ERTIA CONTINUES

Jones Financial Spectre

PEOPLE’S VOICE FOR PROGRESS

4 No. 36

>

5 Cents

VANCOUVER, B.C., SATURDAY, JULY 7, 1945

Is Time-Tested Stall

in. City Housing Crisis

The “Nine Old Men” of the City Council fulfilled their ‘role as Van-
couver’s greatest liability last week in their tacit refusal to cooperate in

measures designed to solve the-crisis created by the housing muddle.

statement to the press,

son fishing, held up
Shout the B.C. coast for
i veek, opened last Sun-
right after the United
faen and Allied Workers’
and the Native Brother.
yintly- issued wires. to all
S:ganizations and members
icing that an agreement
sn reached canning
for all types of salmon.
seven-day tieup
r demonstration of unity
termination by B.C. sal-
hhermen, received the full
of gillnetters and sein-
was endorséd by both the

2aen’s Union and the Na-
otherhood. Not one boat
to fish sockeyes from
and Smith’s Inlets. At the
where large numbers of
‘vere awaiting notice to
ymmplete' solidarity pre-

on

was a

decision to permit fishing
A was made by the joint
ting committee of union
otherhood, after agree-
was reached Friday with
ilmon Canners Operating
ttee, The agreement
1. covered all minimum
and the wire bore~ the
res of George Miller, UF-
and Guy Williams, Native
rhood business agent.

he final meeting between
iting committee and oper-
the outstanding issue at
, was the price for pinks
ums. Fishermen had voted
“pt prices for sockeye, co-
2d spring and steelheads,
d rejected the operators’
ed minimum of 2% cents
und for Johnstone Straits
‘e Fraser River, two and
Ester, for the, Central and
fm Areas, and two cents
‘lund for QCI, for pinks and
i. The negotiating commit-
+S proposing the signing of
‘reement for three cents,
nd a half cents, and two
_ half cents per pound for
and chums.

ir consultation - by  tele-
with the Minister of Fish-
Ls operators and fisher-

Ina

Alderman Charles Jones, Acting Mayor in the
absence of J. W. Cornett, pointed out that any solution of the housing

men met to arbitrate the quart-
er cent dispute that existed after
a scale of payment was proposed
in a telegram from the Ministry.

Agreement has since been
reached and the scale of payment
will be Fraser and Johnstone
Straits three cents, Central and
Northern. Areas two and three-
quarter cent, QCI two and a half
cents for pinks and chums. It is
to be noted though that 1945

prices for white springs, pinks

and chums may be one-quarter

cent per pound less if the oper-
ators, prior to October 1, 1945
apply for arbitration on grounds
of inability to pay and if the
arbitration board verifies the
eperators’ claim. :

At a special meeting of the
Vancouver local of the UFAWU,
held last Friday, the members
voted to approve the action of
the- joint negotiating committee,
and welcomed the splendid unity
between gillnetters and seiners,
and between the Union and Na-
tive Brotherhood that had been
displayed during the tie-up, The
meeting went on record in favor
of asking that 80 percent of the
Johnstone Strait chum catch be
paid for at freezer prices.

Ship

Unions Must

Take The Initiative

The recently concluded agreement on piecework rates in
the shipyards of Vancouver, agreements that if accepted by
the workers will mean an end to a dispute that was precipitat-
ed by the refusal of the shipbuilders to consider rates submit-

ted by the union when construc-
tion on the new transport-ferry
type of
brought into focus the question
of the future of the coastal ship-
building industry. Attempts have
already been obviously made to
undermine the shipyard unions,
and the attitude of the ship-
builders, with the conclusion of
hostilities in Europe, has hard-
ened considerably toward the
unions.

vessel commenced

Internal strife has been fo-
mented in many unions,- the
Boilermakers’ Union being a
striking example, and much is
being done to undermine the
gains that unions achieved dur-
ing the course of the war. There
is a erying need for unity within

the unions in the shipyards to
offset attempts to break the

unions, either from within or

without.

If the west coast is to enter
into a period of stable economy,
based on a full utilization of the
region’s resources, a strong lead
will have to be offered by the
trade union movement as a
whole, and a key role will be
played by the unions of the
shipbuilding industry.

The shipyard unions must
fight for a recognition of the
importance of the maintenance
of shipbuilding as a key indus-
try, and must play a leading
role in the reconversion of in-
dustry to peacetime needs.

muddle would create addition-
al financial strain and asserted
further that the public does
not realize the cost of
straightening out the mess
that the council has made of
Vancouver’s housing prob-
lem. In making this state-
ment, Alderman Jones fell
back on the city council’s
time-tested recipe, that of
raising the spectre of financial
chaos each time practical sug-
gestions are made which will
solve the housing muddle.

In the face of the city coun-
cil’s inertia, the British Colum-
bia Contractors’ Association
made headlines in the daily press
with their “heavyweight attack”’
to overcome what was termed
“Ottawa- inertia,” which it was
claimed “clogged the province’s
home building program.’ Char-
les H. Thorn, Association secre-
tary, announced the formation of
a private limited company which
will endeavor to get machinery
working for the building of vet-
eran’s homes throughout the
province. In this, the B.C. con-
tractors appear to be attempting
to play on public concern for the
welfare of returned servicemen
by high - pressuring housing
measures, planned primarily for
the benefit of the contractors
themselves, in the face of the
mess created by the council’s re-
fusal to act before the crisis
reached its present proportions.
CHAOTIC CONDITION

Elgin Ruddell, secretary of the
Citizens’ Emergency Housing
Committee stated to P.A.: ‘Al
though plans by the score are be-
ing put forward, these plans will
be meaningless unless the city
council cooperates. If the coun-
cil persists in its refusal to act
in the face of the present emer-
geney, a chaotic condition will
face the people of this city, and
the attempts of any group to
right the jumble that has caused
the present emergency will mean
nothing.”

“The obvious fact is that the
city council can best protect
its financial interests by mak-
ing practical proposals itself,
which will meet the need for
housing and at the same time
insure that the city contributes

only a fairs share to the
scheme.”’
Ruddell further pointed out

that the carping attitude of the
city council is no substitute for
the putting forward of plans that
may be acted on immediately to
break the deadlock. “The, pros

Continued on Page. 8
See HOUSING

‘