B.C. LUMBER WORKER Page Five OR OPERATORS CAN AFFORD TO PAY COAST RATES: District Exec. Lines Up Drive ~ To Wipe Out Inequalities BY KELOWNA JOE Best news of the year was the announcement made at. the Interior Wage and Contract Conference in Kamloops, June 4, that the B.C. District organization of the IWA, would swing in behind the Interioi negoyiations this year with an intensive drive. Now that the Coast negotia- tions have secured a settlement, the announcement has been con- firmed by the District Executive Board, and we expect to get ac- tion in the next few weeks. Our negotiations open on or about July 1, to settle the terms of our contracts which terminate Sept. 1. The answer to success- ful negotiations for the Interior lumber workers is to combine the negotiating parleys with a well- co-ordinated organization effort. Low Wage Area For some time we have been trying to convince the larger Lo- cals at the Coast, as well as the Organization Department, that a low wage area in the Interior is a constant threat to standards at the Coast. Hitherto, the press- ing needs of the Coast have had priority for very good reasons. Now that the Local Unions on the Coast have made big gains, the time has arrived for. an all- out attack on conditions in the Interior, with all the resources that the IWA can spare for the job. Organization Tough Going Our brothers at the Coast should not overlook the fact that the Interior Locals haye had al- most insuperable difficulties in or- ganizing. Operations are evén more widely scattered than at the Coast. Local Union officials have to drive 10 to every one of the miles covered by Coast IWA officials. Roads are poor and for long periods in the year are prac- tically impassable. Meetings can be held only with the greatest difficulty and at prohibitive ex- pense. . The chief problem is organiza- tion to overcome conditions that should be corrected. The Interior lumber workers are just as re- ceptive to trade union organiza- tions as those at the Coast, if they could be reached, and given the confidence that comes from organization. ‘ Tn the small unorganized op- erations, lumber workers are working for wages that are so far betow the standards set for the industry that it is pitiful. Even in the organized opera- tions the base rate, and classi- fied rates as compared to those of the Coast, make us weep. The fact is that the Interior lumber workers have never been well enough organized to put up a real fight for proper standards. The most of the operators are i | On the unerganized operations, classifications like edgermen, are working for 85 and 90 cents an hour. Threat to Coast terior, is a constant threat to the standards established by the IWA at the Coast. The greater the difference, the greater the threat. is a Union where the stronger help the weaker, that our indus- pletely effective. For these reasons, the Interior the Coast Local Unions, where spare as many as possible of their experienced organizers fo! the Inter tember. An intensive organization drive ful negotiations 3-1, the employees of Tufts Bros. Lumber, Chehalis, Wash., chose the IWA as bargaining agency. ‘The operation was formerly certi- fied by the AFL Lumber and Sawmill workers. ‘The production of lumber un- der sub-standard wages in the In- | belong to the same Union. Ours | try-wide strength may be com-| lumber workers are depending on | the strength of the IWA lies, to | x from now until Sep- | is our best assurance for success- | By an NLRB vote of more than | Apart from that fact, we all | DIAN WHITE PINE workers gather to hear the ne MIDNIGHT WAIT AT CWP Ms} : oh Lis ws of the settlement which averted a strike | on June 15, during the early morning hours. POLITICS! | Getting money from the rich land votes from the poor. Union would have been assured port of the CIO Longshoremen On behalf of each and every official and member, the B.C. IWA Thanks CIO Longshoremen Had the IWA been forced to “hit the bricks” on June 15, the the fullest co-operation and sup- in B.C. Lumberworker hereby tenders heartfelt appreciation of the ac- tion of the longshoremen in coming to complete and detailed agreement with the IWA on the non-handling of “hot lumber”. The agreement was worked national Representative Jack Berry, and District offi It is co-operation such as this which makes democratic trade unions a really effectiv> force for economic justice. out with Longshoremen’s Inter- worker. international View By Portland Pete ‘A EINE cabin cruiser was just about to be launched down Everett, Washington way the other week, when IWA Research Director Virgil Burtz was in the area. He heard thé owner was a lumber But the man’s “proud” boast was that as a non-union worker he had, for years been carefully hoarding the equivalent of all dues and assessments his comrades had paid to the Union, and | saving up the gains the union had won for him, until finally he had been able to buy his cabin cruiser. “Just how mean can you get!” as well able to pay the established demands Virgil. “If ever a guy deserved to drown at sea, that’s rates as they are on the Coast. Interior Scale The base rate at present for the Southern Interior is 97% cents an hour, Our contract has him.” CP ae |. $1,000 CHEQUE is in the ‘hands today of Keith Keene, Lo- {eal S-484, Warren, Arkansas, as |campaigns, and trying to get lround sharp corners of that — never provided for an annual re- Compensation for violation of a|Taft-Hartley Act which ham- classification, The result is that most of the lumber workers get no more than $1.00% cents or $1.05. Only two or three men on any one operation get the $1.20 or $1.40 rates. | Union contract. | aoe | GENERAL Motors got a taste ‘of their own profit medicine Hately. The IAW-CIO sold its headquarters property to the auto firm for $175,000. The price the union paid for it—$60,000. Pees COMMITTEES of the CIO and the AFL are due to meet in July to discuss once again the possi- bility of merger of the two fed- erations. What the newspapers call “informed sources” say that the CIO wants immediate co-op- eration on political action, with a physical merger later. 5 AFL, however, they say, ar- gues that the physical merger must come first, with jurisdic- tional problems ironed out later strings unions on certain angles | of politieal action. | ee SIXTY PERCENT of the 750 men striking at Morristown, Ten- nessee, are ex-G.l.’s, and they had to stand by and watch Na- |tional Guardsmen escort scabs | through their picket lines. What did these ex-G.l.’s fight for any- way? Wasn't it some sort *of freedom? s 8 STRIKE MORALE at Weyer- hhaueses is high. No wonder, when incidents like this happen every day. Down at Klamath Falls, former IWA member and official Ozzie Wpmak walked in, pulled out his wallet and said, “I hear you’re voting on an as- sessment. How much?” Two- fifty a week he was told, so he checked on the calendar, added it up, and paid over. LOGGERS! IF YOU ARE IN A JAM 27 we LOAN MONEY tr ON SUITS AND OVERCOATS Redeemable Any Time Within 12 Months HORSE SHOE Tailors & Pawnbrokers 325 COLUMBIA ST. VANCOUVER, B.C, (Across from the Broadway Hotel) Telephone MArine 5823 ALERT BAY BUSINESS GUIDE DONG CHONG CO. High Class Groceries and Dry Goods Ice Cream and Soft Drinks ALERT BAY, B.C. WM. E. KEELE General Merchandise — Sales and Service ALERT BAY, B.C. CHEMAINUS BUSINESS GUIDE AL BIGGS PARBER SHOP Maple St. Chemainus, B.C. MEAT MARKET CHEMAINUS, B.C. 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