Around the
| Slipways

~6=s By Charles Saunders

ti) °HE prospective layoff of Rivetters in North Burrard
fot: Yard is another evidence of lack of organization and
ginning. The fault may not lie with the company con-
taeened. It is possible that it is the Wartime Merchant

ipping Board, the Steel Controller, or the Department
“7 Munitions and Supply who are responsible, but there is
i jmething decidedly haywire when some 500 experienced
_ | 2 workers have to be laid off in the most vital of our war
qigiustries. It is to be expected that there would be prob-_
eqy0S arising from the change-off from one type of cargo
ai)ssel to another. No doubt the supply of steel for the old
"@2e cargo vessels is being used up and the supply for the
w type is not yet delivered, but I can see no reason why
ittle forethought and planning could not have assured a
umfatinuous supply of steel and materials so there need be
i actual slowing down of work in the process of changing
tm one type of ship to another.

: = Although ships are being turned out at a fair rate of speed
iN= the Vancouver district no one will deny that if materials
» @d supplies were always on hand when needed they could
“turned out more quickly. The seven-day continuous
sduction plan is accepted by labor in the interests of all-
at production so that.cargo ships can be provided in quan-
my and speedily.

by Jt is time that the unions in the shipyards began to take

| 3 production problem seriously and to insist that if labor

*\\ willing to play its part, then supplies and materials must

4 0n hand so that no time will be wasted.

3

= ;

ary

ug ‘HE unions in the shipyards have been able to get to-

3 gether on many common problems and I think it is

a ie that they got together again to consider the very seri-

ays problem of maintaining and stepping up the rate of pro-
§ ction. We are in a position to demand of authorities that

mg te should be an uninterrupted flow of materials to the

@ pyards, and it is high time that a conference should be

_& led to make public, if necessary, the inefficiencies and in-

3@ *Quacies which stand in the way of all-out production.

cs

HERE are many questions which will never be dealt with
fi etfectively until organized labor insists that the red tape
3 1 shilly-shallying is cut out, and problems which directly

ect war production are treated as such and dealt with im-

diately.

Take the transportation problem, for instance. Here is a
cp ?blem that directly affects production. The inefficiency
Wi ‘Tansportation is responsible for a good deal of absentee-

. The question of the North Vancouver ferries has been
“= <died around for months without any decisive action be-
taken. The attitude of Commissioner Vance that the
eerth Vancouver ferries are run for the convenience of
“rth Vancouver ratepayers is not one calculated to assist
“solving the problem. The federal government should have
‘Roped in here long ago and tackled this problem as one
i jecting the national war effort. It can be solved and a meet-
mm! ©f the unions concerned would produce concrete and
@ctical suggestions that could be acted upon immediately.

| Absenteeism is to some extent caused by the agerava-
“1 of the workers over many of these problems. When un-
‘essary restrictions are put upon the workers and they
@@ “Measures taken which have no beneficial effect to the
-wc effort, they wonder what motives are behind them. For
sB-ance, the rationing of beer will only have the effect of
“ering the morale of workers, and by stirring up resent-
Pat and distrust, add to the problem of absenteeism. None
#@-he materials used in the manufacture of beer are neces-
Wey to the war effort, and it is admitted that rationing of
“jr does not help the labor problem one iota. Beer is the
‘Bak of the working man and after a hard day’s -work he is
fitled to a glass or two of beer.

“It is time that organized labor took up this problem
ously and made sure that cranks and prohibitionists do

take advantage of the war effort to put over their nar-
f-minded ideas.

He

League organizer, at a mass meet-
ing in the Beacon theatre here last
Sunday in celebration of Interna-
tional Women’s Day.

“Tonight we women in Vancou-
ver are making history,” Mrs. Jones
Said, from the stage on which sat
twenty-three women in national
costume of the United Nations,
“Representatives of these nations
have come together to express their
determination to work together in
the task of banishing fascism from
the earth forever. Never before
has it been so necessary for women
to work along with men towards
a common goal. We have more
to lose than men under fascism;
we know that women’s role in the
fascist states is to produce war-
riors.”

Women in Canada, Mrs. Jones
felt, were not as completely mobil-

Equal pay for women doing equal work with men, nursery
schools for children of women war workers, proper rest rooms
and plant cafeterias, and raises to bring the pay of women in
the Canadina Women’s Army Corps to the same level as that
of men of equal rank were asked by Effie Jones, Housewives’

ized as their sisters in Britain and
the Soviet Union, and although over
250,000 women were already in in-
dustry, many more would be needed
“when we open a second front, as
we will have to this year if fascism
is to be crushed.” To this end,
greater training for war industry
should be provided.

“We women must reorganize our
lives,’ she concluded. -“On ail of
us, Married or single, falls much
of the responsibility of winning the
war and creating a better world.”

Second speaker of the evening,
Lieutenant Brown, of the CWAC'S,
pointed out that although soldiering
was a new job for Canadian women,
regarded at first rather dubiously,
our women had proven their worth.

“As we register each recruit we
are proud that in soldiering we re-
lease a man for active service,”

Kqual Pay. Day
Nurseries Needed

she said. “Perhaps we haye given
up some things we believed import-
ant, but we find a far greater re-
ward in knowing that we are help-
ing to lay the foundations for a
freer Canada.”

Wecessity of broader franchise
to guarantee truly democratic goy-
ernment in British Columbia was
urged by Jean Mason, president of
Housewives’ League of BG chair-
man of the meeting, who advised
all Vancouver women to join “any
existing democratic organization.”

“If you work in industry it is
your duty as a citizen to belong
to a union. If you are the wife of
@ union man, join with the wives
of his shopmates in a women’s aux-
iliary. Align yourself with other
women in your community who are
working for victory over fascism
and a better world.”

Greetings were wired to the
meeting by Madame Chiang Kai-
shek, on behalf of the women of
China.

A fine program of singing, danc-
ing and instrumental numbers was
provided.

of this year’s crop.

WNaramata advanced a solution
to utilize such help as is available
to the greatest possible advantage
which had the good feature of an
all-over handling of labor require-
ments for Penticton, Summerland
and Naramata districts. The pro-
posed solution, however, was ruled
out by Penticton growers who are
still figuring their needs on the
basis of “those paying the most in
taxes” and advance the argument
that some pickers “have an objec-
tion to being drafted for labor out
of their own districts,’ and there-
fore naturally prefer those orchards
nearest to town.

In the fact of the 1939 National
Mobilization Act, which gave un-
limited powers to the government
in the handling of manpower, and
of later orders-in-council to the
Same end, it appears that the Pen-
ticton public has failed to recognize
that its citizens can expect no pref-
erential treatment—that if the goy-
ernment were to act fearlessly and
without patronage, labor would be
conscripted whereever the need is
more urgent.

Other factors complicate the sit-
uation.

Last season the local Selective
Service office stated that only two
picking jobs had been definitely
Secured through the agency. Grow-

Labor Shortage
Faces Okanagan

PENTICTON.—Subject of major interest to fruit growers
in the Okanagan is the prospect of labor shortages for the
coming season, and various plans have been submitted by
farmers’ groups throughout the district to. ensure harvesting

ers showed disinclination to secure
labor through Selective Service of-
fices, fearing that “inexperienced
help might damage the trees,” ac-
cording to one grower. School chil-
dren were employed in some cases
and many more were available, but
in the absence of any organized
method of transportation, growers
at a distance from town suffered
labor shortages.

Many women who would volun-
teer for part time or whole time
work in orchards or packing plants
during the rush season are deterred
by the understanding that wives of
service men earning more than $40
monthly are not entitled to their
dependants allowance checks. The
south end of the valley is averse
to the utilization of Japanese labor,
but many Doukhobors came in for
the fruit season last year. Stores
in Kelowna closed certain after-
noons to enable merchants and
salespeople to work in the harvest,
an example other districts may fol-
low.

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Continued

Conference

tel, financial secretary, addressed
the one hundred delegates present.

At a banquet closing convention
proceedings, attended by 150 shop
stewards and their wives, Mrs,
Nellie McKean spoke on Interng-
tional Women’s Day, stressing the
need for women to take responsible
leadership in war production and
to organize solidly into trade
union, - :

“In this war women have an
equal share of the responsibility for
victory,” stated Mrs. McKean.

Birt Showler, recounting high
points in the history of the Trades
and Tabor Congress in British
Columbia, stated that “labor in this
province has shown a fine example
to the workers everywhere in its
presentation of a joint brief on the
ICA Act to the government. Only
where labor has united has a gain
been made,” said Showler.

Le
John Stanton
Barrister, Solicitor, Notary

503 Holden Bldg.
16 E. Hastings St. MAr. 5746

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