Page Four B Fs -C. LUMBER WORKER NO CONTRACT... NO WORK! [WA MEMBERS have made their decision. They will strike rather than accept the terms dictated by the lumber operators to the Conciliation Board. The outcome now depends on the operators. They can choose between a decent contract or a general shut-down before June 15. : By democratic ballot, and with a thumping majority, IWA members have repudiated the Conciliation awards and authorized strike action. This decisive vote forecasts the same verdict on the government ballot. This forecast is further confirmed by the phenomenal increase in IWA membership during recent weeks. The majority of the lumber workers support a militant IWA and will vote as the IWA members voted. The operators have less than seven days to make up their minds. If there is no contract on June 15, there will be no work. ee * * JWA MEMBERS who voted for strike action must now meet the responsibilities of their decision. They must vote again in company with all employees in IWA-certified operations. They should make certain that the official vote is as decisive as the Union vote. This must be done in every operation, as the govern- ment tabulation will be on an “operation-by-operation” basis. The IWA strike call should mean “one for all, and all for one”. IWA members must now prepare for strike action in every operation. The Union is not making idle threats. The IWA is in deadly earnest. Strike action must be 100 percent effective. Strike committees must now be fully organized in every operation. Strike duties must be definitely assigned. Strike plans in every locality must be worked out to the last de- tail, Full information can be obtained from the Local Union officials, Every man on the job should be told the score, and asked to declare himself for or against the Union. Cle et wear J ‘THE DECISION to authorize strike action was not lightly considered by the IWA members. A strike is the weapon of last resort. The blame for industrial strife must rest squarely with the lumber operators, whose atti- - tude throughout has been insulting to the intelligence of the lumber workers. It was insulting to say that the industry was not in a position to pay better wages. Every lumber worker remem- bers that the operators took advantage of the state of or- ganization last year to deny any wage increase. Every lumber worker is aware of the high profits made by the owners, and that the markets now available are still more profitable. Every lumber worker is aware that only the stubborn greed of the operators has blinded them to their respons- ibility to raise living standards for the workers as the re- sources of the industry permit. peed tae | RE IS NO blinking the fact that the operators’ op- position to the Union shop is basically opposition to trade- unionism. It is a survival of the days when they black-listed every man suspected of Union sympathies. If they had a genuine belief in collective bargaining, they would not offer interference with the majority will to organize Union shop conditions, and thus complete the collective bargaining process. . If they had faith in democratic procedures, they would encourage conditions. under which every worker would share the responsibilities, as well as the benefits of collect- ive bargaining. ‘ Refusal to grant the Union shop is a refusal to admit that the Union is in the industry to stay, and has won the right to the recognition that it is fully responsible in ob- -servance of the contract. Instead, the operators’ desire to use minorities as a club against Union responsibility and strength. roe eae: JNSULT WAS HEAPED on insult when the lumber work- ers were asked to work longer hours without assurance of increased annual earnings. The proposed extension of the work week, first to be applied to the loggers, and later to be applied to the mill workers, is a cheap trick to make a quick clean-up on the United States market, The basic 40-hour work week is a right already gained which must be defended at all costs. The IWA will not betray the lumber workers or the labor movement on this score. Loggers and mill workers have common cause on this issue. Once the 48-hour work week is imposed on the log- gers, mill workers will be forced to fall in line. It will be said that production in the mills must keep pace with pro- duction in the camps. The employers will have the whip hand. The workers will only speed up production in preparation for the long lay-offs. ‘THE OPERATORS and the Conciliation Board sadly mis- judged the spirit of a Union which has fought through- out the years for the principles of industrial unionism. Discrimination against any class of workers proved to be one of the major irritations when the award was discussed in membership meetings. The thought of “letting down” the cookhouse and bunk- house workers, or singling out some of the continuous op- eration workers for a sixth shift, was wholly repugnant. The IWA members were well aware that discrimination against one category today would be followed by more vicious discrimination against other categories later. Membership reaction to this proposal displayed a finer sense of justice than has ever been displayed by the op- erators. It proved that the IWA has a deeply rooted belief in justice for all and will defend the interests of every group of workers with the united strength of an industry-wide organization. ee ‘HIS IS THE YEAR of decision. The industry was never better able to meet the IWA demand. The IWA was never accorded a more united and detrmined support. A retreat this year, would mean succeeding defeats until wages and conditions are depressed beyond belief. The lumber operators have shown no desire to improve standards for their employees. They have chosen to use their economic strength to dictate unfair terms for the 1950-51 master contract. The lumber workers have no alternative but to use their economic strength—the right to withhold the labor which has produced the wealth of the industry. It is now a test of economic strength, precipitated by the operators. It is a test which the IWA is prepared to meet ‘and which the IWA can win, with the present unity and deter- A LETTER FROM AN TWA WIFE The Editor: For over a year now, I have been wondering what the IWA were going to do for their Auxili- aries, How long are you boys go~ ing to sleep as far as your wo- men and their education in Union affairs is concerned? Don’t you want your Ladies’ Auxiliaries? If you do, I suggest you men do something about it before it is again too late. We women go to our meetings, but there is nothing to do there but talk about every- thing under the sun, except the affairs for which the women are gathered together, namely the working conditions and the econ- omic security of their menfolk, Last Sunday, I attended the men’s meeting in Lake Cowichan, the first one for over a year to which the Ladies’ Auxiliaries had been invited. I enjoyed the meeting very much and I think that as far as the men are con- cerned, they could not have a better leader than Brother Als- bury. As I sat there, I thought about the first meeting we had for the IWA after the split in the Union. I was very happy to hear what had been accomplished in 1% years—you have done a good job, boys, but there is one sad thing about it, you have forgotten to take your ladies along with you. Someone has said that the mination of the IWA. men did not like the Ladies’ Aux- LETTER, From Column 5 iliaries before the split, they went too far, so that the women were in some instances, running the Union—if this was so, it only goes to show how fast asleep the men were to let that happen. This morning, I read a letter to the editor in the Vancouver Sun, in which the writer speaks of the menace of communism and the hypocrisy behind some of these so-called disciples of peace, who nevertheless, manage to gather one here and one there into their “fold”. We also see in- stances of men wishing to join the IWA while their wives are strong WIU’s. Where is the sense to this? If there were more un- derstanding and education in Union matters in our Auxiliaries, this would not happen so much, h but as things are now, we can- b not do a thing—men, don’t do Ko S When you co To TOWN... YOULL NEED money! So don’t lose your pay-cheque. over again what you did before, sleep until it is too late. Help us ladies to help you and let us all be happy together. An earnest member of the L.A. to the IWA, Sub-Local, Lake Cowichan. (Mrs.) K. Anderson. 37,000 Claims From Industry Forty percent of the 93,000 people who filed claims for sup- |plementary unemployment bene- fits for the periods Feb. 28 to April 15, were lumber workers. Eight thousand claims were received in B.C. and 4,700 got benefit to a total of $121,400. Forty-eight percent of all ap- plications came from Quebec. Humphrey Mitchell said the supplementary benefits will be in effect in future years from GLIP THIS COUPON... Send me all information about protect- ing my pay against loss, and “Banking by Mail”. Name. Soon as you get it mail it to us for safekeeping. If you wish to cash all or any of it, we will do this by mail, too. “Banking-by- Mail” with us protects your money until the time when you need it. Vancouver Branch, Dept. B. 3, Vancouver, B.C. 14 branches to serve you in British Columbia, January 1 to Mar, 31. 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