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.