to the

Editor

Protests New
Filan *‘Chetaetke’

To the Editor, Dear Sir:

“Chetnik” might have been a
good film—but it isn’t!

It might have been good because
it starts out to tell the heroic story
of the struggle of the Yugoslav
people against Nazi Germany—but
it turns out to be a cheap bit of
reactionary melodrama by making
a Judas its hero—Mihailovitch, the
betrayer of the people of Yugo-
Slavia.

The writer who turned out this
tripe is as guilty of fifth column
activity as any MQuisling, and
Twentieth-Century-Hox, who pro-
duced it, deserves a special Oscar
for bringing out the most nauseat-
ing picture of the year—and they
surely know better.

We might ignore this were it
not for the tremendous power
wielded by the motion pictures. This
picture will be shown throughout
America and the British Hmpire.
There are people everywhere who
will accept this vicious distortion
as the gospel truth. That is why
IT am writing you so that this
matter may be brought to the at-
tention of your readers, who should
protest in every way possible.

Such protests should be directed
to the producer, our newspapers,
and, if the picture should, in spite
of this, reach our cities or towns,
then the theatre might well be boy-
cotted, I feel.

One Hollywood pulp has already
written the story—let’s make it our
business to see that it is taken off
the market—and /stays off the
market!

—Production Front Worker.

Editor's. Note. The People
would be interested in receiving
other readers’ opinions on films
such as the one attacked by Proa-
duction Front Worker as being
against the interests of an all-
out war effort.

“It Says On The Card ‘From Your Fellow Riveters’!”

uA).
f0R:-OW!l: