THE B.C. LUMBER WORKER

_

Monday, April 9, 1945

Education Stressed At WEA Conference

Delegates to the first Annual Convention of the Workers’ Educational Association held in Vancouver, March 30 and 31. "5

Many Unions, Speakers
Greet WEA Gathering

‘The importance of adult education conducted by Trade

Unionists was emphasized by

a number of speakers in the

opening session of the Workers’ Educational Association's
First Annual Provincial Conference which was held at the
Vancouver Normal School on March 29th and 30th. Seventy-
one enthusiastic Trade Union delegates, AFL, CCL and
others, from all over B.C. heard the Reverend Andrew Rod-
dan give the invocation and heard welcoming greetings from

Alderman Jack Price, represent:
cil; Tom Parkin, representing t
AFL; Garry Culhane, represer
and Ernie Dalskog, representir

James Thomson, representing
the Provincial Deportment of La-
bor gave an outline of the pro-
gress the Department has made in
the province of B.C. as compared
to the Hastern provinces. He ex-
pressed ‘the opinion that the
spirit of PC 1003 has been more
fully carried out in B.C. than
elsewhere. Over 50% of certifi-
cations under this Order-in-Coun-
cil have been from this province.
Mrs. Bonnie Gundlach reported

Concert Program

For April 15th

A continuations program of
the People’s Concert Series, ar-
ranged by the Labor Arts Guild,
will be presented by the National
Council for Canadian - Soviet
Priendship, on Sunday, April 15,
at 8:00 p.m, in Pender Audi-
torium, 339 W. Pender Street.

This concert promises a high-
light in the Spring’s musical
events, with a galaxy of leading
artists, which will include the
following soloists: Barbara Cus-
tance, concert pianist; Nick
Fiore, flutist; Aun Watt, so-
prano; Gordon Staples, violin-
ist; John Goss, baritone; and
Jeanette Whitney, ‘cellist; to-
gether with the St. Cecilia Chor-
isters, conducted by Nancy Pai
ley Benn; the Russian Dolo-
meyka Dance in costume, with
Walter Zaremsky, Lena Holiat,|
John Bobb and Hannah Bezu-|
biak; and the Arts String Quar-!
tet from the studios of Gregori!

Garbovitsky, featuring Gordon |
Staples, Nora Polsky, Grace Tay-!
lor and Sydney Keats.

Labor

Phyllis |

official Arts |

bags, watches,
and jewellery.
kept in mothproof
in our care.”

Francisco Tailors

Vancouver tes Sees,

|
on men’s cloth- |
|
|

| ment

ing the Vancouver City Coun-
he: V@NW and District TLC-
nting the Shipyard Federation
ng the VLC-CCL.

on the progress made by the Cali-
fornia Labor School in the last
three year

After reviewing the film, “Our
Northern Neighbor’? and listen-
ing to a recorded speech from
Drummond Wren, WEA National
Seeretary, the Conference con-
vened into two Commissions, Ed-
ucational and Organizational, un-
der the chairmanship of Garry
Culhane and Tom Parkin.

On the morning of the second
day of the convention, Dr. Ralph
Gundlach, professor of psychol-
ogy, University of Washington,
told the delegation that leader-
ship, mainly, was not a gift from
the gods, but an individual qual-
ity acquired through experience
and training by those who show
initiative in shouldering their
share of the responsibilities with-
in their own organization. Dr.
Gundlach’s address was followed
by a review of the progress made,
to date, by the Federal Depart-
ment of Physical Fitness by Ma-
jor Ian Eisenhardt, National Di-
rector, who was accompanied by
Gerry Mathison, Provincial Di-
rector of Pro-Rec.

» “British Columbia has a wealth

of National Parks that can be
placed at the disposal of working
men and their families,” Major
Eisenhardt stated, “and can be
made available to them, during
their vacation periods, providing
your unions get behind the pro-
gram.”

Harry Jones, Supervisor of
Dominion Provincial Job Train-
ing, commended some of the West
Coast unions for the interest and
cooperation shown to his depart-
y them, and told the dele-
gates how production had been

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increased in local war industries
by: the training of youthful lead-
ers of management and labor to
the application of science on the
job. Mr. Jones was followed by
Gordon Doberly, instructor on job
safety training, who analyzed the
nature and necessity of such
training for the protection of the
worker.

The general assembly then pro-
ceeded to pass on the findings of
both commissions, and later, the
following officers were elected to
the Vancouver and District As-
sociation of the WEA for the com-
ing year. George Johnstone, Busi-
ness Agent, Retail Clerks Union,
AFL, President; Carl Moeller,
Vice-President, Plumbers and
Steamfitters Local 170, AFL, 1st
Vice-President; Gus Skuzanski,
Vice-President, IWA, Local 217,
CIO, 2nd Vice-President; Jeanne

Cameron, General Secretary, Fed- |

eration of Telephone Workers,
Traffic Division, Secretar
garet Donald, Treasurer;
representatives, Tom Parkin,
Aeronautical Mechanics Lodge

“756,” Gladys Shunanman, IWA, |

Local 217 and John MeGuish, IWA
Local 1-71, Vern Weaver, IWA,
Local. 1-80, Dennis Fitzgerald,
Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuild-
ers Local 1, Victoria; Harvey
Murphy, International represen-
tative, International Mine, Mill
and Smelter Workers Union, CIO,
and George Allan, International
Mine, Mill and Smelters Union,
Copper Mountain, B.C.

The conference was brought to

a close with a social and dance at

the John Goss Studios.

Summer Camp Is

Plan OF WEA

Of particular interest to wives
and families of the members of
trade unions of B.C. are the plans
that are being worked out by the
Workers’ Educational Association
for a summer camp and school.
The prospective site is Ocean
Park, where the WEA Summer
School was held last year. Fur-
ther details on this will be pub-
lished later.

By CLAUDE DONALD

The Workers’ Educational As-
sociation has just concluded its
first annual conference. The del-
egates were truly representative
of organized labor in B.C., in-
cluding miners, loggers, millmen,
street carmen, plumbers, painters,
shipbuilders, telephone and _air-
craft workers. ‘

Unity was the theme through-
out the conference—unity to win
the war, unity for postwar peace,
progress and security. The dele-
gates became increasingly aware
of the necessity for a labor col-
lege and the need for greater
emphasis on workers’ education;
|the days of guts and truculence
[had given way to arbitration and
|labor- management cooperation;
|the day for international coop-
|eration between trade unionists
of all lands through the efforts
of the recent World Trade Union
Conference had begun.

‘Training for democratic leader-
ship occupied much of their at-
tention, A great deal of evidence
showed that leadership is not the
prerogative of isolated individu-
als or any one class exclusively,
but can be developed by ordinary
men and women who are willing
to accept responsibility. The dele-
gates decided to make training
for democratic leadership our aim
at the 1945 Summer School, to be
held at Ocean Park, B.C., from
June 16th to June 26th.

The merits of trade union
classes and university tutorial
classes were discussed thoroughly
with representatives present from
both groups. The delegates were
reminded that the goal of the
Workers’ Educational Associa-
tion is the application of science
to society; that when Manchuria,
Ethiopia, Spain, Czecho-Slovakia
and France wert threatened, the
progressive forces and the trade
unionists rather than the colleges
warned of the danger to society.
When humanity took the tragic
road to Munich, the workers saw

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Training For Democratic
Leadership, WEA Theme

the tragedy in its true light while
formal educationalists took a
hypothetical view. Thus, the
workers were more realistic than
the pundits. At the same time, it
was felt that both had much to
gain from each other—workers
getting scientific knowledge and
instruction, and the university
getting an inside view of the
thoughts, reactions, and workers’
approach to world events.

We felt that we were breaking
new ground—that we would make
mistakes—but that we already
had much experience to guide us.
We felt that asking for a grant

from public funds for workers’ ~

education was fair and just, and
vesdlved to utilise every means
possible to accomplish this. At
the same time, we resolved to
raise our own funds from the
unions and finance our own La-
bor College, and not become mere-
ly a government department.

It became increasingly evident
that there were regulations and
laws that would benefit the work-
ers greatly if interest could be
stimulated. Among these were the
vast possibilities of the National
Physical Fitness Act, by means
of which trade unionists, cooper-
ating with other groups in so-
ciety, would stimulate and de-
velop tremendous potentialities
of health through sport, recrea-
tion, music, drama, and the arts
generally. This and other simi-
lar acts demonstrate that if or-
ganized labor will get together
and use existing legislation,
thinking in terms of progress, full
cmployment distribution, and in-
telligent political action, we have
little need for fear for the post-

war.

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