Page Four

September 6, 1943

2 Internation

O88 nc womans vore2@® :
al Convention’s Program

~ To Winthe War and Secure the Peace

Two hundred and seventeen delegates, representing 12 District Councils of the International Woodworkers of America (CIO), from as
far north as Alaska, as far east as the Mississippi, and as far south as Mexico, returned home this week after charting the course in demo-
cratic convention for the IWA for the coming year.

Fifteen delegates from B.C. Locals were present, and it was noted that the British Columbia District Council

in our International union and that B.C. has the second, third, fourth and fifth largest local unions.

Three resolutions which received the unanimous backing of the convention, and which were of vital con
were: (1) Instructing the international officers to communicate with Hon. Humphrey Mitchell and Hon. Geo.
ment of the Queen Charlotte Island arbitration award and the establishment of a Canadian “Wa
United States immigration authorities with properly accredited trade union delegates was conde

and the international officers instructed to take the matter
up with both the Canadian and United States governments;
and (3) At the latter part of the convention, delegates rose
as a body to cheer a message of greeting to the Commander
of the Canadian forces overseas, General McNaughton; and
leader of the United States forces, General Dwight Eisen-
hower. The convention went on record pledging the lumber-
workers of the American continent to do their utmost to pro-
duce the wood necessary to finish the job and completely

destroy the forces of fascism.

‘The seventh annual IWA convention concluded with a firm de-
termination to return to their jobs in the logging camps and mills
to speed up their production of logs, plywood and other wood prod-
ucts in order to win the war in the shortest possible time with the
least possible loss of life and resources. ‘

Cooperation of labor and industry to win the war and to solve
the problems of post-war adjustment are an.absolute necessity, the
convention delegates emphasized. The trade union movement has
endeavored the best it can to develop a better kind of relationship
between the leaders of industry and of labor.

Alan Haywood, vice-president of the CIO, and the main speaker
at the convention, who was accorded a hearty welcome by the dele-
gates, pointed out the dangers not only to the trade union, movement,
but to the common people generally, of the fascist way of life.

“If Nazism should win, there will be no trade union movement,”
Haywood asserted. “Workers will be slaves to the state.”

e

Haywood blasted the defeatists
at home and condemned the in-
famous, anti-labor Smith-Con-
nally Act as one of the most
dangerous pieces of legislation
passed in the United States dur-
ing the war. Haywood charged
the reckless policies of John L.
Lewis with being responsible for
these latest bursts of anti-labor
legislation, and pointed to the fact
that Lewis, to his eternal dis-
credit, was the one important
American labor leader who failed
to speak out in opposition to the
Bill when it came before Con-
gress.

C)

Haywood urged the IWA to or-
ganize and work for the repeal
of this reactionary fascist-like
legislation, and appealed to the
delegates to give full support to
the win-the-war policies of CIO
Leader Philip Murray as the best
mieans of protecting labor and se-
curing the peace. He appealed to
the Convention to support the de-
mand that dependents of soldiers
be given a decent subsistence
allotment; that every soldier have
the right to return to his job with
full seniority at the war's end,
and injured and disabled soldiers
have proper care for life and an
adequate program of rehabilita-
tion,

“We will not be satisfied to
conclude the war,” he stated,
“with anything Jess than the Casa-
blanea terms of ‘unconditional
surrender’ of Hitler, Mussolini,
and Hirohito,” adding, “with re-
gard to our splendid Commander-
in-Chief, Franklin Delano Roose-

velt,, labor is going to back
Roosevelt for a fourth term.”

James Carey, National CIO Sec-
retary, explained the CIO “Politi-
cal Action Campaign” to eliminate

reactionary, anti-Roosevelt con-
gressmen supporting anti-labor

legislation undermining the war
effort and workers’ morale. He
also urged support of the “Price
Roll-Back” plan for wartime eco-

nomic stabilization, which was en-
dorsed, as well as resolutions con-
demning race riots and color
discrimination; calling for the
lowering of limitations on, and
increase of, old age pensions,
urging the application of the
Atlantic Charter principles to
India and Porto Rica; asking for
elimination of the poll tax and

RENOMINATED
FOR 4TH TERM

NIGEL MORGAN
Local 1-71 Delegate

adoption of a tax program which
would place the burden on those
most able to pay, asking for a
better rationing system and addi-
tional meat and food supplies for
loggers and calling for labor unity

and Anglo - American - Soviet
friendship.

That the Convention was still
under the influencé of a group
who are not in full accord with
Policies of the National CIO, was
shown by the fact that a resolu-
tion urging the opening of a Sec-
ond Front, which is feared today
more than anything else by the
Nazis and which can bring a com-
plete Allied victory this year, was
defeated. Likewise, a resolution

urging the American government
to break off relations with Fin-
Jand’s Mennerheim and Spain’s
Franco for their pro-Axis sym-
pathies, was voted tabled. The
fifteen delegates representing all
B.C. locals voted unanimously
against this action.

Another resolution strenuously
opposed by the entire B.C. dele-
gation was one asking President
Roosevelt to pardon anyone who
might be convicted under the
Smith-Connally Bill. It was clear-
ly pointed out to the Convention
that such a resolution was incon-
sistent with the “no strike” policy
of the CIO, endorsed by the IVA
Convention for the last two years
—and that such a policy was
simply playing into the hands of
reactionaires who are trying to
destroy the public support for
trade unions, and drive a wedge
between labor and the armed
forces on the battlefronts,

°

Constitutional amendments rec-
ommended by the Convention in-
cluded resolutions calling for con-
vention representation to be based
on the average membership for
the previous SIX months instead

“Am Essential For Victory”

of TWELVE months; proposed a
clarification of the exoneration
clause to provide that anyone
working five days or more in any
one month shall not be eligible
for dues exoneration; providing
that IWA delegates to the CIO
shall be elected annually in the
IWA Convention and recommend-
ing an increase of ten cents per
month in International per capita,
for negotiations purposes, From
the discussion in the Convention,
it appeared that all of the consti-

is now the third largest

cern to the B.C. membership,
S. Pearson requesting the enforce-
igner Act”; (2) Interference by Canadian and
mned by unanimous vote of the convention

tutional amendments had practic-
ally unanimous support, with the
exception of the per capita in-
crease which now is to go out for
referendum vote to the entire
membership before being put into
effect, and which is extremely
unlikely to be adopted.

Special commendation was

made of the B.C. District for the
rapid organizational gains that
have been made and for the ef-
forts of the Canadian membership
in obtaining improved labér leg-
islation. The growth in the mem-
bership in B.C. was by far the
greatest of any in the Interna-
tional Union.

A seventeen-point production
program was adopted which re-
iterated the IWA’s pledge to work
for all-out production. The pro-
gram called for the appointment
of a Lumber Co-ordinator and
Labor Management Industry
Councils, both of which have been
repeatedly endorsed and request-
ed by the B.C. woodworkers.

Officers nominated by the Con-
vention, and to be voted on within
30 days on an international ref-
erendum ballot, include for Presi-
dent, Worth Lowery, incumbent,
renominated by acclamation; for
Vice-President, James Fadling, in-
cumbent, Claude Ballard who was
recently appointed to the unex-
pired term of Vice-President Carl
Winn will be opposed by Fred
Seiftkin, one of the charter mem-
bers of the IWA who has done
an excellent organizational job in
the Inland Empire dictrict. For
Secretary, the present incumbent
Benedict will be opposed by Ed
Laux of the powerful Plywoods
District Council. Wilf Killeen of
Cowichan Lake was nominated for
International Trustee to oppose
Herb Irving, the present incum-
bent. For International Board
Member for District No. 1, I was
renominated without opposition.

Delegates elected to the Na-
tional CIO Convention in Pitts-
burgh next November to repre-
sent our International {includes
President Worth Lowery, Vice-
President James Fadling, Inter-
national Bd. Member Nigel Mor-
gan, Ed Laux, Vern Case and Ed
Lohre. Vancouver, B.C. was
chosen as the “Convention City”
for the next International Conven-
tion in 1944,