| Published Weekly at 130 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, B.C. be Phone Trinity 4464 GEORGE H. BROWN HENRY J. LUNDGREN Editor - - - Business Manager - “Subscription Rates: Year $2.00, 6 Mos. $1.10, 3 Mos. 60c Make All Payments to: B.C. LUMBER WORKER, care of HENRY LUNDGREN TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE “JT IS doubtful if ever in the law courts of this f Dominion such an apparent frame-up has been perpetrated and carried through with such disgusting effrontry as is being enacted in the ‘trials of the Blubber Bay strikers. .. Twenty per cent of the Blubber Bay strikers have been arrested, all but three of them jailed or fined, for participating in a strike against the minions of the Industrial Association. Truly, as Garfield King, defense counsel, charged, the strikers are being prosecuted, not by the Crown but by the Pacific Lime Company. A few minutes of anybody’s time spent in the trial chamber is sufficient to convince one that the officials of Pacific Lime have tabulated those strikers and supporters whom they class as the ‘ones thwarting the company’s plans to break the ‘union, and these men are going over the road. Men who were not within a mile of the picket - line melee July 20 have been jailed for assault- _ 4ng Constable Campbell; jailed on the say-so of Constable Campbell and the parrot-like repeti- tion of his story by his fellow police officers and company officials. A Chinese striker, sick in a cabin at Lime Kiln Bay at the time of the meelee, was jailed for proving his alibi, proving it to the entire satisfaction of everybody but the police officers, company officials and the crown. Hans Petersen, who was standing far back from the melee, was jailed for holding the hands of Constable Campbell while he was at- tempting to make an arrest. And jailed on the evidence of Constable Campbell, his fellow of- ficers and company officials. Not one witness has been produced by the Crown except police officers and three company employees—the manager, the timekeeper and a clerk—and each has repeated, with parrot-like precision, the evidence of Constable Campbell— except when they slipped up, which did happen in one or two occasions when an officer, follow- ing Campbell to the stand, was absent when Campbell was testifying. That Garfield King, defense counsel, should quit the case is not surprising. Money and time would have been saved had the counsel notified the bench that his clients were convinced of the uselessness of submitting any defense evidence, that they were pleading not guilty, and asking “the magistrate to pass sentence and get it over with. One things is certain—these trials must be taken above the court which is handling them today. Regardless of the cost, they must be fought through to the bitter end. So long as a constable, who has admitted on the stand that he is sent invariably where there is a strike, is allowed to say, “That man assaulted me,” and have that man jailed even though he was not in the vicinity of the alleged assault, the trade union movement is on precarious ground. That the industrial magnates of B.C., the Log- ’ gers’ Association, the Shipping Federation, etc., ete., are’ concentrating to prevent the progres- sive growth of the trade union movement, goes without saying. By the looks of things, the Labor Department and the Attorney-General’s Department are giv- ing them every assistance. But employees before have moved to prevent organization, and law courts have been their allies, but the united power of labor has swept them aside. THE B.C. LUMBER WORKER And so it must be here. The handling of the Blubber Bay trials is a clarion call to labor in B.C. to organize and unite, to act quickly to check the raids by the Loggers’ Association and Shipping Federation on the rights to organize. Every man in camp and mill must realize the danger that is facing us, unless we arise to the occasion. The Blubber Bay case affords us the oppor- tunity to show the industrial barons the law courts and the governmental departments that united labor is more than an equal to them in their move to crush the trade union movement. SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS (OR the financial stability of the B.C. Lumber Worker, we owe a great deal to our adver- tisers. To the extent that we patronize our. ad- vertisers to that extent will they continue their advertisements and new advertisers be won for the paper. Too often we forget to inform these supporters of our identity as readers of this paper > and the reason for giving them our patronage. The result is that many of them feel that we are not giving them the expected support in return. Let every reader and member of the union be- come advertising conscious by coming to the office of the B.C. Lumber Worker and asking for “Patronage Cards” that can be left at every place patronized, and let us not forget our ad- vertisers. PREPARE THE GROUND — NOW! ITH the approach of cooler weather camps are starting to open. This week the loggers are starting their move to the camps, and before long it is expected the industry, at least as far as the fir camps are concerned, will be in full swing. If the organization is to go ahead this fall, all the work must not be left until the men are on the job. There is no time when organizational work cannot be done. True, it is on the job where real headway is made, and faced with concrete conditions and gathered together to discuss the problems of the job the need for organization is most felt. But to get full advantage of the oppor- tunity, preparations must be made before the loggers leave town. The unionization of B.C. log camps can never be done by the union officials alone. In this in- dustry the camp delegates and paper agents are the hub, and until the camp delegates and paper agents get going, little progress can be made. Nor should it be left until the crew gets on the job before camp delegates are chosen. This can be done in town. Every man who has the organization of the industry at heart owes it to himself and his fel- low workers to report to the union hall before leaving town. He should be certain that a dele- CLIP THIS OUT AND SEND TO THE B.C. LUMBER WORKER, 130 WEST HASTINGS ST., VANCOUVER, B.C. Date...... Enclosed please find the sum of $... for which enter my subscription to B.C. LUMBER WORKER for .. months and mail to address below SUBSCRIBER ..... = ADDRESS... ost —— Rates 12 Mos. — $200 6 Mos. — $1.10 3 Mos. — 60c Special Offer! As a special inducement to subscribers, to every purchaser of a 12-month subscription to the B.C. Lumber Worker ($2.00) we are giving free, a copy of “Builders of British Columbia’ by W. (OV Bill) Bennett. With 160 pages rich with the history of the labor movement of B.C. over the last 50 years, this book should be in the hands of every trade unionist, Regular price B.C. Lumber Worker (12 months)... Builders of British Columbia -... Total SPECIAL OFFER FOR ONE MONTH—BOTH FOR August9, 1938 | The Week | With Labor Vancouver, B.C.—The International Association. of Plumbers and Steamfitters, Local 170, has just con- cluded negotiations covering a new agreement with the 15 largest plumbing and heating firms in Vancouver. The new agreement, says Business Agent Chris Pritchard, carries the same wages of $1 per hour as in the old agreement, and the 40-hour week is maintained, but the new agreement stipulates that no firm will work its employees more than 40 hours in one week. This is done in an effort to do away with overtime and to provide work for those members who are un- employed. Local No. 170 is sending R. M. Simpson and Chris eS to the International Convention which will be held in Atlantic City in September. Following are the firms who have signed closed shop agreements with the union: Leek & Company; Gordon Lethem; Fred Welsh & Son; D. W. Ross & Company; Sid Hall; Acme Plumbing & Heating Company; A. W. Barber Limited; Barr & Anderson; B. Boe Limited; Kitsilano General Repairs; D. A. McDonald; O. S. Mc- Morran; Sano Heat Limited; Weeks & Company; F. N. Hamilton. = * * Vancouver, B.C.—The Truck Drivers’ Union and the Auto Mechanics’ Union are helping in an organization drive among service station and garage employees. Plans have been made for a big meeting, which will be held in Labor Headquarters, Tuesday, August 23, to which all garage and service station employees are invited. Members of organized labor who deal at such places are urged to notify these employees of the meet- ing and to urge them to attend and get information regarding the formation of such a union. * * * Washington, D.C.—A suit for $1,000,000 “damages” has been filed against the C.I.O. by an organization calling itself “The National Association of Industrial Insurance Agents.” The “Association” claims to feel aggrieved because the C.1.O. called it a company union. The case will come up eventually in a Federal District Court. og. * * Mexico City, Mexico.—While the foreign press and native reactionaries unite in their charges that Presi- dent Cardenas’ policy of confiscating railroads and oil fields is “spreading chaos,” the government gave “im- provement of the financial situation” as reason for rais- ing oil workers’ wages. The Administrative Council of Mexican Petroleum, the government body that now runs the confiscated oil industry stated: In view of the fact that the financial situation of this institution now makes such action possible, and in accordance with the express purpose of the govern- ment to place the decision of December 18, 1937, gradu- ally in effect, within the economic capacity of the in- dustry, it is decided to apply, beginning next week the clauses of the decision referring to wage scales.” The December 18 decision was one granted by the labor court against the private owners then controlling the oil industry, and granting the workers’ demands for higher wages. ‘The present payroll increase is to be 440,670 pesos a month ($88,141). At the same time reductions are ordered in the salaries of the so-called “‘confidential employees,” rang- ing from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. * * * Ottawa, Ont.—A provocative report carried in the Tory Toronto Evening Telegram to the effect that the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada was in receipt of orders from the American Federation of Labor to oust C.I.O. unions from its fold was vigorously denied by Congress officers last week. “The report is absolutely incorrect. Our organization is not under the direction of the A.F.L. and it has sent no such ultimatum to us,” R. J. Tallon, secretary- treasurer, said. Continual publication of. anti-union unity stories in the Toronto Tory paper indicated the Conservatives there were out to split the labor movement, it was reliably informed. gate and paper agent is already selected, with arrangements already made to carry on as soon as the camp opens. And this applies not only to delegates and agents, but to every union-conscious man. Come up to the hall and compare notes. Who is going to camp with you? How will you carry on your organizational work? Do not wait until you leave town to think of these things. START NOW!