jhe Boeing Issue -- , National Problem Bil. ; By “SHOP STEWARD” BE recent lockout at the Boeing Aircraft plants in Vancou- /yer, upon the order of Ralph Bell, director-general of hor Eft production in Canada, bring into sharp relief one of eiajor handicaps that hampers labor in making its fullest mibution to Canada’s war effort. on ge en the surface the Boeing i of some 8,000 aircraft i te; for a period of 5 days; fe ‘ed to the man on the “Sto be a labor-management- ment disagreement on the er otherwise, of 10-minute Se riods—at best, a minor af- ty Hiically the issue at Boeings _ SSne of Canada’s major prob- 1 Jo that of a government at- Sz x towards organized labor, or nel? towards all labor prob- kl Wiis they arise from the new to jions of wartime econcemy. iditude, that if continued (isle longer, will not only create iS@icus crisis in our war econ- li @piut will create a social prob- on 51 the first magnitude, en- te icing our whole war-effort ti ost-war reconstruction. Whe fe e le@e Bceing aircraft workers, Ete with other workers gener- yre deeply loyal to the cause : § Allied Nations—the smash- Hg »£ German fascism. -They Pit is their fight, and they fno homilies on patriotism “® quarters which experience nown are not qualified to (such advice. The Boeing Wes are keenly concerned J@iclane production, and rat- Si resent the fact that their ssilons for more efficient = ae dS of production are icly waved aside by a bu- fatie officialdom. lause Of s HEN Ralph Bell and the Hon. C. D. Howe ordered the clos- ing down of the Boeing Aircraft plants in Vancouver, using an obsolete agreement and “plant rules” as an argument for doing so, they made one thing clear to organized labor at least — that they hardly fit persons for the position of responsibility they hold. They also made it clear that just so long as the govern- ment wursues such high-handed and dictatorial methods in deal- ing with labor’s justifiable needs and proposals for greater war- production, just so long will Gan- ada fall short of its maximum effort An alleged violation of an “open shop” agreement, effected in 1940 covering some 500 workers, is not a2 sound argument for closing down vital aircraft plants em- ployine 8,000 workers in 1943. Co) HE attitude of Mr. Howe's Gepartment to the represen- tatior. of the Boeing workers on produczion would indicate that it is his fervent desire to keep “the lid en’ at Boeings. In reply to their request for a public com- Mission to investigate plane pro- ductioi; ut Boeings, Mr. Howe States that his department, to- gether with the Boeing manage- ment, have all the machinery ne- cessary to take care of any de- fects in production schedules. That is splendid, but the experi- ire Welding. Rays Sterility? . 2RE Seems to be a fairly widespread rumor that are ® velding causes damage to the reproductive organs so ‘he welder, male or female, is unable to have ehilsteona. owever, the ultra-violet rays which are given off in arc “ig have very little power meéiration. Ordinary cloth- bsorbs a good part of the < and the rest are absorbed “mie topmost layers of the i@® = None of- the rays get EMS 2h to the vital organs of i@@iuction. welding arc also produces Me red rays, the kind that are Bced by the “baking lamps” -ectors’ offices. These rays N\senetrate somewhat deeper the ultra-iolet rays of the ag arc, but as everyone 8 who has had a baking ® treatment, they produce a deal of heat as well. Be- they could cause any real maze to the vital organs, a te sensation of burning m1 be noticed and the effect € burning would be quite ofortable. * Only ‘rays which are known Capable of causing sterility x-rays. Experiments have Conducted in industrial s to determine whether —- » are emitted by the welding Welders carried dental xray @ in their pockets for weeks time to test whether the ie are produced X-rays, but 2sults failed to indicate even lightest amount of X-ray oes i @ EIS very unlikely that the *iding are of itself can cause sterility. On the other hand, welders are also subject to metal fume feyer and to lead or mang- anese poisoning. Lead poisoning is a hazard which occurs when metals covered with lead paint are cut by either the electric are or the oxy-acetylene flame. The intense heat causes the for- mation of lead fumes which are capable of producing rapid and severe poisoning of the welder. This has become a ‘real danger in the shipyards, where surfaces already painted with red lead are being welded into place in order to speed up production. Unless proper precautions are taken, cases of serious lead poisoning are likely to result. Lead poisoning can and does cause damage to the vital sex- ual tissues resulting in sterility and miscarriages. Usually, how- ever, lead poisoning causes other Symptoms as well, such as fa- tigue, listlessness, poor appetite, constipation and abdominal pain. In summary, it appears to be highly improbable for are weld- ing rays to damage the repro- ductive organs. On the other hand, if welding fumes are not properly controlled, it is possible that lead poisoning or metal- fume fever may have a bad effect. The answer, therefore, lies in the effective control of welding fumes, ence of the Boeing workers has shown that it just doesn’t work that way. One might be pardoned in suggesting, if this was so, why sthe censistent opposition on the part 9f the management to give effect to the production propos- als of the Boeing workers? And why are those-workers who take a@ serious interest in production problems—who strive for genuine labor-management cooperation in production—who are the most ac- tive union members — dismissed from the service at Boeings, with no explanation given for their dis- miissa!? The “termination” of the serv- ices of Elgin Budell, an active unionist and production booster, without any regard for the Na- tional Selective Service regula- tions, is hardly consistent with Mr. Howe's claim of having all the machinery necessary for the ironing out of production prob- lems? There are many “whys?” crop- ping up since the Boeing lock- out. One might ask “how come’’ that a certain gentleman of va- tied talents, who used to write the fascist anti-Soviet diatribes that the erstwhile Tom McInnes used to broadcast some years ago on behalf of the anti-labor policies of prominent BC in- dustrialists, has become the lial son man-Friday for the Boeing management, whose main job would appear to be keeping news of the Boeing dispute out of the Participation in the May Day parade of these smartly-dressed Boeing girls helped to bring their successful demand for rest periods before the public. daily press, or holding such down to a minimum? Genuine labor- management cooperation in iron- ing out production problems does not require the services of such talent. e ees Boeing workers returned to work without any prom- ises that their grievances would be adjusted. Their main interest, stated time and again by their union executive and spokesmen, was and is more plane produc- tien. While they were locked out they subscribed over $575,000 to the 4th Victory Loan drive. That in itself gives the lie to the criti- eal claptrap that is passed for “patriotism,” in advising the Boe- ing workers how to “behave.” A little commonsense from the Hon. CC. DBD. Howe's department could easily have averted the scandal of ordering vital aircraft plants out of production on the eve of Canada’s coming offensive against Hitler. i) HE National War Labor Board is at present sitting in Otta- wa; its job is to hear labor’s case for a square deal in war economy. If the Boeing lockout established one essential and burning need, it is this—that every union in British Columbia should present a brief to the NLWEB, stating its ease for full labor participation in the production, administration, and execution of Canada’s war effort; for a “Bill of Rights” for labor that will rule out for good the dictatorial “solutions” of the Bell-Howe method, and make labor a partner in fact as well as form, in the WNation’s greatest struggie for democratic survival. Labor’s 21 Questions EQUESTS were made by others at the earlier ses- sions of this inquiry that the Board make available cer- tain factual material for those who will be participating in these proceedings. We have a similar request te make and list some of the outstanding questions to which it appears to us the Board should obtain ap- propriate data from the particu- lar departments of the govern- ment involved so that it may be filed with’ the proceedings and available for all parties. We have in the meantime pre- pared a preliminary statement in a general way of the views of the Trades and Labor Con- gress, and the organizations and membership represented by it, on the matters which this en- quiry will be dealing with, but we will supplement this state- ment by a further presentation of our views after the material we now ask for has been made available. The questions on which we think information should be placed at the disposal of the en- quiry are as follows: 1. How is the cost of living index made up? What commodi- ties is it based on and how and when are the prices or figures obtained upon which the index is computed? -2. What subsidies or subven- tions have been paid by or on the recommendation of the War- time Prices and Trade Board, and what are the reasons for the subsidies and subventions? S: Do employers, whether manufacturers or distributors, re- eeive any other financial assist- ance or other aid from or through the government in connection with managing their affairs or maintaining their price levels, and if so, what is the nature of such assistance? 4. What price increases have Thousands of Cana- dian werkers are to- day looking for an answer to the follow- ing 21 questions re- cently submitted by officers of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada for consid- eration by the Na- tional War Labor Board now im session at Ottawa. been permitted by the Wartime Prices and Trade Board and the reasons for the same? 5. What is the total profits for the fiscal years of 1939, 1940, 1941 and 1942 and what was the total capital during these years as verified by the Department of Finance? 6. As to each of these years, how much of these profits have been taxed by the Dominion goy- ernment? 7. What proportion of such taxes are refundable, and under what circumstances? 8. Upon what principles is the excess profits tax computed and what are the exceptions, if any? 9. Generally, what financial payments or other assistance has been given by the government to industry since the outbreak of the war? 10. How much depreciation has been allowed against taxa- tion on plant construction or plant equipment since the out break of the war and how much of such depreciation allowance has been made under authority of the War Contracts Deprecia- tion Board? : 11. What is the number and value of plants or plant equip- ment owned’ by the government but managed by private compan- ies, and what are the terms of eontract of management as to purchase of plant or equipment by the managing’ companies and the rems or remuneration for Management of such plants or equipment? 12. Have the natural re- sources or other property rights of the people been leased or sold since the outbreak of the war and what are the terms of such transactions including duration of any leases? 13. What new wartime indus- tries have been introduced into Canada since the outbreak of the war and at whose cost as to initial installation and the ex- perimental period? 14. Who controls patent rights involved in these operations? 15. How is the bonded debt of the Dominion of Canada dis- tributed as between banks or other financial or corporate in- stitutions and others? 16. Who are the main primary contractors in wartime industry? 17. In what way does the gov- ernment supervise the full utili- zation of plant capacity and labor power, whether by primary contractors or sub-contractors? What is the geographical distri- bution of this work? 18. Has the cost of production of war commodities decreased Since the outbreak of the war and has there been an increase in per man hour productivity Since the outbreak of the war, and to what degree? 19. In what way do the work ers Share in the results of in- creased productivity or decreased cost of production? 20. What steps are being taken by the government to avoid pro- tracted layoffs and unemploy- ment in war industries? 21. What steps are being taken to ensure reasonable minimum Supplies of essential foods and commodities for the people?