OPLE’S VOICE FOR PROGRESS SS 5 Cents F -ouver, B.C., Friday, November 30, 1945 or To Nest part _ PERT, B C. — -+t’s Civic Labor “resenting all lo- - CL unions, which rity on this city’s 201 board for the +s, has again en- -e in the field for " ivie Elections. ba iy Daggett was lorsed for a third -» Mayor Daggett -nting labor and -, which is spear- “it to solve Prince | asic problems — shipbuilding, and | ice Rupert’s des- 't industrial port. lliam Brett, now |e provincial legis- aing, leaving five ts vacant. These ted by Alderman jham, J. S. Black, 7; Pat -Foreman, oder, - 1 candidates will 'e Roper, present © Board, and Mrs. a the aldermanic -_ announced by a -Styled ._Indepen- 28, including Cliff ‘oungs, and Alder- nold. ign committes is final draft of the the campaign will y almost immedi- Non-Partisans Opposed By Labor Principal target for attack by the trade union alderman- ic slate in the civic election campaign will be the reac- tionary Non-Partisan Asso- ciation. This was the emphat- ic statement of policy given by the labor candidates and cam- paign managers before this week’s regular meetifig of thé CCL Vancouver Labor Council, after delegates had accepted with regret the withdrawal of Don Barbour, whose property quali- fications -were not in order, and chose by acclamation unionist Jack Lawson, member of the Boilermakers’ Union, as their final choice to round out the Union-Veteran C’ttee Demand Prompt Action On Reconversion Plans As a consequence of the critical unemployment situation in the pro- vince as a result of failure to implement reconversion plans, the All-Union Veterans Reconversion Committee will meet with Labor Minister George Pearson in Victoria this week, to press for the immediate setting up of the Reconversion Committee, promised by Pearson in August. Pearson, at the time that the Reconversion Committee visited the Pro- BY 4 iy NITED ~_ four-man slate. The council meeting, mainly occupied with the two key prob- lems of the Ford strike and the civic elections, also set a com- pletely new precedent when dele- gates welcomed to the council rostrum R. K. Gervin, secretary of the AFL Vancouver Trades and Labor Council, speaking briefly on the elections along with his AFL running mate Tom Parkin. This marked the first eccasion since the CCL council was established that official rep- resentatives of the AFL had at- tended its meetings. Commenting on the signifi- eance of the occasion, AFL mem- ber Tom Parkin saw it as indica- tive of a growing trend of labor to work -unitedly on joint prob- lems. “T would like to see the present AFL-CCL unity around the election campaign extended to the solving of other mutual problems,” Parkin declared, as- serting that in the coming elec- tion “were going to show the Non-Partisan Association and others that labor needs a voice in the City fall and that we will have a voice after December 12.” R. K. Gervin told CCL mem- bers that he had entered the campaign “as the oficial nominee of the Trades and Labor Council and with the intention of work- (Continued on Page 8) See OPPOSED BOR x ™~- Civic Clean Up — Time for a Change ! Demand For Action Grows On Ford Strike Vancouver labor observed national ‘‘Ford Strike Day”’ on Friday with mass meetings, special lunch-hour meetings in sawmills, shipyards and industrial plants, and day’s pay collections sent to the thousands of Ford strikers on the picket line at Windsor. The day was set aside for nationwide support to the Wind- sor struggle by the special na- tional council meeting of the Canadian Congress of Labor, held in Toronto last week. Meetings in Vancouver were featured by the despatch of scores of telegrams to the feder- al gevernment urging immedi- ate negotiations for séttlement of the strike or the taking over of the plant by a government controller. Coliections from Vancouver and B.C. unionists, exclusive of Friday’s day’s pay drive, totalled $26,000 sent directly to Windsor through the B.C. Ford Strike Committee. In addition, Harold Pritchett, secretary of the com- mittee, estimates that some $20,- 000 more has been sent by local unions outside the city and not registered with the local strike committee. Some idea of the extent of the contributions was shown in re. ports to this week’s meeting of the ‘Vancouver Labor Council. Two locals of the International Woodworkers of America — Locals 1-71 and 1-217 ~—- have taken in fré6m their members $8700 and $1700 |lrespectively, (Continued on Page 2) See ACTION vincial Government for endorsation of labors re- conversion program, promised that a commit- tee comprised of fifteen representatives of: labor, civic, and industrial bodies would be established. Mayor Cornett was understood to have been in charge of mak- ing plans for another meet- ing with the Labor Minister, but labor representatives on the committee this week reported that Cornett has done nothing about convening a meeting, and prepared to go to Victoria inde- pendent of the civic government. _Habor will_ask_ six represen- |tatives on the new committee. Four delegates will be: chosen from Vancouver and two from Victoria. Plans include the per- manent employment of three committee-men and the sending of one full-time representative to Ottawa. The function of the committee will be to co-ordinate activities of labor, industry and other public bodies to institute realis- tic, plans to reconvert British Columbia’s industry to meet the ever .- growing unemployment erisis. With the shipyard indus- try announcing that five thous- and or less workers will be ieft in that industry by Christmas, and war industries folding up throughout the province as the last contracts are cancelled by the federal government, thous- ands of workers have been thrown out of employment, and theusands more ere threatened with unemployment at ean early date. William White, president of the Boi:ermakers’ and Iron Ship- builders’ Union, stated this week that the Unemployment Insur- ance Commission was cutting un- employed workers off insurance payments and was using this means to starve workers into submission. He stated that work- ers were finding it increasiagly difficult to find employment paying a living wage, and that aithough employers are attempt- ing to pare wages down to pre- war levels the cost of living is still soaring. UNEMPLOYED VETERANS The critical unemployment sit- uation came under fire from an- other source this week, as Colin S. Wilson, Secretary - Treasurer of the New Veterans Branch, Canadian Legion, told P.A. “there are 10,000 unemployed veterans in Vancouver, with lit- (Continued on Page 8) See LAYOFFS