7

7

a By Charles Saunders

UiStia

| ‘ SCCORDING to Gerald Heller, chairman of the War In-
dustries Cooperating Committee, absenteeism in Van-
yer industries has decreased during the last few months,
is considerbaly less here than in comparable industries
he east. :
; {statements by Assistant Director William McKinstry of
2ageective Service that high wages are responsible for much
: 4 lsnteeism and workers feel they can afford to lose a day’s
lea! now and again without undue strain on their pocket-
a iks are apparently opinions expressed without much
“Swiedge of the facts or due consideration of the evidence
t Wore him. The very fact that absenteeism is more prevalent
jam he east where wages are notoriously low contradicts this
ni @ ement.
a (One of the major causes of absenteeism on the other hand
nelow wages and poor working conditions. It would be in-
brieesting to know the number of manhours lost through
@ cess over the last two or three months. We would like to

S00} (

Yay
to:

npae Mr. McKinstry and others how they expect workers
: ning 50 to 60 cents an hour, exposed to all weather con-
=F ons, to supply themselves with the rainproof clothing and
,firishment necessary to maintain the health and efficiency

ss@inanded by everyday work in the shipyards.

# A married man with a family even in the higher paid
= | eee ean ill afford to miss even a days work except
"“\ough sickness or other unavoidable circumstances. One
ithe ways in which absenteeism can be practically elim-
sited is by adjusting grievances of the men on the job.
It is interesting to note that a report issued by the War
bor Board in the United States placed lack of materials
d lack of machine tools as primary causes of production
ling below schedule, whilst millions of man-days lost
‘ough occupational accidents and deaths rate third. The
al lost-production time from these three causes is so many
U®1es more than that lost through strikes that there is no
= nparison.
> Undoubtedly one cause of absenteeism which cannot be
1ored is the lack of facilities, organizations and planning
) the job. It is a fact that in the best organized plants,
iere the most up-to-date methods are used, absenteeism
iless prevalent.

i

‘HE transportation problem for workers in the shipyards
will be further complicated by new gas rationing regu-
ions. No allowance is made unless four passengers are

0 rried in the car. This is not always possible to arrange
nfll.d consequently many war workers will be compelled to
si y-up their cars.
i Streetear services are already overcrowded to bursting
_ #pint in the present situation. How they will stand up under
t#§e strain of hundreds more workers travelling each day
sa hard to see.

Worth Vancouver ferries will also have to bear a heavier
_#ad, and it is evident that the time has arrived when this

ansportation problem should be gone into thoroughly.

| In San Francisco shipyards workers are hauled from the

past bay metropolitan area to Kaiser yards on the north side
is: the bay on a railroad that has been especially constructed
r the purpose. The road was built almost entirely from
~#econd-hand materials, while the cars were renovated from
se old Second Avenue El line in New York.
»@ Cleaned inside and out and painted a maritime grey,
SMiese cars are providing an express service for war workers.
@ ‘ails were dug up from abandoned lines in Oakland, Berkely
“ud Alameda. The cars are used exclusively as an express
z@ystem and do not stop between the city and the yards.
#8 Capable of handling around 50,000 passengers a day, the
| Jars are ready to be used to the fullest should the future
Tnited States gas and rubber program deprive the thousands
if workers at present using their cars of that method of
ransportation.
a There are miles of abandoned rails lying around railroads
j@oat are no longer in operation in the Vancouver district and
s@ivith some of the initiative shown in overcoming difficulties
B@.outh of the line the transportation of the ten thousand work-

rs in the North shore yards should not be difficult to solve.

iy

‘Siege Of Leningrad’ To Open
Next Tuesday At Plaza Theatre

The full-length Soviet film, “The Siege of Leningrad, con-
taining the living record of a people’s incredible courage dur-
ing the long campaign to hold Leningrad in spite of heavy odds,
will open at the Plaza Theatre next Tuesday, February 23, fit-
tingly enough on the twenty-fifth

The sixty-minute feature was©
flown from Leningrad to London,
where a commentary in English
was added by Edward R. Murrow,
Buropean representative of Colum-
bia Broadeastinge System. A print
was then rushed to Canada, arriv-
ing just as news was received of
the lifting of the Siege.

Twenty-two Soviet cameramen
filmed the important phases of the
seventeen-month siege which lasted
from August 1941 to January 1943.
The inspiring courage of this city
ef three million which withstood
the shock of a mechanized Nazi
army numbering almost one million
troops was faithfully recorded on
film, sometimes in the very teeth
of Nazi bullets. Thus it was pos-
sible to include such shots as a
telescopic close-up of a Nazi just
asa sniper’s bullet got him in the
head.

During the siege of Leningrad,
the Nazis used 6,000 cannon, 4.500
trench mortars, 1,000 tanks, 1,000
planes, 19,000 machine guns and
800,000 men. Yet Leningrad was the
first spot on earth where the Nazis
were stopped. For 515 days the em-
battled people fought on, in spite
of complete stoppage of all normal
services, including transportation,
fuel, water, civilian power, and a
bread ration that went down to 41%
ounces a day.

At first, the only supplies came
in by plane, or were smuggled
through by guerrillas. When winter
came, however, daring engineers
built a road right across Lake La-
doga, and on Nov. 28, 1941, the first
convoy of 100 trucks roared across;
100,000 tons of supplies passed over
the ice-road, carried by as many
as 2,000 lorries in one day. When
the ice melted, shipping carried on,
while 300,000 Leningrad citizens
cleared the streets of snow, and
planted 22,500 acres of truck
gardens.

With war at its grimmest, life
still went on; 90,000 children went
to the unheated schools every day.

Golleges graduated 2,500 students.
Publishers brought out mnay vol-
umes, including 100,000 copies of
Tolstoy's War and Peace. Auxiliary
Fireman Dmitri Shostakovitch
wrote his immortal Seventh Sym-
phony. Leningrad actors presented
20,000 performances to soldiers and
workers.

Pay Tribute To
Labor Woman

Many friends and members of
the labor movement gathered in
Ocean View Cemetery last week
to attend the funeral of Lily Bruce,

whose recent sudden death from
pneumonia recently had come as a
shock to those who knew her.

Among messages of sympathy
and condolence to the bereaved
husband and daughter, was one
received from Tim Buck, whose
secretary Lily Bruce had been for
years, stating:

“Qn behalf of myself and all our
committe, please accept our deepest
sympathy on your grievous loss.
Your bereavement is at the same
time that of the whole working
class. We mourn in Lily a loyal,
devoted comrade, builder of our
movement, a fighter for people’s
victory. Her years of work will

anniversary of the Red Army.

New Film Shows
Women in RCAF

“Wings on Her Shoulders,” new-
est release of the National Film
Board’s World in Action series,
gives the first dramatic account
of service of Canadian women in
the Royal Canadian Air Force.
With a greater weight of bombs
being dropped on Germany by the
Royal Ganadian Air Force in com-
bined operations with the RAF
and the U.S. Army Air Corps, the
flow of air crews to the Allied
fighting fronts must stepped up
in Ganada. Already deep into her
manpower pool, Canada has been
faced with the problem of releasing
men from necessary but non-com-
batant duties on the ground so
that they can join the fighters of
the RCAF overseas.

Looking to England and Russia,
Ganada profited by the experience
her Allies in the use of women in
their armed services. Quick to

Teachers
Gain Wage

increases

RICHMOND. — Salary increases
amounting to $7,500 were awarded
Richmond school teachers by an
arbitration board headed by Judge
A. M. Harper last Monday.

“The teachers are very pleased
with this decision.” stated D. M.
Ladd, president of Richmond
Teachers’ Association. “In some
cases yearly increases were larger

than we asked for, although the
maximum Salaries were not as
great.”’

The fifty-eight teachers had ask-
ed for increases of $70 yearly for
high school teachers for 15 years,
until the maximum of $2,250 was
reached. Junior high school teach-
ers sought increases at the rate of
$70 a year for 15 years, or a maxi-
mum of $2,150. Elementary school
teachers asked for increases of $60
per year with a maximum of $1,620.

The Richmond school board
argued that it had lost $3,000 in
fees and $2,270 in government
grants as a result of the evacuation
of 400 Japanese pupils.

Frank Wilson, Chilliwack, who

realize the value of woman-power

in the solution to her problem she
formed the Women’s Division of the
Royal Canadian Air Force.

Through the first days of medi-
cal examinations, inoculations, uni-
form-fitting and drill to vital jobs
at Air Force Headquarters, train-
ing stations and outposts, “Wings
on Her Shoulders” shows the wide
range of duties now taken over
by the women in Canada’s growing
air force. Men once held down to
ground duties now take to the air to
win their wings, backed up by the
increasing strength of the Women’s
Division.

appeared before the arbitration
board for the teachers along with
D. M. Ladd, pointed out that
school costs have been cut by $6,000
since the Japanese evacuation.

Awards made by the arbitration
board provide fer yearly increments
as follows: high school teachers,
basic ~$1,200, increase yearly of $75
up to $2,100. The school board had
offered increases to $1,900. Junior
high jteachers, basic $1,100, in-
ereases up to $2,000, as against the
school board’s offer of increases
up to $1,700. Elementary teachers,
basic $960, with increases of $60 up
to $1,560. School board had sug-
gested increases to $1,400.

live on in the world of freedom.”

‘‘1’]] Have to Call You Back.
the Stove!”

Grace—I1 Have Something on