Page Two THE BC. LUMBER WORKER Leal i IAS i) 0 § 21,000 copies printed this week Published Every Second Monday by INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA (CIO) DISTRICT COUNCIL NO. 1 Subscription Rate: $1.00 per year Editor: JACK GREENALL Advertising: MATT FEE Room 504 Holden Building—Phone PAcifie 4151—Vancouver, B.C. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Postoffice Dept., Ottawe. "The deadline for the coming issue is 4 p.m. ‘Thursday, February 21. Woodworkers’ Organ For many years now the B.C. Lumber Worker has been pub- lished and distributed among woodworkers of British Columbia. Its files record the history of many struggles. The fact that the struggles were in the main successful is testified by the power and influence of the IWA in this province today. The B.C. Lumber Worker has served the membership of this union well. It has spread the news of struggle and of victory. Even more important it has been the means of clarifying issues so that workers in the camps and mills would know how best to combat the obstructions that were placed in their way. The demands adopted by the IWA for a 1946 contract are not going to be won in the District Office or by the District Offi- eers alone. We can only win when every member is aware of the program and is united with his brother in driving forward to vietory. The campaign must be, carried down to every camp and mill. It must be extended so that every man and woman in B.C. is aware of what it means to them and their support must be solicited. The aims of Woodworkers, their demands for a people’s unity, homes for veterans and workers, decent wages and work- ing conditions must be clearly understood by all. The B.C. Lumber Worker attempts to clarify all of these things. In this issue we have news stories and articles the con- tent of which should be not only read but studied by every member. Information is ammunition and in this coming battle every mem- ber is a soldier, and of what use is a soldier without arms? Likewise an army must have public support and allies in order to win. . Read your B.C. Lumber Worker thoroughly. Criticize it when it needs it. Send in your suggestions and above all send in your reports about what you are doing. Finnish Labor Promotes Co-operation With USSR) By VICTORIA HARVEY MOSCOW (ALN).—The exchange tour of Finnish and Soviet trade unionists is another sign of the growing friendship between the two peoples, Erkki Harma, generally secretary of the Central Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions, declared here this week. Harma, who heads the CCFTU delegation now visiting here, point- ed to the sincere friendship displayed by Soviet factory workers and trade unions. He also noted the atmosphere of optimism and confidence which prevails in the Soviet Union, the high level of By Don . Heading Out... Sic Im another part of this paper you will find a letter from Brother Johnny Eklow that proves beyond a doubt that the old timers (not Fraser Mills Old Timers either) believed that Union Hiring is one of the major objectives of our organization. While Union Hiring would have been a God-send, say, back in 1932, yet it is an all important question in 1946. Right now I want to give thanks to several union members of late who have refused to accept employment anywhere but through the Union Hiring Hall. I cannot express my gratitude to these brothers who have shown the only way that union hiring can be firmly established. It only remains for the rest of the brothers to assume their responsibility to the all important question of union hiring. Any- one who thinks that union hiring is a problem to be solved by the Hring Hall Manager is living under a delusion. In a 39,00-man industry, one man becomes about as effective as a burp in a gale of wind. Therefore, brothers, will you, all of you, continue to carry on the struggle for union hiring by demanding of your employer to switch his hiring to the Union Hiring Hall at 206 Holden Building: It is all too true that many of the operators are not over anxious to put their hiring solely with the Union and only by the pressure put on individually and collectively by our membership will the Union Hiring Hall become the guarantee of the elimination of the blacklist and all the other ills that go with company- controlled hiring. Company Union Loses To IWA In Sitka Appeal The IWA won an important victory last month when the National Labor Relations Board turned down an‘ appeal of the Sitka Spruce Company Union whereby they were attempting to win certification of the Sitka Spruce Mill at Vancouver away from the IWA. Announcement of the board’s decision was made last week, some time after Canadian Con- gress officers appeared before the board by the IWA. The Sitka Spruce case assumed national importance when it was recog- nized that-its disposition would have a bearing on government's attitude towards company unions in other industries. Particularly interested was the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, who have a similar situation at Trail. A long tale of intimidation falsification and a company- sponsored confusion is included in the history of the Sitka Spruce case. Certification was won by the IWA and then com- pany-sponsored disruptionists as- sisted the company in their ef- forts to avoid bargaining in good faith. The board’s statement scores the company for its attitude and rules that this IWA is the of- ficial bargaining agency. Enis ClO Expose OF Military-Fascism Dictatorship Shocks UNO By JOHN BRANDON political consciousness, the special interest in increasing output and the democracy of the Soviet trade unions. On the basis of discussions with Soviet trade union leaders, factory management and rank- and-file workers, Harma said, “We convinced ourselyes that with the state apparatus alone— without the aid of the trade unions—all the achievements of the USSR would have been im- possible.” Asserting that Soviet trade unions “enjoy the confi- dence, support and help of the workers and the deep respect of managements,” Harma added: “All this we saw with our own eyes and in the enterprises we visited we learned how it works out in practice.” ‘As to Finnish-Soviet relations, Harma stated that “the fact that at last democracy has won out in Finland means that relations between our two countries will get better and better.” Seven- hundred branches of the recently formed Finland-USSR Society, he said, have a membership of 160,000, including six govern- ment ministers. It aims to ac- quaint the Finnish public with Soviet cultural achievements and to promote sound relations be- tween the two countries. Soviet shipments to Finland include food, coal, raw materials for the chemical industry and what is of special importance feed for live- stock and mineral fertilizers for agriculture. Harma declared that during! the past twelve months the Fin- nish trade unions have grown from a pre-war membership of 86,000 to a membership border- ing on 300,000. This growth, he explained, is due to unity among the democratic forces generally. Harma, who represented his country at the London and Paris world labor conferences, said that the conference decisions have been widely popularized among Finnish workers and are support- ed by them. “The CCFTU leader declared that the trade union movement LONDON (ALN).—Two sets of documents exposing the mili? tary-fascist dictatorship in Ar- gentina, received this week by United Nations Organization delegates, have shocked many who were uninformed about in- ternal conditions in Argentina. The documents, a white book published by the CIO Committee on Latin American Affairs and a memorandum by the New York Nation, contain devastating evi- dence of the suppression of de- mocracy in Argentina and of the Nazi-fascist threat to the security of the Americas, Argen- tina is attending the UNO ses- sion. One Scandinavian delegates told this correspondent that no information about Argentine af- and punishment for those who allied Finland with Germany and involved the country in war against the Soviet Union and Great Britain, “The trade unions have all the time demanded that the present trial of war crimin- als should be conducted without any procrastination and delays,” he said. “Its protraction might lead to a worsening of relation between Finland and the United has categorically demanded trial Nations.” fairs was available in his coun- try and that on his return he intended to publish sections of the dossiers. “My country,’ he said, “was occupied by the Nazis until the end of the war. Our del- egation at the San Francisco conference had very little idea of what had happened in Argen- tina. We could say nothing when the United States proposed Ar- gentina for membership in the United Nations. But these docu- ments now make us yery un- easy.” Other delegates interviewed this week agreed that the UNO should take notice of the Ar- gentine situation, but said that this was a matter for the great powers to raise, especially the United States and Britain. Latin American delegates were partic- ularly reluctant to have the mat- ter discussed except on the ini- tiative of a great power. “We have to live alongside Argen- tina,” said one, “so we cannot make too much noise unless we are really sure that Washington and London are ready to back us up.” This seems to be the official view of Latin American delega- tions, which, privately, have been assuring European delegates of Hello Boys: Talk about cast- ing your bread upon the water and “after many days it will re~ — turn unto you many fold”. De | you remember when I told you about the sawbuck (incidentally it was my last one) that I gave to Morgan just before he went to England to participate in the setting up of the World Labor Organization? Well, the other day Morgan meets mo on the street and says, “Here you old goat, is a ticket to a luncheon im the Hotel Georgia where Paul Robeson will be the guest of honor. While you not only will get a bite to eat, you will alse learn something.” Having heard Robeson speak before, I got all excited right away; and after borrowing a suit of clothes (they didn’t fit any too well, but clothes don’t make a man anyway,) ‘and sprucing up as best I could I sauntered nonchalantly up to the Hotel. Well, when I got im there, I discovered Morgan as usual had sure recommended something. As I sat at the table I was x minded of ‘Tennyson’s poem, “The Charge of the Light Bri- gade”. Why? Well, there was a Canon in front of me, Commun- ists to the left of me, business men to the right of me, workers behind me, while Paul Robeson volleyed and thundered home- truths about the world in gen- eral, He so clearly defined the racial problem as not racial at all, but simply a struggle be- tween rich and poor all over the world, with the racial or minor- ity groups only the smoke screen behind which skullduggery un- limited is carried on. While there, I gets myself into an argument (as usual) with a perfect stranger. When Robeson maintained that the rich men of Germany were Hitler’s backers and brought him into power, my opponent in the argument said, “Robeson is wrong, Hitler had the backing of all the people of Germany.” I came back with, “Hitler never received the backing of the Ger- man people until all genuine la- bor leaders of that country were either murdered or in concentra- tion cainps. Only after the labor movement of Germany had been destroyed and Company union- ism under the leadership of Dr. Ley set up, was Hitler able to mislead the majority of his people.” I also told him, “If you have followed Robeson closely, you will note that his plea has been that we be more vigilant against a repetition of such do- ings here in America. Only a militant fight against the so- called racial problem will pro- tect all people. Such a fight must be spear-headed by the labor movement of course.” Paul Robeson is sure a fine speaker but I felt pretty proud of myself — too, after that outburst. Now is the time to « like the guy who said, “He nas, and knows _ that ows, is wise. Be likewise, nosey.” So be like your bull-coo stick your nose into national | world afafirs, for those are. affairs as well! La the veracity of the charges.