THE B.C. LUMBER WORKER SAFETY % is By JOE PAYNTER Fi ae Ym told there are girls who think loggers are hard-hearted. T've heard parsons claim loggers are hard-living. I have known town characters to learn the hard way that loggers are hard-muscled, hard- hitting and hard-fisted. I have known many loggers. With but few exceptions they are all hard-workers. a But I have yet to meet a logger who is hard-headed. Every camp has’ its share of bone-heads. But, generally ,they are soft in the head. The Safety Branch of the Department of Labor has information taken from the records of the B.C. Workmen’s Compensation Board, that certainly shows the greater portion of us who earn our living in the woods to be soft in the head!. There were nine fatal head injuries in our B.C. woods between January 14 and June 15 of this year. And ninety-five more loggers suffered head injuries of varying degree. Knowledge like that should hold a challenge to each and every one of us! This is something we can largely banish from the Compensation records by going all out for safety hats! Do you realize you could have easily been one of ‘those nine? Or if your luck was better, one of the ninety-five? I can easily imagine what you are thinking. It’s easy to picture you shruging your shoulders as you think, “Oh, well, it's a chance I gotta take. I work in the woods and I know the work is dangerous.” Yeah, sure. But Mr. Logger, liten to this! Nearly.all those nine deaths were caused by falling objects. The wearing of hard hats might have prevented each and every one of those nine fatalities! In your camp there are probably some smart up-to-the-minute falling sets, who literally value their necks, that won’t go into the woods with- out their hard hats. I know. I know. Those fellows are fallers and they are right in the bight when it comes to falling limbs and other sundry widow makers. But you, you work on the rigging. And I’ll admit I have only once seen a choker-man sporting a safety hat. Let’s take a closer look at those statistics. Were those ill-fated nine all fallers? No. Only one, He was hit on the head by a real widow- maker, a falling limb. We seldom consider spark-chasing or track-walking as dangerous jobs, yet one spark-chaser and one track-walker died of fractured skulls. Loading, though, is dangerous. Many of our best tong men have been injured during the past years. So it is not surprising to find a third loader one of the nine. The hazards facing the rigging-crews are recognized by all. Moving lines, hang-ups, hi-ball pushes, straining cables, are but a small portion of the perils confronting the rigging-men. Despite the healthy respect with which most men treat the rigging, four head fatalities must be charged to this part of the woods operations. And: one cat hook-up man was struck by a falling spreader and never regained consciousness. Of the ninety-five head injuries where the workmen lived we find the rigging-crews leading with forty. Fallers and buckers were a close second with thirty-six, while the balance of the woods operations ac- counted for nineteen. Now, get me straight. I am not saying the mere wearing of safety hats would have prevented all nine deatlis or the whole ninety-five head injuries. Safety hats would have meant much to those struck on the head. Many would be still alive and many more would not haye known the pain and suffering of an injured head. Mr. Logger, don’t these figures prove to you that there are no jobs in our logging camps that are free of head injuries? I you will remember it might have been you, the figures for the next six months will be much lower! See your Safety Committee. Don’t ask for—demand—hard hats! ead MODERN and OLD-TIME DANCING EVERY WED. AND SAT. All Modern Every Friday. Hastings Auditorium FV uvioney loaned on men’s cloth- ing, sleeping bags, watches, 9 I diamonds and jewellery. Clothes tare kept in mothproof storage I I while in our. care.” ! * |SAN FRANCISCO TAILORS | 52 West Hastings Street | H Vancouver B.C, McDONALD & CALLAN LTD. -Men’s, Boys’ Clothing ~ and Furnishings 828 East Hastings H MODERATE RENTAL RATES 707 Columbia Street New Westminster _ Phone 442 MANS —By courtesy Stuart Research Service Ltd. Halifax Shipyards Strikers Battling For Union Rights By “SCOTTY” MONROE Shop Stewards’ Chairman Local 1, Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers HALIFAX, N.S.—The workers in Halifax Shipyards Ltd. are engaged with the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (DOSCO) management in a dispute which is deplorable in this wartime situation. The workers have been forced to take strike action to defend the democratic rights for which our relatives and friends are so valiantly shedding their blood and laying The strike which is taking place in this very essential war industry {is an action which the workers have done everything in their Power’ to avoid. For a period of three years the workers’ repre- sentatives have, in negotiations with the company, continuously made representation to the man- agement for the check-off of union dues and a union shop. The com- pany always said “no.” In the fall~ of 1943, the union made application to the provincial government to supervise a vote {on the question of check-off. The vote cast by the workers was over- whelmingly in favor of the check- off. The company still refused to grant the democratic requests of the workers as was represented in the ballots cast. In November, 1943, the agree- ment between the company and the union which was in effect at that time, was due for renewal. In the negotiations for the new con- tract, the union asked that the check-off of union dues and a union shop be granted. The man- agement still said “no.” In the month of February, 1944, union officials made application to the National War Labor Board for a Conciliation Board, which was granted. The majority deci- sion of the board recommended the check-off and, instead of the down their lives on the battlefronts. “union shop,” they adyised a “maintenance of membership.” The union accepted the compro- mise recommendation of the board but the management still refused to grant the democratic decision which was handed down. We, as workers of the Halifax Shipyards Limited, are not on strike for higher wages or better working conditions, but to retain the democratic right of the trade bringing about a new era in which workers in this country and all over the world.shall have the right to full employment and decent wages. OTTAWA MUST ACT. The fight by DOSCO, which rep- resents monopoly anti-Teheran capitalism against the ,just and democratic demands of this union, is a fight which will be carried on until the government steps in and enforces the decisions of the Con- ciliation Board or takes over the plants. The life of the trade union movement in Halifax and in Nova Scotia hangs in the balance. This struggle between DOSCO and the union will have its effect on the whole trade union movement throughout Canada. The whole trade union move- union movement to play its part in)! recurrence of a former ill well known as first ed “B.C, Lumber Worker” organizer in Courtenay, above contribution, which a small token of the high with which he was held, wishes of his many friends: IWA for a speedy and recovery. to the union by Brother whose address is 2647 Street, Vancouver, B.C. “Your thoughtful gesture indi I must have gained some during the years and that means: more to me than anything e Thanks again and I hope to hell I can get out of this place even sooner than I expected so that I can get back to work and repay — all the good wishes that have come — my way.” 5 is Brother Parkin, who has several — months in hospital before him, would, I am sure, be delighted to — hear from any of his old lumber- worker friends. Fraternally, NIGEL MORGAN, ————— Shipyard workers in this erucial fight and bring pressure to bear — on the government to enforce the — recommendations of the majority report, Every Member Get a Member! We Carry a complete Line of : High Class GENTS’ CLOTHING Head to Toe 3 CLEANING AND PRESSING} — We exchange old suits for m 4 WINDSOR TAILORING - & CLOTHING 32 E. Hastings - Vancouver, B.C.| ment must support the Halifax