cod fsockeye season on July 1. 1 Saturday locals of the United ‘ermen’s Federal Union in Van- per, at Fraser River points and f= the coast will meet to de- } on future moves. Their rec- jendations will then be handed Sheir Joint Negotiating Gom- : ih se for action. The negotiating 3 nittee represents all locals of = JFFU and the Native Brother- ) of BC, with locals on the mm Gharlottes and along the HJdand coast as far north as the * River. feantime, with negotiations - yveen fishermen and cannery Hrators for the 1943 agreement fied, there is strong possibility @: the entire salmon fishing fistty may come to a stand- } at a time when preparations ® normally made for the open- of the seckeye season at irs and Smiths Inlet on the it day of July. iclared William Burgess, secre- of the UFFU: fe are doing our utmost to @ li a fishing tie-up and loss of Fon production which threatens ere is no change in the atti- f of the government and oper- *. We are prepared if neces- E to. send a representative dele- *=n to Ottawa by plane to so- m aid of the BCG members of ®iederal house in assuring un- rupted and maximum fish eP uction.” : ishermen, whose wires and tail letters to Ottawa asking clarification of the WETB hr remain unanswered and ecknowledged, point uot that order which pegs maximum Aes to fishermen at last year’s imum price set by the union fement and automatically re- les their income does not lower price canners will receive for f finished product. ‘et there be no distortion of Pissue,” points out an editorial fhe Fisherman, which repre- ®@s the organized fishermen of “The fishermen are not pro- & against government resula- of the price of fish to the con- er. They are not asking that Canadian or British people More for canned salmon this = than they did last. What the men are protesting against the actions of government de- Ments which are creating a S and threaten to drastically ce fish production during the ng year. The fishermen are esting against the flood of Tnment orders passed without jultation with their organiza- er consideration of their Hishermen-are protesting mst the palpably unfair as- *%S of these orders which, with- affording the consumer a de cent’s worth of relief are eulated to rob the primary pro- £r of @ considerable proportion his hard-earned income. Such + tuation cannot but reduce pro- ®tion of fish and damage our niry’s war effort ih the inter- = “ Gov't Order Halts id : >) = weason s Opening /apparent gang-up between the Department of Fisheries the Salmon Canners Operating Committee under which the rime Prices Board has pegged salmon prices to fishermen ow the 1942 level without reducing the pack price paid to operators will likely be answered this weekend by organized fermen’s refusal to take their boats out for the opening of CF ishing Tie-up Threatened | willing to sacrifice as any other group in the community.” : All locals of United Fishermen’s Union have condemned the un- fairness and impracticability of the order and are supported by representatives of Native Brother- hood and the Fishing Vessel Own- ers’ Associafion. At the first meet- ing with operators on May 25 fish- ermen submitted that negotiations would be seriously handicapped unless the Wartime Prices and Trade Board would declare a def- inite policy as to whether or not amendments to Order A-723 would be accepted if agreed upon as a result of collective bargaining ne- gotiations between the two groups. Operators at that time agreed, and a joint telegram to WPTB was sent immediately, followed by an airmail letter from the unions to Dr, D. B. Finn, deputy minister of fisheries who is apparently re- sponsible for the framing of the order, To date the union has received no word from Finn, although it is reported that operatros were told in a telegram from A. WN. Mac- Lean, WPTB administrator of fish- eries, that no amendments would be made, as to do so at this time “would delay the start of fishing operations.”’ “Fishermen are so dissatisfied with this order,’ the Fisherman’s editorial continues, “that they feel there is no point in beginning to fish, no point in leaving shore jobs to return to fishing this year unless it is amended.” At a meeting June 4, fishermen decided to draw up a brief which will be presented to all British GCo- lumbia MP’s, protesting the arbi- trary Manner in which the matter has been dealt with by govern- ment officials. Their attitude, fish- €rmen state, is a denial of the Tight of collective bargaining. The: one bright spot in this year’s negotiations, fishermen agree has been the wholehearted cooperation between representa- tives of the UFFU and Native Brotherhood. Native representa- tives are just as firm in the con- viction that the bureaucratic pol- icy now being followed by goy- ermment representatives must cease in the interests of war pro- duction as UFFU members. Over a year ago the UFFU, real- izing the necessity for the utmost cooperation between management, labor and the government, pro- posed the establishment of an ad- visory council on the coast to tackle all problems in a spirit of “friendly collaboration, and in a practical fashion.” The initiative shown by the fishermen at that time unfortunately found no re- sponse in government circles. Before it is too late, warn fish- ermen, a halt must be called to this type of administrative order which penalizes the fishermen with- out helping the consumer. The only consequence of such a policy, they maintain, will be growing and justified dissatisfaction amongst fishermen to a loss of essential and SS G = Members of the lucky crew Flying Fortress Com epee Se : aS On Wing 25% examine their battered Flying Fortress which they just barely managed to bring back to its base in North A frica after a raid over Palermo, Sicily. and Prayer ss Gace oe ships—referred to by seaman sea’’—and to endorse a resolution originated in London by National Union of Seamen members and ap- proved by more than fifty crews of British ships in Canadian and US ports. The necessity for a solid front and aggressive union consciousness among seamen was emphasized by Pat Murphy, who told more than 100 seamen present: “¥ would like to be able to sail vitish “Shum Ships’ Scored By Seamen Canadian and British merchant seamen met in the Holden Building here last Sunday to demonstrate their solidarity, unify their fight for decent living conditions on British merchant Pat Murphy as “slums of the into a foreign port and point with pride to conditions aboard Brit- ish ships, but I couldn’t do it, for conditions are a disgrace. Even on the Queen Mary there isn’t a mess room for stewards; they eat standing up like ostriches.” Criticism was levelled at the British seamen’s union itself. The powers of executive members were too extensive, seamen declared, who prefer the election of one dele- gate on each boat, elected before many more in the process of or- ganization. Calls for organizational assistance are issued every day by fruit and vegetable workers, truck drivers and others, according to CCL organizers here. The Municipal Employees of Penticton, BC, have yoted 99 per- cent in favor of affiilation with the Canadian Congress of Labor, and have applied for a charter. The local has also elected a negotiation committee to bargain with the municipality for their 1943 agree- ment. This action of the munipical em- ployees followed a recent decision of the Regional War Labor Board which upheld the council’s wage schedule over that submitted by workers who sought salary in- -ereases to bring their wages into line with those paid in other areas. The Fruit and Vegetable Work- ers’ Union now has seven estab- lished locals in the Valley, the latest organized at Salmon Arm. A strong local was also established of which fishermen are as valuable fishing effort. at Vernon recently. Okanagan Union Drive Reaches New Territory Union organization in the Okanagan reached a new high this week, with ten locals, chartered by Canadian Congress »f Labor, already organized among workers in the section of the interior stretching northward from the International boundary. at Osoyoos to Salmon Arm, and@— Meet to Discuss Production To overcome “shortcomings in labor-management committee rela- tions,” Vancouver Shipyard Union Conference will meet on Friday, June 18, in the Holden Building to map out a program of activity for such committees, Bert Smith, sec- retary, said recently. “Very evident shortcomings ex- isting in labor management rela- tions tend to limit rather than de- velop the initiative, responsibility and cooperation vitally necessary to increased production,” the con- ference call letter stated. “It is our belief that in the interest of soly- ing production problems and many related questions, these shortcom- ings must be overcome.” A committee has been set up to study the present functioning of labor-management committees and draw up proposals for discussion at the meeting. the crew sails, to act as their rep- resentative. “There is no seamen’s rule democracy in the book,” protested Murphy. “The executive powers are too wide. Branch meetings should be held often and regularly to discuss seamen’s problems.” “Qur job is te make this sea- men’s union—this husk of a union —into a real union, and if we do that we will have the support of the people at home and abroad. In other trade unions members get improvements by fighting for them, not by waiting for fayors from others.” Murphy warned against pro- fascist influences in Britain, such as those of groups headed by Lady Aster, Lord Halifax and the Duke of Bedford. “These people hate the working class aS much as Hitler does. A good strong trade union is the one fortress than can defend our stan- dards after the war,’ he continued. Bill Stewart, president of the Boilermakers Union which, he told the meeting, had experienced that same danger of “rule-from-the-top- down” as the seamen now faced. stated that while the sacrifices of the merchant seamen are appreci- ated, few ‘people seem to realize the conditions under which these sacrifices are being made. Vaneouver Labor Council Presi- dent E. B®. Leary described condi- tions When he was at sea forty years ago, when there were no unions, and seamen were “licked by bucko mates and busted around with belaying pins.” Conditions aboard modern Brit- ish ships, he said, were deplorable. : “They smack of the old wind- Jammer days,” he stated. “And the §overnment is as much to blame as the Shipping Federation,” The resolution passed by the meeting demanded immediate re- moval of a number of grievances. It asked for higher .wages, bet- ter food and accommodations, overtime pay at double rates and a set of regulations “printed in plain English” and similar to those carried by Australian, New Zealand and United States sea- men.