Saga of Loggers’ Navy ©

(Continued from Page 1)

THE BC. LUMBER WORKER

April 16, 1941

Queen Charlottes, nearly 100 miles out in
the Pacific, and finally back in a straight
Jine to Vancouver, slicing across the
northeastern district of Vancouver
Island, you will have the approximate
territory covered by Local 71's jurisdic-
tion, Not one of the 130-odd camps in
this enormous area, almost as large in
itself as the State of Washington, can
be reached by anything but marine trans-
port, while the isolation 6f many opera-
tions, and the different types of logging
earried on, create problems almost as
diverse as any facing a full-sized District
Council,

(HE “Laur-Wayne” left Vancouver on

its maiden trip on August 81, 1936,
with Arne Johnson and Ted Gunrud, both
executive members of the local and brave
men, in charge. Equipment for this first
voyage included a decrepit car engine,
which frequently displayed a tendency to
“go haywire” in the center of a ten-knot
tide or a 50-mile gale; one small halibut
anchor which wouldn’t have held a row-
boat in any kind of wind—even if the
shoestring anchor line had held—and
four charts of the coast. But with a
foolhardiness born partly of ignorance
but mostly of -necessity, that first crew
managed to take the “Navy” north to the
Queen Charlottes and back, plus other
trips to the West Coast of Vancouver
Island and side trips into numerous in-
lets on the way by the end of the year.

Next year, however, a new $3500 diesel
engine was installed, better equipment
was added, and the “Laur-Wayne” began
its period of greatest usefulness, By 1940
the vessel had made about 12 round trips
to the Queen Charlottes — over 15,000
miles in itself—together with innumer-
able voyages into every inlet and channel
between Vancouver and Prince Rupert.
Tn all, the log book now shows well over
50,000 miles of blue water travel—more
than twice the distance around the world
and without any serious accident.

exploits of the “Laur-Wayne” and
her crew have by now become fam-
ous along the Coast. For one thing, Can-
ada’s western shoreline is not kind to
amateur seamen, It’s an amazing coast-
line, stretching northwest 550 miles to
Prince Rupert, a jumble of inland waters,
marrow, rock-strewn channels through
whieh the tides race, small islands, tim-
ber-covered hills rising sheer from the
water. Many term it the worst stretch
of water in the world, by far the tough-
est to navigate. And the fact that Local
T's seagoing organizers have success-
fully learned to navigate these waters in
addition to carrying on the difficult work
of organizing the unorganized will some
day deserve a greater tribute.

For there is no question of the diffi-
culties, Captain McCuish likes to relate—
with something of a note of pride in his
volce—-how the arrival of the boat at
certain camps has caused more than one
eamp “push” to reach for the aspirin
tub. He has been escorted out of harbors
several times by Provincial Police patrol
boats. Certainly no craft on the Coast
has been refused moorings as often, At
times, faced with a hostile” boss and his

*

DONO

stooges, he has anchored the “Navy” a
few feet out from dock or float and,
using the pilothouse deck as a platform,
addressed the crew called to the meeting
by blasts on the foghorn. The boat, and
its crew, have been assaulted, unsuccess-
fully, by timekeepers, side rods, special
guards, and eyen a boss logger. An axe
handle and even a .44 six-shooter have
been the weapons variously used to
threaten. But the “Navy,” in the best
traditions of “naval service,” has kept on
plying the waters and applying the I.W.

of A. slogan of “organize the unorgan-
ized.”

AND should there be any question that
all this enormous effort has been
fruitless, a quick glance at results tells
the story. Coneretely, operation of the
“Laur-Wayne” has brought outstanding
achievements. The old problem of hold-
ing the local membership together
through personal contact is partly solved.
‘The big task of bringing unionism to the
four big operations in the Queen Char-
lotte Islands, the most isolated logging
district, resulted by 1940 in establishment
of camp committees and a general wage
increase of $1.00 a day on all jobs. Aver-
age wage for chokermen, for example,
was around $4.00 a day in 1936 in most
camps under 1's jurisdiction. In 1941,
with the organizing work made possible
by the boat, wages average $5.00 on the
chokers, and run as high as $5.50 on the
Queen Charlottes. More than that, pos-
session of a boat has given the local’s
organizers greater mobility. They can
move quickly to any point on the Coast
if members in a given camp need assist-
ance in a dispute, and in the past four
years there have been plenty of disputes.
Bet capably as the “Navy” and its
crew performed their work, the
problems were too great for any one
boat's crew to handle, This became more
and more obvious in 1939 and 1940, when.
in an attempt to strengthen the organiza-
tlon on the Queen Charlottes, it was
found impossible to cover that area with-
out neglecting camps on the mainland.
This, together with the fact that the
“Laur-Wayne” was unsuited for cross-
ing the dangerous Hecate Straits,
prompted delegates at the annual meet-
ing of Local 1-71 to approve purchase of
a second vessel—one that would be suited
to heavy weather and allow the transfer
of the “Laur-Wayne” to inside waters,
Early this month the new vessel was pur-
chased—the 40-foot “Annart,” soon to
be placed in service as the “flagship” of
the fleet. Those who have seen her feel
she is ideally suited for the work at
hand. All are agreed, too, that with two
vessels in service, efficiency of the or-
ganizing campaign can be doubled and
with resultant benefits to the member-
ship.

All that is now left—though it's a big
problem—is to pay for the new. craft
within the next 12 months. And that’s up
to the men on the job who appreciate
what has already been done in their in-
terests and can look ahead to the new
achievements made possible by the “Log-
gers’ Navy.”

WESTMINSTER ARENEX
OF PRIZES: Forst’s

You are CONSCRIPTED to he a MELLIONAIRE at the

Resolution on

to the International, and

Locals, and

it therefore

RESOLVED: Th:

into effect.

WHEREAS, the B.C. District has adopted by a 3 to 1 vote, the pro-
posal to have a uniform dues of $1.50 to provide 50 cents per capita

WHEREAS, this vote was carried by a substantial majority in all

WHEREAS, this per capita increase is needed immediately if the
organizational demands of the membership in this District are to be
given attention, or even the present organizational work carried on
in the sawmills and in Courtenay, and

WHEREAS, this per capita is used in its entirety in the B.C, District,
for under war-time restrictions, export of currency is illegal, be

RESOLVED: That this new system go into effect on May 1st, 1941,
and that the secretaries of all Locals, Sub-Locals, and delegates
be informed they are required in future to collect $1.50 for all dues
paid for months after that date; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the District officers take up with the International,
the question of getting a new 50c dues stamp; and be it still further

the International Executive Board Member be
requested to visit all Locals to assist in putting the new system

Dues Increase

22 NEW LOCALS
CHARTERED BY IWA

SEATTLE.—Speeding its organiza-
tional pace up to a constantly faster
tempo, the International Woodworkers
of America this week announced the
chartering of 22 new locals in the past
five weeks.

Added to the fifteen locals chartered
in March, seven new units have al-
ready been established since the first
of April, setting an unprecedented rec-
ord for recent years.

A new feather in the IWA bonnet,
also, was the the formation of six new
auxiliaries in the same five-week period.

Sure signs of a tremendous upsurge
in membership growth and activity, these
developments bore witness to the driving
urge toward unionization in the open
shop sectors of the industry.

In all areas, International organizers
are working at a terrific clip to meet
the demands for assistance from the mill
and logging operations,

ALL WORK GUARANTEED

SERVICE JEWELERS

Dealers in Diamonds
Watches and Jewelry

EXPERT WATCH AND JEWELRY
REPAIRING

H. ZLOTNIK, Manager
28 E. HASTINGS ST. __VAN,, B.C.4

eam etueeene ene eeteneeencanee

SEY: 0988

— CITY

ALWAYS AT
YOUR SERVICE

ANNUAL TRADE UNION

KLONDYKE NITE AND DANCE

QUEENS PARK

Limited, Army & Navy Department Store Ltd.,
Overwaitea Ltd., Fraser Cafe, Gifford the Jewellers,
_ Pineo L n ‘Safeway Stores Ltd., Ziegler’s Chocolate Shop,

THE LOGGERS’
RADIO CARS

FRIDAY, APRIL 25

Westminster Hog Fuels, J. Leckie Co. Ltd., Cunning-
Kelly Douglas & Company, Liberty Furniture House, C.J.
Johnston’s Footwear Ltd., W. S. Collister Ltd.

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS Brother William Stewart,
formerly of the Hotel and Restaurant
Employees’ Union is well-known as a
result of his capable, progressive
leadership in the cause of organized
labor, and

WHEREAS he has been viciously at-
tacked and discriminated against by
the reactionary Bengough-Jamieson-
Showler machine for his refusal to
accede to the dictates of reactionary
employers, and

WHEREAS the IWA is in need of a cap-
able organizer to assist Brother Gib-

son in ;the sawmill industry, be it
therefore

RESOLVED: that this District Council,
in regular meeting assembled, invite
Brother Stewart to join the organiza-
tional staff or the IWA.

Hotel East

‘Make It Home”

445 GORE AVENUE

Vancouver, B.C.
SEy. 0308

Office & Stand:
404 COLUMBIA AVE.

TAXI

FRIEND

Trin. 1000

*