n To
e Govt.
e Order

a attended meeting in
ubou on Friday, Oct. 22nd, the

with the actions of the com-
in laying off men during their
work week to avoid paying
rertime it was decided that a
be written to the company
mbodying the following motion

starting day of the week, and
t we intend to interpret the
inciples of the Act, and use the
recedence of the past six months
or to the handing down of the
tas a basis in all classifications.

} In the discussion it was stated
at using Sunday as the first day
ff the week, as proposed by the
jcompany was not only contrary to
tthe provisions of the “Lord’s Day
ct” which sets Sunday as the
eventh day of the week and a
y of rest, but is also in contra-
tion to the fact that Monday
blways has been and always will
pe the beginning of the work week
hroughout thte whole. industrial
vorld,

In taking’ up the numerous griev-
inces with the company over the
jnone payment of overtime worked
by their employees, the company
Btated that as there was nothing in
he Act to the effect that Monday
as the starting of the work week
that they were within their rights
jn choosing Sunday as the first day
pf the work week and in laying the
men off during their regular work
‘week to avoid paying overtime. The
members realized that unless they
ited on the payment of all over-
worked and preventing the
‘company from re-arranging the
Working hours, that there was an
i lent danger of a complete
_ breakdown of the Act and ask all
Members through the medium of
_ this paper abide by the decision
_ of their last membership meeting
refusing to be laid off their
_ yegular work and forfeiting their
evertime which was rightly theirs.

Sad to the issuance of the
rertime Order” No. 50 on June
1943, by the B.C. Board of
lustrial Relations covering all
e working in the sawmill in-
, and which became effec-
ber industry was the only in-
y in the province in which
ium was paid on overtime.

members of the Youbou Sub-
realize that it was through

efforts and the strength of
eir Union, in their endeavor to
working conditions in the
on par with those in all
industries in the province
: overtime privilege was
d and are prepared to see
ie Order is lived up to and
do nothing that would
a step in a backward

T c. LUMBER WORKER &@

-Youbou Sub Local, One

Year Old Going Strong

On August ist, 1942, the International Woodworkers of Am-
erica held their first Union meeting in Youbou.

The meeting, which was well attended (there being over two
hundred present) marked the beginning of one of the largest
sub-locals in British Columbia. The meeting was called by Local
1-80, with Nigel Morgan and Hjalmer Bergren speaking for the
Union with Officers from Local 1-80 along with members from
Camp six, Ladysmith and Chemainus Sub-locals present to assist

in signing up new members.

Before the meeting adjourned, approximately one hundred
men of the two hundred attending the meeting had joined the

Union after which a full slate of
officers were elected to complete
the organization of the mill. Those
elected were, John Atkinson,
President; Wilf. Killeen, Vice-
Pres. Tommy ‘Townsend, Secre-
tary; Fred Daly, Recording Secre-
tary; R. H. Whittaker, Warden;
Ross Davis. Conductor,
Thommansen and Gil Beck, Trus-
tees. i

In less than two months, more
than 60 percent of the workers in
the mill were members of the IWA.
The rapid organization of the mill
was accomplished through the all-

.out co-operation of the entire ex-

ecutive and shop stewards commit-
tee, as well as the open minded-
ness of the employees of the plant
and their realization that union-
ization of the sawmill industry
was long overdue. Since the Sub-
local was established many griev-
ances involving wages and work-
ing conditions in the mill were dis-
cussed with the company, the ma-
jority of which were settled to the
satisfaction of those concerned.

. Along with the work concerning

and Art,

the problems of the mill in organ-
ization and the adjustment of
grievances, etc., the sub-local has
taken an active part in the affairs
of the organization by attending
all Local meetings, conferences
and conventions. bringing forward
many constructive _ resolutions,
among them the Wage Stabiliza-
tion resolution which was adopted
at the recent midsummer. confer-
ence at Nanaimo in July.

The members of the Youbou
Sub-Local stand prepared to do
their share in the fight for signed
Union agreements for they know
that therein lies the answer to the
future welfare of the workers of
the lumber industry in this prov-
ince. They know that signed Union
agreements stand between the
establishment of an improved
stabilized scale of wages, overtime
premiums, hours and working
conditions and the low wages, un-
satisfactory working conditions and
fear of unemployment through dis-
crimination, so prevalent before the
war and which the operators are
fighting so hard to maintain.

All Orientals Join IWA
Equal Pay Established

Our East Indian brothers are to be commended on the fact

“that they were the first of the Oriental workers in the mill to

be organized one hundred percent.

In less than a month after the Sub-Local was formed they
were in*with us to a man, sixty-three in all.

At the same time thirty of the Chinese employees or approxi-
mately fifty percent joined the ranks, the remainder joining the
organization last month following the order of the Regional War
Labor Board that the principle of equal pay for equal work be

enforced.

In May this year, after the Union
had been certified as the bargain-
ing agent for this mill, the Dis-
trict Office compiled a brief on
the basis of information obtained
through a questionnaire which had
been circulated among the East
Indians and Chinese workers at
the mill by the officers of the You-
bou Sub-local, demanding equal
pay for equal work.

On July 8th the Board instructed
the Company that the rates set by
the Board be paid to all employees
and that ib be retroactive to Octob-
er 1, 1942, A large percentage of
the Oriental employees in the mill
are affected by this order.

‘The importance of this award in
the manner which it affects the
industry as a whole, cannot be
overestimated,

Ever since Oriental labor was
first brought into the industry they

have been paid sub-standard wages
and have had to live in premises
which in most cases would not be
considerable inhabitable by white
workers and far below the recog-
nized health standards of the
country.

Although the East Indians and
Chinese in Youbou for the past
year and a half have been living
in quarters far superior to these
in any other camp, they realize
that it is only through organization
that the wages and living condi-
tions can be. raised throughout the
industry. The officials of the You-
bou Sub-local feel that the Chi-
nese and East Indians here have
set an example for Orientals in
other mills and camps to follow
by being organized one hundred
Percent and in getting behind the
union in the demand for equal pay
for equal work.

Head office of IWA 1-80 is located in Duncan above the Island Drug
Store and is shown in the above photo. Local 1-80 has for a large
number of years led the struggle of the woodworkers on Vancouver
Island in their fight for wages, hours and living conditions. The
office was formerly located in the City of Nanaimo and at one time
was at Lake Cowichan. Local 1-80 was the second local of the TWA
formed in B.C. and is now the largest local in District One and the
second largest in the entire International Union. During the recent

Queen Charlotte Island strike,

Local 1-80 contributed several

thousands of dollars towards the Strike Fund.

An Appeal to Victoria
Woodworker, Come On In

The woodworkers of the Youbou Sawmill Sub-Local, who
have been members of this fast growing army of logging and
sawmill workers in British Columbia as members of the Inter-
national Woodworkers of America for more than a’ year and
who have taken their place alongside of other organized workers
in all other industries in the province in the fight for better
labour legislation which guarantees working men and women
the right to organize, to belong to the Union of their own choice
to bring about better wages and working conditions, send this
urgent appeal to the woodworkers of Victoria and vicinity to
join the ranks of the International Woodworkers of America now,

to add their strength in the fight
for trade union agreements.

The operators of the sawmill and
woodworking plants of Victoria,
who are taking every means to
prevent workers in their - plants
from becoming members of «a
legitimate trade union, would like
their employees to believe that
they were doing so through kind-
ness of heart and a keen sense of
responsibility in regard to the
future welfare of their employees.
That this is false is proven -in
their past record and their atti-
tude towards their employees be-
fore there was any indication that
a real, legitimate trade union was
being formed. We ask the workers
of Victoria to pause for a minute
and reflect on conditions as they
existed in the industry before the
war, before there was any short-
age of labor which was brought
about by the war, and during the
hard, trying days of the depres-
sion when the workers in the
lumber industry were working for
less wages, under poorer working
conditions than those working in
any of the other major industries
in the province. Practically all of
the improvements which the mem-
bers of the International Wood-
workers of America are fighting
for today through their Union,
such as overtime premiums, better
and safer working conditions
through their safety committees

and grievance committees, indus-
try wide stabilization of wage
rates, seniority and vacations with
pay, all these along with many
othérs in some instances, were
obtained by the workers in all
other major industries through
the efforts and strength of their
trade union before the war and
since the war has begun. ©

The long, drawn out fight on the
part of the loggers in the Queen
Charlotte Islands in their efforts
to obtain a union contract is a
glaring example of the type of
employer with which the wood-
workers have to deal. These op-
erators, who are publicly supported
by all the members of their em-
Ployers union, the B.C. Lumber
and Shingle Manufacturers Associ-
ation are prepared to go to any
extreme and leave no stone un-
turned in order to prevent the
woodworkers from obtaining those
things which are rightly theirs, job
security, improved working condi-
tions, better health standards and
the right to at least a week’s rest
for each year of faithtul service
free from financial worries, which
are the God given right of every
maneand woman.

Therefore, we appeal to all men
and women woodworkers in the
Victoria mills and factories to join
their fellow workers in all other
parts of the province in their fight
for industrial democracy,