Cc.

LUMBER WORKER

Aug. 3, 1950 -

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Eliminate Sub-standard Wages

It is my earnest hope that all furniture workers in the City
of Vancouver will attend the special meeting to be held in the
Hastings Auditorium on the evening of August 7. The decisions
reached at that meeting will determine what further action is
necessary to secure the 1950 contract demands, and bring this
section of the industry on a parity with the major branches.

‘ entiré IWA membership in@———_
Brtish Columbia should be aware turing Co. are also involved and
that the IWA District Policy; Should now get the plywood rates
Committee is waging a deter-|and conditions.

mined fight sto eliminate sub-
standard wages in the furniture CWL PROFIT
$2144 MILLION

‘
£

{ branch of the lumber industry.
Negotiations have reached a
critical stage, and if the workers

involved so decide, the Union may
be called upon to take drastic ac-
tion.

An offer has been received from
the representatives of manage-
ment in the Hammond Furniture
Co, and the Restmore Manufac-
taring Co. This will be submitted
to the employees at the meeting
mentioned above and a vote called
for.

The main demand which re-
quires fighting support is that the
present base rate of 98 cents an
hour for furniture workers should
be raised to the level of the rest
of the industry. y

Employees of Skyline Manufac-

Canadian Western Lumber Co., op-
erating one of Canada’s largest saw-
mills at Fraser Mills, B. C., and parent
of the subsidiary Comox Logging &
Railway Co., on Vancouver Island, re-
Ports a net profit ‘after taxes, interest,
depreciation, etc., of $2,409,483, as
compared with $4,011,148 in 1948.
Earnings per share were 78 cents
against $1.30 the previous year,

Said the pessimistic safety dir-
ector: “I always like speaking to
women. When I talk to men, I
Know that what I say goes in
jone ear and out the other. But
what I tell ladies goes in both
ears and comes out the mouth.”

Employees Hold Hands With

Commies ‘To Ge

t Bargains

Some large employers are holding hands with Communist
union leadership in order to get cheap contracts, the Executive
Committee of the CCL charged in a statement issued, following
a July session in Ottawa. At the same time, the Committee
held some governments and their labor relations boards re-
sponsible for playing around with Communists in political man-

oeuvering.
The Statement

Here is the statement:

The international crisis in Ko-
rea provides ample proof that the
appeal of the Communists for
peace is a complete perversion of
the truth and fully demonstrates
that Communism is bent on tak-
ing over world control by any
means, whether corruption or
physical violence.

The Canadian Congress of La-
bor has long been acquainted with
these methods and has done
everything possible to liberate
Communist controlled unions
from such methods.

It is noteworthy that in every
Yote where Communists have
been put to the test, they have
been rejected by Canadian work-
a
Unfortunately, however, the ef-
forts of the Congress have been
severely handicapped by faulty
labor legislation, unwisely admin-
istered, which makes it unreason-
ably difficult to get a free election
in many plants.

Thus, for example, in Trail, B.
C., a Congress affiliate, the United
Steelworkers of America, repre-
senting a majority, has so far
been denied a vote in the plant of
Consolidated Mining and Smelt-
ing Company.

Minority Control

In this key undertaking, known.
te be producing strategic atomic
fission materials, the Communist-
controlled Mine, Mill Union, re-
tains its minority control through
sub-standard contract recently
entered into by the company,

By this irresponsible act, the

C= ee
company shows an indifference to
the national security which is in-
comprehensible, unless the lure
of a bargain-basement agreement
motivates the company policy at
the very time when the Far Hast
is aflame with war.

Based on experience, it would
appear that in practice, Canadian
trade unions are the only legiti-
mate Canadian agencies that are
really fighting Communism.

In many instances, where em-
ployers feel that they can get a
better deal from Communist
unions, they will compromise with
those unions to keep out unions
opposed to Communism,

It is also observed that govern-
ments are disposed to “play
around” with Communists, where
it is considered to be “smart poli-
ties”. It is likewise noticeable
that sub-agencies of governments,
such as labor relations boards,
are bending backward ‘to justify
continuance of Communist con-
trolled unions in some industries
because it is contemporarily the

.|‘smart” political thing to do.

Denied Liberation

The Congress believes that the
time has arrived when the Cana-
dian government and people
should realize that Canadian
workers are being denied the op-
portunity to liberate themselves
from Communism in vital under-
takings such as Trail, B.C., and
elsewhere because of expediency
on the part of some governments
and: the desire of some employers
to reap higher profits which can
be secured by compromise with
Communist controlled unions.

Professional Eye Care by
is to your S

JOB SAFETY ....

+ +» requires GOOD EYESIGHT

important to your general Health and Wellbeing as it
on the Job.

regular examination is as

| Hollenberg

J.J. Abramson

a

Q—After some years of em-
ployment as a factory janitor
I had to resign because my
health was not good. I thought
it would be better if I could
get into my former work as a
salesman, but they could not
find a suitable job for me.
Finally, they offered me work
as a bank messenger, which I
refused because I didn’t want
a permanent job of that kind.
Then they refused my claim
for benefit. Why?

see

A—Judging by your statement
of the case, it Would look as if
certain jobs, which would be re-
garded as suitable were offered
to you. Apparently you declined
them. A person claiming benefit
must be willing to accept employ-
ment even though it may not be
in the exact field which he or
she prefers. Your refusal made
it necessary to disqualify you.

2

Q—I am a stenographer, and
I had a job at $18.65 a week.
Recently I got married, and
moved to another town. I put
in a claim for unemployment
insurance, but they offered me
a position as a clerk at $75 a
month. This was less than I
had. been earning, and besides
I only wanted part-time work
so that I could be at home to
get my husband’s meals. I de-
clined the offer, and they pre-
fused to pay me my insurance.
Was that decision right?

ee #

A—As far as can be deter-
mined from your summary, the
position offered to you was not
so inferior, from the viewpoint
of salary, as to make it unsuit-
able. Also, your determination to
accept only part-time work so
you could be at home to get your
husband’s meals, narrowed very
definitely the field in which em-
ployment for you could be found.
In order to claim benefit success-
fully a person must be available
for work and willing to accept
suitable employment. The posi-
tion offered to you would appear
to have been suitable, and your
refusal made it necessary to dis-
qualify you.

>

Q—For some time I was em-
ployed as a bushman. When
my employment ended, I went
to the insurance office and ap-
plied for benefit which was
granted. I received my bene-
fit for about two months and
then I was notified of two jobs
both on farms. The pay offered
was all right. It was even
higher in one of the jobs than
Thad been receiving as a bush-
man. I refused the jobs because
I had no experience on a farm
and would not have known how
to do the work. They cut me
off benefit because I declined to
work on the farm. Is it right
that I should have been refused
benefit for this reason?

tee

A—From your statement, it is

Unemployment
Queries Answered

The, purpose of this col-
umn is to provide a means
whereby our readers who
want information on Unem-
ployment Insurance can ob-
tain it.

If you have a question

respecting Unemployment
Insurance, write it out and
send it to the editor. For
identification purposes it
would be well to include
your name and address.
, We will send your ques-
tion to the Unemployment
Insurance Commission at
its head office in Ottawa.
The answer will be pub-
lished as soon as possible
after being received.

Do not hesitate to send in
your question or questions.
The Commission has ad-
vised us that it will be glad
to furnish answers as ra-
pidly as possible.

SO SEND IN YOUR

QUESTIONS

ORNS

employment developed which,
while not in your own line, was
the type of work which you would
probably have been physically
able to do. It would have been
wise for you at least to try this
employment and find out if you
could or could not do it. The Un-
employment Insurance Act states
that, after the lapse of a reason-
able time from the date on which
a person becomes unemployed, he
or she shall be willing to take
other employment provided that
wages are not lower and condi-
tions not less favorable than pre-
vail among good employers. Ap-
parently it was considered that
your refusal of the farm em-
ployment was not justified and
consequently you were cut off
benefit.

>

Q—I am 23 years old and un-
married. I had a job in which
I was paid 47c an hour, work-
ing on an average of 50 hours
a week. As I was away from
home it was impossible to live
on the pay which I received, so
I left my employment to return
to my home town. They re-
fused to pay my unemployment
insurance and I would like to
know ‘why.

soe

A—If the wages which you
were receiving were at the ac-
cepted rate of pay for the type
of work that you were doing it
is difficult to justify your leaving
the employment. You accepted
the employment in the first in-
stance. It would appear that the
insurance officers had no alterna-
tive but to conclude that you left
voluntarily and consequently
could not be paid benefit.

?

Q—Recently, I attended a
sitting of the Court of Referees
at a city some distance from
my home town. I won the case.
In order to attend I had to stay
overnight. Am I entitled to
haye my expenses paid?

a eife

A—Unless you were requested

evident that very little work in!
your own particular line was!
available. You were paid benefit!
for some months, and finally some!

by the Chairman of the Court of
Referees, in writing, to attend,
you must bear the expenses in-
volved.

1530 W. 4th Ave. <>

G.W. Sow « co. um

PRINTING & LITHOGRAPHING
An Employee Owned Company

Prcacers of The B.C. Lumber Worker

Vancouver, B.C-

CREDIT UNION
FUNDS SAFE

Q—What protection is pro-
vided for the members’ sav-
ings? i

A—The accounts of the Credit
Union are audited frequently, and
are posted, as required by the -
Provincial law. The Credit Union
is inspected regularly by the Gov-
ernment Inspector appointed fora.
the purpose under the Act whi
safeguards Credit Union opera-
tions. All officials handling money
must be bonded. The Credit Com-
mittee appointed by the members
must pass on all loans.

From Page 1

1-424 Progress

Approximately 100 employees
are involved. Substantial majori-
ties signed up prior to application
for certification and in two in-
stances, 100 percent IWA.

Work is now under way on the
new large plywood plant being
constructed at Quesnel by West-
ern Plywood Ltd., and operations
should be in full swing in a year’s
time,

area are in an advanced stage
organization, and further appli
cations for ‘certification will be
made at an early date.

Willow River

President Lloyd Whalen, Local
1-217, IWA, holidaying in the dis-
trict was placed on the proverbial
“busman’s holiday” when he con-
sented to address a meeting of
employees of five operations, ad-
jacent to Willow River, July 27.
Other speakers were District
Vice-President Tom Bradley and
International Representative Mike
Sekora.

Committee members elected
were: Wm. Appleton and Mal-
colm Bird for Geddes Lumber
Co.; Harry Smith and Fred Vail- ©
lencourt for P. Church Sawmills
Ltd.; the addition of Lawrence
Eckel, Camp 1, P. Church and E.
P. Bruder, Camp 2. P. Church
will complete the over-all com-
mittee for the Willow River area.

A meeting of all shop stewards
and- committee members in the
Local Union will be preceded by
a special meeting of those in the
immediate vicinity of Prince

Other plants in the eg

George. Plans will be considered
for action in support of negotia-
tions, as strike action is favored
locally, should no satisfactory
settlement be reached.

ON THE AIR...

VANCOUVER
600-CJOR, Thurs.
Green Gold - - - - - 7:00 p.m,

CJAV Alberni, Thurs.
Volce of the IWA = = 6:15 p.m.

aaventt OU
“ag Been MISSIN
' mricihing