THE B.C. LUMBER WORKER January 24, 1944 Continued WOLL binding on any organization, there is every reason why the AFL should be present. I consider Sir Walter Citrine’s efforts to bring all United Nations labor groups together to be statesmanship of the first order. As for the charge that the TUC is “smuggling in communists,’ that is too ridiculous for words.” Bryn Roberts, secretary of the National Union of Public Em- ployees, who attended the 1942 AFL convention as TUC fraternal delegate, said: “Matthew Woll is either misinformed about the cir- cumstances leading the TUC to call the world conference, or else he wishes to sabotage the project. In either case he has done a great disservice to the TUC and to the international trade union move- ment, including the AFL. The pro- posal—as Woll must know—was adopted by the unanimous vote of delegates representing nearly seven million unionists, In the face of this, for him to indict the entire British trade union movement, with whom the AFL has been on 9000000000000000000000000000' SAWS OF ALL KINDS. Band and Circular Saws a Specialty. such friendly terms, is indeed re- grettable.” Will Lawther, president of the 700,000 strong Miners Federation of Great Britain, commented: “Those who know the reactionary nature of the AFL leaders will not be astonished.” W. Boyle, presi- dent of the Association of Engin- eering and Shipbuilding Draughts. men. said: “Woll’s statement which amounts to an insult to our great ally, is at strange variance with the United Nations unity de- clared at Teheran. I am confident that Woll’s views are not shared by the rank and file of the AFL.” PURCHASE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED... jefe} EXPERT SAW FILERS Grinding Band Wheels. Aligning Mills. Musa and Gibson’s Saw Service 765 Carnarvon Street New Westminster, B.C. SAWS OF ALL KINDS. BAND AND CIRCULARIN Res. Phone 558-R. IOOO0000000' MacGregor’s Economy Cash Store Work, Dress, or Sport Phone 245 Argyle Street PORT ALBERNI, B.C. M. E. McPHEE, D.C. PHONE 3092 21 EAST HASTINGS Vancouver, B.C. 10” TOPS STANDARD also WORK AND DRESS BOOTS — REPAIRS Prices iieereestiei with Regulations. CHIROPRACTORS Palmer Graduates LIGHT CRUISER LOGGER | “Heads” You Win! J. N. SMITH, D.C. 20 Years’ Practice in B.C. | 52 Columbia Street (Opp. Post Office) i I NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. Continued cutting? There will be the ever present prospect of wage cutting. You can have all the promises of those who talk of a better world. If we were all so sure of this better and fairer world after the war, what is this organization built for? It was built, and will exist only so long as it serves a need of the woodworkers of the province. Wages are fairly stable in the industry just now, but who among you has not thought about the problems of the next few years. The cost of accidents is the one danger that can be’faced honestly by employee and employer. With every accident in the industry is a potential wage cut. Let us face the facts. If lumber is to be sold from British Columbia on world markets, the price has to be right. There is bound to be an effort to adjust prices to meet this demand, and the points of possible reduc- tion are very few. I can see two courses open to you. Either you force the accident cost down or you will be faced with demands for wage cuts. Accidents are in- creasing year by year, and so far no one has offered a solution. When “accidents are happening at the rate of 1,500 per billion feet of logs produced, you can see how real the danger to you has become. One thousand five hun- dred accidents at an average of 55 “days amounts to 82,500 days lost time, paid for by the Work- men’s Compensation Board. Yes, paid for by your employer, out of his sale price of logs produced by you. Now let us take this number of days at the nominal sum of four dollars per day and you have a cost of $330,000 per billion feet of logs. Actually the. figures 1 have used are wrong, and the total is greater than I have given you, but it is bad enough and will do for purposes of example. Even at these conservative figures, you should begin to see what accidents mean to you. The cost per thous- and feet is over 35 cents, and this is almost double what the cost was 10 years ago. Here is the place WALLPAPER Phone 744 PHONE 90 efforts. Here is a potential sum of money which you can work on when the time is opportune. There is no time more valuable than the present, so I would say let us get on with the job. We can for- get the pain and suffering caused by accidents and work on a basis Of dollars and cents only. I have begun a system of co- operation with some of the com- panies which is going to point out the locality of the dangerous oper- ations. The Safety Branch has arranged a report system which has been made compulsory on the employers at their own request. This report is to be made quart- erly and will give the Branch the following information, 1, Name of Company 2. Business address 3. Average number of employees 4 Total number of injuries (compensable) 5. Total number uf compensable days lost 6. Total number hours exposure on pay-roll records. With this information at hand there should be no chance of mak- ing mistakes. I am not here to save the feelings of any employer by hiding accident facts, and I will not be slow in pointing out indi- vidual employers if I gather in- criminating evidence against them. I think it should not only be a matter of six months or so till I am in a position of pointing out to you the names of the key men under whom accidents are hap- pening. Now for the sake of the record, I want to clear away some old jstatements which have become ac- cepted as fact. First, is the charge that accidents are caused by “Speed Up.” This is not true. Against my own will, I have had to accept facts which I would rather not have found. Statistics prove that in times of shortage of jobs, when the employer is in the best position to drive his em- ployees to the limit, there are fewer accidents. There are very many explanations for this. One is PORT ALBERNI then where you should put your j that the employer has greater op- 9999000000000 O% Blower’s Sporting Goods Everything in Sport PAINTS Argyle St. : Ingham’s Jitney Service Fast and Courteous Service TO and FROM. PORT ALBERNI to ALBERNI STANDS AT: 107 - 2nd Ave. South, Port Alberni, MeNiff’s Store, Alberni. PORT ALBERNI, B.C. BE CAREFUL! portunity to select skilled, experi- enced employees. The other is that the employee will carry on with his job after being hurt, rather than report an accident. The records of the Workmen’s Compensation Board show that Jess than 2 percent of all acci- dents are caused by the use of faulty equipment by the employer. Let us take this as a fact and we are faced with a balance of 95 percent of the accidents which must be the fault of the work- man. I am not saying that every accident should be investigated and if possible a solution found so that it will not be repeated. There is no such a thing as a dangerous job. There are un- fortunately, dangerous workmen. Some of the most apparently dang- erous jobs in the world are the safest in matter of accident record. Tell every workman that he must guard gainst injury to himself and his partner. Investigate every ac- cident and make record of habitu- al offenders. Remember that every accident is a potential wage cut, and I think we can work together to the benefit of all concerned. We have a problem that can be licked, and by working together we can do it. The best all time record for log- ging safety on the continent is held by a company in United States in which there is a record of 564,130 hours worked without any time loss accident. This is equal to a full crew of 200 men working one year without any accident. There is a challenge, and I would like to se something done to bring us closer to it. SSeS MODERN and OLD-TIME DANCING EVERY WED. AND SAT. All Modern Every Friday. Hastings Aulitorium 828 Hast Hastings MODERATE RENTAL RATES >) STYLES VALUES QUALITY Always at the Home of UNION MADE Clothing —and Friendly Service. Established for Over 40 Years Phone PAc. 3645 45 E. Hastings - Vancouver NS