JEOPL = —s (LABOR’S VOICE FOR VICTORY Il. No. 21 o> 5 Cents Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, May 29, 1943 x uta, Too, Has Courage That Wins oS ‘viet Lt.-Col Nestor Solodovnik, serving as a Soviet news- er corresrpondent with the British Eighth Army, visits amily on the island of Malta, most bombed spot on earth. ar-the doorway of the stone shelter is the name “Stalin- d,” tribute to the Soviet city which had the courage to ‘id out and rout the Nazis. oilermakers Meet unday On Contracts the managements of West Coast Shipyards and Hamilton ize have agreed to all our demands, with one exception,” =2am Stewart, president of the Boilermakers’ and Iron Ship- Bers’ Union, Local No. 1, told The People this week. “They hto give us union recognition, fuse to grant the closed Managements have present- Sposals of their own to the f and the government, which 2 considerd at two meetings Ee held this Sunday. rts of the Boilermakers to closed shop agreements for ‘ards were complicated last sty by the announcement of $i Welders, Gutters and Help- Ocal 1, that they were pre- s& closed shop agreeements vest Coast. Sub-Local EE, irs’ and Burners’ Union, p Deen pressing for a closed i shop agreement with West Coast, Hamilton Bridge and Dominion Bridge. Boilermakers’ Union, having the majority of members in West Goast yards, states that United Welders’, Cutters’ and MHelpers’ Union is not in a position to ask for a closed shop, or to ask any conces- sions of the company. “The action of the United Weld- ers may have the effect of sabo- taging, prolonging, and stalling ne- gotiations between the Boiler- makers’ Union and the manage- ment,” stated Thomas MacKenzie, secretary-treasurer of the Boiler- makers, OFFICIAL TEXT Ci DISSOLUTION | —Page Nine Tim Buck Writes On ECCI Decision —Page Seven Howe Again Shuts Down Plane Plant MONTREAL.—For the sec- ond time within a month, Mu- nitions Minister C. D. Howe ordered the shutting down of plants engaged in vital aircraft production. Patriotic workers here were forced to stay away from their jobs on May 24 because of Howe’s order stating that air- eraft plants having expressed their desire to work because of the need of steady production should be shut down “if their operation meant the payment of double- time.” The plants effected are under agreement with Lodge 712 of In- ternationalAssociation of Machin- ists. Jean Pare, business agent of Lodge 712 issued a statement this week sharply criticizing Howe’s high-handed manner in ordering the shutdown. On May 21 the air- eraft union, anxious to ayoid a loss in production, urged Howe to change his decision “in view of the urgent need for aircraft.” The minister curtly replied: “Montreal plants will be closed on Monday because the agreement with your lodge specifies this day as a holiday. At the time of ne- gotiations of this agreement your lodge was aware of the vital need for aircraft, yet insisted on the necessity of a holiday on May 24. Accordingly, the holiday will be observed.” i After receiving this childish out- burst from the minister of muni- tions and supply, Lodge 712 sent the following reply: “In view of the war emergency we have always urged our mem- bers to forego their holiday in the interests of production, but we fail to see why labor standards which have been established for years should be broken down when they do not hinder production. Coming from your department where dol- lar-a-year men threaten to resign if their twenty-five dollars a day expenses are taxed, we find your actions and statement almost hypo- critical. “We have yet to hear as forth- right a declaration of your desire to attack the labor movement and destroy trade unionism. The cal- lous neglect of the problems of production and your attempt to throw on to labor the burden of responsibility for your own pro- vocation is quite in line with your recent action in closing down the Boeing plant for a week. “In view of our previous experi- ence it is not surprising to us-to learn that plants in this area cov- ered by company-union agreements See HOWE — Page 8 OCI Camps Back Production Drive ~ Loggers on the Queen Charlotte Islands are intensifying the fight both for an increase in the production of airplane spruce and for recognition of their union by the logging op- erators, declared Harold J. Pritchett, president of the BC Dis- trict Council, International Woodworkers of America, who is back in Vancouver this week after a six-week tour. “Outstanding feature of my trip was the sentiment expressed in all camps of the need for pro- ducing more of the vital airplane spruce and through that to help smash Hitler,” Pritchett said. “This point*of view was general in spite of the loggers’ continued dissapointment at failure of the operators to concede their legal de- mand for collective bargaining rights.” Before the IWA official left for Vancouver, some of the logging operators on the Islands were quoted in the press as stating that his trip would result in ‘nothing but trouble, with no good purpose being served.” Pritchett was able to report three important results, howeyver— establishment of labor-manage- ment production committees in every camp, 400 new IWA mem- bers, and response to his cam- paign for support of the Victory Loan that put the Queen Charlotte Island camps close to 50 percent over their assigned quota. “In one camp alone—Church Creek—with only 70 men, the original quota was $7,000. When I left the men had subscribed $19,000 and were still going strong,” he reported, Altogether he addressed 21 meet- ings in all major camps in the area, every one with a full attend- ance. He was accompanied at most meetings by Ray Fraser, official representative of the National War Finance Committee. Both travelled from camp to camp on the TWA boat “Annart,’”’ operated by John McCuish, international organizer of Local 1-71. Highlight of the tour was 2 conference of union delegates irom all camps of Aero Timber Products, a crown company. The conference, held at Juskatila, headquarters camp of Aero Tim- ber, and attended by 27 delegates, drew up a union agreement for presentation to the company and laid final plans for establishing production committees. See QCIE CAMPS — Page 3 Fish Canneries Sign Agreement With Union Agreement was reached this week between Fish Cannery & Reduction Plant Workers, Local 89, and BC Patkers Litd., in regard to working conditions at their two Edmunds and Walker plants in Vancouver and New Westminster. The main point of dispute was that of multiple pay for overtime work. The new agreement pro- vides that time-and-a-quarter will be paid for all hours in excess of 48 in one week or ten in one day for workers in the cold storage plant at New Westminster. Work- ers in the plant at the foot of Campbell Avenue here will receive time-and-a-quarter for hours in ex- cess of 48 in one week and nine in one day. Employees in both plants are to receive an upward readjust- ment in wage scale amounting to an additional five cents per hour for all categories. Two weeks’ holiday with pay will be given all employees after twelve months continuous service with the company. Hours will be controlled by local plant managers and union plant committees. The agreement will be submitted to the Regional War Labor Board for approval.