B.C. LUMBER WORKER

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Published Eyery Second Monday by
INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA (CIO)
DISTRICT COUNCIL NO. 1 ‘a

Managing Editor: B. J. MELSNESS
Room 504 Holden Building — Phone PAcific 4151 — Vancouver, B.C.
Make Payments to: IWA-CIO District Council No. 1
®

The deadline for stories for the coming issue is 4 p.m., Thursday,
April 13.

oe
Bargaining Agency
Sore misunderstanding appears to exist between certain
employers and representatives of our union, relative to
what constitutes collective bargaining under the legal terms of

the Act. This arises out of employers establishment of medical
and safety committees.

Our union representatives held (and rightly so) that col-
lective bargaining under the ICA Act includes all matters rela-
tive to management and workers, and to bear out this position
the following is the words from the booklet published by the
Province of British Columbia under the authority of the Hon-
orable George S. Pearson, minister of labor.

“Collective bargaining” means the bona-fide conducting
of negotiations between bargaining representatives on behalf
of employees on the one part and an employer or employers
on the other part for the purpose of discussing any matters
of mutual concern pertaining to employment relations, recon-
ciling divergent points of view, reaching a common under-
standing, clarifying disputes and arriving at a settlement or
adjustment thereof.”

= To be equally certain a communication was forwarded to
the minister of labor whose answer gives added strength to our
contention that the union where certified legally is the bar-
gaining agent. The following is the minister of labor’s reply:
“The powers of bargaining representatives would cover all

things which are matter of negotiation between the employer
and the employees. If the employees of this Company operate
a medical committee entixely independent of the employer,
then I would say this can be done entirely independent of
the bargaining representative but would have to be done
with the consent of the majority of the employees. If, how-
ever, the operation of the medical committee required ne-
gotiations with the employer on behalf of the employees it
would seem to me that this was the right of the bargaining
representative. As a matter of fact in an operation where the

majority of the employees have designated bargaining agents

it would seem that there ought to be no difficulty in coming

to an understanding as to the method of conducting an em-

ployees medical committee plan.”

Where the IWA is certified as the sole collective bargaining
agency for all the employees by law, it would appear reason-
able and logical that the management should meet with that
legal bargaining agency on all ‘matters pertaining to wages,
hours, working conditions, safety, health and production com-
mittees for only in this way can the highest degree of coopera-
tion and goodwill be had with the resultant improved labor
relations.

___ Sixth Victory Loan

(GaSe is now preparing to launch its Sixth Victory Loan
campaign and the amount needed to carry on is one bil-
lion, two hundred million. This is a staggering sum but it is
necessary if the war is to be won over Fascism ths year. As a
result of the Teheran agreement relationships within the United
Nations have been estallished which are not only designed
to win the war but also to effectively obtain security in the
peace which follow the cessation hostilities.

It must be emphasized, however, that the military victory
has not yet been won, and that there is no basis at the present
time for complacency either on the battle front or on the home
front. All the resources of our country are needed to assure
the necessary military equipment so that our armed forces may
match and destroy the forces of the enemy, the most ruthless
our country has ever faced.

To accomplish this end workers have the duty, not only to
maintain and increase production, but also to assist in the fi-
nancing of the war. It is the duty of every one to get behind
the Sixth Victory Loan Campaign and make it their personal
task to see that the Loan is not only filled but generously

ibed. B f
ee a ad Armed Forces are even now préparing to
Jaunch the offensive in western Europe. This will take the
combined strength of the Army, Navy and Airforce woneng
jn unison and backed up by the workers at home. Remember
—“Combined Operations Includes YOU!

Letters to the Editor

Say What You Please

This is what an old time cook
writes to all camp cooks: E

Fellow Workers — How much
longer are we going to scab on
each other? You say that we don’t
sbut just listen.

When we get a job do we know
anything about that job? Before we
leave town and when we arrive
at the camp do we ask the cook
what he is leaving for, or if he
is fired? Do we inquire as to the
bad points of the job? No, we
just walk in and the other cook
walks out, goes to town, gets an-
other job and does the same thing
that his successor had done. And
strange as it seems it makes no
difference whether the cooks are
union men or not.

Now take for instance that letter
in the March 6 Lumber Worker
by Card No. 71-7050. The cook who
was there a long time refused to
cut down on the food. When he
was compelled to do so he quit the
job because cutting down on the
food was against his principles.
Now the men in camp didn’t back
up the cook when it would have
been to their advantage to do so.
I think this shows the great lack
of unity between the loggers and

cooks and this situation should be '

overcome.
How much longer are we cooks

going to work ten, twelve, fourteen |

hours per day and thirty-one days
per month. Why can’t we have an
eight-hour day the same as the rest
of the workers and be paid over-
time for any work done after 8
hours?

Individually we are weak but
organized we can make demands.
Here are a few suggestions:

1, The eight hour day.

2, All cooks to be paid by the
day.

3, All cooks to have one day off
a week or be paid overtime for
that one day.

4, That a cook working by him-
self shall have a flunkey when he
has ten men or over.

5. That before a cook leaves the
camp he shall report just why he
is leaving to the Union headquar-
ters.

Now, Fellow Workers, its your
move next. So send in your sug-
gestions to the B.C. Lumber Work-
er at once. All for One and One for
Al. Let's Go! Yours for the eight
hour day for all cooks and funkeys.

A member at Camp 6, Youbou,
writes

May I use your valuable space to
probe the feeling of the member-
ship on a question that stands out
prominently in this camp, in order
to find out whether it is just a
local question or district wide.

The problem is “Men in the
camps on Army deferment.” There
are a number of men in this camp
jon army deferment. Although
they are L.W.A. members they will
not attend meetings and are afraid
‘to back up any grievance that
arises. Some of these men are on
key jobs which makes it hard for
the rest of their crew to present
a grievance at a meeting when
they have no support from the
they have no support from men in
key positions. Surely deferred men
shoud at least try to retain or bet-
ter conditions for those who have
gone to fight for their country.

There is a possibility that the
Industrial Timber Mills Camps 6
and 3 will be shut down due to the
accumulation of logs in the lake.
Why should this company be al-
lowed to hold men from the ser-
vices when there is nearly a year’s
supply of logs ahead of the mill
or should they be forced to ship
surplus logs to mills which are
shut down due’ to log shortage.
I invite your opinion, fellow mem-
bers,

Hello Boys:
Well, here we are
old paper sure rolls
it usually catches me
(well anyway you Know —
mean). This week has
ticularly trying for me,
all I had to recover
effects of the breakdown —
last issue and then I
my income tax returns
almost caused a relapse,
three days and nights I d
that you don’t have to pay
an income of two bucks
half a week,
Incidentally, last week 1
aged to get the editor to n
joint application to the War
Board to get me an in
wages. That was all good an
but the board told me that
had read my stuff and t
was not “considered that any gi
injustices existed” and that
board “directs the aforemention
company (The B.C. Lumber ¥
er) to pay the category of
cook’ at the same rate as prev
ously.” ;
I immediately handed in my q
slip and thought that my
days would be up by this
of the paper but when the $
tive Service got my notice
wrote back and said, “Y¢
present employment is consid
essential to maintaining the moi
ale of the loggers and millwor
and therefore permission cannot
be granted for you to quit tl
job.” You see, boys, it is
impossible for the old bu
to win.
The other day Ernie Di
let me read a letter from Broth
Charles Fraser who is the skippe
on the Laur Wayne now, Ch
was telling how he and Broth
McCuish had finally broken into
the Pioneer Log show and signet
the boys there into the uni
That letter did my old heart g
and sort of gave me a new
on life. It really looks like
old days are gone and with thei
the open shop, the blacklist an
all the other evil of the no-unioi
days that we all remember &
well. When I start to look
and compare what things were li
then with what they are like 10
it makes me wonder why we al
stayed sucker so long, What St
prises me more, however, is th
fact that there are still some
of the fraternity of wood)
who still choose to remain out
of the union, There are mal
you who have read my colum!
years and should by now be
cated. How about getting behit
the current membership drive
putting it over in a big way.
this world of modern
and modern sayings it is
times good to repeat some of
old ones too, and one of my 18
ites, although I don't use it ofte
for fear of being .labeled |
fashioned, is this “In Unity L

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