lers fl ber (| le ia’ at T ‘of parm ion fit LABOR’S V@ICE : F OR VICTORY i. No. 14 Ss ' 5 Cenis Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, April 10, 1943 i“Second Front. ‘Now’ Demands Allied Labor “What Are We Waiting For?’ : “Hitler knows he’s sitting on a keg of dynamite ,and we can light the fuse by invading Europe now!” This is the growing | opinion of working people throughout the world, who know that Hitler is fighting against time, that he is playing upon the inde- cision of the United Nations, and that he has one terrible fear— that we will defeat the pro-fascists in our midst and open a second front while his armies are engaged in the East. What, the people are asking, are we waiting for? Why are we letting Hitler throw his full strength against only one of the United Nations? Have we forgotten that to divide an enemy’s forces is to conquer him? Why are our armies standing idle in Britain, when General MacNaughton has told us that our men are “fit and ready to fight?” “Working people of Canada are becoming more aware every day that the time to strike is NOW,” Nigel Morgan, Interna- tional Board Member, International Woodworkers of America, declares. “We've waited long enough. Now it is a matter of extreme urgency; the second front is the overpowering issue of the moment. We can’t remain silent any longer!” ~ “~ In Vancouver, two leading irade unions, the Cannery Work- ers and the United Fishermen, gave no doubt of their attitude to the present wavering policy of our government on this vital > Union Men To Attend Conference TORONTO.—(ALN).— The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada (AFL) and the Ca- nadian Congress of Labor (ClO and national unions) will send a joint delegation to the British Empire trade union conference which opens in London April 12, it was announced this week. At the same time the Australian Council of Trade Unions, which will also be represented at the London conference, has invited the British TUC to send delegates to the next ACT convention, sched- uled to be held in Melbourne at the end of June. All Australian unions, with the exception of the Australian Workers Union, are af- ; filiated with the ACTU, In May, it is also announced, the— Angilo-Soviet trade union commit- tee will hold its third meeting in Moscow. deeasittigsr | Ze Oni i % ne Az ith wel: a. tt | Seow ees Br = ‘wn above is the letter presented by Chan Kwan (inset) og Clow Chinese in Vancouver, asking their support in The +, @ ples press drive. ba SSS = a C e . e 4C Chinese Community 4ipports Press Drive $ by gee 5 * iz AN JEWAN, Chinese shipyard worker, was being acclaimed this week as a one-man press drive committee. The dis- sion comes as a result of his fine work in-collecting, during sat days, exactly $114.75 in donations as part of his con- }on to The People’s current] achievement. But he is equally i ining fund drive. And every proud of the fact that he is a mem- © of that money has been col-| ber of the Dock and Shipyard ji from among Chinese work-| Workers Union and a shop stew- snd small merchants in Van-| ard. It was his activities as a shop ers Chinatown, most of it in| steward that proved to him that pid 50-cent pieces. = the tradg unions need a progres- * job was made simpler by|sive labor paper. That’s why, he Sposter, shown above, which,| also tells us, he is going to continue ~ translated, declares that The| collecting among his people for the ‘© “defends the rights of all| press drive. tity groups in BG, supports “T think maybe T’ll get $150,” he fight of the Chinese people} says. ist Japanese fascist aggression, Minerva Cooper, business man- S for greater unity between| ager of The People, this week , the Soviet Union and the| voiced the thanks of the drive com- United Nations.” mittee to all those Chinese people j Was not hard when I ex-| who contributed. ped to them what the paper “This is one of the finest trib- ‘s for,’ Chan told members| utes to the role of our paper that *e Staff in his difficult Eng-| could have been made,” she said. “Many Ghinese workers are| “It indicates the growing aware- in trade unions and know] ness among all sections of the the labor press helps them get] population of the importance of the Ger conditions.” 5 labor press as a fighter for victory fan is modestly proud of his| over fascism.” question. “As an integral part of the labor movement, our policy cannot be confined to a narrow discussion of our Own industry,” Bill Burgess, UFFU secretary, has declared. “What happens in the interna- tional sphere affects us. ... Let us say to the government ... we are ready to make sacrifices. We pledge our troops that we will not let them down. We support the offensive. Start it now!” “ A resolution was unanimously endorsed by the Cannery Workers, urging the opening of a second land front in Europe at “the earli- est possible moment.” Across Canada the same cry is echoed. In Montreal recently 10,000 fur and leather workers’ cheered the slogan “Second Front Without Delay.” In Toronto three thousand citizens gathered at Massey Hall to hear Tim Buck expose the machi- nations of ‘negotidted peace’ groups working in Canada to delay a European invasion. “We are approaching the climax of the war,” declared Buck. “Let every ounce of democratic en- ergy be thrown into the support for the plan te invade Europe now?” From England this week came word that on March 23 — celebrat- ed in England as “Second Front Day,” 250,000 war workers in lead- ing British factories crowded into the main hall of Parliament to de- mand an instant invasion of the continent. The executive commit tee of 44 trade union locals in the Birmingham area wired Premier Churchill, “We pledge you our full support and demand that you carry out the decisions reached at the See SECOND FRONT (Continued on Page 8) An Editorial : Living Costs and Wages HERE'S a critical situation arising on the home front, and Mrs. Vancouver Housewife, that hard-working helpmate of you and I and that shipyard unionist across the street, is getting good and angry about it. The reason? — skyrocketing prices of many foodstutts, particularly of vegetables and canned goods. The Do- minion Bureau of Statistics continues to claim “no marked change in: the cost of living.” But there’s another “sta- tistical_ bureau” in operation that tells a different story —the household budget figures that are being stretched past the limit to keep up with retail prices that have got out of control. There seems no doubt that the federal cost-of-living index is false in its application to Jower mcomes. Any tmdex that includes numerous high-cost luxury items that are out of reach of the average workimg class family de- serves the term “phoney.” And even Prices Administrator Donald Gordon in- directly admitted this fact when he told Vancouver house- wives that prices on the Coast had risen 50 percent in some cases over the average in other Canadian centers. There is no intention, of course, of accepting Mr. Gordon’s frivolous “solution” to higher prices here, when he advised workers to “stop buying” certain items. On the contrary, working men have a duty to themselves, their families, and their union, to see that steps are taken to cope with the situation before rising prices get com- pletely out of control and threaten the basis of existing wage rates won by trade union action. : What are the steps necessary in this situation? First, a demand by the united labor movement of BC for an overhaul of the cost-of-living index and an immedi- ate increase by the federal government in the cost-of-living bonus. ; SEE PAGE FOUR ra ee Eins i