Page Six THE BC. LUMBER WORKE R November 6, 1944 Letters to the Editor Lake Log Mourns Tommy Roberts To the Editor: We recently held our general meeting and we had the pleasure of having Nigel Morgan there. He gave us a Jengthy report and urged support of the war bond drive. Discussion on the new draft agree- ment was also on the agenda, The committee for raising funds for the delegates at Quebec reported $63 raised in a draw they held. They are also planning to have a card party and dance in conjunction with the Ladies’ Auxiliary at Lake Cowichan and the sub-locals. The married men living at Honeymoon Bay and Lake Cowich- an have got a speeder to take them home and bring them to work, the company has decided to charge them for that service, a ser- vice any company would only be to glad to extend to their em- ployees. ‘We are sorry to report the death of Tommy Roberts, skidder engin- eer, who was killed instantly when his oil burning stove blew up breaking his neck. The gas drum he used for fuel piled up to much air pressure—that is what actually blew up. We will close this report with best wishes. LAKE LOGGING PRESS COMMITTEE. Want Cheque Charge Removed To the Editor: At our last regular meeting held October 13 a few grievances came up for discussion, one in particular was the eliminating of the ex- change on cheques. When the mo- tion was passed all the boys fav- ored it with one loud aye. ‘ Our meetings could be a better success if more boys would put in an appearance. Most of those boys pay their dues monthly and claim they have a union card but such “general card packers” never once put in an appearance at a meeting. Let something come up that they don’t like around the camp and they are the first ones to squawk and they are the loudest squawkers around the bunkhouses. Why not come up to the meet- ing, discuss their grievance with the rest of the brothers, and in this way we will be doing some- thing worth while. On behalf of Local 1-363 we ex- tend our greetings to all brothers. S. STEFANEK, Press Agent. Camp No. 1 Bloedel, B.C. The Island Drug Co. BERT MENZIES, Prop. a Your Prescriptions Carefully Filled DuBARRY TOILETRIES NYAL Family Remedies Mail Orders Promptly Sent Out Just Downstairs from I.W.A. Office DUNCAN, B.C. Box 397 SAY WHAT YOU PLEASE Grafton Visits Hemmingsen’s To the Editor: A very successful meeting was held at the Hemmingsen & Cam- eron Log Co., Camp 2, Port Ren- frew. Our local field organizer, Brother George Grafton, from Local 1-80, Duncan, B.C., paid us a visit and gave us a very inter- esting talk on the progress the In- ternational Woodworkers of Am- erica is making. ‘A new safety committee and grievance committee, also shop stewards were elected at this meet- ing. This camp has signed the union agreement nearly three months ago. So far about 96 percent of a crew of 50 are signed up with the union. Camp conditions are very good at the new Camp 3 with improvements being made every day. F. S. PULLINGER, Secretary. Hemmingsen & Cameron Log Co. Port Renfrew, B.C. Promote Discord At Fraser Mills To the Editor: We hear much these days about the new industry-wide agreement that is to be negotiated. Of course, all of us have our pet versions but I believe that we all who are honest, at least recognize and ad- mit that the union shop is the most important clause in the new agree- ment Here at Fraser Mills I feel that this has been ‘totally lost and for- gotten about and the issue has become, at the instigation of some who disagreed with the majority at the Nanaimo conference, a ques- tion of whether we should have a clause in the agreement stipulating that we work 44 hours and 4 hours at overtime rates to make up the full six days, or whether we shall work 48 hours and the last four hours at overtime rates. Now this seems to me very technical; of course some of the hares are very happy to be able to hunt with the hounds. I am_ personally afraid that this is an attempt. to Tead us into a blind alley. The campaign is carried on with too much of an expression of illwill against the union to be of con- structive intention. I have heard some of the fel- lows who are carrying on the campaign make such statements as “to hell with the war effort,” Lentheric and Lacien Lelong Colognes Phone 212 which to me sounds like treason and an.underhanded campaign for a negotiated peace, which the in- terests of labor do not favor. (Further, some of these fellows are also military strategists and they tell us that the war is won so now is the time to go the whole hog or nothing. I would like to ask our Fraser Mills war strategists if, when the last bomb falls, it falls on his house, if he would think the emergency was over. Anyway we seem to have a choice right now of whether we are going to follow the policy and program laid down at the Con- tract Conference in Nanaimo in the coming negotiations or if we are going to strike out on our own to obligate the pet versionists (or is it that simple?) and land on the end of a limb. Anyway, brothers and sisters, if we here at Fraser Mills do not mend our ways we will find that we are the weak link in the chain. Its about time we sat down on our always vocal diversionists and took our rightful place in the or- ganization of which we are a part. After all, we are employed in the largest single operation in the lumber industry and we ought to be the strongest, not the weakest in the family. Turn out to the sub-local and local union meetings, brothers and sisters, and let not a small minority mis-represent us. FRASER MILLS MILL-WORKER, Card No. 340. Greet Freylinger At Sprimg Creek To the Editor: We were pleased to have the International Organizer Mr. Mike Freylinger visit our camp on Oct- ober 17. At the meeting which he attend- we elected a new progressive exec- utive and we are glad to be able to say that these officers have practically organized the camp 100 percent. Also a number of grievances were taken up with the management and a. satisfactory answer was obtained. PRESS COMMITTEE. Spring Creek Logging Co. Harrison Lake, B.C. Syd Harrison HARRISON CLOTHES SHOP Stylists for Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Smartly Tailored Clothes 16 East Hastings St. PAc. 7047 Vancouver weer emo nnn ene ny Percy Smith Writes to Members of Local 1-357 Dear Brothers and Sisters: Our convention has just conclud- ed and the membership of our local union should start to analyze what took place. Opposition Taken To Health Cards To the Editor: It would seem that too many of our loggers are interested in the kitchen crew, only when the din- ner bell is rung. Has anybody ever stopped his rush to the dining-room to consid- er what the poor bell-ringer has to go through in the matter of this health-card business? I would like to offer a few points for serious thought. This clause in the agreement will be real discrimination against the kitchen worker for the follow- ing reasons. Firstly, I believe that he is as clean as anybody and Probably just a little more than average on account of his job. Then, as far as any danger of disease is concerned I believe that there is more danger to the flunky than to the men. The or- dinary dining-room in camps has an average of about one man to every fifteen diners, which give him a fifteen to one chance of catching anything that may be go- ing. Only one or two men in the kitchen actually handle the food itself, but the kitchen staff has to handle all the dirty dishes, through which disease can be transmitted quicker than by any other means. To demand a health card from the cookhouse staff and not from the rest of the crew will not keep disease out of camps and is mere- ly’a very polite way of insinuating that cooks and flunkies are dirtier and more likely to bring infection into camp than the rest of the crew. Why discriminate between kitchen and crew? This clause should not be put into any agreement, and if enough common sense and interest in our fellows is used, it will be elim- inated from the proposed agree- ments for next year. LESLIE E. MacHATTIE, Sub-Local Secretary. GREETINGS A very constructive program came out of this convention, but whether or not this program is put into effect depends entirely upon the unity within the International Woodworkers of America. This unity cannot be achieved by making a scapegoat of any section of the membership. This is why we are fighting the war today, be- cause Hitler was able to divide the peoples of Europe, first on the issue of communism, then the Jews, Social Democrats and Cath- olics. The ruling of the international officers that certain people can be classed Communist and be ex- pelled from the IWA without the right of trial as allowed in the constitution puts this into effect: that a member belonging to any organization can on the whim of the officers ‘be classed in any of these groups and be expelled with- out trial. The delegates of B.C. District Council 1, with the exception of four, say that this section of the constitution should be ‘brought be- fore the membership of our inter- national and be voted on by ref- erendum ballot. Any member should be allowed the right to be- long to any political or religious group they so desire and that any member expelled should only be expelled on his or her activity within the union to which they belong. The issue in the past has been somewhat confused within our lo- cal, but since the convention, it is quite clear. The armies of the United Na- tions are fighting and dying to protect the right of any individual including communists to belong to any political organization they choose so long as it isn’t fascist and as president of this local I do not intend to stand idly by and see that the very thing my son and thousands of other workers’ sons are fighting and dying for being destroyed at home. while they are away. PERCY A. SMITH. Every Member Get a Member! IWA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ) Cansino Hotel “Completely Redecorated” Furnished Rooms by Day or Week. 24 West Cordova Street PHONE PACIFIC 0065 | Greetings 63 West Cordova Street. IWA International Convention SS Johnson’s Boots a Reasonable Rates Vancouver, B.C. 1 1 H 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 rf H 1 VANCOUVER, B.C. aL iL