Page Two Published Every Second Monday by - | INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA (CIO) DISTRICT COUNCIL NO. 1 Editor: JACK GREENALL _ Advertising Manager: MATT FEE Room 504 Holden Building—Phone PAcific 4151—Vancouver, B.C. wig st \ ° The. deadline for stories for the coming issue is 4 p.m., | Thursday,.September 6, 1945 Camp Conditions | The struggle for better working conditions in the B.C. woods has been going on incessantly since logging was first started in this province. On the coast where operations are larger and where organization has. been in existence for years, conditions are much better than in outlying areas. The history of this struggle for better living and working conditions is an’interesting one. It is significant that a great deal of the progress made in bettering conditions was made immediately following the last-war, when tin dishes and double decker bunks, among other things, were thrown into the salt chuck. During the present war, some operators have improved camp conditions by building new bunkhouses, sproriding family quarters, and recreation facilities. These conditions have improved in B.C. camps and mills during the war, mainly because of constant pressure from a rapidly grow- ing militant IWA. Union agreements have provided the machinery and protection for active camp and mill committees who have gone out and fought for improved conditions in their operations. Some managements have been more cooperative than others; but let us not lose sight of the fact that union pressure on a broad front made these gains possible. ‘The procedure for bettering camp and mill conditions is con- tained in our 1945 contract. The demand for these improved condi- tions must be made on the job and fought for under the terms of the agreement. Now that this war has been won and materials for construction are becoming available, these demands must be made. Committees should be selected to survey present conditions and make suggestions wherever improvements are needed. These, in turn, should be turned over to the camp or mill committees to be taken up with the management. Should management refuse to consider such suggestions and refuse to cooperate, then the matter becomes a\ grievance and can be taken up as much. In this day and age, it is no longer necessary for men to live under the nearly abnormal circumstances, so long prevailing in the B.C. woods; and a broad campaign must be started on the job and by the men who are directly concerned. Once the demands have been raised, it then becomes the responsibility of Local Unions and District to carry forward the fight to“a successful conclusion. The war has been won; let us go forward now, to win the peace. 5000 Unemployed That the Canadian Government provided outstanding leader- ship in one of the most spectacular war efforts carried through by the United Nations, cannot be denied with any conviction. That the same government, in meeting the crisis of peace, is showing itself as futile and confused as it. was direct and forceful in time of war, is equally irrefutable. ‘The only immediate result of peace evidenced in British Colum- bia was 5000 unemployed shipyard workers walking the streets within a week of Japan’s submission. Day by day these numbers are being increased, as small and large plants meet government cancellation of contracts by reduction of staffs. Labor warned of this crisis repeatedly throughout the last two years, and on one occasion after another éffered advice and active assistance in meeting the problems of the peace. On practidally every occasion labor was ignored, or condescendingly patted on the back with the assurance that Ottawa (to quote one of its fay- orite cliches) had “the situation well in hand.” Mr. Howe has been Minister of Reconstruction foy over a year, and so far about all the reconstruction or reconversion for which he appears to have planned might, doubtfully, provide for the transition of one village machine shop back from making shell caps to farm tools. It is certainly not good enough, and just as certainly it is not going to be tolerated by Canadian labor. Now is the time, if Premier King and his cabinet have been sincere in their protestations of interest in the welfare of Canadian workers, for some of the measures so often advanced by labor to be incorporated into our numerous Orders-in-Council and made law. If plans for the future are definite and completed, the tran- sition period should be cushioned by the proposals of the B.C. Fed- eration of Labor and the All-Union Conference; namely, the forty- hour week, severance pay to all workers dismissed from war in- dustry, and the immediate re-convening of a Dominion-Provincial Conference to disctiss the problems, in which labor should have a THE B.C. LUMBER WORKER | woxld. In spite of this, I believe that, in the atomic bomb, man*has Heading Out... By DON BARBOUR HE epic summer of 1945 is drawing to a close; a summer that brought to a war-torn world Y-E Day, the atomic bomb and | V-J Day. Those three events are going to make possible a better, | happier world for ell. “Nobel, the Swedish chemist, produced dyna- mite in 1862 and considered it, “so devastating that nations would no longer dare to wage war.” He died a disillusioned old man leaving his fortune to efforts for the elimination of wars from, the found the answer to the prevention of future wars. It may be rather a far ery from the atomic bomb to a Union} Hiring Hall. However, the similarity lies in the fact that Union Hifing contains the same punch to unfair hiring practices, black list, as the bomb to Nagaski and Hiroshima. As the summer draws to a close, comes that period when the | loggers plan to make their Christmas stake. To digress for a mom-| ent, just what would Christmas in Vancouver be without a goodly number of ‘stakey loggers.’ So to ensure such a gala e¥ent, it is obvious that jobs must be available to all at high, equalized wage rates under good working conditions, so as to prevent time lost and money wasted in fares. With the opening of the Silver Skagit Timber Company at Hope, the need for power saw fallers has inereased and the Union Hiring Hall is in need of forty sets of power saw fallers for that particular operation alone. To implement the demands now being made on our Hiring Hall, it is obvious that our members must assume the obligations that our organization demands, and which the coming of peace has accentuated. The efforts of organized labor in general during the war, and especially the CIO, will stand the closest scrutiny and I fee] sure that organized labor will do just as good a job in winning the peace. The Union Hiring Hall is making progress which the figures for the month of August will prove; but its continued success rests entirely with the membership. Remember Brothers, only dead things are static. We either go forward or backward. The tide, as far as Union Hiring in our industry is concerned, is a flood tide. Don’t YOU ever let it ebb! “GOVERNMENT > 1937 REVENUES IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS DOMINION PROVINCIAL | MUNICIPAL page 134-2 2705 3 LICENCES 43 10-4 PERMITS & FEES |of Japan, Well, boys, I have been a bit ‘This has been due in part to over-— under the weather lately. celebrating some important elee- my trouble is “halucinations,”” even though Greenall is meas enough to insinuate my trouble ; is known by another name. Any- | how, here is my story and you can judge for yourselves, A few days ago, as I was lay- ing in my bunk wide ‘awake, two big Canadian geese, Eton jackets and ascot ties, walk into the room. They were not very polite because they did not remove the high silk hats they were wearing at the time. And of all things; these geese were arguing about an election where labor had been voted into politi- cal power. The first goose, referring to the headline of a newspaper he was carrying said, “Look at that! There it says a ‘bloodless revolution,’ and no doubt corn, wheat, etc. will be scattered all around like manna from Heaven and us poor geese will have our cup of joy filled to overflow- The,” other, more intelligent looking goose, replied, “I ain’t so sure it is a revolution, al- though the change has no doubt been bloodless. And with all due respect to human intelligence, I doubt if the balanee of politi- \cal power has changed hands. ‘Tam quite an old goose and have seen the superior animal of the animal kingdom display his su- periority ever since the time he picked up his knife and fork. It may be bacon in the morning, which came from the lowly pig or fowl at eventide. This proves their superiority over the lesser animals but does not prove man- kind in general has as yet solved the problem of his own destiny.” Could be Greenall is right, in maintaining that I ddn’t actually see the geese; but my hearing lis good; and if I didn’t see them, by Gadfrey, I have heard them talking. So I will compromise between sight and sound and let her go at that. My hearing is just as real to | tions in the world and the defeat — The proper name for. wearing» ; 7 PUBLIC 25 214 DOMAIN & LIQUOR 29:8 CONTROL SALE OF COMMOD-|38-6 9 62 ITIES & SERVICES 55 ALL OTHERS So The Uppercut By J. F. Hobson, Job Steward, Iron River Logging Co. O. Militant! O, Militant! Why don’t you sign your name? You send out stupid statements, which do not boost your fame. If union members you would be, believing strong in unity, Gird yourselves that all may see, the strength of our fra- ternity. All for one, and each for all, stand pat for cooperation. Shoulder to shoulder, staunch and tall, that's our firm foun- dation! Lambaste your bosses, not your Brothers! Leave mud slinging to the others! This is the philosophy of the wise: Conference, Cooperation, Compromise! _ me as the old guy who came running into the house and said he had just seen a bear. His wife said: “Oh Tim, you must be mistaken, it was just your imagination, There are no bears” around here. Old*Tim sputtered, “Can my imagination follow gf along behind ‘me and crawl on a fence and growl?” So long, boys. , LONDON (ALN)—The government has reportedly fused a visa to Ernie nt to pass through America on. way to the Paris world 1 conference.